cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/45425575
I mean we all know about the sideloading restriction thing. So I wanna explore alternative OSes, just gathering info, not sure if I’ll even end up buying another phone (currently have a Samsung as a main phone, and in North America they are bootloader locked).
Like I know Graphene OS is supposedly more secure, but is it worth paying so much more for a phone? And used phones are kinda sketchy btw, most originate from a carrier so unlockability is in question (I’m not playing the buy/return “lootbox” game lol, so much hassle and its never guaranteed when a seller would even accept a return).
The moto I was looking at apparantly was on CalyxOS’s supported list, but they suspended development for some reason, so Lineage is the only Custom ROM left other than Graphene.
Graphene seems cool, but idk if its really that much better. Getting a pixel is directly giving Google the most money, and I don’t feel so good about that after they closed sourced Pixel device tree codes (or whatever that thing was called that they closed sourced), and then they killed sideloading, feels wrong to be buying a pixel right now. So that leaves me with just Lineage. And I could get a much cheaper phone too going Lineage.
So TLDR: If you were to recommend a phone to someone, which would you recommend? Expensive phone for Graphene, or Cheap phone and just use Lineage? Or something else?
The Bluetooth issue can be resolved by just permanently attaching a short USB-C dongle to your headphones (although TBF I’d also prefer a headphone jack).
I’m not really sure what you mean by everything taking more clicks than it should. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to the standard Android UI (guessing you have OneUI or whatever), but I don’t really think that’s an issue? It’s not really any different from most other Android devices I’ve used. You can also configure some things to be less secure/private (lock screen notifications come to mind), which might fix whatever it is you’re talking about.
The only negatives from the security focus IMO are maybe a bit slower performance (not really noticeable frankly) and occasionally an app not fully working because of Play Integrity, but that’s pretty rare in my experience (the main issue there for me is Google Wallet or whatever not supporting NFC, which does suck). If you install sandboxed Google Play and give it whatever permissions it needs, the device functions pretty much the same as a stock Pixel, albeit without Google’s AI gimmicks.
I think we have very different needs.
I don’t even have google play nor would I want it. I disable it on phones I can’t remove. I never noticed graphene being slow. Google wallet is another thing I wouldn’t want even if they pay me a lot. It’s a plus for graphene (or any custom rom).
My issues are that I might have been spoiled by samsung. Just swipe and slide to change brightness (I do it all the time and it’s a bunch of clicks on graphene), enable bluetooth with 1 click and automatically connect and even with screen locked (not a big deal since the s10 has a headphone jack, but a massive issues on a phone that killed it, and even then the s10 works better), some other things that don’t work without unlocking and the s10 does (I never noticed the notifications thing since I barely use it), wi-fi bundled in the “internet” option together with mobile data (whose idea was this?) requiring extra clicks, and other things.
It may be stock AOSP issues, which I don’t know why people praise it (like when samsung puts their apps they call it bloatware, but a phone with only all sorts of google garbage people are happy with). Like the obnoxious google search on home screen that you can’t remove it unless you change the launcher altogether.
And then the usb-c dongle, which is a “solution” to a problem that didn’t exist, and the ones I tried didn’t work very well, plus not being able to charge while talking (another dongle?), plus having to carry that thing around.
But I’m barking at the clouds. Since apple “invented” the handicapped phone, the world moved on. That’s why I’m holding on to the s10 for as long as I can. It’s the last phone that has the minimum requirements I see on a phone.
But just to be clear, I don’t hate graphene. It has its place and I’m happy for those who make it. It’s just not a great experience for me.
What I hate is the pixel. That’s what I regret buying. And graphene only works on pixel, so it’s a good thing for me that I won’t miss it. It would be sad if it was a rom I love on a phone I hate.
Ah, and to be clear, I also hate samsung. But I love the s10. If not for the spyware, the lack of support for custom roms, I would really like their phones and software. But they have to be evil and copy apple and google where they can…
Tbh I think disabling play services on a Samsung phone is kind of like pissing into the wind since Samsung’s privacy is so terrible, but I guess it’s better than nothing. Only one company stealing all your data instead of two lol.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t used One UI and I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying, but I’m pretty sure some of those aren’t really much different on GrapheneOS (or AOSP). Brightness can be changed in the quick settings/toggles/whatever they’re called thing in the notification shade using a slider. Bluetooth autoconnects when enabled, although idk if there’s a way to get it to work on the lock screen without unlocking. There might be a setting to allow it. I personally don’t think it matters much since it’s not like I constantly turn it on/off. It also takes two taps I guess if your phone is already unlocked. IIRC the wifi/cellular thing is fixed in Android 16 QPR1 (so will be fixed in GrapheneOS soon), but I haven’t checked recently so maybe that changed.
The Google search thing is not there on stock GrapheneOS since it’s not using pixel launcher or whatever. Idk when you last used it since you mentioned the Pixel 5, so it might also just be things have changed since you last used it.
I’d be pretty much fine with the USB-C dongle solution if there were two ports, but there aren’t so you need to pick between charging and headphones, which is super annoying. Phones with headphone jacks are basically dead though now, unfortunately.
Pixel hardware is kind of a mixed bag though, yeah. Beyond the headphone jack issues, the kinda shitty processor (compared to Qualcomm) is irritating as well. Doesn’t usually cause problems, but games or even just flutter apps sometimes just run poorly. Samsung hardware with GrapheneOS would be my ideal phone probably.
Regarding play services, Samsung won’t brick my phone like Google did with FRP garbage. Samsung is evil but they have miles to go to reach Google level. Plus I have a firewall which minimizes the issue a little. I’m not happy with it, but I can’t install a custom rom… I’m so unhappy that it’s why I bought the pixel 5 to put graphene on it.
And yeah, pixel 5 only have older graphene, so it may be the reason why. But the newer pixels are even worse for me, so it’s not an option. Not that I would give a pixel another try anymore.
The other thing is SD card, which Google always hated because they want to sell cloud garbage.
Either way I hope to get completely rid of Google influence, and a Linux phone is the answer. I had a sailfish xperia long ago but it didn’t work very well.
A Linux phone with Samsung hardware and their level of software without evil would be heaven. But that’s just dreaming…