https://docs.ubuntu.com/phone/en/devices/
https://docs.ubuntu.com/phone/en/devices/installing-ubuntu-for-devices
Have you thought this route?
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I have not looked into it much, thatâs something I should do. I also heard KDE was making Plasma mobile.
One of the fears I have is getting into a new ecosystem only for it to die off. One of the reasons KaiOS is promising is because of itâs already large user base.
Ubuntu phone been around for while now but primarily euroasia
But i believe it does work in usa and australia
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https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/
Perhaps this may be of help. As a new âlearning Linuxâ former windows and apple owner along with aforeme tionad phones perhaps something right in the US backyard might be something to peruse.
Cheersand all the best.
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Good read so farâŚ
Iâm slightly bias because I work at the mentioned company, but the way that all my google hardware/software (google home, phone, gsuite) integrate is super useful to me on a daily basis. There is not a competitor in this space, that Iâm aware of.
Lets say that you could get a working version of android with all the stuff you want disabled.
How do you prevent cellular companies from tracking your location and intercepting your data? You can even have the damn sim pulled out and they can still track your location using triangulation.
You canât remove them with stock android. Google integration in android is deeper then the application level.
Agree and understand, Google does make some nice products, in many cases there are better options out there for each individual function, but Google made it easy. Besides, I do bow to Google for being smart enough to put together a framework for people, so they freely give away the content of their lives and allow for someone else to control their behavior. Everything has a price, this is just one I chose not to pay.
Leave your phone at home? Mine is stationary and sound off/airplane when Iâm not working or going somewhere thatâs not work related. First month, itâs as if something is missing, after that, itâs freeing and rather peaceful.
That is true, if they know who owns the phone or sim card that was once installed. I do have an issue with governments pulling stunts like that without a warrant, but itâs nowhere near the issue I have with companies doing it. Itâs none of their business what Iâm doing or where Iâm doing it, until I opt in. The options modern smartphones have should be 100% opt in, which they unfortunately arenât, unless you find out how to hide yourself of course.
Then the commercials, my god, I want to strangle someone in charge at google, and scream into their face to just stop their bullshit, I have never, and will never buy any of the crap they show me. Most of the time itâs sub par piss poor quality consumer junk, which I will never buy in the first place, especially because 12 other people in my neighborhood bought it, aaand then weâre back to the whole opt in/out issue again.
Not long ago, the justice minister of Denmark was subpoenaed, because the government clearly violate human rights in tracking and storing information on people that are not under investigation. Check out how itâs going in China, where you get social points if you do as youâre supposed to. If you donât have enough social points, well, then you canât use certain trains, you canât buy an apartment in certain places, you wonât be able to get any jobs really. Bit more fearmongering at the right times, and itâs a possibility in countries that are âfreeâ, under the title âLets make country X safe againâ.
I donât know much about the following organization, but they seem to be trying to make private data a âhuman rightâ that can be sold by the individual owner. Of course they get a cut of sales if this takes off, but then so do you.
https://hu-manity.co/
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Interesting concept.
My personal opinion is, that a lot of tech is build on us not having bigger problems really. If we would have to fight for our food and have to worry that our children could die of starvation any day, new smartphones and cars are the least of your Problems.
Same goes for social media and such. And you see this in emerging markets like africa. Social Media, Smartphones and Democracy (to an extend) only are a thing, once you donât have to build a house out of dirt and hunt your food every day.
In that sense, iâm gratefull that my biggest Problem in life currently is how to finance a 200k house and what 15k car to buy.
I agree though, that looking at your usage patterns and maybe getting a little more use especially out of electronics is a good thing. How changing to a new OS and Phone helps with that is beyond me though. Itâs the Electric Car thing all over again. WIth the difference, that new phones donât get better for the environment over time.
