My current phone is 7 years old, does not support recent android versions, and battery life is becoming atrocious. This feels like right time to change my phone.
Currently, I know of & am considering 3 options:
- Google Pixel
- iPhone
- Samsung Galaxy
I heard that Pixel is the best choice for privacy, despite it being Google^TM. Should I go with it, and install Graphene OS or similar options? The very fact that the name “Google” is attached makes me nervous. Also, I don’t think I can trust android, so I would have to install Graphene OS or the like. In the case, app support would be lacking, though.
I am considering iPhone as well, since it has “reputation” of being secure. Of course, Apple can access my data, but that might be a good enough compromise? Honestly, I don’t know. It’s the best supported option as well - lots of apps support iPhone.
Galaxy is just the one that I am the most familiar with (my current one is Galaxy S8). I don’t trust it, though. Do they even make good hardware nowadays?
EDIT: Turns out, Pixel phones are poorly supported by local telecomm companies. It is relatively cheap though. Still worth it?
EDIT2: I heard that data & message is fine, but the call quality is impacted by lack of VoLTE compatibility.
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I owned 4 Samsungs: S8, S10e, S22 and S24 Ultra. Their products got worse. An example is the recent One Ui 7 update, it is just terrible: My notification area that works perfectly fine before, is now changed; my battery life got worse…etc.
Even if I ignore the update, Samsung products are just not great anymore. Remember when a Galaxy can take really great photos? Those days are gone. My S24 Ultra takes the worst pictures in comparison to a Xiaomi or Huawei. Heck, even the controversial Asus Zenfone 10 takes better picture. Sure the Galaxy has better Megapixels, but the AI bullshit makes it so the colors are all wrong.
With that said, you want to go for Pixel + GrapheneOS. Anything that is close to stock Android should be ok. Oh, and stay away from anything with a lot of AI.
If you swipe down on the notifs twice, you can edit them to be similar to the previous style.
On topic of your post, fuuuuck everything about their forcing AI, but my biggest gripe is how they moved the audio display (from, like, Spotify or audiobook readers/podcast apps) to the bottom of the lock screen as a tiny bar on the bottom instead of showing me all the info as it did before. It’s super annoying when I swipe to unlock and pause what I’m listening to.
yeh the other day I accidentally swiped down and touched the Media section. It automatically played my music, eventhough the music app was off lol. Luckily it didnt play any “videos”…
This! I even installed an AOSP Rom to get rid of this shit.
On a Samsung Galaxy? I have one and am also similarly frustrated with the changes, but it seems like the support for custom roms is poor.
Pinephone. It is what I use.
Rotary
🍌
Telegraph with One Time Pad
In my opinion, the Google Pixel with GrapheneOS is considered the gold standard in terms of security and privacy. While I am not fully knowledgeable about its capabilities, it offers a comprehensive suite of security features.
The iPhone is also a viable option. You can easily swap between iCloud to a more secure encrypted provider for both cloud storage and photo backups. Additionally, any notes application can be replaced with a more secure alternative.
Samsung phones can support a range of operating system images that can be flashed, including LineageOS. However, I am not fully aware of all the available options.
The iPhone is also a viable option
🤭
lol idk what you find amusing about that but okay
iPhone 15 (the most recent model without AI) is perfectly adequate for most people.
Please note: You must buy the “Unlocked - Works with any carrier” version of the Pixel via Googles website (or from a reputable source that ensures it is/was not carrier locked). Anything else will have a permanently locked boot loader and no way to install Graphene.
Oh my, that sounds difficult. What does “permanently locked bootloader” mean? I was just going to buy at local phone shop…
Actually, if you buy a Pixel, you need to get the “google edition” version, which google sells directly. If you’re buying used, specifically search for the “google edition” version. I have a Pixel 6 Pro running Graphine OS and I love it. It’s not difficult to install.
“Permanently locked bootloader” means you can’t unlock the bootloader so you can flash a different OS. If you can’t unlock the bootloader, you can’t flash. A lot of phones are like this, like Samsung’s galaxy series. I got really fucked by Samsung with the S10 because of this. You need to buy a specific type of phone and security patch if you want to flash. I went with the Pixel bought unlocked from Google so I could use GrapheneOS. It was very easy to unlock the bootloader and then relock it back. I noticed you said the pixel does not have good reception in your country, I would look more into this before going with it if this is the case.
