I truly truly wish you the best of luck in your futile endeavor.
My wife HATES all her apple products but still won't switch. Similarly, while I love Macbooks, iPhones make me sick and developing for them is like Apple personally giving you (the dev) the middle finger every time there's an update.
I don't know the solution. Wish I did. Wish the internet was as free and wild as it used to be. But you could have a foghorn go off on an iphone every 3 seconds and people still wouldn't switch.
Can you explain where this wierd wish to talk about Apple in unrelated articles comes from? There's always one of you around that need to run an apple pitch in every topic where it's not needed or desired.
I've personally gone fully FOSS with my phone, using
Aurelia - APP store Frontend
Obtainium - APP manager
Google Camera - with blocked network access
Organic Maps - navigation
K9 mail - email
Koreader - epub reader
Binary eye - barcodes
PDF doc Scanner - scan to PDF
Signal - messenger
Is this on a non google OS? Otherwise my question is, can you ever really block the camera's network access?
By the way check out Librera for ebooks. I have koreader on my kindle and I like it, I find librera's interface and features to be better suited to a phone. (apk is free on fdroid)
I still have stock on my OnePlus 12, but I've disabled everything natively Google (except the camera and gallery, because they're linked and allow taking pictures without unlocking) and use Rethink DNS to firewall all apps. Nothing gets out without me having an idea (although that also means some apps may break until their access is properly configured, and some are really stubborn).
Agree that the website should do this. But adding here that the answer is "Mostly, yes." e/os/ includes microg by default, which replaces some of the Google Services with open source implementations.
They are one of the least "deGoogled" ROMs out there[1]. If you want the only real "deGoogled" OS that prioritizes security and privacy, use GrapheneOS https://grapheneos.org/.
e/OS is the best. To anyone reading this, give it a shot - you can break from from Apple and whatever spyware garbage is installed on your Android phone.
I've installed it to three devices and have daily driven it since June 2023. I got tired of paying the Apple tax, so I picked up a Motorola Edge 30 (Dubai) for ~200 USD which was the newest non-Murena/Fairphone listed on the website - but it is no longer listed because they've shifted to the "easy installer". I've turned to community-built ROMs for my other devices, including a Xiaomi Pocophone F1 from 2017 - which works great - and a Lenovo Tab. I specifically purchased the Lenovo tablet because there was a ROM; there's a user on the forums who is creating a lot of ROMs for devices. I was looking for a tablet to serve as an e-reader and media consumption device, but it's powered off most the time.
The OS is very nice to use. It's very similar to iOS. The browser has automatic ad blocks, so some sites complain that I need to turn off my ad blocker, but this isn't possible. The privacy-first focus has helped me to avoid becoming a smart phone addict. I use it primarily for consuming hacker news articles on the go.
As far as errors go, /e/OS developers have stated they need to invest more time on tablet features, so the Lenovo Tab I have isn't an iPad competitor. Also, my Motorola Edge 30 was stuck on version 1.19 for about 7 months until I manually side-loaded the update. For the past month, App Lounge was having trouble anonymously connecting and updating apps. V2.5 was released a couple days ago and everything seems fixed.
I like being able to anonymously install apps using the "App Lounge". I tend to keep less than 30 apps on my phone and don't use it for gaming. The only Google App I've installed is Gboard for additional language input - other than that it seems like every other app is available. My bank and brokerage apps are supported. I did set up a Garmin smartwatch on the tablet so I could get offline Spotify playback. One negative is that Uber recently updated their app in the last 6 months which broke scrolling on the map, which makes it difficult to see how far away my driver is.
The only concern I really have is that the boot loaders aren't lockable, which could be a security risk if the phone gets out of my possession. Luckily, I have treated my phones as disposable for years.
There are only two things I dream of:
1. An open-source Samsung Dex alternative so that I could plug my phone into a monitor and keyboard and use it as a PC.
2. An /e/OS ROM for an e-ink device with support from Murena//e/OS developers for e-ink devices.
/e/ like LineageOS still has many Google components and connections. If you want something truly without Google spyware you are better served with GrapheneOS which also has a desktop mode since pixel 8
Is this more "deGoogled" than something like GrapheneOS? GrapheneOS gives the option install a sandboxed Google Play (and the associated services), but it's completely deGoogled by default AFAIK.
I think the core difference here is that with graphene you use (if you want to) the google play services from google, but with very different security (iirc it runs like a regular app, without special access to the system).
But /e/ (horrible name btw) uses microG, which aims to replace parts of the google play infrastructure (but still relies on google servers afaik)
Readit News
2019 (190 points, 82 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19005903
2018 (275 points, 183 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18521970
My wife HATES all her apple products but still won't switch. Similarly, while I love Macbooks, iPhones make me sick and developing for them is like Apple personally giving you (the dev) the middle finger every time there's an update.
I don't know the solution. Wish I did. Wish the internet was as free and wild as it used to be. But you could have a foghorn go off on an iphone every 3 seconds and people still wouldn't switch.
By the way check out Librera for ebooks. I have koreader on my kindle and I like it, I find librera's interface and features to be better suited to a phone. (apk is free on fdroid)
Deleted Comment
https://doc.e.foundation/support-topics/guide-micro-g
The only software issue I have run across is a few highly security sensitive banking apps.
The solution is to simply use the bank's web site which typically works just fine except for paper check deposit and who really needs that nowadays?
They are one of the least "deGoogled" ROMs out there[1]. If you want the only real "deGoogled" OS that prioritizes security and privacy, use GrapheneOS https://grapheneos.org/.
[1] https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
I've installed it to three devices and have daily driven it since June 2023. I got tired of paying the Apple tax, so I picked up a Motorola Edge 30 (Dubai) for ~200 USD which was the newest non-Murena/Fairphone listed on the website - but it is no longer listed because they've shifted to the "easy installer". I've turned to community-built ROMs for my other devices, including a Xiaomi Pocophone F1 from 2017 - which works great - and a Lenovo Tab. I specifically purchased the Lenovo tablet because there was a ROM; there's a user on the forums who is creating a lot of ROMs for devices. I was looking for a tablet to serve as an e-reader and media consumption device, but it's powered off most the time.
The OS is very nice to use. It's very similar to iOS. The browser has automatic ad blocks, so some sites complain that I need to turn off my ad blocker, but this isn't possible. The privacy-first focus has helped me to avoid becoming a smart phone addict. I use it primarily for consuming hacker news articles on the go.
As far as errors go, /e/OS developers have stated they need to invest more time on tablet features, so the Lenovo Tab I have isn't an iPad competitor. Also, my Motorola Edge 30 was stuck on version 1.19 for about 7 months until I manually side-loaded the update. For the past month, App Lounge was having trouble anonymously connecting and updating apps. V2.5 was released a couple days ago and everything seems fixed.
I like being able to anonymously install apps using the "App Lounge". I tend to keep less than 30 apps on my phone and don't use it for gaming. The only Google App I've installed is Gboard for additional language input - other than that it seems like every other app is available. My bank and brokerage apps are supported. I did set up a Garmin smartwatch on the tablet so I could get offline Spotify playback. One negative is that Uber recently updated their app in the last 6 months which broke scrolling on the map, which makes it difficult to see how far away my driver is.
The only concern I really have is that the boot loaders aren't lockable, which could be a security risk if the phone gets out of my possession. Luckily, I have treated my phones as disposable for years.
There are only two things I dream of: 1. An open-source Samsung Dex alternative so that I could plug my phone into a monitor and keyboard and use it as a PC. 2. An /e/OS ROM for an e-ink device with support from Murena//e/OS developers for e-ink devices.