“smartphone” doesn’t matter. it is a computer that runs software. the only question is who controls that software? free/libre software is by definition one that you control. and what you described means that you dont control your device.
so advices: easy way is to just install lineage os or graphene or some other open source android version. you will control it. i dont advice to install google play services.
other advice: you can get a sony phone because it can run sailfish os. also i believe those are great. otherwise install open source android, lineage or something.
sailfish has android emulator (it costs money) but sailfish is not android. it is a linux/qt based system. very polished. not as polished as open source android, but it is fast, lightweight and beautiful. native sailfish apps arent feature rich but do you really need feature rich? then you can get more apps from fdroid store and use android emulation layer.
other, better but harder option: get a device which is well supported by postmarketos.
postmarketos has several user interfaces but neither of those is what you have used to. i believe it is the best option but you must prepare yourself to be able to change. most probably you wont have a working camera. thats ok, i live like that.
Gigaset. I am using the GS5. 2 Sim slots and a SD card slot, not those Sim/SD slots that most manufacturers use. Replaceable battery.
made is Germany, run stock android. Stock to the point of I have it bugging me to install Oct 2023 patches for the past 2 weeks. Kinka wish I could talk it I will patch when I get back from holidays.
Pixel w/GrapheneOS. Insane to do anything else when Privacy and Security is something you want, while also having the ability to have a fully functional phone.
Media I don’t take as seriously as other backups. Except for a few hard to find ISO’s, I have a Fractal R5 case that I’ve crammed full of all the rando extra drives I have sitting round, and pool those all together in TrueNAS. So far it’s more than the total storage of my media NAS. It gets a monthly backup automatically.
ooh no problem I despise android auto and glad it doesn’t force my phone to connect every time I start driving the way it did at the beginning, I had to dig into the settings and figure out how to disable it.
I can’t imagine ever needing it. What is it even for? All it ever did for me was instantly answer spam phone calls that I would have rejected, doesn’t let me use my phone until my GPS indicates I’ve reached my destination, and it would automatically answer texts telling them that I’m driving. Like leave me alone big brother ugh!
What are you going to use if you are driving somewhere new and don’t know where you are going though? I used AA for the maps and directions only and I miss it alot.
A Google Pixel running GrapheneOS is your best option. Graphene doesn’t have any Google services by default, no bloatware at all, maximum privacy and security. It’s super easy to install, you can check out this video guide or just read their official documentation.
How well does apps that require locked bootloaders, non-rooted device etc. work on grapheneOS? We have an official 2FA app in my country that’s used for digital identification for everything from banking to social security services. Right now it isn’t working on my oneplus 9p with lineage, despite using magisk and passing safetynet check, because it still detects that my phone is rooted.
GrapheneOS is built to work with a locked bootloader, in fact, relocking the bootloader is a step in the installation guide. It’s not rooted by default and the GOS team highly recommends against rooting, all apps should work as long as they only require SafetyNet basic integrity. If they require full integrity, they won’t work on GrapheneOS because the OS has to be manually whitelisted by Google in order to pass the full integrity check. Most apps (including banking or government apps) only mandate basic integrity though, full integrity is rarely required. It should definitely work better than LineageOS.
Hmm, my lineage OS phone passes basic integrity check, and my banking apps all work as intended, as do other government apps. But this damn 2FA app is still complaining and refuses to work, saying the phone is insecure.
I have a Synology NAS so I use Hyper Backup and upload my backups in the Synology C2 Cloud. Of course all my files are encrypted first before they get uploaded.
Do be careful, your choices are very limited. All the carriers in the US, except TMobile today, have a whitelist of devices. Even if you make your own phone or buy an awesome phone from out of market, it won’t work.
Technically, there is no reason it won’t work. But the carriers block it from registering on the network unless roaming. Our non-American devices have been kicked off every network now except TMobile.
So your choice is really just the small list of devices they choose to support and 75% are the same phone. Samsung whatever with some various sized screen and various sized storage. Or Apple iWhatever.
They make your life hell with a non-standard carrier phone. And yes I’ve been buying out of region phones for 20 years now, even back with Windows Mobile and Palm devices with 2G text based web. Every year it gets harder and harder.
Im using my imported Zenfone 9 on AT&T without (much) issue. I did have to change some settings using ADB/terminal as root to enable volte so i can make calls since the phone doesn’t support all the bands used.
When I entered by beta code to get into Bluesky, I was immediately, instantly followed, which doesn’t sound private, an API that lists new accounts?, by funny blogs, photo bomb accounts, and a profile that said, “This is the trans Witch your mother warned you about”.
It’s a …select community that seems at first glance, all in the same think where cogntive reinforcement is the norm.
Personally waiting for the shiftphone 8. Fairphone 5 is also a possibility if you value ethics. These should be less bloated than most I believe. The pixel is nicer than most mainstream phones. As it just comes with the vendor who made Android and their proprietary bs instead of yet another layer. The best way to eliminate bloat is a custom rom. Pixel supports GrapheneOS and I believe all of them will be supported by CalyxOS. (They made a build for the newest released shiftphone)
privacy
Hot
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.