Your phone is about to stop being yours.

[dezon@chaos.social]

@lproven how about forking AOSP? Not sure if that is even viable or doable, just curious to see what the thoughts are about that.

[wbpeckham@techhub.social]

@lproven @aburka @AAKL @janvlug @zetabeta @ferricoxide @geomaster337 @MattMerk @johnhenrythe3rd @lopta @InkySchwartz @gbsills Not one non-google OS is compatible with my $250USD Bold-N4. And the closest match to it in non-googled phones is about $1000USD. There is another for a bit less, but it's not available in the US.

[joshg@mathstodon.xyz]

@stonebear2
the _a models are mid-level. (eg pixel 7a that I'm using right now)
@GrapheneOS @Captain_Jack_Sparrow @Radio_Azureus @AAKL @aburka @lproven

[gbsills@social.vivaldi.net]

@ferricoxide @janvlug @lopta @aburka @MattMerk @lproven @InkySchwartz @AAKL @geomaster337 @zetabeta @johnhenrythe3rd I would take the lazy approach.
1. Pick something like a low-end Samsung. The hardware is fine and it is cheap.
2. Change the launcher to something other than Samsung or stock Android. (I use Nova and it works fine but there are several others. It's UI is fine)
3. Replace the search with Duck Duck Go or something similar. The Duck Duck Go search engine buys data from Google and Bing, so you get the same search results you would have gotten from one of those search engines before the AI kicked in.

This isn't great, but I suspect it is better than using Linux for now. Don't get me wrong, I used Linux as may everyday ride on my computer, but I haven't heard good things about Linux phones.

[stonebear2@hachyderm.io]

@joshg

The point is, NOT GOOGLE.

@GrapheneOS @Captain_Jack_Sparrow @Radio_Azureus @AAKL @aburka @lproven

[johnhenrythe3rd@mastodon.social]

@gbsills @ferricoxide @janvlug @lopta @aburka @MattMerk @lproven @InkySchwartz @AAKL @geomaster337 @zetabeta I have a Jolla on order, so I hope all will be well.

[gbsills@social.vivaldi.net]

@AAKL @ferricoxide @janvlug @lopta @aburka @MattMerk @lproven @InkySchwartz @geomaster337 @zetabeta @johnhenrythe3rd You can get away from Google's search engine on Android by replacing the launcher and then making another search engine your default and adding a widget to you screen. It's pretty easy.

[lproven@social.vivaldi.net]

@SmartmanApps @dademurphy Please untag me from your argument. And then have fun.

[radio_azureus@ioc.exchange]

2 hours 24 mins 37 secs

Result

No support for any of my Androids.

This is the most critical hurdle for the billions of device owners out there.

There are way too many variations on phones and tablets to give official support to by a limited set of dedicated programmers.

What also limits us quite severely apart from the budget, is the fact that we only get certain devices in the regions that we live, otherwise we have to import these Androids ourselves which can be hurdles for most generic customers.

I know for a fact that an order of a dozen Androids can get you a significant reduction of 15 to 20% in purchasing price.

Buying a second hand device is something I do not wish to do. My Androids have always been new out of the box.

This creates a programmable loop that I do not like, because I am quite interested, very interested in running Graphene OS

Fix: generate the cash for a new supported Pixel Android

@rl_dane @AAKL @Radio_Azureus @joshg @aburka @lproven
@GrapheneOS

[gbsills@social.vivaldi.net]

@johnhenrythe3rd @ferricoxide @janvlug @lopta @aburka @MattMerk @lproven @InkySchwartz @AAKL @geomaster337 @zetabeta Please, as a public service, post your experiences.

[lproven@social.vivaldi.net]

@Radio_Azureus

> 2 hours 24 mins 37 secs
> Result
> No support for any of my Androids.

No idea what this is meant to tell us.

> Buying a second hand device is something I do not wish to do.

You do you. Personally I buy 2nd hand when I can, so someone else loses value not me.

Multiple companies will sell you a brand new phone with a de-Googled Android or a non-Android OS.

De-Googled Android phones:

Murena… https://murena.com/

Fairphone… https://www.fairphone.com/

FXtech… https://store.fxtec.com/

Punkt… https://www.punkt.ch/products/mc03-premium-secure-smartphone

Volla… https://volla.online/en/index.php

Not to be confused with…

Jolla… https://jolla.com/

Furilabs… https://furilabs.com/

Purism… https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

The last 3 are pure Linux phones which do not run OSes derived from Android, but they can all run an Android VM or container and so allow you to install and use Android apps.

If you spent 2½ hours searching without finding these, then you really need to improve your search engine skills!

[scottytrees@mastodon.social]

@zetabeta 3 years? pulled that number out of somewhere didn't ya? Tech ain't what it used to be and Android is not worth it anymore. Time to pray and hope a new entry comes around, but that's an even bigger hail mary. Enjoy the lockdowned ecosystem.

[zetabeta@mastodon.social]

@scottytrees
yes, three years is guesswork. three years is some kind transition period for alternate system, that assumes un-googled android, not stock android.

i have basically ditched android already and never used ios. i use linux laptops.

my point is, that after three years, even un-googled androids are impractical.

[lproven@social.vivaldi.net]

Alternatives!

Multiple companies will sell you a brand new phone with a de-Googled Android or a non-Android OS.

De-Googled Android phones:

Murena… https://murena.com/

Fairphone… https://www.fairphone.com/

FXtec… https://store.fxtec.com/

Punkt… https://www.punkt.ch/products/mc03-premium-secure-smartphone

Volla… https://volla.online/en/index.php

Not to be confused with…

Jolla… https://jolla.com/

Furilabs… https://furilabs.com/

Purism… https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

The last 3 are pure Linux phones which do not run OSes derived from Android, but they can all run an Android VM or container and so allow you to install and use Android apps.

This is *not* an exhaustive list. They are just ones I know of or have tried.

If I missed anyone out, please, let me know.

[klu9@ohai.social]

@lproven

I can't find any vendors selling phones with PostmarketOS installed. Time for someone to enter that niche?

postmarketOS // real Linux distribution for phones

Aiming for a 10 year life-cycle for smartphones

postmarketOS (postmarketos.org)

[loadhigh@bitbang.social]

@lproven I've had my eye on FXtec for years now.

The physical keyboard is so sexy but I can't convince myself to pay the price (because what would I really use it for?)

[jackdaniel@functional.cafe]

@klu9 @lproven pinephone works with postmarket os if I recall correctly (and some other linuxes)

[teflontrout@beige.party]

@loadhigh @lproven

I'm using my unihertz titan's keyboard to type this, I love having keys back

[klu9@ohai.social]

@jackdaniel @lproven

As far as I can tell, they don't sell phones with PostmarketOS installed. They sell the Pro Explorer with SailfishOS installed, and they *don't* sell ( because it's out of stock) the Beta with Manjaro installed.

I don't doubt people can install Postmarket themselves, I was just wondering if anyone sells phones with it *already* installed.

Smartphones Archives - PINE STORE

PINE STORE (pine64.com)

[blainsmith@fosstodon.org]

@lproven I would love to see this and identify which countries and providers actually support them.