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Ha! Me too! Exact same. Bought a Pixel 10. Intended to do the default Android for a while. But it was filled with ads for “Wicked” which had me looking at my ph
by sivers 4mo ago
Ha! Me too! Exact same. Bought a Pixel 10. Intended to do the default Android for a while. But it was filled with ads for “Wicked” which had me looking at my phone with a sneer on my face I couldn't erase - as if someone had smeared feces all over it and threw it on my bed.
So I jumped straight to GrapheneOS, which was way easier and less extreme than I had been warned. So beautifully minimal, with no crap. Now my phone feels like a simple Linux (Void/Arch) PC. So wonderful.
- jordand 4mo agoWe took control, we're keeping control
- joe_mamba 4mo ago[flagged]
- cluckindan 4mo agoThere is no FOSS modem. The baseband is a separate computer operating on a lower level than the OS. Your provider can run arbitrary code there.
- opan 4mo agoI thought the PinePhone community had succeeded in making custom firmware for the modem in the PinePhone, though I'm not sure of the legality of actually using it. Plus both PinePhone and Librem 5 had a killswitch to disconnect the modem at least.
- singpolyma3 4mo agoTBF if Google locked down the devices like that it would be a GPL violation. Not their first or whatever but still, there's a reason for them not to do that beside "being nice"
- yjftsjthsd-h 4mo agoWould it? IANAL, but AIUI the only GPL component is Linux on GPLv2 which requires providing code but not giving the ability to install it
- singpolyma3 4mo agoYes. GPLv2 specifically contains a clause that you must provide "scripts to control compilation and installation" Source you can't compile or install onto the device wouldn't be very useful.
- fluidcruft 4mo agoNot really. Tivo did that eons ago. Whether you view this as a "flaw" or "feature" of GPLv2 it's ultimately why GPLv3 now exists. The Linux kernel developers see what Tivo did as a "feature" rather than a "flaw" and refuse GPLv3.
- wolvoleo 4mo agoIt's also because so many Linux developers are on the payroll of big tech. Look at all the submissions. 95% are just big tech. And look at the key people in the Linux Foundation. All a bunch of business suits with compromised motives. Serving their company above the community. There's only a few unencumbered people in there now. Linux is no longer the community-driven choice. It's big business with billions hanging on the line. The grassroots origins are long over.
- singpolyma3 4mo agoTiVo never prevented installing your own build in the device. They only prevented running their proprietary app on top of it when you had done so.
- genxy 4mo agoLet them eat steak!
- StrLght 4mo agoAnd how many options are there exactly? How many of them are capable of at least making and receiving a phone call without any issues 99% of the time? While I agree with your general sentiment, I feel necessary to acknowledge that it's just not there (yet?). GrapheneOS is a great option if you want to have a fully working and secure device.
- matheusmoreira 4mo agoYou're not wrong, but we gotta do what we can and take every advantage we can get.
- jordand 4mo agoYour point is valid and yeah, it's a never-ending fight just to keep the control we have. Things like the Play Protect API and loads of Android apps being coupled to Play Services is it's own big challenge we're stuck with just to stay within the Android ecosystem
- jitix 4mo agoWhat you are describing is not Google’s alturism but keeping competition in check. If Google didn’t “allow” GrapheneOS it opens up a new market segment for other smartphone manufacturers. Apple really cashed in on privacy for a few years so it’s not unfathomable that Xiaomi or someone else goes all in on “privacy focused android” in absence of pixel+graphene combo. Edit: Apparently Motorola is doing just that.
- ignoramous 4mo ago> Apple really cashed in on privacy for a few years Apple didn't "cash in", their marketing dept made sure privacy/security engineering got just enough budget to pull off miracles & then spend even more to successfully make the public forget about the very nasty Celebgate.
- thewebguyd 4mo ago> Celebgate That was a phishing campaign, not a breach.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- ignoramous 4mo agoMy point isn't about engineering.
- ethbr1 4mo ago> Xiaomi or someone else goes all in on “privacy focused android” in absence of pixel+graphene combo Xiaomi? Privacy?
- wolvoleo 4mo agoI don't think any Chinese company can pull the privacy card. They're bound by their government to spy on their customers just like American ones are. Otherwise Huawei would have already jumped into that gap. They have their own Google-independent OS now so they could have marketed it to privacy enthusiasts where the lack of Google services would have been a positive not a negative.
- ajdude 4mo agoYears ago I looked into GrapheneOS, and I ultimately didn't go with it because, at least at the time, they only supported pixel phones (specifically pixel phones that Google actively had security updates for). I realized that if I got that OS, I would be at the mercy of Google supporting the device in order to continue using GrapheneOS. In the end I just opted out of the android ecosystem altogether and went with a flip phone that I used as a hotspot for an iPod touch (we only used over VPN with locked down DNS and nothing google related). My privacy lasted about two weeks, because unfortunately Spotify was able to fingerprint that device to Facebook.
- opan 4mo agoI would highly recommend LineageOS. Supports non-Pixel phones, some of them many years old (although now that I double check, the Galaxy S3 and OnePlus One aren't on the devices list anymore, I guess they do stop supporting old stuff eventually...). The OnePlus 5 is still supported and was released in 2017. For anything older than that, I guess I'd recommend looking into postmarketOS.