I usually just buy them used.
You have to look for the unlocked version though. They usually sell for a little bit more but it’s worth paying the extra.
Where can the seller check if it is the unlocked one?
Depends on the carrier and the specific deal. I have a Pixel 7 Pro from T-Mobile. And it was able to be unlocked after one year of service in good standing. T-Mobile has traditionally been pretty good about that, though that kind of thing often shifts once companies have major mergers. And the Sprint merger screwed them up in a lot of ways that are still working their way down to customers losing services and features.
I got my Pixel 7 from T-Mobile… The OEM unlocking toggle shows up in developer settings. An internet search implies I have a unicorn.
Pixel unlocked and install grapheneOS or lineageOS
You should consider buying a flip phone and only put in SIM card when you need it, assuming you can acquire SIM card without your name on it where you live
Flipphones are just less feature, same spying.
These flip phones dont have anything other than a SIM card
No end to end encryption, it’s plaintext for the service provider
Yes and that shouldnt matter because you are not supposed to use these phones for anything other than calling when you need someone
For the vast majority of flip phones currently available on the market, if they’re not running some version of KiaOS, they’re running stock Android - with all the Google spying that entails - under the hood.
My old phone is on its last leg, but I’m holding out for a Huawei or VIVO with HarmonyNextOS. I so want to end everything Google.
Just to let you know, GrapheneOS uses AOSP (the base Android system) and sandboxed Google Play Services, making it compatible with 90% of all Android applications. From what I’ve heard (don’t take my word for it), the apps that have the least compatibility / more breakage are banking ones.
The banking app thing is unfortunate, but then I kinda realized that I don’t really need them anyway. I have all the features I need in browser, and text notifications set up for when I spend money.
The wallet not working REALLY sucks, but if I look on the bright side that’s one less thing Google knows about me and my spending.
While this tends to be true, the vast majority of the banking app incompatibilities are overcome with a simple app-specific toggle.
Which toggle is that and does it work with cash app?
The other answers are correct but I have not gotten cashapp to work. I use an old phone connected to my current phone via hotspot on the rare occasion I need cashapp.
I still recommend GrapheneOS regardless, almost everything else works with nothing more than minor tweaks. If you want something that “just works”, you’ll run into some hangups. Privacy unfortunately has a cost.
Dude the exploit protection compatibility mode worked. I’m logged in
Great! 👍
Yeah I’ve been using graphene for about a year without many issues, cash app is the only one I still can’t get working.
Exploit Protection Compatibility Mode. It’s a setting that relaxes this particular security enhancement for a given app.
It’s worth knowing that NFC payments do not work with Graphene currently.
Oh shit, this is working.
Oh I didn’t know NFC payments were not working. No workaround?
Not currently. It will require Google to’allow’ tap-to-pay on Graphene. Other NFC functions work fine.
For my use, it’s not a big deal. Tapping my card is easy enough
Thanks for the explanation. Unfortunately this is a major feature for me. I just don’t carry cards anymore
That’s fair. Privacy and security generally come at some cost of convenience. Everyone has their own personal balance.
It does not “use” AOSP, it’s built on AOSP, like every Android device.
AOSP is like the foundation of any Android OS.
Yes, that was a poor choice of words on my part; I do apologize about that.
Yeah, the problem is with the one banking app I frequent.
Not advice, just an anecdote I switched to grapheme (pixel 8a) not long ago and its really great I haven’t even been tempted to go back. I think its a great choice
GrapheneOS tested and I ended up going back to Apple.
It’s good in concept but in reality you’re just forced to used play services because most apps require it, but you lose mobile payment and access to some apps because you’re not running a whitelisted OS. App makers don’t give a fuck because custom ROM users are fewer than Linux users, and we all know most software and games don’t give a fuck about Linux users.
Stock GrapheneOS also feels like a jump in the past in terms of UI and accessibility. I felt like I was always going out of my way to make it somewhat usable.
The Pixel also has a battery that doesn’t last long and poor charge retention on idle (Android phones do be like that though). I found out that many tasks cause it to heat a lot. Something like updating an app takes ages and shows visual bugs, like no progress indicator.
