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CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

calyxos.org

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Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#221

Post by fragileone »

new_stranger wrote: post #198

I purchased a Pixel phone to test this stuff on. I installed LineageOS and found I couldn't run some google apps. I reinstalled LineageOS with https://opengapps.org added during the install and made the mistake of transferring from my old phone which brought all the google services and everything back to the phone (mostly). I then installed CalyxOS - much easier install process than lineage. Really liked the defaults…

CalyxOS includes microG which supports some of the most popular APIs. Which apps did you have issues with?

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#222

Post by gnufx »

joecool1029 wrote: post #205

> microG replaces some functions of Google Play Services while maintaining much more anonymity and privacy. I've said it before and saying it again on here for those that don't know: microG breaks the security model on android and adds in package signature spoofing. It's the only way to add a fake Google Play Services without needing to pull Google blobs. This is why projects like LineageOS are against using this met…

But I don't want Google Play stuff. I'm just using microG for location services in /e/.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#223

Post by summm »

alfiedotwtf wrote: post #214
cdesai wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for bringing this up. We're continuing to fund work on it, both ourselves and also through applying for external funding. Full Storage backup support (Files / Photos) was recently added thanks to a grant from NLnet - https://nlnet.nl/project/Seedvault/index.html https://github.com/seedvault-app/seedvault Contributions welcome!

Does Seed Vault backup the whole device? Last time I used it, I found out that apps can opt-out of being backed up, along with their settings. In other words, every app i installed didnt get backed up :(

As if an app should have any say about if it can be backupped or not. 'Muhh security model'. If your security model includes letting apps randomly deprives me as a user of backups of my own phone , it's just another creepy google-bigbrother-wannabe.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#224

Post by shadowgovt »

OJFord wrote: post #200
bubblethink wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, stuff like this is so depressing to read. Like this is supposed to be a forum for showcasing new tech, projects, etc. What's the point of having this if people in the industry are going to say, "I don't like it because it's not backed by a trillion dollar company". What will change ?

That's not really the point though is it? It's more like 'I do like it.. is it sensible to use it?' At least, that's how I read it, and how I feel about such things. I'd very much like my next phone to run Linux (i.e. be a Pinephone) though.

I got a Pinephone.

I like the idea, but it's a deeply frustrating experience right now. Basic table-stakes features I have come to assume from both Android and iOS platforms just aren't there yet.

It's a frustrating chicken egg problem... I want the thing to succeed, but my smartphone is so critical to my day-to-day that I can either wait for it to get better or invest the time into having it suck on toast while I improve it.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#225

Post by shadowgovt »

scrps wrote: post #197
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…

I trust people with money as their motive about as much as I'd trust a serious alcoholic to hold on to a bottle of booze for me without taking a sip. Might not be a popular opinion but it is my 2 cents to spend. Could a someone at an open source project slip in an obfuscated backdoor in some esoteric area of the OS? Of course. But the risks of being found out are so much higher, after the fact that all changes at an…

The alcoholic will definitely take a sip.

... But they are also heavily incentivized to know where your booze is, care for your booze, and make sure it doesn't get stolen or poisoned. Because if something happens to you, where are they going to get the sip?

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#226

Post by aryamaan »

Koshkin wrote: post #93
_abox wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah GrapheneOS is security over privacy, Calyx is privacy over security (and has a bit more mainstream appeal with MicroG, supporting push messaging and location services etc). GrapheneOS has also pioneered a lot of security measures, a lot of which have been added to Android proper (if you see their feature log, a lot of it says "removed because it was introduced in Android"). I wonder if that wouldn't have been th…

Don't privacy and security go hand in hand?

They don't go hand in hand in real life. Can imagine that happening in digital world too.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#227

Post by zozbot234 »

shadowgovt wrote: post #224
OJFord wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not really the point though is it? It's more like 'I do like it.. is it sensible to use it?' At least, that's how I read it, and how I feel about such things. I'd very much like my next phone to run Linux (i.e. be a Pinephone) though.

I got a Pinephone. I like the idea, but it's a deeply frustrating experience right now. Basic table-stakes features I have come to assume from both Android and iOS platforms just aren't there yet. It's a frustrating chicken egg problem... I want the thing to succeed, but my smartphone is so critical to my day-to-day that I can either wait for it to get better or invest the time into having it suck on toast while I im…

Yup, the PinePhone is still being worked on and quite far from being usable as a daily driver. To be fair, the Pine64 folks are also very clear about this.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#228

Post by summm »

summm wrote: post #223
alfiedotwtf wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Seed Vault backup the whole device? Last time I used it, I found out that apps can opt-out of being backed up, along with their settings. In other words, every app i installed didnt get backed up :(

As if an app should have any say about if it can be backupped or not. 'Muhh security model'. If your security model includes letting apps randomly deprives me as a user of backups of my own phone , it's just another creepy google-bigbrother-wannabe.

https://github.com/seedvault-app/seedvault/issues/165 this is the issue, and it seems they are working on it. Good. What I didn't understand is why one would need to fake some Device2Device transfer, when one could just as well patch the root cause. It's open source after all.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#229

Post by chias »

cdesai wrote: post #212
joecool1029 wrote: post #205

> microG replaces some functions of Google Play Services while maintaining much more anonymity and privacy. I've said it before and saying it again on here for those that don't know: microG breaks the security model on android and adds in package signature spoofing. It's the only way to add a fake Google Play Services without needing to pull Google blobs. This is why projects like LineageOS are against using this met…

I've said this in another comment, but I'll duplicate here: The microG creator goes into more detail about signature spoofing at https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/issues/1467#issuecomment-8... The concerns usually raised against that are due to the "default" patch included in their repository, which has a specific purpose. We don't use that, https://calyxos.org/about/tech/microg/ are the precautions we take to try an…

> see http://127.0.0.1:4000/features/microg/#1-microg-disabled

As someone who also accidentally pastes my local dev URLs from time to time, I feel your pain ;)

For everyone else: that's https://calyxos.org/features/microg/#1-microg-disabled

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#230

Post by nonplus »

kemenaran wrote: post #179
WorldPeas wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

heres what i do and it works great: use the regular google build of android BUT on a fresh install, disable all google apps sans chrome, use it to install fdroid, then uninstall that, from there use TrackerControl to prevent google and others from phoning home, use the aurora store for apps, use organicmaps for maps, signal for sms florisboard for keyboard, etc. you'll have a google-free experience which you can exit…

Interesting setup. Do you have any resources about how efficient TrackerControl is at preventing Google to collect data from the phone various system services?

I would also like to hear more on this, a quick look at TrackerControl's readme tells me it mainly functions as a blocklist. Which (I would think) the moment you turn off tracker control to use google maps (or whatever play services app you wanted to use for a moment), said app will send a flood of queued location data that it has been collecting in the background if allowed.

I suppose that setup could work if the user is disciplined about not letting apps that use play services run at all when not in active use, but at that point I don't see the advantage to using tracker control at all.

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