Comment by no_wizard
5 days ago
As a consumer, I lament most of all about Pixel devices (or any other Android device really) that I have to wipe the OS and install a different one to get features that matter to me, particularly around privacy.
Thats why I don't use Pixel devices, or any Android devices really. I know its a precarious situation with Apple since they could reverse their stance at any point and sometimes they get it wrong, but they have yet to completely fail me when it comes to privacy.
In any event, it'd be nice if there was a 3rd mainstream vendor in the mobile race[0][1]
[0]: Both design wise and conceptually, I miss WebOS when it was strictly under Palm. It could have really been something. Why they didn't embrace multitouch screens I haven't a clue, it was the one thing that baffled me.
[1]: The one project I really wanted Mozilla to take a long term view on - Firefox OS - was another great innovation of our time that didn't get the love or support it deserved. It was a blast using web technology to build apps that ran fluidly on modern hardware. Unfortunately, it was all too often relegated to cheap manufacturer hardware that couldn't support it ideally, but even with this being true, they pulled off alot of technical excellence with that project.
I miss Nokia's maemo/meego based phones :( the n900 was really nice to use and even write my own little personal apps for (something I haven't done in over a decade of owning android phones)
It ran emacs. It was glorious.
/e/ Foundation sells phones with /e/OS preinstalled if you'd like an ungoogled Android phone without having to wipe the OS and install an ungoogled Android yourself.
I haven't tried /e/, I prefer installing a raw lineage with microG myself (although I don't currently use the microG part), but it seems like you and your parent commenter would be in the intended target.
I do agree that an alternative would be great. I'd gladly use Linux mobile with good, realiable hardware.
The Bliss launcher in /e/OS does not support widgets conventionally, and the best thing to do is immediately replace it. I used Lawnchair, and it did improve things.
It did encourage me to provide my Google account credentials, which I refrained to do, which made the appstore essentially equivalent to F-droid.
I can't really get excited about it.
Apparently the GrapheneOS folks are talking with an OEM[0], which would allow you to buy a phone with a secure, private, non-spyware operating system straight from the factory.
I already own a Pixel running GrapheneOS, but if this happens I'll probably order one as soon as they come out to cast a vote with my wallet.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44678411
I hope this happens in 2026, not later. If they have a model with a removable / replaceable battery that would be heaven.
Apple isn't privacy oriented, please quit spreading this misnformation. The only thing you can say about them is that they are marginally better than google but that isn't saying much. Their supposed respect of privacy is just marketing.
Apple doesn't track anywhere close to the amount of data that Google collects. Equating them is very disingenuous, IMO.
lol there is only 2 vendor in market right now
google and apple, apple is the best in this privacy field
Did you read the thread? Google devices are orders of magnitude more private if you install a custom rom like graphene OS or lineage + microg.
Apple is pretty much the same as a vanilla google phone in comparison.
6 replies →
Did you try a Jolla phone?
Not expensive and work great. Was playing with one today. I am impressed.
I love Jolla and I wish more people used it so that there was a really good native browser and different chat + VoIP options. The rest is great, and you can always use Android applications via the emulation layer.
fwiw, installing GrapheneOS is by far the easiest phone OS install I've ever done. It's been a while but if there were any hiccups, they were too small to remember. My memory is just plug it into desktop with usb-c cable, go to grapheneos website in chromium (it uses web usb so no firefox), hit the install button, and wait a couple minutes.
And yes, it allows you to disable network permissions for apps, among many other nice things.
What privacy feature are you looking for that Pixels don't supply?
> What privacy feature are you looking for that Pixels don't supply?
Opt-in cross app tracking instead of opt-out, but if Google can get all apps on board with their new privacy sandbox thing that'll be less relevant.
More importantly, an equivalent to Apple's advanced data protection for all Google services & backups. I want full E2EE for photos, notes, backups, passwords, bookmarks, etc. I want built-in hide my email to gmail, I want to be able to turn off network access for any app I want in the permission settings. I want Google to treat Android as something completely separate from their advertising business instead of an extension of it as a source of data collection.
>I miss WebOS when it was strictly under Palm. It could have really been something. Why they didn't embrace multitouch screens I haven't a clue, it was the one thing that baffled me.
Huh? WebOS was Palm embracing multitouch screens.
They didn’t embrace virtual keyboards if I recall correctly