I hate Apple but at least I trust that they don’t sell my data to everyone, and they have a good UI.
If the end it’s about how much you’re willing to trade your convenience for privacy. I realized I wasn’t ready.
Apple
I trust that they don’t sell my data to everyone
The same corporation that donated money to a fascist?
🤔
What? Who?
You prefer Google, a company that actively works with Israel for military purposes, against Palestinians, by offering them their cloud services, and then firing the employees that were protesting? It must feel good to purchase a Pixel from them, heh?
What? Who?
You prefer Google, a company that actively works with Israel for military purposes, against Palestinians, by offering them their cloud services, and then firing the employees that were protesting? It must feel good to purchase a Pixel from them, heh?
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I never said to buy a pixel, I merely refuted your claim of apple being “the good guys”
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How does Google being evil make Apple any better? Google, Apple, its both the same. Same genocide. You are being hypocritical by accusing others of being pro-genocide while you yourself are supporting genocide yourself. Get off your high horse, you are just a Pro-Apple Pro-Israel supporter that hate Palestinians, you literally cannot claim to have the “moral high ground”.
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I’ve been rocking a Pixel 8 pro with Graphene OS for a year and change and it was a great experience after being an iPhone user for 8 years aproximately.
The install process is great, automatic and foolproof, you just need the phone, usb cable (probably came with your phone) and a computer with a Chromium-based browser.
App support hasn’t been a problem for me, you can reach for Aurora Store (anonymous Play Store client) if you really need something from there. Otherwise you have F-droid and the usual suspects and also Accrescent, which Graphene offers through its own app store, but barely has anything as of today.
I setup Shelter to have some apps more isolated and being able to just not see them if I want, namely some Microsoft apps I need for work and some that depend o Google’s services. Shelter is recommended by privacyguides.org, so you should be fine using it.
I think Pixel/Graphene is probably your best option for security if you need it. Privacy I guess you can achieve many other ways.
Any inconveniences you’ve noticed with Graphene? For example I’ve heard tap to pay functionality doesn’t work.
I guess there are some tradeoffs, for sure. I’ve encountered a couple things:
- Bad location functionality. The phone is most likely to blame for this, but I can’t say with certainty. GOS uses a custom proxy server for location related operations, so maybe that’s the reason, or maybe I fiddled too much with settings and messed something up.
- Very ocasional crashes due to exploit protection. This almost never happens, but can be annoying. Some app may have a bug that would be overlooked by another OS or try to access some feature that is considered exploitable and the system will kill it, letting you know why with a notification. You can fine-tune these protections at the system or app level to make it work for you though (at your own risk).
- If “tap to pay” refers to NFC payments through some app like Google Pay, I think they do work. You just have to enable NFC (you can even enable it only if the device is unlocked, which is cool), and configure contactless payments with your payment app. I don’t use this feature though, so I’m not speaking from personal experience.
I think that’s it, really. I found the actual user experience to be quite breezy.
- The location functionality has significantly improved recently since it no longer relies solely on GPS, but yeah, it could still be improved.
- Generally, I’ve found the apps that tend to have problems with exploit protection are games, VPNs, and banking apps (which is probably the sort of app you’d most want exploit protection on…). I’m not sure if I’ve ever had an actual problem with other apps honestly.
- While NFC works, Google Pay does not. Google needs to basically certify the OS for it to work, and they refuse to do so (monopoly gonna monopoly). Basically, this means if you’re in the US or some other country where Google Pay is pretty much the only payment option on Android, NFC payments don’t work. Some places in Europe at least have NFC payments available through banking apps though, so if you happen to reside in one of those countries and your bank has one of those apps with payment support, you should be fine.
pigeon with paper that lights itself on fire when human skin touches it
In EU, I would recommend a xiaomi. Cheap, bootloader unlockable (which breaks security a little since you cant relock), but they are a gamble in terms of reliability.
I think you’re mixing privacy with security, iPhone is secure but it’s not private, it’s slighty more private than Google Android but not what would you call private.
Samsung can soft brick your phone so basically backdoor.
Google Pixel with custom ROM like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS is considered to be best in terms of privacy.
Another cheaper alternative if you don’t want to give money to Google or spend too much is Motorola G32, G42, G52 with CalyxOS but to unlock bootloader you have to make account on their website.
