NEW CELL PHONE NEEDED

[1slow]

I turned my I-phone 5s into a submarine, failed the stupid test.

I need a new cell phone, I am fond of and used to the I-phone. I do not necessarily need the latest and greatest.

Any thoughts, deals etc...... ?

Currently on ATT but Verizon is strong in my area as well.

[LtDave]

New iPhones likely being announced tomorrow. Might be some discounts coming on iPhone 12 models. Mine works fine.

[vcdgrips]

Xr is mine and works fine. Concur re some price decreasing coming in light of anticipated 13s to be announced tomorrow.

[Duces Tecum]

I need a new cell phone, I am fond of and used to the I-phone. I do not necessarily need the latest and greatest. Any thoughts, deals etc...... ?

Perhaps https://www.gazelle.com/?

[Guerrero]

Judging by the fact that the thread title is in all-capps, I will assume that the new phone must be LOUD!!

Seriously though, we got Older Offspring an iPhone 12 mini, that might do the trick.

[Cookie Monster]

Throw down for a new iPhone.

I over-bought a 12 Pro last year and while I don't need the camera features I am gotten some pretty amazing photos of my kids and other landscapes.

I am figuring an iPhone is a 5+ year investment so I want to make sure I got the 5G's.

[TGS]

Cell phones aren't hard to use/learn.

Ditch the iPhone platform.

Buy a Moto G on a Google Fi subscription and save yourself a ton of money; drop that money into suppressors, ammo, new guns, training, etc.

:cool:

[idahojess]

I bought the newer IPhone SE about a year ago, it has been a good replacement for my 5s, which was getting slow, etc.

It was about $400.

https://www.apple.com/iphone-se/

They are also the free phone for work phones off the government contract.

[Whiskey]

My iphone 11 spent 5 or 6 hours in around 18-25 inches of water once. We found it because the alarm started going off. So at least you wouldn't have that to worry about with a newer iphone.

[LOKNLOD]

Cell phones aren't hard to use/learn.


...said in response to the original all-caps post on a gun forum requesting advice on replacing a 7-generation-behind obsolete iphone. :p

[DMF13]

Currently on ATT but Verizon is strong in my area as well.I don't have advice for iPhones, but for service I'd suggest checking out Visible.com. It is Verizon service, but there is no store, everything is done online. Unlimited talk, text, and data, for $40/month. There ate no different plans its just the standard Verizon service.

Everyone has separate billing, but if people.join your "party," or you join someone else's "party" everyone in the party gets a discount on service. $5 off for each person, down to $25/month. If someone leaves a "party" nothing changes as long as their are.still enough people to the max discount. If your party dips below 4 total people, then your bill starts to go back up, but still its $40 max even if you're solo.

The other members of your party don't get any info about you, so people.go on social media and find large parties to get the maximum discount.

My wife and I had Verizon for well over a decade. We switched to Visible a few months ago, and are saving a ton of money.

[Leroy Suggs]

I have been pleased with my Iphone 12 Mini and would reccomend it.

[RoyGBiv]

re: iPhone

I'm all for catching sex offenders.... but....

https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/16/ai_vision_apple/


That would be more comforting if Apple hadn't said days later how on-device analysis is going to be a key component in informing law enforcement agencies about things they disapprove of. Put the two together, and there's a whole new and much darker angle to the fact, sold as a major consumer benefit, that Apple has been cramming in as much AI as it can so it can look at pictures as you take and after you've stored them.

We've all been worried about how mobile phones are stuffed with sensors that can watch what we watch, hear what we hear, track where we go and note what we do. The evolving world of personal data privacy is based around these not being stored in the vast vaults of big data, keeping them from being grist to the mill of manipulating our digital personas.

But what happens if the phone itself grinds that corn? It may never share a single photograph without your permission, but what if it can look at that photograph and generate precise metadata about what, who, how, when, and where it depicts?

[El Cid]

re: iPhone

I'm all for catching sex offenders.... but....

https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/16/ai_vision_apple/

Agreed. Never thought I'd see the day Apple sold out on privacy but here we are.

Whatever happened with those Linux based phones that were supposed to provide more privacy? The Librem 5 and similar? Anyone have experience with them? Have they been out long enough to get an idea how well they work?

https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

[HeavyDuty]

That would be more comforting if Apple hadn't said days later how on-device analysis is going to be a key component in informing law enforcement agencies about things they disapprove of. Put the two together, and there's a whole new and much darker angle to the fact, sold as a major consumer benefit, that Apple has been cramming in as much AI as it can so it can look at pictures as you take and after you've stored them.

