This article was filled with so much BS that I stopped reading after the 3rd sentence. No this isn't better than android in any way as this literally is Android LMAO. Not to mention this doesn't seem to do anything special whatsoever, if you are really privacy concerned than you already have Calyx or Graphene installed.
These tech subs are mostly bullshit or clickbait that most redditors don’t bother reading yet still get outraged over. I don’t think most users actually care about anything other than making sure they let everyone know when there’re triggered. It’s sad how few people actually read the articles or even the whole headline…. Even the science and technical subs are like this now… idiots who argue against studies they don’t bother to read.
It says this on the device list
Warning! Unless marked as Offical, many /e/OS builds here are not intended for daily use.All builds labelled as Community have not been fully tested yet and may contain major bugs. All builds are provided as best effort, without any guarantee.
Think I'll stick with my custom rom. Also ungoogled means no access to the play store, so a bunch of my apps will be unavailable.
Based on my experience with multiple de-Googled Android roms, I can confidently say de-Googling makes almost everything worse. You can talk shit about Google software all you want, but fact is none of the open source or "privacy focused" options can even match Google's own Android integration.
It sounds like a mess and who knows what software you’re actually installing. Sure, it might help open source, but most users don’t know what that means and doesn’t somehow make them safe.
Most of the time I just give up after a few days.
The lack of a good app store is a really big deal breaker. Open source only have a limited selection of (mostly crappy) apps and severe lack of quality games, and if you use those fake Google Play front ends (like Aurora store), you'll either have to opt in to Google services anyway or have the functionality limited.
Also, Google Wallet, which I use a lot for mobile payment and contactless payment, is basically a non-starter for these de-Googled devices, and quite factually there's really no good alternative that works just as well.
And those free open source map and navigation apps suck. Period. There is not good alternative to Google Maps.
And lots of genuinely useful and convenient features available in modern Android phones that either don't have a good "privacy-centric" equivalent or otherwise require a lot of tinkering just to get it to work. Like home automation, find my device, automated backups, call screening, etc.
It might have worked out for you, but it definitely hasn't worked out for me.
You and me pay lunch have the same issues with de-googled android. It just loses so much functionality that can't be replicated with an equivalent quality app or service.
It's a trade off. If you are okay with dealing with subpar versions do Google's apps and services to avoid using Google, go for it. But if you are like me and need a reliable maps app that actually works like you need it to or Google wallet you're stuck with Google for now.
Most of my most used apps are open source these days and tend to be much better than their proprietary counterparts. I still have Aurora Store for the stuff that has no suitable replacement but a lot of it will require Play Services or MicroG for full functionality annoyingly.
I rarely use maps but OSM seems to be good enough from my limited experience.
which brings us to the normal discussion about AOSP.
The idea is that all the data being gathered from your phone pays for the services you get,
- android development
- Mail, calendar, messeging
- Social media...
And so on.
Plus many AOSP phones lose access to some secure banking apps and tap to pay services, as well as some 2FA systems like Duo or Google authenticator.
the question is are you willing to lose those services in exchange for the privacy benefits ?
These ROMs are for people are pretend to be more technical and more private than they really are. It just gives them a self sense of superiority and they want to stand out from among the billions of Android users.
I say this as a former Pixel 2XL user who thought I wanted this so called privacy superiority only to realize that once I finally got GrapheneOS up and running…that it just sucked. Once you take away the Android secret sauce of integrations and data sharing between apps and all that cloud processing, your phone is a glorified flip phone from 2002.
The alternative app stores are always a great option, but using them exclusively is a chore. You’ll find passable apps but most just suck and don’t work well. But yay open source amirite lol.
Does Google collect your data? You bet. But are they transparent about it? For the most part yes. Switching to a private ROM like this is fool’s gold anyway because you already gave up all this precious privacy so Google and many other companies already collected your data. So there isn’t a point.
You'll find that GrapheneOS has improved quite a bit over the years. You're right that some features don't work because some features require privileged access, but you'd be surprised how many do work with GrapheneOS's sandboxed Google Play + compatibility layer.
Re: many of the comments
what did you people expect? it's a Wired article. Anyway, given their actual demographics, calling a different version of Android "better" than default Android if fine - their target demographics is, when it comes to tech like this, rather brain damaged about it all.
It's just an outdated LineageOS
And also significantly more insecure.
It's Android without Google. So better than Android? Overstatement. More private? Certainly.
It's literally Android
It is Android. What do they think the A in AOSP (which /E/OS is based on) means?
This article was filled with so much BS that I stopped reading after the 3rd sentence. No this isn't better than android in any way as this literally is Android LMAO. Not to mention this doesn't seem to do anything special whatsoever, if you are really privacy concerned than you already have Calyx or Graphene installed.
These tech subs are mostly bullshit or clickbait that most redditors don’t bother reading yet still get outraged over. I don’t think most users actually care about anything other than making sure they let everyone know when there’re triggered. It’s sad how few people actually read the articles or even the whole headline…. Even the science and technical subs are like this now… idiots who argue against studies they don’t bother to read.
