If you can tell me what phone can give me access to all the standard apps I would need, has good build quality, doesn’t funnel my data to Google, is backed by an entity capable of providing multi-year device support, has cloud storage integration that lets me keep my data securely offloaded from the phone’s storage, can handle modern apps and websites as far as performance, has a very good camera, and has the equivalent of AppleCare such that if/when I shatter my screen I can replace it for $30, I am all ears.
I have a Pixel 8 running GrapheneOS and it does most of the above:
- slightly lesser build quality than my iPhone 15 Pro but comparable
- doesn't funnel data to Google unless you explicitly let it, you can circumvent a lot of the Google Play stuff by restricting permissions and using Aurora Store
- is backed by, well, Google and the Graphene team porting over security updated. They have a fairly good track record by now.
- can use any of the N backup services that already exist unlike the iPhone's silly restriction on background apps
- don't notice performance differences between it and my iPhone 15 Pro in day to day use. If anything, biometrics are way faster on the Pixel since iOS 26 made FaceID slow as molasses for me
- the default camera is pretty good (uses all the Pixel fancy processing hardware) but if it's not good enough you can just install the stock Google camera which works fine. You can turn off network access if you don't want it snooping. Photos are neck and neck with the iPhone but the iPhone is way better at videos, no Android phone has cracked that yet IMO.
- Yeah, but no other brand can give you an AppleCare experience. Best option is phone insurance and just getting a new Pixel if that happens. Graphene can do full device backups via Seedvault and it's not that much more of a pain to restore compared to an iPhone backup. Granted, it's jankier but it's not impossible. The other issue is that Pixels are not a thing in a lot of countries, Apple really has the edge here but I'd take that risk over the UX shenanigans they pull nowadays with their latest updates (god is it awful)
I haven't found one. I don't carry a phone unless I have a specific reason (ie: gps). I use my desktop or tablet (Daylight Computer) with a voip service (jmp.chat) when I need to use a phone number, and I carry a Sony ZV-1 in my pocket for my camera.
Arm macs are very hard to walk away from.
My dream is some of boot-to-Ubuntu setup, or even running it simultaneously.
If you can tell me what phone can give me access to all the standard apps I would need, has good build quality, doesn’t funnel my data to Google, is backed by an entity capable of providing multi-year device support, has cloud storage integration that lets me keep my data securely offloaded from the phone’s storage, can handle modern apps and websites as far as performance, has a very good camera, and has the equivalent of AppleCare such that if/when I shatter my screen I can replace it for $30, I am all ears.
I have a Pixel 8 running GrapheneOS and it does most of the above: - slightly lesser build quality than my iPhone 15 Pro but comparable - doesn't funnel data to Google unless you explicitly let it, you can circumvent a lot of the Google Play stuff by restricting permissions and using Aurora Store - is backed by, well, Google and the Graphene team porting over security updated. They have a fairly good track record by now. - can use any of the N backup services that already exist unlike the iPhone's silly restriction on background apps - don't notice performance differences between it and my iPhone 15 Pro in day to day use. If anything, biometrics are way faster on the Pixel since iOS 26 made FaceID slow as molasses for me - the default camera is pretty good (uses all the Pixel fancy processing hardware) but if it's not good enough you can just install the stock Google camera which works fine. You can turn off network access if you don't want it snooping. Photos are neck and neck with the iPhone but the iPhone is way better at videos, no Android phone has cracked that yet IMO. - Yeah, but no other brand can give you an AppleCare experience. Best option is phone insurance and just getting a new Pixel if that happens. Graphene can do full device backups via Seedvault and it's not that much more of a pain to restore compared to an iPhone backup. Granted, it's jankier but it's not impossible. The other issue is that Pixels are not a thing in a lot of countries, Apple really has the edge here but I'd take that risk over the UX shenanigans they pull nowadays with their latest updates (god is it awful)
Oh that is quite interesting. How difficult was it to get Graphene on it? How difficult would it be for a non-technical person to do it and use it?
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I haven't found one. I don't carry a phone unless I have a specific reason (ie: gps). I use my desktop or tablet (Daylight Computer) with a voip service (jmp.chat) when I need to use a phone number, and I carry a Sony ZV-1 in my pocket for my camera.