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CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

calyxos.org

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Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#51

Post by corebuffer »

fitblipper wrote: post #28

The thing which always makes me hesitant about these projects is that they don't receive frequent security audits and not having an expensive brand behind them makes them more at risk to being willing to trash their name at the cost of my privacy and security. I consider these to be a fairly critical part of any project which claims superior privacy and security. I think about it this way: Should I trust A. The compa…

IMO the free software group at least is auditable.

I wish Replicant was able to catch up. Having blobs at the baseband is awful, but having the baseband accessing all RAM is just game over for privacy. There isn't what to trust in that setting.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#52

Post by _rdvw »

0x416c6578 wrote: post #17
kiawe_fire wrote: post #4

Anybody have experience using something like this (or others like GrapheneOS) as a daily driver? I’m interested in moving away from Apple and big tech in general, but I don’t know how practical that is yet.

I've used LineageOS without Google services for about a year now. The only big missing feature I've found is notifications which in some ways is quite freeing and makes me check my phone a lot less. LineageOS (and perhaps other ROMs) have the option to disable all networking features for apps, so I actually still use Google Camera, Google Photos (as an offline gallery) and Gboard (again all offline) and the majority…

I have a few apps on F-Droid and I also maintain a list of recommended apps from F-Droid here: https://divestos.org/index.php?page=recommended_apps

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#53

Post by zozbot234 »

fitblipper wrote: post #28

The thing which always makes me hesitant about these projects is that they don't receive frequent security audits and not having an expensive brand behind them makes them more at risk to being willing to trash their name at the cost of my privacy and security. I consider these to be a fairly critical part of any project which claims superior privacy and security. I think about it this way: Should I trust A. The compa…

This is why I see projects like postmarketOS, Mobian and Debian Mobile as having a lot more potential. Let's be clear about this, these projects are not practically usable right now in a "daily driver" sense, even compared to a simple AOSP-based custom ROM. But they have the right goal in place - sharing a single, unified code base across our mainstream and mobile OS's.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#54

Post by spinax »

jefftk wrote: post #47
spinax wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most popular ways is to use the F-Droid repositories, which if you know a little Linux concepts it's like plugging in another software repository to the same package manager. (see f-droid.org) It can be confusing though because F-Droid is both an app, and the name of the primary software repo which is pure FOSS software (no ads, no trackers). The F-Droid app supports adding more repositories (think like ap…

> pure FOSS software (no ads, no trackers) Nit: something can be FOSS while having ads and/or tracking (telemetry)

Nit rebuttal: I was referring to the F-Droid repository which I thought was clear from context. These elements are scanned for and apps called out (tagged) should they contain something not-free, even connecting to network services like Reddit or Twitter. The are referred to as Anti-Features: https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Anti-Features/

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#55

Post by _rdvw »

m0ngr31 wrote: post #43
0x416c6578 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used LineageOS without Google services for about a year now. The only big missing feature I've found is notifications which in some ways is quite freeing and makes me check my phone a lot less. LineageOS (and perhaps other ROMs) have the option to disable all networking features for apps, so I actually still use Google Camera, Google Photos (as an offline gallery) and Gboard (again all offline) and the majority…

How do you disable networking for apps? I'd love to use Gboard offline. ASK just isn't as good.

Long press the app in your launcher, App Info, Mobile data & Wi-Fi, Allow network access

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#56

Post by tkzed49 »

dheera wrote: post #48
fitblipper wrote: post #28

The thing which always makes me hesitant about these projects is that they don't receive frequent security audits and not having an expensive brand behind them makes them more at risk to being willing to trash their name at the cost of my privacy and security. I consider these to be a fairly critical part of any project which claims superior privacy and security. I think about it this way: Should I trust A. The compa…

> B. The small group of people who have formed an organization which may or may not be another Anom like FBI controlled software. Um, this project is 100% open source, unlike Google's flavor of Android. If there are backdoors to the FBI they will be exposed in due time. https://gitlab.com/CalyxOS That said I'd love to understand how it compares to LineageOS.

I just don't buy this take. There's so much code; how can you be certain it will face sufficient scrutiny just by virtue of being available?

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#57

Post by atatatat »

fitblipper wrote: post #28

The thing which always makes me hesitant about these projects is that they don't receive frequent security audits and not having an expensive brand behind them makes them more at risk to being willing to trash their name at the cost of my privacy and security. I consider these to be a fairly critical part of any project which claims superior privacy and security. I think about it this way: Should I trust A. The compa…

Disagree.

The reputation of Nick Calyx (worth a look his Wikipedia page), or GrapheneOS team, etc, is so much easier lost than that of, say, Google's Android team.....or iOS security team.

Having said that: Calyx shouldn't be considered much more secure than Android Open Source Project (AOSP). That's where GrapheneOS shines.

Calyx should, however, be considered more private than AOSP, less dodgy & exploitable than Samsung etc Android "enhancements", aka UI/UX bloatware.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#58

Post by calvinmorrison »

m12k wrote: post #24

As someone who knows quite little about Android (currently in the Apple ecosystem, but considering jumping ship): When you use these privacy-focused Android versions without Google Play, is there a consistent way to get apps from the Play store to run on there? (e.g. download the APK from somewhere and sideload it). I'd really like an OS that doesn't spy on me, but there's e.g. some goverment ID apps, transit apps an…

I use f-droid for most of my standard apps (note-taking, calendar, etc) - and since I am not using gmail, those suite of apps are useless to me. I use firefox for my browser, and use the client provided by my email provider.

The worst thing is basically not having Google Maps because while fdroid does work, it is not condusive to 'just looking things up real quick'. It's more of a 90's GPS where you pull over, take 5 minutes to look up what you want and navigate there.

The other issue I have is I don't get push notifications from CalyxOS, and I don't know why. Messages are received, but my phone won't show me unless i unlock the screen - and then I get alll the notifications at once. If I don't interact with the notification, it will do it again the next time I use my phone.

otherwise it's been fine. I am using a google pixel 3.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#60

Post by flylikeabanana »

steelbrain wrote: post #40
spinax wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trusted by whom? Calyx VPN uses the same tech stack as Riseup VPN, which are branded versions of the Bitmask client - CalyxOS is a part of the Calyx Institute family. You can instead use the Bitmask client from the F-Droid repo and choose to connect to either service with the same app (rather than using branded apps for each service).

Curious, does anyone know what's their business model to monetizing the "free" VPN service? How do they make their money back or is it a donation kind of thing?

I gave them some money at DEFCON 2019 for an unlimited personal hotspot

https://boingboing.net/2016/09/22/i-have-found-a-secret-tunn...

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