We've all been worried about how mobile phones are stuffed with sensors that can watch what we watch, hear what we hear, track where we go and note what we do. The evolving world of personal data privacy is based around these not being stored in the vast vaults of big data, keeping them from being grist to the mill of manipulating our digital personas.

But what happens if the phone itself grinds that corn? It may never share a single photograph without your permission, but what if it can look at that photograph and generate precise metadata about what, who, how, when, and where it depicts?

I’m thinking about a close friend who likes taking special pictures of his 35 year old Thai wife who can pass for 12.

[Inkwell 41]

Agreed. Never thought I'd see the day Apple sold out on privacy but here we are.

Whatever happened with those Linux based phones that were supposed to provide more privacy? The Librem 5 and similar? Anyone have experience with them? Have they been out long enough to get an idea how well they work?

https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

I’ve been following the Librem 5 development. Not ready for prime time seems to be where it’s at right now. The USA made version, US sourced parts, says “shipping now”. Asking price is just under 2K. Lot’s of chatter on the Purism forum with detractors and supporters arguing whether the company over sold how ready the phone is. The standard version is still forthcoming, probably due to the ongoing chip shortage. There is another Linux based phone call the Pine phone. Haven’t followed it, so no comments about it.

[Blades]

Might as well buy the new iPhone 13(5G). In a few months it will be old, and next year the iPhone 14's will be released. The 14 is going to have satellite call abilities -- that sounds cool to me. I may have to switch to an iPhone. :)

[Shoresy]

I’m thinking about a close friend who likes taking special pictures of his 35 year old Thai wife who can pass for 12.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not... that's not at all how Apple's system works.

[HeavyDuty]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not... that's not at all how Apple's system works.

I am, somewhat - but it was in reference to the quoted post of how Apple is allegedly starting to mine data from photos.

[DrkBlue]

Update your iOS ASAP… for reasons.

[RoyGBiv]

Update your iOS ASAP… for reasons.

Wife and friend, both with company managed iPhones, were force fed security updates yesterday.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/apple-ios-14-8-pegasus-security-fix-iphone-users-urged-to-update-immediately/

[FPS]

Highly recommend getting out of the Apple and Google ecosystems and move over to a De-Googled phone using Graphene, Calyx, Lineage or Ubuntu touch.

[1slow]

Highly recommend getting out of the Apple and Google ecosystems and move over to a De-Googled phone using Graphene, Calyx, Lineage or Ubuntu touch.

What phone would be best for that ? Why is this better ? I am massively ignorant on cell phones.
Thanks.

[rob_s]

Phones are like most other things discussed on the internet, the people that made a choice of platform ten years ago are just going to recommend their choice over and over and over again, and find all sorts of reasons to roast the other side to defend their choice, rather than sumo,unthinkable about what’s best for the person asking the question.

If you’re on the iOS platform and like it and don’t want to relearn a bunch of shit, and you’re coming off something as old as the 6, you’re probably not using nor do you probably care about all the MOAR that Apple has been packing into their newer offerings. Look into the SE (https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-se). You’ll get MOAR than what you have now, granted in a larger package.

If you don’t think you can stomach the larger size (I didn’t think I could either when I got my current 10s, it turned out I was wrong) and are willing to cough up a bit more money, the 12 (https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-12) or 13 mini will cost more, have a lot MOAR, but be actually smaller than you current phone in some dimensions (https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone+6+vs+iphone+12+mini&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS590US590&oq=iphone+6+ve+ilhone+12&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0i13l5.5841j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#spf=1631788493963)

An iPhone 12 mini with 128gb of storage is $650. $750 with 2x the storage at 256. As mentioned upthread, there are sure to be some used ones or even Apple refurbs coming soon-ish. Sounds like you can’t really wait around for that though.

The SE with 128gb of storage is $450. There is no 256 option, it tops out at 128.

By comparison, a 13 mini (https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-13) with 128gb is $699. It goes up to 512gb for $1k.

[Darth_Uno]

My iphone 11 spent 5 or 6 hours in around 18-25 inches of water once. We found it because the alarm started going off. So at least you wouldn't have that to worry about with a newer iphone.

