Are you tired of your smartphone being supposed to last for two years, being a black hole that absorbs all possible data for advertising companies?
The problem
Nowadays there are two major operating systems that could be called feature-rich and complete - Android and IOS. It’s worth mentioning that companies who develop this software have data-based business model. In consequence, your new smartphone comes with fantastic features, mostly cloud based that make your life easier. It is worth noting that the more intelligent a function is, the more data it needs to work.
The question is, do you want them enabled by default?
Do you have the option to turn them off completely?
What would you do if some of these services became standard?
New hope
In last few years a few major open-source projects started works on independent ecosystems, not influenced by Android but good old UNIX-like standards. Main difference is the fact that they are adapted for small screens and they are fully touch-friendly.
Goals and non-goals
I won’t cover installation guide. I’ll just try to link or summarize it, as there are enough good quality tutorials to do so.
I would like to focus on the general usability of these products. Of course, I will go into technical details, since this is an IT blog 😉
During pandemic I tried some of them as a daily driver. I experienced a lot of bugs but also experienced new features available neither on Android nor on IOS.
DISCLAIMER: I haven’t tried all projecets as they support different hardware.
Why is it important?
You have no power if you accept data collection policy.
Have you wondered. Can you use any mobile phone without agreeing to any unfavorable privacy policy?
Agenda
Of course, I could write a condensed version of the topics below in one blog post and give a ready-made answer. But that’s not how I want to be treated. I prefer to wade through some topic with guide who will explain the problem and show me what has already been done, but never suggest me an answer.
Why?
Because you may find a new way, new workaround, new solution.
Stay tuned!
Done:
- Part 0: - Introduction to Privacy Phones series.
Comming soon:
- Part 1: Aftermarket Android - how to make it more privacy-friendly?
- Part 2: UBports Ubuntu Touch - non-Android, libre OS with basic functionallities.
- Part 3: PostmarketOS - Completely different approach - true mainline Linux mobile experience.
- Part 4: Droidian and other projects - Something in the middle.
- Part 5: Librem 5 and PinePhone - privacy-designed smartphones.
- Part 6: Summary.