Comment by antiloper
21 days ago
Why even run Android at that point anymore? iOS devices get security updates for longer and have much less data collection than stock Android.
GrapheneOS won't survive the next generation of devices because bootloader unlocking will also go away (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44765939), and without kernel security updates that OS can't continue.
Now there's also no more sideloading, so what purpose does Android even serve anymore?
>GrapheneOS won't survive the next generation of devices because bootloader unlocking will also go away (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44765939), and without kernel security updates that OS can't continue.
The comment in the thread you linked directly contradicts the claim that "bootloader unlocking will also go away".
Exactly, the only reason to be a weirdo and have android in the first place was because there's so many good apps available outside the play store, if they lock it down just like Apple then what's the point?
> Why even run Android at that point anymore? iOS devices get security updates for longer and have much less data collection than stock Android.
Because Google-free AOSP-derived Android distributions are far more versatile, offer far more freedom, impose far fewer restrictions and tend to end up being far less expensive than whatever the fruit factory decides their dedicants have to use today. If Google goes the way of the fruit folks and AOSP no longer offers these freedoms the next step is not to surrender to the Church of Apple but to find a way to evade those restrictions.
> what purpose does an open source OS have against a proprietary one
FOSS means a lot less than it used to in Android.
Can you download, build, and install a basic Android system these days without touching a single piece of closed code? Absolutely. Will it be able to do much without closed binaries? No.
Android isn't GNU/Linux where there's a general ethos of making everything in userland FOSS if at all possible. Rather, it's a free OS that both Google and manufacturers can do anything they want with, including shove a ton of spy and bloatware on it, then make it to where you can't get rid of those things, at least not easily.
The optimism from 15 years ago surrounding FOSS in the mobile space is on its deathbed.
I would argue any amount we can get is still lightyears better than not being able to replace or inspect anything at all on the system.
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A phone running just the FOSS parts of Android is not super viable for the average person.
> iOS devices [..] have much less data collection than stock Android
iOS does a tremendous amount of data collection including for the usage of ads as per Apple's privacy policy. All the same types of data that stock Android collects, even.
You may believe Apple is a generally better steward of that data than Google, but using iOS does not reduce the amount of data being hoovered up in any meaningful capacity.
> Now there's also no more sideloading, so what purpose does Android even serve anymore?
I hate this change, but I still prefer Android. iOS is hardly perfect nor does it do everything better...