While I don’t plan to test it, they’re supposedly water resistant for a good bit.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/apple-iphone-11-and-pro-water-resistant-waterproof-testing-resilts/


Phones are like most other things discussed on the internet, the people that made a choice of platform ten years ago are just going to recommend their choice over and over and over again.

I started with an iPhone 4 and am now up to the 11. Haven’t seen a need to upgrade further since I don’t use or need a fraction of my phone or iPad’s bells and whistles. And like you said, “it works for me” so I’m not really willing to abandon iOS and start over with a new platform that does, for my purposes, pretty much the same thing.

Had I started with Android, I’d likely still be using that.

[HeavyDuty]

I was waiting to see what happened with the iPhone 13s. I currently have an iPhone 7 on Sprint and need to move to Verizon, they seem to have the best coverage in NH. I also use my phone for semi-serious video, and for me the 13 offers genuine advantages over the 12. I’ll probably go with a 13 Pro Max.

Phones are commodities. I’ll probably have this one for five years, too so buying a 12 would just reduce the length of time it will be viable and have decent trade in potential.

[Erik]

What phone would be best for that ? Why is this better ? I am massively ignorant on cell phones.
Thanks.

Apple and google both collect enormous amounts of information from their users. A de-googled phone uses an android operating system that isn't part of the google ecosystem and doesn't pass that information back to google. I don't think there's an apple equivalent. What phone you use will depend on what android operating system you choose. There are a few phones you can buy that are de-googled for you but the choices are slim. The typical route is to select a phone and operating system combo that does what you want it to do. That means researching the various operating systems to see what phones they're compatible with and then picking the best (or least bad, depending on your perspective ) phone option and using the operating system that works on it. You have to load the operating system on the phone (or find a friend that does this kind of stuff who will do it for you, I guess).

I've been looking into this for several months now and will ultimately go down this path, but it's kind of a slog since I'm basically not a tech guy. Starting from being massively ignorant about cell phones, this is probably not going to be a great option for you unless you use one of the few phones you can find that are already de-googled.

[El Cid]

Apple and google both collect enormous amounts of information from their users. A de-googled phone uses an android operating system that isn't part of the google ecosystem and doesn't pass that information back to google. I don't think there's an apple equivalent. What phone you use will depend on what android operating system you choose. There are a few phones you can buy that are de-googled for you but the choices are slim. The typical route is to select a phone and operating system combo that does what you want it to do. That means researching the various operating systems to see what phones they're compatible with and then picking the best (or least bad, depending on your perspective ) phone option and using the operating system that works on it. You have to load the operating system on the phone (or find a friend that does this kind of stuff who will do it for you, I guess).

I've been looking into this for several months now and will ultimately go down this path, but it's kind of a slog since I'm basically not a tech guy. Starting from being massively ignorant about cell phones, this is probably not going to be a great option for you unless you use one of the few phones you can find that are already de-googled.

I'm at the point where I want some actual privacy, but they (purposely) make it difficult to achieve. I can give up IOS for an Android even though I think they are counterintuitive. But can a de-Googled phone still load various popular apps? Does loading the apps then in turn compromise privacy? I'm presuming there are some limitations that I'd need to be willing to live with to have this system.

I've already turned off all the various things the IOS allows you to disable, but I'm sure they still collect a ton of stuff. I've even been using duckduckgo for a few months but still see ads for things I've searched on ddg when logged into amazon or similar.

[blues]

There is no such thing as privacy anymore. It's an illusion you might be sold, but I don't think it exists.

[Erik]

I'm at the point where I want some actual privacy, but they (purposely) make it difficult to achieve. I can give up IOS for an Android even though I think they are counterintuitive. But can a de-Googled phone still load various popular apps? Does loading the apps then in turn compromise privacy? I'm presuming there are some limitations that I'd need to be willing to live with to have this system.

As I understand it (and I am far from an expert here - I've just been researching this stuff for my own use) a de-googled phone can still load a lot but not all of the popular apps. Which of those apps you can load may depend on which OS you choose. You won't be able to get any of them through google play (because de-googled), but there are other resources. Some of them will give you a basic privacy rating of the app itself and yes, downloading certain of those apps does compromise privacy. Moving away from apple and google definitely means giving up some of the things that a lot of people use every day and take for granted.

