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I don't know about you, but I just decided to switch from an iPhone back to a Nokia feature phone (where is mobile Linux when you need it?) and start backing ou
by gary17the 5y ago
I don't know about you, but I just decided to switch from an iPhone back to a Nokia feature phone (where is mobile Linux when you need it?) and start backing out of Apple's ecosystem. I'm quite positive I can live without apps, just as I used to before Y2K. And, in case you're wondering, no: I have nothing to do with illegal adult imagery. [Edit #1] This article gets (at least) one thing right: when it comes to certain kinds of crime, an accusation is ALL it takes to destroy your life. [Edit #2] I used to laugh at all the "we have your password, send Bitcoin or..." spam. The first "you have a picture of a gray cat on your phone, send Bitcoin or..." message would give me a friggin' heart attack.
- catmanjan 5y agoWhich model did you choose? I'm looking at doing the same and I noticed Nokia has published the source code for the 8110 (I believe kaios runs ontop of Linux)
- gary17the 5y agoI'll get a small folder with decent battery life - anything that's dumb as a fencepost and fits inside my pocket. I was getting tired of carrying a large holster on my belt, anyway.
- c7DJTLrn 5y agoThe only thing I'd struggle to lose is a map (Google Maps/Apple Maps). For me, it's essential if I'm going somewhere unfamiliar.
- catmanjan 5y agoThe feature phones do have google maps, but from what I've read they all take some time to acquire a lock (could be a software issue?)
- withinboredom 5y agoProbably hardware. GPS either requires a bootstrap starting point or it has to completely solve the equations to calculate the location (slow!). Expensive phones triangulate via towers (fast!) and use that to bootstrap the GPS unit. Some GPS units don’t support that bootstrapping and are, thus, slower.
- vaylian 5y agoDoesn't good old https://maps.google.com https://maps.google.com or https://osm.org https://osm.org work on phones without apps?
- c7DJTLrn 5y agoI don't know, would it? It requires fairly modern browser features that I don't remember the old school phones' browsers having.
- sildur 5y agoThe mobile web interface of Google Maps is hideous and unusable. I had to use it from time to time, when OSM didn't have the data I needed, and I regretted every second of it.
- llampx 5y agoIt's by design so you use the app
- mdp2021 5y agoJust take a mobile device and avoid matching it to any identity, if - like many - you have needed pocket computing power since forever and since forever you have been a private individual.
- c7DJTLrn 5y agoThat's not really possible. iPhones require an iCloud account which even if not directly linked to you, serves as a pool of information that Apple can gather about you and work out your identity from. The second you switch on your phone, it connects to several cell towers and enables your position to be triangulated. As you move around between work, home, the shops, it's constantly informing the providers of your location. Even if you switch SIMs regularly, your device's IMSI number is static and serves as a unique fingerprint. Conveniently, spoofing IMSI numbers is illegal. Guess why. Theoretically it might be possible to combat cell tower triangulation by having the modem only respond to one tower at a time and insert artificial latency to make it harder to work out your distance. But, another convenient fact: cell modems are all closed source, proprietary black boxes. They also have DMA (Direct Memory Access) to your phone. Perhaps I should be wearing a tinfoil hat but these don't seem like coincidences to me. They seem like intentional measures to weaponise a tool in our everyday lives.
- ElFitz 5y ago> iPhones require an iCloud account Nope. I have several dev devices. None of which have an iCloud account setup. Didn’t do anything special; just skipped it at setup.
- Semaphor 5y agoMost online banking sites in Germany require a phone nowadays, some even one that passes Google safety net for Android phones.
- timakro 5y agoSome banks in Germany support chipTAN which doesn't require a phone. You can find a list of banks supporting chipTAN here: https://www.kostenloser-girokonto-vergleich.de/diese-banken-bieten-hbci-oder-chiptan-mit-tan-generator-an/ https://www.kostenloser-girokonto-vergleich.de/diese-banken-...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Semaphor 5y agoThat list is outdated. I was doubtful DKB (which you can’t even use with rooted Android devices, I had to cancel my account via customer support because they decided to cut me off with a minor update) allows chipTAN, and the latest comment is that they stopped supporting it.
