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.

  • lemmysmash@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Great overview! One thing to add here is this amazing comparison of the afrorementioned options: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm

    Regarding GrapheneOS, there are a few things that distinguish it from the rest:

    • the devs are really paranoid in the good way: it’s to receive security updates even before official pixel OS, a lot of OS level security hardening, a lot of features developed specifically to reduce attack surface (e.g. ability to completely disable USB, periodical reboots etc)
    • it supports some exclusive privacy features (e.g. full per-app network kill-switch, contacts & storage scopes, location rerouting for play services etc) aimed to protect your data from crapware you might be forced to install
    • it supports official play store and play services but in the most restricted way possible — they’ve developed a shim that allows to run it without any privileges and any permissions; you can also install it only under a completely separate user to fully separate it from your data
    • in terms of being barebones, it is like this out of the box but you can install absolutely anything on it (unless it depends on “strict” play integrity protection)
    • sbeak@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      the devs are really paranoid in the good way

      I did not say it was entirely bad, but I would say that they have definitely rubbed some people the wrong way when it comes to how they treat other projects

      it supports some exclusive privacy features

      That is true! Some of those are pretty cool actually!

      in terms of being barebones, it is like this out of the box but you can install absolutely anything on it

      Good point to mention! I did mean OOTB, sorry if that wasn’t clear. I think that’s a good thing, less bloat and a more curated software experience, but it’s not for everyone