I agree with blues. Unless you're prepared to go completely off grid, only use cash, etc., etc., privacy is an illusion these days and the best you can do is decide what compromise works for you and your personal security and comfort. From a security perspective, I am no more at risk than the average joe. From a comfort perspective, I don't like the level of information gathering I'm currently subject to and will gradually reduce that where I reasonably (in the context of my life) can.

I have found these folks to be a useful and user friendly resource for me: https://techlore.tech/ Again, I'm not a tech guy, so take this all for what it's worth.

[SLUZENE]

Basically what TGS & FPS said.

Get an unlocked pixel from google. They often run a 50% off sale on black friday. Put something like calyx or GrapheneOS on it.

https://calyxos.org/
https://grapheneos.org/

https://securechatguide.org/favorites.html
https://www.securemessagingapps.com/

But I am still awaiting better Linux based phones.

[SLUZENE]

There is no such thing as privacy anymore. It's an illusion you might be sold, but I don't think it exists.

Convenience and privacy? No. I agree. But then again I assume the people on this forum are trying to be more private from big tech (google, facebook), rather than from targeted LE/NSA surveillance.

[FPS]

Think about what apps you really need on a phone. Don't think about convenience, think about need (convenience and "free" is the candy to lure you into the van). Odds are, there are many non-Google open source apps that can replace those.

If you can't find open source versions (check F-Droid store which features all open source apps), you can download apps from the Google play store through an anonymous store app called Aurora. Since your phone has been de-Googled, most likely you can control what the app will do on your phone and how much it talks to Google if you aren't running any Google play services. Some apps might have some functionality disabled if they rely on G Play services. If you absolutely need Google Play services, you can download an app called Micro G. Read up on what it does.

Biggest pain for most people is usually the loss of Google maps. But that thing is the biggest spyware and tracking device in the history of the world. If you absolutely need to use it, use it via a browser, preferably one that you don't use for anything else. But remember, we were able to find things before the existence of Google maps. There are some alternative map programs but I haven't used them yet. Don't expect anything like G maps though.

Operating systems - I have one success with GrapheneOS and one fail with LineageOS (phone issue that wouldn't cooperate). Graphene has worked out great.

Privacy can be attained but it takes work and understanding how you are being tracked which is very extensive. Most people would be horrified if they knew all the ways. We would all be better off if we got rid of big tech services as fast as possible. If you can't for work or other reasons, you can isolate them by using different browsers, computers, virtual machines, etc. Use a good VPN to hide your IP address (Mullvad, ProtonVPN - read up on which ones are best for privacy, they are not all equal).

Once you have made your phone as private as possible, you have more to do with your home network and other devices and what apps other people are using to communicate with you. Try to get as many people as you regularly chat with on Signal. Look at ProtonMail or Tutanota for end to end encrypted email between both parties using the service. If one party is not using the same encrypted service, no encryption - email header info is wide open. Move to Linux where possible - many distros have gotten much easier to use.

Hiding from 3 letter agencies is largely futile IMO - mass surveillance unfortunately has to be handled at the political level (which it probably won't). It is big tech I am concerned about (read up on the kind of things Apple has done with China and Russia, they are an evil company). Long track record of abuses by the other big tech names. Government won't crack down on them most likely due to all the backdoor data sharing deals and technology dependencies.

Good resources:
- PrivacyTools.io
- Michael Bazzell
- Edward Snowden
- The Hated One (YouTube)
- Rob Braxman Tech (YouTube)
- Techlore (YouTube)
- The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
- "Mobile Handset Privacy: Measuring the Data iOS and Android Send to Apple and Google (https://www.scss.tcd.ie/doug.leith/apple_google.pdf)" - Douglas Leith, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, School of Computer Science and Statistics.
- Summary article of above paper - ArsTechnica (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/android-sends-20x-more-data-to-google-than-ios-sends-to-apple-study-says/) (and many other sources, it was widely reported).

[Chance]

MySudo now supports non-stock Android, so I've picked up a Pixel 4a, loaded GrapheneOS on it following Michael Bazzell's guidelines, and am playing around with it. The only major question mark is interfacing with my car's infotainment system, as I use CarPlay / Android Auto literally every time I'm in the vehicle. That doesn't appear to work without Google services installed, so this phone is probably not going to become my EDC until that's resolved.

On the plus side, installing GrapheneOS was very straight-forward. I've installed LineageOS on other systems and, while it certainly wasn't rocket surgery, it did require a non-trivial amount of "already know what you're doing".

[Stephanie B]

Update your iOS ASAP… for reasons.