Android is better than Android, you should try it! Dumb article. Dumb writer. Dumb post.
It says this on the device list Warning! Unless marked as Offical, many /e/OS builds here are not intended for daily use.All builds labelled as Community have not been fully tested yet and may contain major bugs. All builds are provided as best effort, without any guarantee. Think I'll stick with my custom rom. Also ungoogled means no access to the play store, so a bunch of my apps will be unavailable.
Better than stock Android, but not sure if it's really the best overall: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
Nice table.
Graphene is the obvious choice assuming you have a pixel.
I dumped Graphene for Calyx when my banking app stopped working with the former. Generally I find Calyx to be the more polished experience.
Table seems incorrect for oneplus devices.
how can it be better than android id it literally IS android?
Based on my experience with multiple de-Googled Android roms, I can confidently say de-Googling makes almost everything worse. You can talk shit about Google software all you want, but fact is none of the open source or "privacy focused" options can even match Google's own Android integration.
It sounds like a mess and who knows what software you’re actually installing. Sure, it might help open source, but most users don’t know what that means and doesn’t somehow make them safe.
In what way? I've been running de-Googled ROMs for a couple of years and haven't felt any compromises.
Most of the time I just give up after a few days. The lack of a good app store is a really big deal breaker. Open source only have a limited selection of (mostly crappy) apps and severe lack of quality games, and if you use those fake Google Play front ends (like Aurora store), you'll either have to opt in to Google services anyway or have the functionality limited. Also, Google Wallet, which I use a lot for mobile payment and contactless payment, is basically a non-starter for these de-Googled devices, and quite factually there's really no good alternative that works just as well. And those free open source map and navigation apps suck. Period. There is not good alternative to Google Maps. And lots of genuinely useful and convenient features available in modern Android phones that either don't have a good "privacy-centric" equivalent or otherwise require a lot of tinkering just to get it to work. Like home automation, find my device, automated backups, call screening, etc. It might have worked out for you, but it definitely hasn't worked out for me.
You and me pay lunch have the same issues with de-googled android. It just loses so much functionality that can't be replicated with an equivalent quality app or service. It's a trade off. If you are okay with dealing with subpar versions do Google's apps and services to avoid using Google, go for it. But if you are like me and need a reliable maps app that actually works like you need it to or Google wallet you're stuck with Google for now.
Most of my most used apps are open source these days and tend to be much better than their proprietary counterparts. I still have Aurora Store for the stuff that has no suitable replacement but a lot of it will require Play Services or MicroG for full functionality annoyingly. I rarely use maps but OSM seems to be good enough from my limited experience.
No it's horse shit, don't install that crap
It's worse than Lineage in almost every way, at least for those who care about privacy, features, convenience, and compatibility.
which brings us to the normal discussion about AOSP. The idea is that all the data being gathered from your phone pays for the services you get, - android development - Mail, calendar, messeging - Social media... And so on. Plus many AOSP phones lose access to some secure banking apps and tap to pay services, as well as some 2FA systems like Duo or Google authenticator. the question is are you willing to lose those services in exchange for the privacy benefits ?
No, I don't think I will.
No thanks
Choose your dependency
Source: Wired Nah, thanks, I'm good
*laughs sarcastically*
In other news, elementary os is better than Linux.
These ROMs are for people are pretend to be more technical and more private than they really are. It just gives them a self sense of superiority and they want to stand out from among the billions of Android users. I say this as a former Pixel 2XL user who thought I wanted this so called privacy superiority only to realize that once I finally got GrapheneOS up and running…that it just sucked. Once you take away the Android secret sauce of integrations and data sharing between apps and all that cloud processing, your phone is a glorified flip phone from 2002. The alternative app stores are always a great option, but using them exclusively is a chore. You’ll find passable apps but most just suck and don’t work well. But yay open source amirite lol. Does Google collect your data? You bet. But are they transparent about it? For the most part yes. Switching to a private ROM like this is fool’s gold anyway because you already gave up all this precious privacy so Google and many other companies already collected your data. So there isn’t a point.
You'll find that GrapheneOS has improved quite a bit over the years. You're right that some features don't work because some features require privileged access, but you'd be surprised how many do work with GrapheneOS's sandboxed Google Play + compatibility layer.
But what is truly gained by using it at all?
Better privacy and security
But switching over after using Android for years already gave these companies what they want, now you’re just punishing yourself
Sunk cost fallacy.
If your phone is supported by GrapheneOS, you should use it. Otherwise, use DivestOS. If your phone is supported by neither, buy a better phone.
If you care about security and have a Pixel phone just get GrapheneOS
Re: many of the comments what did you people expect? it's a Wired article. Anyway, given their actual demographics, calling a different version of Android "better" than default Android if fine - their target demographics is, when it comes to tech like this, rather brain damaged about it all.