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Comment by peheje

12 hours ago

We need Linux on phones. Bank apps not needed as long as I can use browser. But do need some things like wireless cards, popular apps like Sonos and Spotify working.

34 comments

peheje

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opan  1 hour ago

Lots of questionable replies to you here, people recommending Android/Lineage/Graphene are being silly, Sailfish is a better answer but with major proprietary components I would still skip it. postmarketOS is the best option I believe. Mobian and some others possibly worth a mention as well. I found Ubuntu Touch/ubports to be disappointing so I wouldn't bother with that either. You can check the pmOS wiki to find compatible devices. Perhaps check first if anything you already own has support, and help them support your device better if you are able. Otherwise look for the devices with the best support and get one off eBay. Librem 5 and PinePhone should be among the best supported devices but you may get better performance / $ with a OnePlus 6T or other formerly-Android phone (again, verify most stuff is already working before buying something if possible).

For the popular apps you mention, there is Waydroid to run Android apps.

mnahkies  12 hours ago

Unfortunately many banks in the UK no longer offer a web portal or physical branches.

I'd love to see legislation that mandated a functioning web experience for critical services like this (banking, utilities, etc) - otherwise it will continue to further entrench the current duopoly.

(I suppose this is also an instance where I should do a better job of voting with my feet and supporting services that do offer this)

  • microtonal  10 hours ago

    Good news for EU citizens though, PSD3 will require that authentication methods without a smartphone are provided:

    https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/fr/qanda_...

    Require payment services providers to ensure that all users can benefit from methods to perform SCA which are adapted to their needs and situations and, in particular, that those methods do not depend on one single technology, device or mechanism, for instance on the possession of a smartphone.

  • nh2  8 hours ago

    Wise in the UK currently is good. You can use it completely without a phone app. It also has good support for passkeys, TOTP, and SMS OTP, allowing to add multiple of each as it should be. If you do choose the Wise app, it currently warns when you run a custom Android ROM, but let's you use it.

    Our company also uses Revolut business, but that requires a phone app to verify online payments with cards. And Revolut recently changed the app so it now requires Google Play Integrity so it doesn't work with LineageOS anymore. So I'm looking to move all new things away from Revolut. I have little patience with companies that want to unbank my company, and decide what hardware or software we use.

  • cryo32  9 hours ago

    Huh? Why the hell would you use a bank that doesn't offer a web portal or have branches if there are banks that still do?!?!

    I bank with HSBC in the UK and there's still branches (worldwide) and banking via web.

    I assume you mean things like Starling and Monzo in this case? Banking with them is simply dangerous.

    • alightsoul  9 hours ago

      There's mobile payment apps worldwide like yappy and UPI, that don't have a web interface and are local monopolies. Even worse they are sometimes controlled by a single large bank, not a government and not a consortium so you're entirely beholden to their (confidential) decisions, whatever they might be. It's not like in the US where you have Venmo, Zelle, and Cash app, or China where there's WeChat and alipay.

59percentmore  7 hours ago

Need to pressure banks to achieve feature parity between their websites and native apps. I'm forced to use Paypal to remote deposit checks because my banks limit that feature to their apps, which I can't use because of my device's age. (Paypal does, too, but their app still works for now.)

jiffygist  6 hours ago

We need unlockable bootloaders on ALL phones. Then many more OSes will come

  • grishka  19 minutes ago

    Pixels do have unlockable bootloaders, but they also have a non-unlockable hypervisor that would snitch on you and make some apps refuse to work.

daemin  11 hours ago

Unfortunately these days bank apps are required by the banks for "security", and good luck getting anything done without the bank app installed on your phone.

The only other alternative available is SMS but that is being phased out (rightly so) for being insecure.

  • BoxwoodSeed  11 hours ago

    Currently my bank requires a device where I need to insert my card to get a one time six digit code based on a QR code the banking website serves me that the device scans.

    I'm not quite sure why they don't support something like a yubikey with FIDO, but maybe there's a good reason.