I currently use an iPhone, but given the recent attacks made by the US president and members of his administration on my country (tariffs, annexation threats,etc) I am loathe to support any company based out of that nation any longer. Obviously I know that it is likely impossible to get a functional mobile experience with zero US corporate involvement, but what is the least possible I could do and still be practical? A degoogled fair phone device? Something Chinese running a custom rom like lineage os?
I want to sell my iPhone and Apple Watch ASAP and get something that won’t have my sending money to the US via my app purchases (store cut), monthly services (iCloud), and my data being used/sold.
Thanks!
Second hand Pixel phone and install GrapheneOS on it.
You already own it. You aren’t doing Apple any favors by continuing to own it and you’re not hurting them by getting rid of it.
False. You are hurting them by not providing them a recurring revenue and stream of your data.
What “recurring revenue stream” are you referring to? And what data?
OP mentioned store or inapp purchases plus cloud subscription.
And ALL data, noone knows what apple is doing with it.
OP mentioned store or inapp purchases plus cloud subscription.
I mean they could simply…stop doing that?
noone knows what apple is doing with it
I assume nothing until proven otherwise, considering we know for a fact that any other device is going to be sending a plethora of data for Google to monetize.
Another comment mentioned GrapheneOS.
Even Graphene is nigh-unusable without Google services.
Well, it is if you depend on google services. But you don’t have to.
I use GrapheneOS without Google services and the only issue I have to work around is Slack notifications. Everything else is fantastic.
Devices
- Fairphone 5 (Netherlands)
- OS: LineageOS, CalyxOS
- Or buy it new from iode (France), they also sell other phones as well
- Shiftphone 8 (Germany)
- Is the only Android phone with hardware kill switches (for mic and camera)
- Working on CalyxOS and LineageOS support
For OS comparission
I would add the Mudita Kompakt to the list. It’s from Poland and runs on a de-googled AOSP. With a 4,3 inch e-ink screen it is a niche phone though.
For OS comparission
It’s worth noting that graphene doesn’t have automatic calls recording, and the Devs have been weirdly aggressive about deleting and banning people that ask for it.
Graphene OS just has weirdly aggressive devs.
I guess it’s very “on brand” for the devs of a privacy project to be extremely paranoid.
isn’t it more security focused than privacy?
I use GrapheneOS and have reviewed a lot of the documentation in the OS and built in apps. They like to pair the words privacy and security together in that documentation. The info sheet for the chromium degoogled browser they developed called Vanadium is very focused on both aspects. I personally think the two concepts go hand in hand.
Its also the first time I’ve used a non-firefox type of browser in almost a decade. It feels weird, but they are good at describing why it’s more secure in GrapheneOS due to its superior ability to maintain app sandboxes, which is a big reason I use the OS. Full control over what apps can see on my device.
Maybe because… automatically recording calls is literally illegal in some places around the world? It should probably be user choice to opt in to that so it wouldn’t be on by default. And then, if you have it on while travelling, you could forget and break the law when going through a jurisdiction that does not allow it. Better to explicitly allow for each call, like it does currently.
- Fairphone 5 (Netherlands)
Hard part is software distribution. You can buy Chinese phones but what app store? Can focus on open source applications. Use F-Droid. I have an iPhone and an older Pixel 7. In the past I’ve had ZTE phones. I guess you can buy a Chinese phone with a Mediatek processor that has YMTC memory chips and … whatever else
Desktop/laptop you should and encourage other to try Linux. Something common. Ubuntu or Linux Mint. Even if it’s US based, supporting Linux and open source software aligns with what you want
Open source software isn’t tied to countries. Unless you consider every developer, every person evil just and only because they’re American, it shouldn’t even matter if the project leader is American as no money goes to US companies anyway
Used pixel, put grapheneos on it.
Helps prevent e-waste and youll end up with a fully functioning phone
Yep buying used is the route to go to not directly source a company with new revenue.
Yes, used is the way to go to be the most socially and anti-capitalist conscious.
Samsung is basically all Korean?
Samsung is from South Korea, and their flagships are on par with iPhones.
Not being stupid here, but: do you need to? I completely understand and support the anger, but what in-app purchases are you making and can’t you stop making them? You can switch to the free iCloud account (so they don’t get money) and download/delete your content so they don’t have access to it.
I think your data being used is the big one, but it leads down a big privacy hole; you’ll have to decide how far you want you take that.
I’m just wondering if you’ll end up giving more money to them by buying a new phone, Rather than sticking with your current phone, stopping in-app purchases, deleting iCloud, and installing privacy protection.
Right. Purchasing new sends money to the ultra rich somewhere in the world.
Maybe Fairphone (Netherlands) with /e/OS (Google free Android from France).
Probably a Huawei.
Something chinese (lol)
Not really.
Chinese phones sold in the west still have Google Play Services, which give google (potential) ad revenue.
So you just get spied on by BOTH the NSA and the Chinese Intelligence Agencies.
I remember when Chinese phones used to have a thriving custom rom scene. Then one by one they started locking their crap down or making tools available for it poor enough that custom rom support died out.
I mean you could get the chinese domestic versions. I think Huawei has ones with stripped domestic Android.
Can we be real for a minute?
The kind of companies involved in android may have started in the US, but they’re international.
Buy a Samsung, it isn’t like it only puts taxes into one country’s coffers. Same with Google, which is headquartered in the US, but their phones aren’t actually made here. So you skip pixel devices, and feel all good about it, but if you actually get enough people boycotting them, it isn’t the us that takes the hit. It won’t even hit the pockets of the shareholders.
Who would take the hit is the people at the bottom, making the hardware, and that’s going to be whatever country has people willing/forced to work for bare minimum.
Some things, yeah, you can completely boycott and only US companies take the hit, which still isn’t really going to hit a big enough company because most of them are an international conglomerate’s property anyway. It might fuck over something like Arizona Iced Tea since that’s still a family owned company. But anything that’s publicly traded? Nah, it’s theater unless you boycott everything that conglomerate owns, and it ain’t like any of the nestle botcotts have hurt their bottom line in the decade or so it’s been going.
Phones though? There’s nothing you can buy that isn’t going to enrich Google in one way or another, at least indirectly. You can get close. Pine phones, fairphone, stuff like that where you have the ability to cut them out. But even going with a pixel and cutting google out from out still has feedback effect into Google’s influence via the secondary market keeping their brand with higher values, making their hardware look better than it is.
I get it, the shit is stirring, and you want to slap back.
But the only real way to slap back for real is to abandon smart phones. Some of those, android free, you can cut things down and maybe avoid sending funds into us coffers. LG dumb phones still exist on the secondary market, and they were decent. So I don’t doubt there’s other brands out there making phones that are decoupled enough that it might only be pennies instead of dollars.
