Apple might turn evil? They have always been evil, and goole is evil to. Try a free android distro like CalyxOS, GraphineOS, LineageOS or /e/OS. This is not a complete list.
Any that can run on a Samsung flagship?
Lineage or Calyx should have you covered.
Google pixel 6a with grapheneOS
Heya same hereeee ❤
FairPhone 4 because it is the only phone with removable battery and LineageOS support.
Google Pixel 4a with GrapheneOS
nice. +1
Running a Pixel 6 with default OS right now.
Will change to GrapheneOS when it’s no longer supported.
Why did I choose it? Because there’s no real choice besides Android in the phone world. Apple won’t let me install the things I need and is unnecessarily expensive. Plus, the camera is really good.
Another pixel 6 user here.
I personally chose the Pixel over other Android phones, because Google guarantees 5 years of security updates.
Unlike everyone else, where you’re lucky to get even 3 years of updates.
Problem: even with an alternative operating system, you still don’t get security updates for the baseband firmware, and that thing is a huge remote attack surface that, if compromised, grants the attacker unfettered access to the entire phone.
Some new phones isolate the baseband processor from the rest of the system. Only the small independent phone makers like Librem use such a design, though.
GrapheneOS often picks up security flaws in the android open source project and fixes them before google goes. I won’t claim they fix everything but I’ve seen enough examples of things they fix over AOSP that make me doubt they wouldn’t have fixed something like that (on top of keeping everything updated). Maybe you weren’t referring to Graphene but still worth a shoutout for being a very (the most?) secure operating system.
I’m talking about the baseband, the device that talks to the cell network (among many other functions). It has its own closed-source firmware, no open-source substitute for that firmware exists, and it has full access to the entire system, bypassing the CPU and OS. Installing a different OS will not stop attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities in the baseband firmware and taking over the phone.
Pixel 6 Pro running GrapheneOS, which I got a couple months ago. Pixel phones are the only ones compatible with GrapheneOS, otherwise I would’ve kept my Samsung phone tbh
Practically same story here. Pixel 7 Pro here, also running Graphene. Switched off my trusty Note9 only because graphene only supports Pixels.
So I know I’m in the minority not really caring all that much about the whole Google ecosystem, I enjoy it and how everything stays connected, I’m not necessarily on a crusade to prevent all data tracking on myself and all of that.
I have a Pixel 6 Pro as well and looks like I’m gonna wait until the 9 pro to upgrade again if possible, my 6 pro is over a year old and still showing no signs of stopping, still plenty of power for everything I need it for and beyond. Is there anything beyond de-googling that GrapheneOS provides? Can I stay google-ified while running it? Just trying to see what kind of benefits it provides other than de-googling
A pixel 7a with graphene OS. It’s a myth that iOS is more secure than android btw. Both are locked down enough to protect against most threats.
Either one protects you from outside threats, but Android does allow you to do more damage on your own.
If you’re smart enough to not install shady apps and give them the rights to absolutely everything, it doesn’t matter which one you use, but if your parents or grandparents are getting up there in age and are prone to just clicking on things that look like they should be clicked on, iOS might be safer for them (Android’s workflow for installing apps from untrusted sources is just too simple IMO).
I’m a dev / data engineer. Often I hear the argument of, “but Android allows you to…”
I don’t want to. Doesn’t matter what the end of the sentence is, I don’t want to. I love tinkering, but not with my phone. :D
Same tbh. I’m a backend dev. I love tinkering. I have a desktop PC to tinker with, if I fuck up my Gentoo install, I’ll just boot into Windows or use my Macbook till I get it fixed. If I fuck up the software on my phone, I won’t be able to take phone calls for probably a couple of hours (if it’s a simple fuckup) to like half a day or more if I manage to fuck up the recovery or something.
Ends up being that you need a secondary phone to tinker with, but I have little use for two phones, so I don’t keep them around much, I’d rather let someone else use my old phones because I don’t usually break them.