If waste and google are your concerns: Go to the Lineage OS site. Look which oldish phones they officially support with the latest 2 Android Versions. Xiaomi, Nokia and Samsung (depending on region) are decent choices. Go on ebay, or cl or what ever there is in your country and get one used. That way, you save on the e-waste. Use it until it dies, and do that again.
Lineage can be used totally google free. Itâs Open Source and does not include any spyware, data collection or telemetry out of the box. You can disable nearly any feature thatâs left, that you donât need.
Artificially limiting your OS to featurephone levels is not needed to have privacy on your phone. If all you care about is personal data and google, lineage OS is good enough.
If you are a journalist in a country where you might fear for your live for e-mails you exchange or are otherwise a potential target, there are other solutions.
And you donât save on e-wast by now buying another new phone with a new OS. Use what others donât want anymore.
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Thatâs impossible. If It is a âhuman rightâ, then you can never sell it. Human rights are rights that you have , based only on the fact that you are a human. Selling anything can never change you being a human, therefor you always will have those rights.
You Private Data can be a âgoodâ that you own or such. Then you can indeed sell it. Though i personally think itâs a little to late for that now. Basically anything there was is already out there.
A human right to own the rights to your own data. Clear as mud?
For your previous post, I agree with your sentiments. For the average person out there, they probably have never heard of being able to put a different OS onto an old phone, and most likely donât have the tech skills to do so. Iâm using myself as a basis for that observation. Iâm 56, somewhat familiar with computers, less so with OS. I will one day try to run Lineage on an old phone but donât have the will to do so right now. If it was as easy as pressing a couple buttons Iâd have done it alreadyâŚgranted I havenât looked into it so maybe itâs that easy?
Im 100% that itâs easier to install Lineage on an Supported device over running an obscure OS with no Apps on Hardware no one knows.
There are huge communitys around basically any android device there is with help, support and tutorials. For KaiOS youâre more or less on your own. Plus no one in your close proximity will be able to help you.
KaiOS is great for really low end devices in markets where 100 bucks, or even 50 is a whole lot of money and no used market exists because no one had phones until recently. For anyone else, most used Android phones will be a way better option.
That doesnât mean it isnât interesting. A new mobile competitor would be great. And iâd like to play with this thing. But only because i have another daily driver.
I really think this is a bad way of looking at it; the Android OS itself is open source, and not a problem. Googleâs spying abilities come from their apps, which are proprietary and designed to displace their open source equivalents. The underlying open source project, AOSP, is not dripping in some kind of âGoogle contaminationâ itself, but the problem is that many of these Google apps do rely on the Play Services, which I think is what @anon27052951 was referencing:
The issue is not the OS, itâs the Google apps and Play Services that are preinstalled by OEMs.
Ironically, this Google Play Services + Apps bundle that you are trying to avoid is what OEMs desperately want to include, since for many people, these Google apps are a selling point. Google allows this through Android OEM agreements which it then uses as leverage to force OEMs to do certain things, from security patching to pre-installing certain apps and handing over sales data.
If you want to avoid Google Play Services, but still want to use some of Googleâs apps, the microg project tries to re-implement whatâs necessary to get apps to think that Play Services is installed when it isnât.
https://microg.org/
Sony Xperia - $40
SIM Card - $5
Custom ROM OS - Free
Knowing that youâre still being spied on - Priceless
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People, my dear forum friends.
KaiOS is supported by google so that their apps and frameworks work on inexpensive phones with little data usage in emerging markets. India, Pakistan, etc,âŚ
KaiOS is not going to help you escape googleâs spying and this topic should be marked [solved] and closed.
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My suggestions:
- Get a used S5 and install Lineage OS. (cheap and you can avoid any and all closed source Google apps if you wish)
- Wait for the Librem 5. It will be running a customized Linux distro with maximum open source (SW/FW), and is designed to minimize blobs.
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This is what Iâve done. Keep in mind that while it may protect you from google, it doesnât protect you from the men in suits
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just donât get the Verizon version