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Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

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411–420 of 493 posts

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#411
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be... literally all phones available today, wouldn't it? With the possible exception of the $2000 Librem 5 USA. However, as one who's moved from an iPhone to a Nokia 8110 with KaiOS, which I in no way argue is as secure as iOS: It has less on it. It has far less on it. It has my phone calls, a handful of text messages, and while it has email access right now, I'm experimenting with if I actually need that,…

I might make this change. Are you using any kind of app for 2FA like Google Authenticator?

> Are you using any kind of app for 2FA like Google Authenticator?

I'd love to go feature phone, but would be missing two essentials for work purposes:

- A 2FA application (eg Google Authenticator, Authy)

- A password manager (eg BitWarden, KeePass, etc)

I can do without emails etc but not those two, yet whenever feature phones try and be more feature-some they do the same old emails, FB, WhatsApp etc instead.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#412
For mobile I'm using Sailfish OS on a Sony Xperia XA2 Plus. Both laptops are running Linux Mint 20.2. No issues with any of these.

I have retained an off-line MacOS on my Mac Mini for music production because, although Reaper runs well on Linux, I can't install all the licensed plugins I use. The alternative was Windows, but in my experience it is still below par for performance and reliability.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#413
post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s little point in E2E encryption if snooping is moved outside of either end. This measure is only necessary for implementing E2E in iCloud insofar as it allows the feds to do the very thing I want E2E to prevent them from doing in the first place. It’s as if USPS invented a new type of envelope that is physically impossible to open for anyone whose name is not written on the outside of it. Just one caveat: befo…

> if snooping is moved outside of either end Yes, but this isn’t snooping .

They’re scanning users’ data on users’ devices. What do we call that if not snooping?

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#414
post #259
post #60

I've never had a MacBook but I feel the LG Gram line of notebooks is top-notch. I have a 17" version and it's light, fast, and has a long battery life. It has a full keyboard and is easily upgradeable. I run Arch Linux with GNOME desktop. All the hardware works on Linux except the fingerprint reader .

I was looking at the lg gram 17 too but in the 2021 version they soldered both the ram slots and the wireless card, which is bad imho. Like I cannot even find a version with 32gb of ram and if I buy the 16gb version I will never be able to upgrade it.

That's too bad. I have the 2020 model and was able to upgrade RAM to 40GB and add a second NVMe drive.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#415
post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For now. We see the direction apple is moving.

The direction of not letting people store child porn on their servers? That's pretty much what everyone in the cloud space is doing already. This service exists so Apple can E2EE your data while still placating DOJ.

Totally missed the point. The direction of scanning everyone's phone for 'prohibited content', pushed on them by various governments. Be it political, fine in one country but not in another (adult homosexual), etc. And a future where the content scanning applies AI and reports you for doing such things such as taking pictures of police or protests.

It's a cop in your phone.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#416
post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the two, which government do I think is more evil? China's. Which government do I, a permanent resident of America, think could more immediately make my life harder by being able to invade my privacy? America's.

> Of the two, which government do I think is more evil? But that's not what the original comment said.

I didn't say they said that. It's also not my whole comment. Not sure what you're getting at.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#417
post #387
post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know what I was arguing, and it was specifically mentioned, so no it was not what was being argued.

> Scanning people's on-phone photos clearly has nothing to do with being a precursor to e2e encryption This is what you were arguing. It is false.

Followed by this, "The photos get transferred either way, so one has nothing to do with the other."

It was clearly a technical statement not a privacy statement, so only superficial reading might lead one to believe it meant something that it did not.

That is why I replied that the person who replied to my comment, where I said I had argued something different, but that what he wrote was an excellent point.

So, what on earth are you so invested in that you feel the need to argue minutiae that don't apply?

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should Apple let pedophiles store CSAM on iPhones just because they’re not uploading it to iCloud Photo Library? It’s morally reprehensible to not disable that flag when it’s such a simple thing they can do to catch so many more criminals!

You own your iPhone. Apple owns iCloud servers. It's very simple. You want to upload images to iCloud? Then let your phone scan it and upload it. You don't want your images scanned? Don't upload them to iCloud.

As skinkestek kindly pointed out, the point of my sarcastic comment was that now that the precedent of scanning the contents of users’ devices - as opposed to the contents of Apple’s servers - has been set, deciding whether to do so based on the state of a single “Store photos in iCloud?” toggle is going to start looking awfully arbitrary.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#419

I’ve bought a Google Pixel 4a today to do some testing with Graphene OS. I already have my data in Nextcloud so that makes the switch easier but some things like WhatsApp are going to be harder and for that it appears the Matrix bridge is the thing. What ever path I go down my partner is going to follow so it has to just work and take great photos. If the Pixel 4a as a test device works I’m excited about the Pixel 6…

WhatsApp works fine including its push notifications, you can download it from their website or via Aurora Store.

The AOSP Camera app is not as good as Google Camera but you can install it if you want. It requires Play services but you can install that too including in a dedicated user profile so other apps like WhatsApp don't use it unnecessarily.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#420
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can get my photos scanned against a CSAM database... or I can have Google tracking my location constantly That's a false dichotomy. There are competitors offering various levels of maturity and functionality. Jolla exists, PinePhone, Xiaomi, Librem 5, dumb phones, POTS landline, no phone... And yes, Linux on the desktop is also a valid choice . It most likely won't track you either.

Surprised to see Xiaomi on your existence list of maturity.

I'm not sure why, because: a) it exists, and b) it exists on a maturity scale :)
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