I’ve been looking into moving towards a more privacy friendly OS on my phones; I’ve been deGoogling my phones to the maximum extension I can manage, deactivating stock apps and putting in as much FOSS possible.
But what other options are there out there?
I don’t want to go full out into Linux Phone territory, as I am not tech savvy enough to maintain a phone on that line, and I have two bank and a carrier applications I would like to keep using.
As I write this, Murena and their /e/ OS seems to be a good option, as they have some accessibly priced equipments and the OS itself seems to be a clean(er) Android.
Why do banking apps keep coming up with degoogling? Do you have to bank on the fly and are you not able to log into their website via a browser? I’m legitimately curious.
Not OP, but personally a banking app along with another ID app where I live are basically needed to verify any online purchases, plus using a banking app to pay for stuff with tap to pay is a lot more convenient than carrying a wallet/cards :3
I have an integrated payment system that works directly from my banking apps; without those apps, I’m out of the system, as it depends on push notifications to accept and allow transfers, payments, etc. Another ugly thing happening is the slow but steady shift of banks towards app-only remote access. My day to day bank is somewhat a middle of the ground but they’ve invested heavily into their app, while ignoring their website, that stopped somewhere around 2015. It’s clunky, hard to use and even lacks some options that are only available on the app or at a walk-in location but those are but a few in the entire country. There are already two banks operating in my country that are app only for access.
Another example is my carrier. Their entire support is done through the app. No email, no phone, nothing. Unless I have their app, if I have an issue, I’m locked out. I can switch carrier and avoid this problem but that implies getting worst coverage.
And I wasn’t originally considering it but my government does have an app that concentrates a number of direct services and allows for digital copies of official documents to be available.
Have you tried microG? It’s a foss implementation of play services that supports firebase notifications.
I’ve tried and somehow it fails to install.
microG pretends to be google play services, so if your phone has that spyware on it then I’m pretty sure you’ll have to uninstall it before you can install microG.
Digital payments require a digital payments app which require google play services. I cannot function without it. My transactions are 95% digital. I do not deal in cash. Its much simpler and easier to scan and pay rather than count change and deal with it.
Do you have access to or have you considered a credit/debit card? It’s an easy way to no longer require google play services, it fits in nearly anything, and is just as quick as the phone with tap.
Most shops in my region support Scan and Pay. Credit card and debit cards are a luxury. No shopkeeper is paying for the added transaction fees and the cost of card machine.
Scan & pay is much cheaper. There are also no transaction fees for online payments. I’m talking about UPI payments. That’s the best payments system I know. Especially, for small transactions.
The banking sector is changing for more of a retail commerce platform and most of banks are giving more options within apps.
For the record Fuck the banks i am just answering you why people prefer the apps.
I suppose I’ve been lucky. I use my phone for calls, texts, and browsing the web. I’ve never had to use it for banking as I handle that at home on a pc for well over a decade now.
More people carry a smartphone nowadays than those that have a computer at home. Banks are not stupid; they cater to the clientele and that clientele is shifting towards apps at an accelerated pace. There are a couple of banks operating in my country that don’t even have any other access but their app: no website, no physical locations.
I would leave my bank the moment they stopped supporting browser access. I’m not relying on an app to handle banking.
Very well, reasonable, but why exactly?
I don’t trust apps and the pc handles websites better. You don’t know what background services are running on an app and how much data they are skimming off of your device, even with restricted permissions. Phones are a privacy nightmare.
App support has an unknown timeline for support on any given phone. Do you have an older phone, they may stop support forcing you to upgrade or use a different bank.
From what I’ve gathered, needing banking apps to participate in society is growing more common in Europe than the US, but i could be wrong there.
Playing devils advocate here as my phone is somewhat hardened and mostly degoogled already. My bank let’s you cash checks via the app, but not the website. I am willing to go feed them into the ATM by hand, but not everyone lives so close to the bank. It is an issue, but it shouldn’t be dealbreaker because privacy is worth far more. That said, ignoring the issue will only make us lose out on potential converts from spyware-android to hardened-android and mobile Linux.