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CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

calyxos.org

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Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#231

Post by LanternLight83 »

google234123 wrote: post #38
0x416c6578 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are third-party clients for the Play Store (Aurora store being a good example). Aurora store uses anonymous accounts to download the APKs directly from Google. That being said, just because you can install the application doesn't mean it will actually work without Play Services installed. I've had quite a bit of luck with random applications I've installed (interestingly most Google apps like Gboard, Photos and…

That’s a piracy site.

Nah, Aurora only works for snagging free apps from the play store via a proxy account- you're thinking of another well-known APK download site starting with an A, one which allows users to create their own 'app stores' (ie. repositories) and is rampant with piracy. I'm sure it comes in handy for kids with more tech--savy-ness (enough to avoid the malware!) than literal cents.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#232

Post by nerbert »

fragmede wrote: post #208
Kaytaro wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP didn't say he doesn't like it, just pointing out the reality. But yes, the reality is depressing.

In offering only two choices, when the reality is far more complex than that, GP sets the tone for the rest of the discussion. There are more options, and a far deeper lake of information to use for drawing conclusions, so the simplification is also insulting, on top of being depressing.

OP is just saying that audits would be nice, which is true.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#233

Post by commoner »

alfiedotwtf wrote: post #215
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…

Just note that there's a tonne of apps on F-Droid that haven't had updates in years

That's true, but the date of the most recent release is clearly shown, and it's easy to avoid the unmaintained ones. Also, F-Droid most likely has newer alternatives for the kind of app you're looking for.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#234

Post by mycall »

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…

Google has thousands of Android developers? Interesting.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#235

Post by summm »

_rdvw wrote: post #84
atatatat wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Props on bringing verified boot to those devices Lineage can//will not, and doesn't tell users clearly that they could have it with other options.

That is a limitation of Lineage only because they choose to cater to users who want root (which usually modifies /system) and to support flashing Google Apps.

Why would having root itself rule out secure boot? It's just that they refuse to offer root themselves, and only as a result of that refusal one has to use system modifications to gain root. In a sense this is the opposite of your claim: they do explicitly not cater to root users.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#236

Post by OJFord »

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…

Oh I get that, hence 'would very much like my next to be' vs. rushing 'out' to buy one.

I'd also have to figure out some more specifically personal stuff like alternatives or Matrix bridges for apps I 'need to' use to communicate with certain people.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#237

Post by taf2 »

Kaytaro wrote: post #186
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 ?

OP didn't say he doesn't like it, just pointing out the reality. But yes, the reality is depressing.

Simple answer to a drepressing reality is to say “fuck it”. Build it anyway. If you build it they will come. When Amazon was getting started selling books online - barnes and noble was pretty scary big who would trust paying for something like a book online?? The reality of software is the playing field is always up for grabs. Googles still a great company but how many great engineers are still there? Lot of them have left- still many remain . End rant

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#238

Post by ajklsdhfniuwehf »

bubblethink wrote: post #176
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…

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 ?

all those phones need closed source binary blob drives to even power on.

that's why each project is focused on a single device at a time.

THis is all toxic to open source!

The only wining move is NOT to play. If you go out of your way to buy the phone that some unkwown party managed to hack the binary blob(s) out of the official image into the custom one, you are losing because the quality will be worse than the closed source offering, always. From actual security to usability. And it will be driving engagement away from actual solutions to the problem (such as pine phone etc, which are also lagging, but are not as this egregiously bad)

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#239

Post by commoner »

LanternLight83 wrote: post #231
google234123 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a piracy site.

Nah, Aurora only works for snagging free apps from the play store via a proxy account- you're thinking of another well-known APK download site starting with an A, one which allows users to create their own 'app stores' (ie. repositories) and is rampant with piracy. I'm sure it comes in handy for kids with more tech--savy-ness (enough to avoid the malware!) than literal cents.

> you're thinking of another well-known APK download site starting with an A

Aptoide. I have seen pirated paid apps on Aptoide, but any app marked as "verified" is not pirated (as in, it's available free of charge elsewhere) and the app's signature on Aptoide matches the app's signature on Google Play. Everything in the main "apps" repository and some apps in other repos are verified.

Aptoide is useful for downloading older versions of Android apps, especially when APKMirror doesn't have an entry for the app.

Fun fact: Aptoide is open source and F-Droid is actually a fork of Aptoide.

- GitHub: https://github.com/Aptoide/aptoide-client-v8

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptoide

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#240

Post by cdesai »

chias wrote: post #229
cdesai wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I edited the comment to fix it, thank you!
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