This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
We are going to move away from Google, by basing our new future on AOSP, which is also primary maintained by Google.......I smell another FireOS level product on the horizon. Still Android, but worse.
So that title is just a straight up lie. They want to use a de-googled Android.
To be honest I was hoping for an alternative OS, competition is always good. But a de-googled Android could possibly be good, but being Chinese I assume instead of Google telemetry you'll just be replacing it with CCP telemetry.
Honestly, I think a person in either nation should consider using the opposing nation's stuff. Harder for the US to backdoor Chinese encryption, or for Chinese to backdoor into an American phone. Play the bastards off each other.
Odds are, that the Trump Regime will use American apps and phones to identify and track targets for ICE traffickers. China probably does the same to Uighurs. The less attack surfaces they have, the better for their respective peoples.
That sounds funny, but In that reality, the government with all its power will find a way in (they probably already have programs (as in departments) for finding their way into other countries tech).
Better to just install a proper de-googled android build (grapheneos, etc) and only use wifi (if data/phone num not needed) for the best odds.
In a couple of years (with more r&d, development and investment) I bet this will change to being use a linux phone.
Apple building backdoors for CCP and sharing any and all data with them: am I a joke to you?
US telemetry == CCP telemetry, I can't see how CCP will be more damaging to regular person.
I think it’s just that they were saying his won’t end up benefitting us. It’s just changing who is holding the binoculars.
Why bother switching then?
Because, at least for now, the US has the greater power to fuck up our lives with the information gathered.
If it's not proper linux I don't care
A rumor of plans??! Tell me everything!!!
Gurl let me spill the tea, there's word floating round in China that some bde powa playas be considering maybe kinda putting something together.
Pretty soon they're going to pencil in a meeting about possibly arranging a committee to discuss preliminary plans to do a feasibility study.
Make it so
Before anyone gets too excited, the headline is clickbait. The bigger Chinese phone brands are looking into de-googled Android. They are still going to use Android.
several prominent Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus, are exploring the possibility of developing versions of the Android operating system that do not rely on Google Mobile Services.
Chinese laptop makers are also in search of an OS that isn't Windows. Queue a race to prop Linux with Android support on that side of things.
de-Googled android sounds even better. The story is cooler than the title!
I mean they just replace Google with their own Chinese data-mining services so, no, not cool.
No no no, it's not Chinese data mining.
it's just socialised data with Chinese characteristics! Much better.
Exactly what happened with Indonesian release of Huawei.
Also, more ads everywhere. Even your lock screen.
When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called “the People’s Stick.”
—Mikhail Bakunin
I like your spirit, but I don't think a Chinese equivalent to Google Play Services would be more desirable
All I want is unified push really. Then you just choose your server or host your own.
Or just Linux. Like furios or phosh, etc.
I wish more apps supported unified push!
How easy is it to degoogle Android? Don't currently use Android or iOS but dumb phone options are getting pretty limited these days.
If I got an Android phone I would probably be looking at something second hand because fuck paying 3 figures on a phone. I know I wouldn't use data at all, call/SMS SIM only. I guess another option is not needing to degoogle it as it will never talk to google once I have finished downloading maps of the country for OSMand and a few other apps. Then it can be on Wi-Fi to allow communication with my PC over LAN but don't allow it access to the internet.
If it never touches the internet after setup I guess outdated OS doesn't matter too much.
If you're looking at getting a new (used) phone, I would suggest GrapheneOS (the most secure/private de-googled rom afaik).
You need a Pixel phone, the newer you get the longer you will keep getting software updates for the future (if you keep the phone past these many years of support, then I believe switching to a other rom will be required for security patches etc. Each phone is supported until Google stops supporting them I believe). You said you don't care about updates because you can keep it from connecting to the internet, but it's a plus anyways.
If you plan on never touching a google service, GrapheneOS allows for that (nothing google by default), but on the other hand, if you need google play, etc for banking apps or whatnot, they have that covered with Sandboxed Google Services (which you can run solely in another user profile on your phone for added privacy).
Anyways, I think GrapheneOS in a great option & their website has much more info if you'd like to continue hearing about it:
p.s. you can check their website for how long different pixels will have continued support before (if) you get one (incase anyone else is reading this).
Ironically, pixels are best for de-googling (stock android that can be easily un- and re-locked)
You have to be careful to get a phone and model supported by one of the projects. Check all compatibility and install instructions before buying a phone. And if you need a manufacturer supplied unlock code, make sure the manufacturer still gives them out . Some will discontinue that service after a few years.
For graphene os you need one of the gogle devices - i've never tried it but i think its the one most people like.
lineageos supports more devices usually older.
I recently got lineageos working on sony experia xa2 - very happy with it. But to get there i had to go try like 6 computers before one of them sucessfully sent the bootloader unlock code over the ADB. For some reason usb is temperamental when doing stuff like that
It is a lot easier on really old stuff like samsung galaxy s3 or s4 if you can tolerate something that old. Maybe you'll lso end upon an old version of lineage.
Once you get the bootloader unlocked it is generally straightforward. but modern phones make that fist part awkward.
The only issue with projects like LineageOS is that the camera usually sucks because the full fat camera driver isn't released to the public, it's only the basic driver. The camera can still take photos but all of the features you've become accustomed to are not there. This was my experience and what the LineageOS team said during the Samsung S5-S8 days.
If you have a phone with custom ROM support, pretty easy. I've been running LineageOS without GAPPS for like 5 years now. Most stuff just works, but to be fair, I am not using any of the cool kids apps like google pay or android auto.
Yeah guess I don't really care for most of it. Can get anything I want as an apk or mostly just on fdroid. VLC and an SSH client would be nice.
It depends on your definition of 'deGoogle'. You can disable the Google apps on most Android phones. They'll take up storage space, but won't run.
If you're getting a second-hand phone and want to completely deGoogle it, you can check if (1) the bootloader is unlockable and (2) custom ROMs are available online (e.g. Lineage OS compatible devices). In general, Xiaomi, Motorola and Pixel devices have unlockable bootloaders, but not all their models have custom ROMs.
We need phones with standard Linux. Without strange "Java only mediator" or something. Just a normal OS.
Android is a pain in the ass.
We need phones with standard Linux.
Already exists. Several iterations are active and work as a daily driver: phone, sms and mobile networking works reliably, apps exist. Just not as many as on Android, and some features are not part of the OS. This is enough for many to declare them "a failure". That and limited hardware support.
Google has coddled us for way too long, and at what price.