To iOS 15? Or keep 14 up to date?

[Borderland]

If you have a gun safe with a heater in it, put your old phone in there for a week. Open the case if you can. I've done that with several old flip phones that went thru the washing machine. Once the moisture is sucked out they worked just fine.

But if you want a new phone get a new phone.

[Erik]

To iOS 15? Or keep 14 up to date?

The latter. This was for a security patch that apple pushed out. Chances are it was already force installed for you but if not, accept the update.

[Stephanie B]

To iOS 15? Or keep 14 up to date?


The latter. This was for a security patch that apple pushed out. Chances are it was already force installed for you but if not, accept the update.

My phone’s trying to force-install 15.1.

[Erik]

If nothing else, that will include whatever the security patch was.

[Chance]

But can a de-Googled phone still load various popular apps?

Plenty of popular apps work just fine. The problem - at least in my experience - is that there's no way of telling what will work and what won't, sans actually downloading it and trying. Some apps don't blink at the absence of GSF (Google Services Framework), others loudly proclaim they won't work and then proceed to work fine, others won't get past their initial splash screen.

At present, I have: Spotify, PocketCasts, Headspace, MyFitnessPal, MySudo, Authy, ProtonVPN, ProtonMail, FastMail, and Firefox all running fine (I think...) on GrapheneOS. Those apps seems to like LineageOS as well.


Does loading the apps then in turn compromise privacy?

Yes. Some of that can be mitigated by using firewalls and avoiding the worst offenders (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, et cetera), but if it's using a network connection, it's probably leaking something. You could keep it anonymous if you were very deliberate, but you'd have to give up using your phone the way most people use their phones, and I'm not prepared to do that.


I'm presuming there are some limitations that I'd need to be willing to live with to have this system.

No push notifications to apps is the biggest thing I've seen thus far. Push notifications rely on either Apple or Google to locate and send data to your device, so no GSF means no notifications. Some apps (like MySudo) will still get notifications if the app is up and running in the background, but that can be a little gnarly to your battery.

[Wondering Beard]

My phone’s trying to force-install 15.1.

Mine just got it on and it still works fine.

Various apps now open with a page that shows some of the new stuff that one can do in that app and the new capabilities seem nice but since I don't do any of the fancy stuff now available, it makes no difference.

ETA, some layouts (like maps and weather) are a bit different but they are still perfectly useable.

[Erik]

I am a few days on the other side of transitioning over to a de-googled Pixel 5 and I am very happy with the result so far but it was not an especially easy process. That's partly because this is really not my area of expertise and partly because there isn't one central source of good, easily perused information on what works, what doesn't, steps to get from here to there, etc. One of the major sources here is reddit, which sucks for me because for whatever reason the reddit functionality really doesn't work well for me and how I process information. Maybe I'm too old, maybe it's something about the way my brain works vs. whomever reddit works for. I don't know and I don't care. It just is. So sucks to be me when the process doesn't go super smoothly.

I opted for a Pixel 5 because it's got all the features I want (wireless charging was a big one for me and it's not a feature on various other Pixels) and it's in the sweet spot for me in terms of size. Of course Google chose to discontinue it when they released the Pixel 6, but as of a few days ago they are still available through online vendors.

I am running Calyx OS with MicroG enabled because I want to be able to use apps that depend on GSF like my banking app and various others. The Calyx OS website is a good resource and their installation instructions are good but the troubleshooting portion is kind of lame and if there are any hiccups in your installation it's not easy to sort. I learned a few things along the way and ran into a few issues that weren't covered by the installation instructions. I'm writing this out because it might help somebody else who reads it and it will definitely help me if I go through this process again. So, here are the lessons I learned and issues I ran into in the order that they pissed me off:



Not all "unlocked" phones can be rooted. Carrier unlocked does not mean that you can unlock the bootloader and flash a new OS. Pixels that were manufactured by Google for Verizon cannot have the bootloader unlocked period, as far as I could find. Not by Google, not by Verizon, not by anybody. Even a brand new phone that was acquired from a third-party seller and not through Verizon may be a Verizon locked phone. Ask me how I know. That would have been a very expensive lesson if the ebay return process hadn't worked for me. The only way to be sure, as far as I know, is to buy a phone from a vendor that tells you it's able to be rooted (this should be the case if they say it's factory unlocked but may not be and not all vendors know the difference) or run the phone's IMEI past google tech support and have them confirm it's not locked to Verizon. One of the free IMEI checkers might work too. I don't know because I didn't try that. I went right to the source when I ran into the issue. The way you'll know you have a problem is if you follow the instructions to become a developer on your phone, click through to developer options and find that no matter how many times you look at that damn "OEM unlocking" button, it's still greyed out and OEM unlocking cannot be enabled. Even if your vendor says it can be rooted, make sure they accept returns anyway.



