Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install apps now'". Android users are screwed - Louis Rossmann
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It works well enough to use as a daily driver on Bookworm and Trixie (and some other distros) but would only recommend if you're ok with Linux, and either are a developer or don't mind some rough parts around the edges.
E.g. some carriers uses 2 APNs, one for internet and one for MMS. You can send/receive on both, but the router is not yet complete, so if you send/receive media or use a group chat via text, need to switch to MMS mode in settings to do so first, then switch back to internet. Not an issue on most carriers as they only have 1 APN, but an edge case for the ones that do have this configuration.
Yeah, that's a really rough edge, but also...if it doesn't apply to you...
Good to hear that it's a potential option, if you do your research.
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Tbf, you can a very cheap android phone for around $100 USD, the cheapest iPhone starts at around
$400(edit: Actually I got curious and looked it up, apparantly the iPhone SE is gone and the cheapest new iPhone right now seems to be the 16e which start at $600). Also, Apple developer account cost $99 per year, Google developer account cost $25 one time fee, so the cost is gonna trickle down to the user, sometimes you find free apps on google play and then you look at apple and it cost a few dollars, its most likely due to the recurring costs to maintain a developer account.Also, Apple doesn't allow torrent clients, You can't use firefox with ublock origin on iOS.
(But then again, these advantages could also go away in a few years...
)Wait no Firefox on iPhone? Fuck that I'm back in
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And are these alternative phones in the room with you?
Seriously, the alternatives to Google's Android are:
iOS: lol
GrapheneOS: Currently at the mercy of Google
Lineage: Same
/e/OS: SamePlus a bunch of half baked Linux distros that run on old or limited hardware.
We're in a duopoly because it doesn't suit the manufacturers to give a shit.
No, but limited thinking sure as fuck is. If everyone jumped on to say, cheap iphones, the android market would suffer greatly, forcing the company to rethink its position on anti consumer practices. You dont have to stay on the cheap shitty iphone, you just need to stay on it long enough to make your voice heard.
This is the problem with everyone. You all just moan about enshittification, while doing nothing at all to combat it. Its always a list of terrible excuses. No one takes short term pain for long term benefit. Pussies.
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As a user I don't have a problem with this , as long it's used ethically. The question is if Google can act ethically.
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Phones that run Linux and have a headphone jack:
2026 will be the year of the Linux phone!
Hmmm. Then I would need to figure out how my authenticators would work. I have like 3 different ones for a total of like 18 accounts. It's annoying as all hell
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Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
I'm glad I stopped expecting logic from you people.
What'd you mean you people?
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Sideloading being so easy on iphones and now becoming very difficult on android. Wow
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Wait no Firefox on iPhone? Fuck that I'm back in
wrote last edited by [email protected]There is a "firefox" but its just a re-skinned safari basicly, because Apple has some weird requirement of using their "webkit" or whatever, and no extensions allowed on the "firefox". I used an iPhone before (because I was a young adult and iPhones looked shiny) and I was so sad to find out I couldn't use uBlock Origin on it. And then finding out torrent apps are non-existent just made me cry.
Yes they do have "adblockers" like Brave or those Adguard thing on safari, but those are dogshit and they broke like half of the time, and many ads get through anyways, especially on youtube (where as uBlock Origin only break sites like 5% of the time).
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You're pissed about it? Visit here: https://opencollective.com/postmarketOS
IMHO that's our best shot. Totally Google free, mainstream Linux kernel.
wrote last edited by [email protected]That’s not how you spell UBports.
I do support the PostmarketOS project, but it has much further to go before it’s friendly enough for regular people. Short of Valve releasing a Steam phone, I think UBports is better positioned to bring genuine linux to mobile.
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Removable batteries are coming back, as they become mandatory in the EU in 2027.
Or you can already get one with a Fairphone (which also has SD card slot).
As for the headphone jack, I'm afraid it won't come back. Bluetooth alternatives are far better these days (I got both, so I know from experience), and good adapters (like Apple one) are barely more than $10.Bluetooth is better than...it used to be? Because I promise you there is no earbud on planet earth better than my open back cans.
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That’s not how you spell UBports.
I do support the PostmarketOS project, but it has much further to go before it’s friendly enough for regular people. Short of Valve releasing a Steam phone, I think UBports is better positioned to bring genuine linux to mobile.
Is 20.04 the latest release?
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If Google is going to lock down my device to the point where I can't install apps without their permission, I might as well dump Android and go straight to Apple. I sacrificed my phone being good for the openness of the platform, but if Google loses that openness, why shouldn't I go with Apple?
The only answer is money at that point. I don't know how much phones are these days, but aren't iPhones like $1400, but Android is like $900?
I may be wrong though. Last time I bought a phone was 2018, and it was $600. Still using it.
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As a user I don't have a problem with this , as long it's used ethically. The question is if Google can act ethically.
Just think of it: you are the author of the ICE tracker app. You want to release the app as anonymously as possible, right? Well, not with this move in place. You will need to upload your govt. Id to their website. If the pigs come knocking, you bet your ass GOOG will gladly hand it over to them and off you go to Florida.
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Its like Microsoft and Google are teaming up to drive me closer to Linux.
Windows 12 phones are going to come. Microsoft will have their own RISC chips to run mobile platforms. Their relationship with Intel has limited them too much while the rest of the Tech giants grew too powerful with their own branded chips and devices.
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Is 20.04 the latest release?
No, it’s currently on 24.
The version number with “OTA-#” at the end is the “over the air” updater.
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As a user I don't have a problem with this , as long it's used ethically. The question is if Google can act ethically.
As a user, you should be upset that a private company is controlling how you are allowed to use your device that you paid for with your money.
This would be like if Microsoft decided you could only run Microsoft-approved code on a computer you purchased, in some cases with a locked bootloader so you can't even change your OS.
Also, Google is (imho) already operating unethically when it comes to the app store (See Google v. Epic). I don't care about Fortnite, but Google really shouldn't be able to take a cut of random services just because it's running on Android.
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If you're buying a $1000 phone then you're a fucking moron.
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The only answer is money at that point. I don't know how much phones are these days, but aren't iPhones like $1400, but Android is like $900?
I may be wrong though. Last time I bought a phone was 2018, and it was $600. Still using it.
I already tend to buy the expensive flagship models of phones. I buy unlocked and it lasts me ~5+ years, so I get the best phone I can get at the time and make it last, so money isn't as much of an issue if I were to move to an iPhone.
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I think I am just done with the whole concept of the convenient prepackaged tech product, and especially staying "connected" with them.
For example, I stopped wearing a smart watch this summer and it's been a positive. I was the type to wear it 23 hours a day and track my sleep with it and everything. It turns out that not instantly seeing every notification or knowing the exact minute of the day are not a big deal, sans are even good for me.
Part of what I've also done is use my phone a lot less and my linux desktop a lot more. I use it as a mobile communication device and not my computer for everything. I guess the next time I need to replace it I'll either get an iphone since everybody in my family has one, or I'll see where these wonderful Linux phone projects end up.
I'm wearing my smartwatch as a wristwatch. All notifications are off, but I see the temperature, UV index, step and calorie counters, which is nice. And if I ever want to review my sleep data, pulse, sPO2 saturation and location history, I got it available just in case. And for the very rare case that my phone is charging and I want to access messages from another room, I can do that manually.
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The only answer is money at that point. I don't know how much phones are these days, but aren't iPhones like $1400, but Android is like $900?
I may be wrong though. Last time I bought a phone was 2018, and it was $600. Still using it.
You can get Android phones with reasonable specs around $200. No need for the so called "flagships".
