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Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

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Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#31

Post by jlkuester7 »

COGlory wrote: post #12

I use /e/ daily as does a co-worker (we aren't working in tech). It's the one piece of alternative software that I'm comfortable recommending to anyone. It "just works" just as much as Android "just works".

IMHO, this is the real value of /e/! I had a non-technical friend ask me how they could get an Android phone that would not spy on them. I could have suggested GrapheneOS (what I use) or LOS+microg, but instead I sent her /e/ because it hits that perfect balance of privacy and usability for a normal person!

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#32

Post by jlkuester7 »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #13

"We are making a mobile phone ecosystem that lets users escape the permanent and industrial harvesting of their personal data." I have never heard any normal person ever talk about data privacy. It feels like there's this giant bubble that the tech world lives in, and they are the only people who care about this issue.

Honestly I am starting to hear it more and more from nontechnical folks. People are starting to realize that tech companies are profiting off their "private" data (just see the mainstream responses to Amazon acquiring Roomba). I now hear a lot of people saying they don't want Google/Amazon/etc to have all their data, but these folks are not sure how to avoid it.

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#33

Post by commoner »

colordrops wrote: post #30
commoner wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organic Maps has a simple user interface that makes it a more similar FOSS replacement for Magic Earth. - Organic Maps: https://organicmaps.app OsmAnd is a heavyweight with more features, including an advanced OSM editor, trip recording, Mapillary street view, and other plugins, for those that need them. - OsmAnd: https://osmand.net

Organic Maps is nice, thanks for the pointer. Maps.me looks very similar - are they related somehow?

Yes, Organic Maps is a fork of Maps.me. The original Maps.me was acquired by Daegu Limited, a subsidiary of the financial services company Parity.com, and they stopped publishing source code afterward.

- Press release: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/MAIL/mail-r...

- OSM removed from Maps.me, then re-added: https://github.com/mapsme/omim/issues/14076

- No more source code releases from Maps.me: https://github.com/mapsme/omim/issues/14157

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#34

Post by COGlory »

eldaisfish wrote: post #29
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #13

"We are making a mobile phone ecosystem that lets users escape the permanent and industrial harvesting of their personal data." I have never heard any normal person ever talk about data privacy. It feels like there's this giant bubble that the tech world lives in, and they are the only people who care about this issue.

this is my #1 complaint as well. These OSs must be easy to install and reliable. Having parts of the OS crash, dealing with the terminal, using ADB over USB... all of that makes zero sense to the average person or someone pressed for time. I now want my phone to work and that is why i use iOS. Having to replace the OS on your phone is already a step too far for most. The install instructions here require using the te…

>Having parts of the OS crash, dealing with the terminal, using ADB over USB...

I bought a phone from /e/ and have never had this happen in almost 2 years.

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#35

Post by 369548684892826 »

colordrops wrote: post #30
commoner wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organic Maps has a simple user interface that makes it a more similar FOSS replacement for Magic Earth. - Organic Maps: https://organicmaps.app OsmAnd is a heavyweight with more features, including an advanced OSM editor, trip recording, Mapillary street view, and other plugins, for those that need them. - OsmAnd: https://osmand.net

Organic Maps is nice, thanks for the pointer. Maps.me looks very similar - are they related somehow?

Organic Maps was forked from Maps.me when they started adding ads and trackers.

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#36

Post by devonallie »

I love LineageOS and have used microG services for so long but forks like this strike me as sad as needing to assimilate to the look and feel of iOS. It comes off as cheap and unoriginal. Now this is harsh criticism I understand but I do appreciate how much effort it must have taken to make all of these app forks. I only wish the effort was spent building something more interesting.

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#37

Post by commoner »

eldaisfish wrote: post #29
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #13

"We are making a mobile phone ecosystem that lets users escape the permanent and industrial harvesting of their personal data." I have never heard any normal person ever talk about data privacy. It feels like there's this giant bubble that the tech world lives in, and they are the only people who care about this issue.

this is my #1 complaint as well. These OSs must be easy to install and reliable. Having parts of the OS crash, dealing with the terminal, using ADB over USB... all of that makes zero sense to the average person or someone pressed for time. I now want my phone to work and that is why i use iOS. Having to replace the OS on your phone is already a step too far for most. The install instructions here require using the te…

/e/ has partnerships with Fairphone and Teraphone to sell versions of their phones with /e/ preloaded. /e/'s sister company Murena produced its own phone (the Murena One) and they also sell refurbished Galaxy S9/S9+ phones preloaded with /e/:

https://murena.com/products/smartphones/

No terminal/ADB needed, and in my experience, /e/ is not crashy.

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#38

Post by memling »

fsflover wrote: post #11
alexb_ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately for that idea, I would like my phone to actually just function normally, and have support for programs that Android uses. You are making perfect the enemy of good here.

I'm using Pinephone as a daily driver (and waiting for Librem 5 to replace it) and avoid all proprietary Android apps. But you in principle can install them with Waydroid or Anbox. See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32396685 .

> I'm using Pinephone as a daily driver

What OS? Does MMS work out of the box for you?

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#39

Post by gjsman-1000 »

This is unrelated from the rest of the project, but why do open source projects in general have such inexplicably bad marketing? To the degree where you can't believe that somebody actually thought this would work? To the degree you can't believe someone with no marketing experience could be this inept?

What is /e/? How is it pronounced? What does it mean? How do I tell people about it? Does it stick out in a Google search (which it does not)?

But on that line, why do we have GIMP, GNOME, Everything starting with the letter K on KDE, KDE itself, Hector Martin's "Asahi Lina" nonsense, and on and on...

Re: Review of /e/ – Android-based alternative for mobile phones

#40

Post by jqpabc123 »

colordrops wrote: post #5

Eventually it would be nice if they could contribute to Osmand and get it up to snuff for daily use and replace Magic Earth.

In my experience, where the open source apps often come up short is not really mapping but rather turn by turn navigation. The first, most obvious indictor being the voice prompts. If they sound like a bad video game from the 90's, you can bet the directions are equally flawed/bad.
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