One of the steps in the installation process (if you're working in Windows; apple might be different) is to download the USB drivers for your model phone. This should be an easy process - click through the link, download the zip file and save it to the directory Calyx tells you to. It wasn't for me. For whatever reason, no matter how many times I tried, that process did not work for me. I had to download android studios and access the USB drivers that way using the alternative instructions on the android developer website. No big deal, really, but a pain in the ass plus this also meant I had to learn some basic stuff about how to navigate to files in my internal storage, move them around, etc. As I've said, I am not a tech guy. At all. It's stuff I should know anyway but still. Not the simple process the installation instructions (and basically every video tutorial I saw) made this seem.



Even a phone that will allow you to enable OEM unlocking and enter fastboot mode may not give you the option of unlocking the bootloader once it gets there. Pretty much all of the instructions I found said enter fastboot mode, use the volume up or down keys to toggle to unlock, take a deep breath and unlock. Nope. I toggled and toggled and toggled but no unlock option. So. I found a tutorial that walked me through how to unlock the bootloader using ADB and fastboot. Luckily for me, the tools needed for that are part of android studio, which I'd already downloaded to get the right USB drivers, and this worked. This also meant learning what the command prompt is and how to enter it, change directories within it and use it, which was it's own odyssey, but also something I probably should have known already.



Flashing the new OS took longer than I thought and had some big pauses along the way. Whatever you do, don't fuck with the phone until it's really really done. For example, don't toggle that bootloader button around and press restart bootloader, or power off or anything else because the phone's been sitting there for a while seeming to be stuck somewhere in the process. Really. Don't do that. It's not stuck. It's thinking or whatever the phone does when it's being flashed. If you happen to do that and you think "fuck me I bricked my phone" because it becomes totally unresponsive, try using ADB and fastboot to enter fastboot mode again and if you're really lucky, that will work. At least I think that's what I did. I was kind of in a mood at that point and it's a little bit of a blur. As of a couple of days ago, on Calyx OS at least, the flashing process is done when the fastboot screen tells you to lock your bootloader.



I used the backup service that I have for my phone and computers to transfer files over to the new phone. Mostly this was pretty straightforward. Not everything transferred as well as I'd like but it was overall pretty smooth. It might have been easier with another backup service (I'm using idrive).


There were a couple of other minor issues along the way but overall, once I got the new OS loaded the transition process went pretty smoothly. It's definitely not as simple as getting a new phone through your existing service provider, but not awful either. Now that it's done, so far I'm very happy with the result. I like the Pixel 5, I like the operating system and apps work well. My old phone was a Samsung and I really disliked all the crap that they force onto their phones and won't allow to be disabled. The user experience on this phone with Calyx OS is much, much better. I also like that I'm not sending Samsung and Google so much information. I recognize that this is not a complete privacy solution, but I do think it goes a very long way and makes for a much better user experience.

[Chance]

That's partly because this is really not my area of expertise and partly because there isn't one central source of good, easily perused information on what works, what doesn't, steps to get from here to there, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to put all of that together. It might be worth starting up a "De-Googling Android AAR" thread here, as there seems to be enough interest.


I am running Calyx OS with MicroG enabled because I want to be able to use apps that depend on GSF like my banking app and various others.

Does Android Auto work with MicroG? From the little info I've been able to find, the answer sounded like "no", so I haven't explored it further.

[TexasSiegfried]

I've been following this gent on YouTube a while. He offers routers and phones as well.

https://brax.me/prod/host.php?f=_store&h=rob&p=

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

[Erik]

Does Android Auto work with MicroG? From the little info I've been able to find, the answer sounded like "no", so I haven't explored it further.

I don't use Android Auto so I really don't know. I could try installing it and see. After I look it up and see what it is...see "not a tech guy" above.

[Chance]

I don't use Android Auto so I really don't know. I could try installing it and see. After I look it up and see what it is...see "not a tech guy" above.

Thank you for the offer, but that's not worth the effort. I was just curious.