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Stuff like this is why without fail, every phone I own gets LineageOS installed immediately. Xiaomi phones have a bootloader unlock timer to try and mitigate s

Stuff like this is why without fail, every phone I own gets LineageOS installed immediately. Xiaomi phones have a bootloader unlock timer to try and mitigate sites reselling their phones with modified software, so I had to leave my Mix 2s alone for a few days before I could make it safe to use.

fastball 6y ago
This is why, without fail, I buy iPhones.
- amiga-workbench 6y ago
  With the Bootloader exploit on iPhone X and older, its actually worth looking at them now.
  - fastball 6y ago
    Checkm8 is a tethered exploit, so probably not super useful if you want to sideload another OS and not have a bad time.
    - Nextgrid 6y ago
      I remember back in the days of the iPhone 3G(s?) there was an attempt at a battery-powered dongle that could re-jailbreak a phone in the field in case of a reboot. The same technology could be built into a battery case or similar, not to mention recent technological advances mean it can be done in a small package the size of a Lightning connector or a Yubikey and you can carry it on your keyring.
      - ThatPlayer 6y ago
        There's a similar product for Nintendo Switch jailbreaking: NS-Atmosphere or RCMLoader. Since it's a bigger device, some of them are soldered internally using a Trinket M0
      - vageli 6y ago
        Does this mean you'd have to walk around with an unlocked bootloader all the time?
        Nextgrid 6y ago
        Given the vulnerability we're talking about, the boot loader is already unlocked (because it's vulnerable) and can be exploited by any malicious USB device if the phone is placed in DFU mode. The dongle idea I'm talking about would be to have a convenient way to exploit the vulnerability for the benefit of the user to boot the device into a jailbroken mode in case of an unexpected restart (battery runs out and you're away from your computer).
      - fastball 6y ago
        https://twitter.com/SamGuichelaar/status/1177685513807024128?s=09 https://twitter.com/SamGuichelaar/status/1177685513807024128...
      - neurostimulant 6y ago
        If the jailbreak script can run on arm linux, you probably can get close enough by using a raspberry pi and a power bank. Configure the pi to automatically run the jailbreak as script on boot or when the phone connected via USB and you'll get a portable plug and play jailbreaking device.
- rubber_duck 6y ago
  And then you can't install anything Apple doesn't want you to install. I like being able to run gameboy emulators on my phone for games I already paid 20 years ago, change my launcher/dialer, browser, etc.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - fastball 6y ago
    Luckily my interests and Apple's interests are aligned in that regard. I already waste enough time on my phone every day without having gameboy emulators and spending time (too much time, if my teenage years are any indication) customizing the OS.
  - jeffhuys 6y ago
    Emulators running here, from NES all the way up to PSP, on a 6s that's not jailbroken. You can sideload it yourself if you have a mac, or you can use something like buildstore that gives you a provisioning profile, but that's 7$ a year or something. Happily paid that. The buildstore also offers things like ad-free youtube and twitch.tv app tweaks, torrent clients, you name it.
- Yetanfou 6y ago
  It is a pity iPhones are tied to Apple and iOS (mostly - see the recent news about Android on an iPhone 8) without the possibility of escape which many Android devices offer. For iPhone to be an alternative to Android in this respect it would need a few extra features: - the possibility to install your own distribution, whether that be alternative versions of iOS or a totally different OS - expandable storage, preferably with a boot option - an official method to side-load software outside of the 'walled garden' - either more extensive access to the innards of iOS or root, this to allow e.g. a true firewall (with ingress and egress blocking), a system-wide network blocker ('adblock' et al), etc. - the possibility to run interpreters and compilers - a real browser choice, not just a shell around Safari In short, the possibility to have a less restrictive system. Since I don't see Apple opening up in this way unless they're forced to by law or by declining sales I don't see myself buying any of their products in the near future.
pingec 6y ago
Are there any resources describing what you lose and gain by installing LineageOS? I'd like to know what will stop working before I try it out...
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  It has been a long time since I used stock Android, but depending on your phone you don't lose much. The base install doesn't have any google apps, but adding them is simple. The biggest loss is in manufacturer unique apps, which can also be seen as a gain considering how companies like Xiaomi use those apps. Besides that, there can be some security gain if set up properly, I think some additional configuration tweaks, and LineageOS often a longer support cycle. It really depends on your phone though, try searching your model +lineageos and you should find out the details.
  - climb_stealth 6y ago
    Hah, getting rid of manufacturer specific apps is half the reason for me to install Lineageos in the first place. That as well as much better battery life and more control over what apps are and aren't allowed to access.
    - boomboomsubban 6y ago
      Sometimes those apps are actual features, I believe some phones that advertise special cameras or audio quality need them. Most of the time it's a beneficial loss though.
      - RealStickman_ 6y ago
        The original Camera app is the only thing I really missed on my OnePlus 3, before I found somebody on XDA distributing the apk.
- climb_stealth 6y ago
  It probably depends on the device, but in the best case you are not losing anything. Especially as you can install google services, so Google Play and everything around it works. The only apps that stopped working on my Poco F1 are apps that check for modified Android. For example my Australian digital drivers license app doesn't work as it detects the Android environment as non-standard. I believe you can do some root magic to work around it, but I could never be bothered to do so. Interestingly enough the three different banking apps I use all work fine. Have a look at the installation instructions to see how you feel about it [0]. They are usually really good. The devil is in the detail though and you probably have to plan in an afternoon to use google to find workaround for bits that don't work. For example when I was upgrading to the latest Android version I had to install a different bootloader as the previous one wasn't compatible. It took a bit of looking around, but going from the error messages usually brings up the right solutions in various forums. [0] https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/beryllium/install https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/beryllium/install

fastball 6y ago

This is why, without fail, I buy iPhones.