- joe_mamba 4mo ago> at least at the time, they only supported pixel phones At the time? They still are the only devices officially supported. Having your freedom be tied to a handful of devices from Google, is a massive supply chain risk.
- edwcross 4mo agoDoes it affect the photo quality? It used to require letting go of the default photo app and thus a downgrade in photo processing.
- theodric 4mo agoInstall a 3rd party GCam and then the answer is no https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/ https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/
- cwillu 4mo agoThat sounds like the answer is actually yes: we're not talking about the lack of a camera app, but the lack of a camera app that knows the details of the usually-proprietary camera firmware
- oynqr 4mo agoYou can install both the regular GCam as well as third party mods. Actual GCam feels worse to me.
- t0bia_s 4mo agoProblem with stock Google camera app is that it made horrible HDRlike images even with HDR turned off. You cannot adjust amount of reduced highlights and increased shadows which makes images unrealistic with lack of depth.
- Cider9986 4mo agoNo, if you install the Google camera there is no difference in quality and by revoking network you don't lose privacy.
- dns_snek 4mo ago> by revoking network you don't lose privacy Be careful, apps can still communicate with other apps, e.g. revoking the network permission doesn't stop apps from fetching and displaying ads over the network. I don't know enough about Android internals to understand the mechanisms behind it, but clearly there are ways for apps to exfiltrate data. > Trying to use Network as a complete data exfiltration toggle isn't the intended purpose, and you should always consider apps within the profile being able to communicate for ALL data and access including permissions. It is not something only relevant to Network. https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/4024-in-what-extent-can-apps-communicate-with-each-other/10 https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/4024-in-what-extent-can-app... https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/2197 https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/2197
- Cub3 4mo ago> it was filled with ads You bought a phone from an advertising company?
- dackdel 4mo agofor some reason i read that in archer(animated) voice.
- harvey9 4mo agoDon't recall my old nexus devices having ads in the OS. Disappointing where Google has taken this.
- ClikeX 4mo agoTechnically they already did a built in ad with Android KitKat. Mostly benign, but I do remember being at an Android event and KitKats samples being given out to everyone. As well as KitKat wrappers being branded with the Android logo for a while.
- yard2010 4mo ago"Do you not?"
- fg137 4mo agoIt's not like buying from Samsung is any better.
- petre 4mo ago
- OtomotO 4mo agoWhat about banking Apps? No problem there? Some of them have ridiculous secur... compliance rules.
- Semaphor 4mo agoThe vast majority work, check this list for details: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/ https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compa...
- goerg 4mo agoThere is a list of compatible banking apps: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/#international-banking-apps https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compa...
- kakacik 4mo agoBig list, unfortunately one of my banks is not there (BCGE, Switzerland), most probably meaning I can't even login into ebanking in any other way since they have their properietary authentication app (CrontoSign, also not listed). Its rather small regional/cantonal bank so I get it, even though that region is Geneva, mecca of (some types of) banking. Other banks that I use are there. Almost perfect...
- flexxxxxxxxxer 4mo agoMy banking apps were missing in list too, it doesn't mean that they are not working. You can test and report on that issue tracker about your banking app if it works :)
- Semaphor 4mo agoBeing missing means they haven’t been tested, not that they don’t work. Generally they probably only don’t work if they require the google play verification thingy
- Scrounger 4mo ago
- teekert 4mo agoiOS is also going into this direction, just open the AppStore, it’s all the cheapest most horrible apps. Temu (shop like you don't give a s* about the planet), addictive AI Waifu’s (who needs human interaction anyway), clean your stuff but fake-time-wasting style (it's free dopamine!), search option’s first hit is often scammy (ie search for MS Authenticator). I feel that Steve ("If you want pr0n get an Android") would turn around in his grave from the sight of this. Its just a matter of time before this cesspool will leak into the rest of the OS, AppStore shows us the temptation is too big for Apple. When my iPhone 12 mini dies it’s /e/OS or GrapheneOS for me. My devices should serve me and my thoughts are my own.
- port11 4mo agoThe AppStore has been like that for eons, but then again I don’t know a single person that uses it or checks the “content” posted there. It’s an utter waste of time. I don’t think it will leak. After the U2 debacle, Apple might have learned not to push too hard on this front.
- strcat 4mo agoYou should read https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134-devices-lacking-standard-privacysecurity-patches-and-protections-arent-private https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134-devices-lacking-stand... about /e/ and also look at what they say about devices with strong privacy and security including but not limited to https://grapheneos.social/deck/@GrapheneOS/116353973732143171 https://grapheneos.social/deck/@GrapheneOS/11635397373214317....
- teekert 4mo agoI'm aware of this discussion, I don't really like the way the Graphene people communicate, also against FairPhone. But nevertheless I'm looking forward to their Motorola offer that should come any minute now?
- Cider9986 4mo agoGrapheneos communicates with facts, not opinions. It can come off as abrasive but it's never unfounded attacks or opinions.