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How difficult would you rank the experience of getting rid of stock Android for a non-programmer? I'm technically skilled enough to work in the industry, but ha

How difficult would you rank the experience of getting rid of stock Android for a non-programmer? I'm technically skilled enough to work in the industry, but hate reading and occasionally make stupid mistakes. Is it an involved many hours long process, or pretty straightforward? Any downsides? Problems sending sending/recieving calls or texts? I'd still need to maintain access to some apps, like Bitwarden and a few authenticators. I don't mind jumping through one or two hoops upfront, but if it's a constant problem it'd get old fast. I really want to be able to record calls if I feel the need to do so. This change is completely unacceptable to me. I've already moved away from Windows/OSX to Fedora for similar arbitrary, user-hostile actions. It sounds like its about time to do the same with my phone, regrettably. Technology has become a tedious thing. It's supposed to help the public in the ways that they want, not to be decided for them, where the only correct means is approved or denied by some faceless mush of "approvers". I feel a lot of the spirit of the early technologists has been lost with these authoritarian corporatists. It's incredibly frustrating to see such a good thing ground into the mud by these thugs in hoodies.

hedora 4y ago
If you have a pixel, installing grapheneos isnt too bad. I did it via the cli because I'm a luddite, but the webpage based installer is apparently fine. (Assuming you can also figure out how to install chrome.)
kevincox 4y ago
In general it isn't that hard LineageOS has fairly clear guides. The main hitch is Google's Safety Net. Some apps want to validate that you are using a "trustworthy" OS. Of course by "trustworthy" they mean "obeys Google, not the user" Depending on the phone you can spoof it but it is more complex and a cat-and-mouse game. Currently it is working for me even with Google Pay but it is surely only a matter of time until they require hardware attestation which will be basically impossible to fake. Of course while Google is the enabler here, the real problem is the apps. They shouldn't care what OS I used and shouldn't check. I just avoid the apps other than Google Pay which check (not that I've seen any yet other than an old bank).

hedora 4y ago

If you have a pixel, installing grapheneos isnt too bad. I did it via the cli because I'm a luddite, but the webpage based installer is apparently fine. (Assuming you can also figure out how to install chrome.)

kevincox 4y ago

In general it isn't that hard LineageOS has fairly clear guides. The main hitch is Google's Safety Net. Some apps want to validate that you are using a "trustworthy" OS. Of course by "trustworthy" they mean "obeys Google, not the user" Depending on the phone you can spoof it but it is more complex and a cat-and-mouse game. Currently it is working for me even with Google Pay but it is surely only a matter of time until they require hardware attestation which will be basically impossible to fake. Of course while Google is the enabler here, the real problem is the apps. They shouldn't care what OS I used and shouldn't check. I just avoid the apps other than Google Pay which check (not that I've seen any yet other than an old bank).