amiga-workbench 6y ago
With the Bootloader exploit on iPhone X and older, its actually worth looking at them now.
- fastball 6y ago
  Checkm8 is a tethered exploit, so probably not super useful if you want to sideload another OS and not have a bad time.
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    I remember back in the days of the iPhone 3G(s?) there was an attempt at a battery-powered dongle that could re-jailbreak a phone in the field in case of a reboot. The same technology could be built into a battery case or similar, not to mention recent technological advances mean it can be done in a small package the size of a Lightning connector or a Yubikey and you can carry it on your keyring.
    - ThatPlayer 6y ago
      There's a similar product for Nintendo Switch jailbreaking: NS-Atmosphere or RCMLoader. Since it's a bigger device, some of them are soldered internally using a Trinket M0
    - vageli 6y ago
      Does this mean you'd have to walk around with an unlocked bootloader all the time?
      - Nextgrid 6y ago
        Given the vulnerability we're talking about, the boot loader is already unlocked (because it's vulnerable) and can be exploited by any malicious USB device if the phone is placed in DFU mode. The dongle idea I'm talking about would be to have a convenient way to exploit the vulnerability for the benefit of the user to boot the device into a jailbroken mode in case of an unexpected restart (battery runs out and you're away from your computer).
    - fastball 6y ago
      https://twitter.com/SamGuichelaar/status/1177685513807024128?s=09 https://twitter.com/SamGuichelaar/status/1177685513807024128...
    - neurostimulant 6y ago
      If the jailbreak script can run on arm linux, you probably can get close enough by using a raspberry pi and a power bank. Configure the pi to automatically run the jailbreak as script on boot or when the phone connected via USB and you'll get a portable plug and play jailbreaking device.
rubber_duck 6y ago
And then you can't install anything Apple doesn't want you to install. I like being able to run gameboy emulators on my phone for games I already paid 20 years ago, change my launcher/dialer, browser, etc.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- fastball 6y ago
  Luckily my interests and Apple's interests are aligned in that regard. I already waste enough time on my phone every day without having gameboy emulators and spending time (too much time, if my teenage years are any indication) customizing the OS.
- jeffhuys 6y ago
  Emulators running here, from NES all the way up to PSP, on a 6s that's not jailbroken. You can sideload it yourself if you have a mac, or you can use something like buildstore that gives you a provisioning profile, but that's 7$ a year or something. Happily paid that. The buildstore also offers things like ad-free youtube and twitch.tv app tweaks, torrent clients, you name it.
Yetanfou 6y ago
It is a pity iPhones are tied to Apple and iOS (mostly - see the recent news about Android on an iPhone 8) without the possibility of escape which many Android devices offer. For iPhone to be an alternative to Android in this respect it would need a few extra features: - the possibility to install your own distribution, whether that be alternative versions of iOS or a totally different OS - expandable storage, preferably with a boot option - an official method to side-load software outside of the 'walled garden' - either more extensive access to the innards of iOS or root, this to allow e.g. a true firewall (with ingress and egress blocking), a system-wide network blocker ('adblock' et al), etc. - the possibility to run interpreters and compilers - a real browser choice, not just a shell around Safari In short, the possibility to have a less restrictive system. Since I don't see Apple opening up in this way unless they're forced to by law or by declining sales I don't see myself buying any of their products in the near future.

pingec 6y ago

Are there any resources describing what you lose and gain by installing LineageOS? I'd like to know what will stop working before I try it out...

boomboomsubban 6y ago
It has been a long time since I used stock Android, but depending on your phone you don't lose much. The base install doesn't have any google apps, but adding them is simple. The biggest loss is in manufacturer unique apps, which can also be seen as a gain considering how companies like Xiaomi use those apps. Besides that, there can be some security gain if set up properly, I think some additional configuration tweaks, and LineageOS often a longer support cycle. It really depends on your phone though, try searching your model +lineageos and you should find out the details.
- climb_stealth 6y ago
  Hah, getting rid of manufacturer specific apps is half the reason for me to install Lineageos in the first place. That as well as much better battery life and more control over what apps are and aren't allowed to access.
  - boomboomsubban 6y ago
    Sometimes those apps are actual features, I believe some phones that advertise special cameras or audio quality need them. Most of the time it's a beneficial loss though.
    - RealStickman_ 6y ago
      The original Camera app is the only thing I really missed on my OnePlus 3, before I found somebody on XDA distributing the apk.
climb_stealth 6y ago
It probably depends on the device, but in the best case you are not losing anything. Especially as you can install google services, so Google Play and everything around it works. The only apps that stopped working on my Poco F1 are apps that check for modified Android. For example my Australian digital drivers license app doesn't work as it detects the Android environment as non-standard. I believe you can do some root magic to work around it, but I could never be bothered to do so. Interestingly enough the three different banking apps I use all work fine. Have a look at the installation instructions to see how you feel about it [0]. They are usually really good. The devil is in the detail though and you probably have to plan in an afternoon to use google to find workaround for bits that don't work. For example when I was upgrading to the latest Android version I had to install a different bootloader as the previous one wasn't compatible. It took a bit of looking around, but going from the error messages usually brings up the right solutions in various forums. [0] https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/beryllium/install https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/beryllium/install