I currently have an iPhone X. I like it, but it’s gradually dying. It’s also a bit too big. Perfect size would be the iPhone 7 or similar. I’ve had different brand phones before this, so while I’ve been on Apple for a while, I’ve had Samsung, Motorola, Sony, Nokia etc. all the way back to the Nokia 3210.
I’m becoming a bit fed up of big brands and so want to de-Apple myself, but also not go Google. I would love a dumb phone, but I do have some regular apps: MS Auth for work; Lemmy; Philips Hue; Sensibo; WhatsApp.
I was looking at alternative OS options such as Graphene OS, that in theory allow you to run Android apps without Google. But how well do they work?
This would be my primary (only) phone.
So given size considerations (iPhone 7), ability to not be Apple or Google OS, but also be able to run my key apps, what do my options look like?
I’d go into a store and ask, but say ‘not apple and not google’ and you get a vacant stare in response.
I use Graphene OS. While you can run it completely de-Googled, in order to run Play Store applications Graphene OS takes the route of sandboxing Google Play services. This means that they run with the privileges of a regular application and you can deny it access to e.g. sensors.
Sandboxed Google Play is practically identical in functionality to its non-sandboxed counterpart from the stock ROM, and nearly all applications should work. I can confirm that WhatsApp works for certain, as well as my banking app.
Calyx OS is another one that uses MicroG as a replacement for Google Play Services instead, but I have not used it.
Google Pixel is no-brainer choice. Any pixel from 7th gen.
GrapheneOS is kind of nice if you don’t hate setting everything up, but for example, Google Wallet does not work on it. Camera is somewhat trash. Myself I did not like it due to camera and google wallet functionality.
Ex-OnePlus user. Their software is buggy and shit. OnePlus used to be amazing but not anymore.
Mobile market sucks in terms of competition tbh… All 3rd party ROMs like LineageOS are usually bloated with bugs there and there. Wouldn’t recommend!
I can recommend the fairphone
Graphene OS is awesome. It’s Android without Google - you can run all your apps, including Google ones, but have much more control over permissions.
The only reason I don’t use it is because of how important contactless pay and android auto are for me.
Ah, that’s a really good point. I hadn’t thought about that. I use Apple CarPlay and haven’t carried a wallet/cards in years.
Are there any non-Google, non-Apple OSs that allow for these (even if it is the Google app sitting in a sandbox)?
The only phones that are deGoogled out of the box (Huawei, mostly), did’t manage to deliver very satisfying experience, so no special recommendation from me.
However, there are options like /e/OS that provide easy to install, de-Googled Android installation, providing the phone is on their compatibility list. If I were in your shoes, I’d check one of such options and consider a phone from the compatilibty list they maintain.
For example:
- One Plus 8
- One Plus 8 Pro
These phones are sweet, as far as I’m concerned.
I’m not familiar with e/OS/ but fairphone recently released their phone to the US market with this OS preinstalled.
All 3rd party ROMs like LineageOS are usually bloated with bugs there and there. Wouldn’t recommend!
This is just straight up not true. LineageOS is well maintained, it depends on which phone you have, and the more popular the phone, the better the support for it. Anything 3rd party comes with the risk of bugs, that’s a trade-off, but to suggest it’s “bloated” with bugs is patently false. Maybe if you’re using a device from a manufacturer that’s hostile to customroms, but I’ve never had any serious issues with anything I’ve run LineageOS on, and that includes a lot of devices.
As for the wallet, that’s Google, which they said they want to get away from. I’ve also not had any issues using wallet on my phone running LineageOS.
Your comment is basically just telling them to use a Google Pixel straight out of the box, which is the opposite of what they asked. I’m not sure why this comment has been pinned (according to Liftoff).
It sounds like you’re replying to someone, but this is a standalone comment.
Hi there! Hope you’re enjoying your time on NSQ. Will you please edit your post title so that it contains your question? It’s rule 1 in the sidebar. Thanks for posting!
There are lots of privacy oriented Android flavors out there. Most of them won’t come with Google Play services installed. Any of them will be able to run any apps you need.
In my opinion, Google isn’t bad at all when it comes to tracking and bloatware. They’re much like Apple. It’s the branded phones like Samsung that are absolutely horrible.
Anyway, check out the LineageOS Wiki: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
It can give a quick overview of the devices which can easily install a custom ROM (OS). I heard good things about Fairphone