I hate all mobile operating systems because none of them is able to provide me the level of control I have on my Linux desktops and laptops. But there’s nothing I can do about that, so, at least, I bought the best phone on the market - S23 Ultra. It’s a lovely device, I just dislike Google. Thinking of de-googling it somehow. F-Droid and Galaxy Store can work as Play Store replacement but I still need Google Pay and so on :/
If only Ubuntu Phone wasn’t canceled.
LineageOS for microG might be what you’re looking for. It is a compromise to give you the minimum amount of google while keeping the functionality you want. It features “fake” play services, which allow you to use banking apps and such while not actually running google. Itcomes with privileged F-Droid as your standard source for apps. I’m using it since 2019.
Thanks, I’ll check this. I’m worried about s-pen functionality and the support provided (the official ROM has 4-5 years of updates) but I’ll look into it.
I’ve been on the same boat. Luckily someone on XDA had made the stock rom googleless and it’s been working great. Im not using that gone anymore though (it was either my GSIII or my GS7).
You can do without Google Pay.
But how do I pay then? I don’t even take my wallet with me and I don’t have a physical VISA anymore. Maybe Samsung Pay could work but it’s not supported in my country.
But how do I pay then? I don’t even take my wallet with me and I don’t have a physical VISA anymore. Maybe Samsung Pay could work but it’s not supported in my country.
It’s pretty easy to get your bank to send you a new physical card. If you don’t have a wallet anymore, then just carry the card, or get an ultra thin RFID blocking wallet.
If you are willing to buy a pixel from a store that resells them you’d evade paying google. You can get GrapheneOS which IS a very secure OS … They have a feature called Sandboxes Google Play which is compatible with overwhelming majority of apps compared to MicroG. I think you’d really like what grapheneOS has to offer
Please know that Sandboxed Google Play does not use any additional privileges and makes googles apps run in sandbox like any random app you install would.
Pixel 7. I bought it with the intention of flashing it with Graphene OS or something along those lines but I enjoy the Pixel features so much that I’ve left it stock.
I think you should take the plunge, grapheneOS is very easy to install with the web installer https://grapheneos.org/install/web and an overall easy to use and setup os :)
The only reason I haven’t is the Pixel OS specific feature set like being able to use text selection/OCR from the task switcher.
Ohh that is valid. I do miss that feature. Hopefully someday it is brought to AOSP
Nice try to gain my data ad company!
Fairphone 4 since I like the ethics of the phone (environmental, worker conditions etc) and since I can replace parts of it myself. eg swapping battery or even the screen is trivial and cheap. Good enough performance for me but I’m not running anything special.
Google Pixel 6, because it has a guarantee of 5 years of security updates (unlike other Android phones) and I can use Firefox with uBlock Origin on it (unlike iPhones).
I look forward to the new non-Android Linux phones, but it doesn’t sound like they’re ready for everyday use in the USA just yet. In particular, I’ve heard that they have compatibility issues with US carriers and their street navigation apps aren’t very good. Hopefully that changes soon!
Pixel running GrapheneOS. Happy to feel like I actually own my own phone now.
🫡🫡
Pixel 6. I got it because I got a good deal on one and I needed a phone quickly. I also wanted a phone from a popular enough model so that I would be able to get parts for repairs.
I won’t even consider buying an iPhone since I can’t install apps that aren’t from Apple’s store, and most of the apps I use are from F-Droid and I generally hate all ads.
Majority of my apps are from github or f-droid repos
Same. FOSS is more trustworthy for privacy as well.
Pixel 7 on CalyxOS
Upvote Pixel nation lol ✊
Still on the 4a, which I hope survives as long as possible
Cheers! I hope my 4a survives until there’s another one of that size. I feels like most other phones are getting unnecessarily bigger. The camera software is a big plus, too
For what it is, the camera really is good, huh! I’ve always gravitated to vanilla Android (all the old Nexuses etc) and the 4a was the first phone I didn’t feel any need to root it lol. Couldn’t agree more on the easily handleable size as well…possibly the Pixel 5 would be my only substitute.
Are you fine with the Battery? I switched from Pixel 4a cause mine was at 15% Just after half of the day.
It’s been almost 3 years, and a full load will last about 2 days. That said, I only use it intermittently throughout the day, and not for gaming or watching videos. That’s what other devices are for.
