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Why I'm Ditching Android

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Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#91

Post by fprotthetarball »

dredmorbius wrote: post #73
me551ah wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Google does have the concept of priority in Notifications. https://firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging/concept-opt... . On a Google/Stock Android OS and on some good manufacturers like motorola notifications do work as expected. It's just the custom battery saver stuff that some manufacturers implement on top of Android which causes issues. Google doesn't have much control over the privileged process th…

User- or sender- determined? One of those never works.

The user determines the priority of notifications per-app and per-app-notification type (using notification channels) and configures how the notification is allowed to interrupt them.

https://developer.android.com/training/notify-user/channels

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#92

Post by r00fus »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #59
asveikau wrote: post #29

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.

I've been using CyanogenMod and now LineageOS since my first Android phone, and I love it over OEM. I'm unfortunatly still tied to GApps, but at this point it's basically contacts and calendar sync along with Maps, along with a random Play-store-only app (e.g. Transit). (I find almost everything I need in F-Droid.) (Yes, I have OSMand and offline maps, but I still like Google Maps for some things.) My biggest problem…

Does Sony no longer offer the 4.3" phone?

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#93

Post by TheRealPomax »

muro wrote: post #36
pseudoandy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not have any extra bloatware from any manufacturer, due to the fact that I run a Xiaomi Mi A1 as my daily driver, but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome. I do have 64Gb of internal storage, but I obsess about every lost megabyte due to something I don't use( even when disabled or not used, Chrome still runs functions o…

Chrome is the webview for all apps, might be tricky to remove.

It's not, though.

WebView is the built in web view mechanism for all apps that don't want to roll their own web view, and Chrome for Android is a browser that makes use of that WebView mechanism. Strictly speaking, a browser is just an interface that lets you interact with web pages.

And you're not locked into WebView: if you actually wrote your own, you're entirely free to deploy it. It's just insanely hard to write a web render engine these days so for most people there's no point in the slightest: it just makes your application bigger.

One example where it _does_ make sense is Firefox for Android, which comes with its own engine, because as long as the Android core classes area available, it should be able to run. Not "stop working" just because someone tailored their Android build to not include WebView.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#95

Post by lern_too_spel »

pseudoandy wrote: post #24
wowamit wrote: post #9

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…

I do not have any extra bloatware from any manufacturer, due to the fact that I run a Xiaomi Mi A1 as my daily driver, but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome. I do have 64Gb of internal storage, but I obsess about every lost megabyte due to something I don't use( even when disabled or not used, Chrome still runs functions o…

When disabled, the operating system exposes none of the app's hooks to start any part of it, so it is not true that a disabled app still runs functions on the phone. It is even possible to swap out the WebView implementation for other apps. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47577525/get-webview-imp...

iOS has just as much bloatware, and much of it can't even be disabled, let alone uninstalled.

For privacy, consider that iOS does not let you disable AGPS data collection. On Android, it is opt in. iOS does not let you open addresses in an offline maps application by default, so Apple gets all your address lookups. iOS does not let you replace your default SMS app, so Apple gets all the phone numbers you want to send a message to in order to see if that phone number is associated with an iMessages account. On Android, you can set your default SMS app to Signal to get automatic private messaging by default. Worst of all, iOS does not let you develop for your own phone without registering an Apple ID.

Apple talks a good privacy game, but there is no substance there. You are jumping out of the frying pan and into the fryer.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#96

Post by agumonkey »

SamWhited wrote: post #12

I've been coming around to this way of thinking more and more lately. Apple has a clear business model that involves selling high-end phones and other hardware and taking a percentage of app sales, not selling me to advertisers. I've found at least 5 different privacy settings buried in various places around the Android menus in a confusing way (instead of just having a single switch in the privacy settings menu), an…

It's interesting that aiming high and taking profit from app makers kinda push the goal to make high value apps. While on Android, ad money and free apps doesn't really create the right context

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#97

Post by cbsmith »

dagenix wrote: post #8

The number of requests sent to Google or Apple seems like a poor metric to judge privacy impact. A single request with my bank account number carries a lot more information about me than 1,000 with my battery status.

There's also Google Analytics... a product often used by third parties to collect behavioral data.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#98

Post by rmusial »

Johnny555 wrote: post #88
arminiusreturns wrote: post #75

The second a pure linux phone without googles bullshit (which includes allowing manufacturer and carrier bullshit) comes out, I'm switching. Until then I'm sticking with my blackberry android because at least I have a linux underside and a foss appstore. Google had such a good opportunity with android, and shit the bed with it, abusing users and letting manufacturers and carriers join in on the abuse. There should be…

I think you already missed that boat: https://www.techradar.com/news/canonicals-dream-for-an-ubunt...

This project send seems promising...

https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-smartphone-makes-major-strides...

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#99

Post by SlowRobotAhead »

brownbat wrote: post #64
k__ wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lineage seems like a reasonable solution. Dropping Android for iOS is a joke.

I'm with you that he might have tried a little harder, but he does address this, briefly. /e/ might be a better fit for him.

I think addresses it succinctly. If you remove google from Android, some apps won’t work because they are ecpecting those services. This isn’t the fault of the app developer.

If you are using linage and /e/ you can’t really add “works with all android apps” as a check in the pro column.

You’re getting even more fragmented than Android which is already much more than IOS. To each his own but let’s be honest about what these are.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#100

Post by jimktrains2 »

r00fus wrote: post #92
jimktrains2 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using CyanogenMod and now LineageOS since my first Android phone, and I love it over OEM. I'm unfortunatly still tied to GApps, but at this point it's basically contacts and calendar sync along with Maps, along with a random Play-store-only app (e.g. Transit). (I find almost everything I need in F-Droid.) (Yes, I have OSMand and offline maps, but I still like Google Maps for some things.) My biggest problem…

Does Sony no longer offer the 4.3" phone?

The z1 isn't listed as supported by lineageos.
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