- dvdkhlng 5y agoI'm regularly using chipTAN with a stand-alone TAN generator (similar to [1], based on optical flicker-code) for a DKB account. No problems so far. Deutsche bank uses PhotoTAN, which supports hardware TAN generators [2]. Some banks use different but similar TAN generators (e.g. SecurePlus [3]), and I also witnessed Postbank accounts operated with USB-based TAN generators [4] called "BestSign". [1] https://www.voelkner.de/products/476429/REINER-SCT-tanJack-optic-CX-TAN-Generator.html?offer=00fccd0e63f9b64402340a52708601e4 https://www.voelkner.de/products/476429/REINER-SCT-tanJack-o... [2] https://genostore.de/db/phototan-lesegeraet/92/phototan-lesegeraet-digipass-760-deutsche-bank https://genostore.de/db/phototan-lesegeraet/92/phototan-lese... [3] https://cb.kobilshop.com/secureplus-generator/1/secureplus-generator https://cb.kobilshop.com/secureplus-generator/1/secureplus-g... securePlus Generator [4] https://www.seal-one.com/devices.en#DiVc3100KLink https://www.seal-one.com/devices.en#DiVc3100KLink BestSign
- pcdoodle 5y agoI just picked up a tom-tom on ebay for $30.00, I forgot how awesome having a dedicated GPS can be. No hot phone, no worries about data connection.
- damontal 5y agoMy 10 year old Garmin still works and I can get updated maps on it if I ever need it.
- masijo 5y agoI think a good balance between usability and privacy is to use LineageOS with MicroG (an open implementation of GApps APIs) or something like Sailfish OS.
- daenney 5y agoSame. I’ve been using Apple products for years. The trade-offs they made were acceptable to me. That’s now over. I’ve been looking at trying something like a Pixel but with Calyx as a first step while waiting for the PinePhone and the Libre M to mature further.
- tomxor 5y ago> while waiting for the PinePhone and the Libre M to mature further. This can't happen fast enough... though I can't get behind Purism/LibreM it's just too fucking expensive, basic privacy and ownership of your device shouldn't be a privilege.
- fragileone 5y agoLibrem 5 you mean.
- briefcomment 5y agoIn case you hadn't heard this story, all PinePhones in a recent batch of shipments were redirected to NewZealand, regardless of their final destination [1]. Some people were suggesting that this could mean they were possibly tampered with. [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28002447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28002447
- noptd 5y agoI wonder if it was the cheapest Five-Eyes country to ship them all through.
- jjcon 5y agoI switched to an iphone about a year and half ago and I’m feeling it too. My current plan is to switch to a lineageOS device. Apple has completely run off the rails in the past year, from aggressive politicking to now complete abandonment of their core values. I didn’t even realize apple had the ability to do something like this? Can someone explain how this is even possible for them to do? This wasn’t an update was it? Just a flipped switch?
- weikju 5y agoThey write the OS that runs on your iPhone, so of course they have the ability to do this or anything else.
- jjcon 5y agoBut without an update to the os or even an app on the os, how are they able to make this change? I’m not in this space but id love to understand the technicals here, especially the ramifications for, ‘what else are they capable of doing without my permission?’
- unionpivo 5y agoThey can force update your phone, so pretty much anything they want. This means they can intercept even e2e encrypted messages such as signal, if they wanted. When you control kernel, you can do anything, to anything running on that system.
- m4rtink 5y agoThat's the issue - apple devices run an opaque blob signed by the entity developing it which is also is in possession of the source code which it does not share with anyone, so users can't inspect it to see what it actually does. For comparison in a Linux distro: - everything is built from source on distro infrastructure, users can inspect any an all source code of everything running on their machine - software updates are transparent and not enforced, user can read changelog or compare source code of the updates - software updates of individual packages don't usually go directly from upstream open source software developers but via a package maintainer in the distro, for each distro - if an upstream project introduced fishy stuff like Apple is doing would almost certainly be noticed by either one of the package maintainers or users due to changes in the source or in software behavior, alerting others to do source code analysis and stop the attempt from affecting users
- Cyril_HN 5y agoWhat if you send a photo to an iPhone user that is gets false-positived, aren't you also at risk? Basically, is it with interacting with Apple users if you are worried about that problem?
- dwaite 5y agoDon't forget hosted email providers scanning attachments. Best to stick to voice and snail mail.
- kenjackson 5y agoActually voicemail and calls can (and are) scanned for content as well. Best to stick with in-person conversations only, not around any technology that has a microphone.
- fsflover 5y ago> (where is mobile Linux when you need it?) Here it is: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 and https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/.
- gary17the 5y agoIt's not (only) about the hardware, both PureOS and Plasma Mobile platforms are nowhere near production-grade software, likely cannot be even considered beta-quality by an end-user.
- fsflover 5y agoThe HN audience can have those phones as daily drivers (some do). I am not suggesting that they are as good as iPhones.
- gary17the 5y agoI see your point. There's also postmarketOS; PINE64 PinePhone is listed as one of its primary supported devices[1]. [1] https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices
- ekianjo 5y agopostmarketOS mostly only supports well very old devices, and the Pinephone which is also based on completely outdated hardware. I wish there was something a little more recent with Linux support.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- kop316 5y agohttp://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices http://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices It also supports the Librem 5, but also the Oneplus 6 and 6T
- foepys 5y agoSailfish OS is mobile Linux and can run on smartphones. I didn't personally use it but the website claims it to run on the Sony Xperia 10 II from 2020. It costs $50, though. https://jolla.com https://jolla.com
- rakwoelq 5y agoPurchasing Sailfish has some geographical restrictions. "Sailfish X is currently available in the countries of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland ("Authorized Countries") and the use of our website and services to purchase Sailfish X outside of the Authorized Countries is prohibited."[0] https://shop.jolla.com https://shop.jolla.com
- aerique 5y agoYes, this is the main problem with SFOS. I think it is because of the USA's allowance of trivial patents which act like a trade block.
