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I've been looking for a "FOSS" phone that is based purely on AOSP. I don't want a custom ROM, Play Store, cloud, or to have to create any accounts or sign into

I've been looking for a "FOSS" phone that is based purely on AOSP. I don't want a custom ROM, Play Store, cloud, or to have to create any accounts or sign into anything. I just want a simple Android phone with decent specs that I can install APKs on. Does this exist at all? Or do I have to buy/pay for a "full" Android phone and reflash it?

eptcyka 7y ago
You could buy a Pixel and put GrapheneOS on it. https://grapheneos.org/#device-support https://grapheneos.org/#device-support
- zyren 7y ago
  Their website does a pretty horrible job of selling the OS. I was interested until i saw 0 screenshots of what the OS actually looked like. None on their website or github.
  - bubblethink 7y ago
    It looks like AOSP. There is no extra eye candy or frills, and that's not even remotely their focus.
- craftyguy 7y ago
  > I don't want a custom ROM
- kop316 7y ago
  I looked at the page, it is interesting, but I have never heard anything about this. They page didn't also say anything about who they were/what they do? Do you have anywhere with more information about this/the folks behind it?
  - Tepix 7y ago
    It's the successor of the Copperhead OS project. Some details at https://liliputing.com/2019/04/grapheneos-is-an-android-based-security-hardened-open-source-operating-system.html https://liliputing.com/2019/04/grapheneos-is-an-android-base...
    - Brakenshire 7y ago
      Fantastic that it’s open source now.
AWildC182 7y ago
Buy an unlocked bootloader phone (ie oneplus) and put lineage os on it. Lineage doesn't come with any of the google apps or the play store, just a few basic apps and the ability to put whatever else you want on it.
- rehemiau 7y ago
  This is what I've been doing for a few years now. Some apps require Google Play Services (Revolut?), some show a warning that can be ignored and run fine afterwards (Authy, Signal), some have limited functionality like no notifications (Slack), but many work just fine (Firefox, Spotify, and even Messenger Lite)
  - hestipod 7y ago
    Microg has forked LOS and packaged it preconfigured https://lineage.microg.org/ https://lineage.microg.org/ Useful if you want play services and store function without Google. But I know it has it's own security concerns so not clearly "better" overall.
- swiley 7y ago
  What makes alpine nice is that it’s super easy to compile yourself and hack on it. Have you ever tried compiling android? It’s not fun.
jraph 7y ago
No. As far as I know, there are always proprietary blobs. That said, he Fair Phone 2 officially supports degooglized Android Pie (Lineage).
kop316 7y ago
Hello, I did just that with a Google Pixel 3a, but you should be able to do that with any Google Android Device. I actually compiled AOSP and LineageOS from source. But to keep in mind, those all have proprietary Drivers.

eptcyka 7y ago

You could buy a Pixel and put GrapheneOS on it. https://grapheneos.org/#device-support https://grapheneos.org/#device-support

zyren 7y ago
Their website does a pretty horrible job of selling the OS. I was interested until i saw 0 screenshots of what the OS actually looked like. None on their website or github.
- bubblethink 7y ago
  It looks like AOSP. There is no extra eye candy or frills, and that's not even remotely their focus.
craftyguy 7y ago
> I don't want a custom ROM
kop316 7y ago
I looked at the page, it is interesting, but I have never heard anything about this. They page didn't also say anything about who they were/what they do? Do you have anywhere with more information about this/the folks behind it?
- Tepix 7y ago
  It's the successor of the Copperhead OS project. Some details at https://liliputing.com/2019/04/grapheneos-is-an-android-based-security-hardened-open-source-operating-system.html https://liliputing.com/2019/04/grapheneos-is-an-android-base...
  - Brakenshire 7y ago
    Fantastic that it’s open source now.

AWildC182 7y ago

Buy an unlocked bootloader phone (ie oneplus) and put lineage os on it. Lineage doesn't come with any of the google apps or the play store, just a few basic apps and the ability to put whatever else you want on it.

rehemiau 7y ago
This is what I've been doing for a few years now. Some apps require Google Play Services (Revolut?), some show a warning that can be ignored and run fine afterwards (Authy, Signal), some have limited functionality like no notifications (Slack), but many work just fine (Firefox, Spotify, and even Messenger Lite)
- hestipod 7y ago
  Microg has forked LOS and packaged it preconfigured https://lineage.microg.org/ https://lineage.microg.org/ Useful if you want play services and store function without Google. But I know it has it's own security concerns so not clearly "better" overall.
swiley 7y ago
What makes alpine nice is that it’s super easy to compile yourself and hack on it. Have you ever tried compiling android? It’s not fun.

jraph 7y ago

No. As far as I know, there are always proprietary blobs. That said, he Fair Phone 2 officially supports degooglized Android Pie (Lineage).

kop316 7y ago

Hello, I did just that with a Google Pixel 3a, but you should be able to do that with any Google Android Device. I actually compiled AOSP and LineageOS from source. But to keep in mind, those all have proprietary Drivers.