61–70 of 258 posts
https://www.xda-developers.com/e-google-free-lineageos-fork-...
We're overdue for some viable third option.
Notifications, as you rightly mentioned, are a huge problem with Android. Some manufacturers implement battery saving measures which force kill applications so they can no longer process notifications. I used to work at a team messaging startup Flock and we used to get a lot of complaints from users about missing notifications. We were able to detect impacted users and reduce complaints substantially using duplicate…
And yet useful apps have issues with notifications even without battery saving measures. It's not just a single app, it's been a consistent issue.
To say that I'm ditching Android is a pretty incomplete statement - because there is no one Android. It really matter which flavour of Android we are talking about. And which specific device. For example, the bloatware might not be a problem on a unlocked Pixel device. At this point, both iOS and Android are in pretty stable states. It comes down to individual preferences. Author primarily seems to have an issue with…
> the bloatware might not be a problem on a unlocked Pixel device Or an Android One device.
Pure Android doesn't have to.
I put lineage on two devices and I must say it's shockingly refreshing to be able to have some say in how much Google you get. I am used to the idea of OEM and carrier bloatware but it's surprising how much unwanted Google software appears in a stock image. On lineage I am pretty happy with the "nano" set of OpenGApps which is about the amount of Googleyness I want. I install a few more from Play on top.
Lineage seems like a reasonable solution. Dropping Android for iOS is a joke.
/e/ might be a better fit for him.
Notifications, as you rightly mentioned, are a huge problem with Android. Some manufacturers implement battery saving measures which force kill applications so they can no longer process notifications. I used to work at a team messaging startup Flock and we used to get a lot of complaints from users about missing notifications. We were able to detect impacted users and reduce complaints substantially using duplicate…
The current Android app development landscape seems to be where the web was circa 2005, where you have a "standard" Android API (except without an actual standard), implemented a million different ways based on the whims of each individual vendor. Compounded by the problem that Google seems to enjoy replacing parts of the API every single year for no discernable reason. I do not envy the job of an Android developer.
In a sense they are kind of right just in a wrong way, OEMs got even worse.
- calling
- texting
- taking pictures
- occasionally recording sound
- music
- directions
- occasionally, an alarm clock, a calendar and notes
- web surfing is a nice to have and I use it now that I have it.
- the ability to run a Debian Chroot and an X server is a nice to have.
Lineage 15 (soon 16) with latest updates, without Google apps does that brilliantly well, and I get a solid 6 to 10 days of battery life.
No emails (but k-9 mail works well if needed, and the webmail too), no chat. Chat would be possible (and I will probably want that in the future) with many applications like Signal, Riot, Conversations, maybe even WhatsApp (I haven't tested - not interested).
Directions with OsmAnd gives me great offline functionality, allowing for a 2€/month phone plan.
I get all notifications I want in a timely manner, which are texts and calls. No more.
edit: Oh, and installing apps without the phone needing any email address.
On iOS, I would not have such a freedom.
Next step: a blob-free phone, or no phone at all.
A lot of people want to ditch both Android and Apple, so /e/ is kicking off as a purely Google-free FOSS OS the author might like more than Lineage, once it gets a little more developed: https://www.xda-developers.com/e-google-free-lineageos-fork-... We're overdue for some viable third option.
What about iOS being a walled garden? Moving to a proprietary OS isn't going to safeguard the interests of data security in the long term. Also see the rich custom rom scene for Android phones, with highly active communities building rooms for even phone models long abandoned by their manufacturers.
A lot of people want to ditch both Android and Apple, so /e/ is kicking off as a purely Google-free FOSS OS the author might like more than Lineage, once it gets a little more developed: https://www.xda-developers.com/e-google-free-lineageos-fork-... We're overdue for some viable third option.