Google’s Android, the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, started life as open-source software. In its quest for ever-greater profits, the tech giant has been gradually eroding Android’s open-source nature over the last decade.
Originally published on The Lever, but that one asks you to sign up.
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And thus highlights the hypocrisy of their “let’s all be friends” messaging around getting Apple to adopt RCS; Google holds the keys to integrating RCS in messaging apps on Android. Last I heard they only granted access to Samsung.
I’d be willing to excuse a mobile OS for being partially or completely proprietary if it was good. But neither Android nor iOS are.
RCS is a really nice thing in principle, because SMS/MMS infrastructure is just awfully outdated from security standpoint.
Though, replacing SMS/MMS infrastructure which is internetless yet cross-carrier by making it a internet-first and tied to a single meta-carrier under the hood kind of defeats the purpose overall. There was an attempt to build an independent carrier-deployable implementation of RCS, yet it turned out to be bought off by Google :(
The last time I checked, a Linux smartphone was in the works, but still had quite a ways yet to go . . .
The year of the linux phone is almost upon us…
We already have a Linux smartphone OS. It’s called
AndroidAOSP (including GrapheneOS, LineageOS, etc).
“PewdiePie, one of the world’s most popular YouTubers, recently published a video extolling the virtues of GrapheneOS”
Gross. Seriously though, Graphene is really good. Don’t hold this against them.
I read the headline as “[Google Keep]'s making smartphones worse”, and wondered how a single note app could make them worse.
I’m on GrapheneOS on tablet/phone for time being, but I’m fine going back to a dumphone and a Linux or BSD tablet or convertible.
What messaging apps work well on GrapheneOS? I want to make the switch but I’m not sure what will work and what won’t
Matrix (Element), Signal, Telegram. Other stuff probably requires Google services which I don’t use on the tablet. Phone has Google services, but I don’t really use it for messaging other than Signal.
Have you tried Briar, SimpleX or Session? Also do you get the same quality of mobile service on Graphene as you do on the default OS?
No use cases for this so far.
Mobile service quality is defined by the baseband, which is an immutable blob to the OS. I phone rarely and currently use my old LineageOS phone for it.
I’ve got a support case for my Pixel 7a open due to potential battery issue. If I return it I will buy a different, bigger (6.7") Pixel model. My new Pixel tablet is doing fine so far.
If in the future i’m ever forced to drop smart phones because of further proprietary/removal of open source option then i’m definitely going this route.
have a dumb phone and just rely on a good laptop.
On second thought… maybe this is the way.
I use tablets to read things when lying down, so notebooks don’t fit.
The only difference is that Apple never pretended to be the good guy.
Apple literally markets itself as synonymous with privacy. This marketing unfortunately fools many degooglers, because they are convinced Google is uniquely evil, and fail to recognize the problems are inherent in the proprietary software world (and, in the bigger picture, capitalism).
They have been for a while now. It’s just that now it kind of becomes obvious
There’s a constant barrage of notifications, and by the time you have dealt with them, chances are you have forgotten what you wanted to do in the first place.
There’s a notification permission since Android 13 and you can always disable any apps notifications since I don’t know when. If you download a ton of shitty social media applications and games and then click “allow” on every notification permission prompt don’t be surprised then.
Then there is Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence bot, which won’t leave you alone. Press the home (middle) button for half a second too long, and it pops up, offering to “assist” you.
Change the default assistant settings. You can disable the assistant feature altogether.
Snapchat texted me a notification the other day
Haven’t used Snapchat in years, wasn’t installed and that setting wasn’t even on when it was.
No wonder. A shame that people didn’t want to support neither Firefox OS or other free Mobile OS…
Someone needs to break the duopoly. HarmonyOS isn’t open source but I’m hoping it will force Google and others to behave.
Unfortunately it’s still made by a big company.
Linux phones made quite some progress in recent years. They still aren’t what I’d call consumer ready, but it’s getting there.
i guess i’ll have to try lineageOS instead.
At the moment, my hope is to be able to land a Harmony NextOS phone soon. I’d just as soon cough up data to the Chinese as 5-Eyes and Google.
Honestly, not a bad idea. If Google breaks custom ROMs I might just switch to Huawei 🤷
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