- m4rtink 5y agoThis is effectively just (understandable) CYA on Jollas part, likely due to the some countries respecting the insanity that are software patents. In practice only the act of buying the actual Sailfish OS license in https://shop.jolla.com https://shop.jolla.com needs to be done from the the EU/supported countries. That can be done via a EU VPN and none of the Jolla provided services (RPM repositories needed for system updates, etc.) are geoblocked. I went to Japan with Sailfish OS phone twice with no issues at all. For reference: - getting SFOS from outside of EU: https://together.jolla.com/question/184861/ask-purchase-sailfish-x-outside-eu/ https://together.jolla.com/question/184861/ask-purchase-sail... https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/has-jolla-abandoned-sailors-in-the-uk/6169/10 https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/has-jolla-abandoned-sailors-i... - stats from the community Sailfish OS software repository showing a lot of traffic from countries outside of the officially supported area https://openrepos.net/statistics/global https://openrepos.net/statistics/global
- m4rtink 5y agoI have been using Sailfish OS since its launch in 2013 and it works fine, even for regular users (if you install it for them). I have recently installed it on the Xperia 10 II you mention as well use a couple Xperia X devices in the family. Use the Jolla 1 & Jolla C before back when Jolla still manufactured their own devices. Frankly, before some of the PinePhone distro mature, this is the only really usable Linux distro based independent mobile OS. And it has been available for years, yet people don't seem to be aware of it or seem to ignore it for some reason. And if you have any questions about Sailfish OS, fire away! :)
- lovelyviking 5y agoIf Spyware Engine is allowed to be installed by some idiot with company in his hands to amplify his idiocy, what prevents another idiot with company in his hands to do the same? And how about specially crafted 'normal' pictures sent to individual to trigger the system? Special mind would have a perfect tool to get some one down / put into the troubles.
- dilap 5y agoA Linux phone would be good, but not sufficient. Once things like Apple is doing become normalized, the next step becomes making it illegal to distribute or use software that doesn't do it. So running your Linux phone will be illegal, and why would you want to do that anyway, except to look at child pornography? Similarly, non-sanctionable digital currencies like Bitcoin will be made illegal. Avoiding modern tech is a workaround, but will be get increasingly hard as the world becomes increasingly reliant on it. (Cash, also, will have to go away.)
- ratww 5y agoYep, I'm gonna go into a dumb phone if those changes go in. Privacy was the whole reason I was in Apple's ecosystem. If they're gonna spy on me, even if it's a good reason, then there's no privacy anymore. Basically: fuck them.
- fendy3002 5y agoWhich is why I hope that steam deck success. It'll open many more option for linux portable, and hopefully linux mobile based on steamos will follow through.
- tarkin2 5y agoAs my iPhone battery fades I'll be looking more and more at Pinephone.
- JohnJamesRambo 5y agoI’m in the same boat. I loved Apple’s stand on privacy. That seems to have now been thrown out the window. I despise child abuse but this isn’t how you protect children. What are my options on Android? Any smaller phones? Everything I see there is enormous. I loved my original iPhone SE. :(
- fragileone 5y agoPixel 4a?
- JohnJamesRambo 5y ago5.8 inch screen. :( I’d like something like my 4 inch iPhone SE but I know that is impossible. How about 4.7 inch range like the new iPhone SE? Edit: If anyone is ever reading this and looking, I went with a Pixel 2, has a 5 inch screen and a good camera. I'll see how it goes. Will be nice to not be locked into Apple anymore.
- oehtXRwMkIs 5y agoPixel 4a and Pixel 2 are almost the same size. https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Google-Pixel-4a,Google-Pixel-2/phones/11311,10584 https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Google-Pixel-4a,Googl... Keep in mind that bezels have gotten much smaller over time.
- JohnJamesRambo 5y agoOh I see. Thank you, I didn’t think about that.
- raxxorrax 5y agoAny Android One phone is clean (aside from Google ofc). Sadly the program will probably be cancelled because many manufacturers want their own spyware installed on phones. I think Android will at some point fail. There is librem and pinephones and they don't look bad, but don't expect many apps and interoperability. Some people regard that as a plus.
- ekianjo 5y ago> where is mobile Linux when you need it?) There's the Pinephone these days, but it's not ready for general consumption.
- mlok 5y agoMobile Linux is here : https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/