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I give up on free software phones (2019)

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Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#51

Post by charukiewicz »

jancsika wrote: post #33

Someone should do a Linux phone that scales way back: 1. you can dial phone numbers somehow 2. you can talk on the phone 3. you can hear the person on the other line 4. the cell reception on the phone is decent quality 5. antenna is properly placed for very good reception 6. basic SMS works, all the time 7. has been extensively tested to work with a single carrier, any other carrier is no warranty 8. boot time and sh…

> Librem 5 fails #5

Where's the Librem 5 antenna? Can you link to reports of reception issues stemming from this?

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#52

Post by wang_li »

lolinder wrote: post #40
LatticeAnimal wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[meta-commentary] HN should require a date field on all submissions and then should only show the date if the article is older than a specified time (like 1yr) (or always show the date but not in the title)

Some web pages don't have a date.

Those web pages should be removed from the internet.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#53

Post by LatticeAnimal »

lolinder wrote: post #40
LatticeAnimal wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[meta-commentary] HN should require a date field on all submissions and then should only show the date if the article is older than a specified time (like 1yr) (or always show the date but not in the title)

Some web pages don't have a date.

Then make it opt-out, or make it default to today's date, or ... There are solutions to this problem that are better than the way it currently works.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#54

Post by StingyJelly »

Since 2019 the landscape has deffinitely changed. "Hardcore" Free Software phones like Pinephone, Librem or PostmarketOS are still difficult but if LineageOS is Free-Software-enough for you, don't give up now. There is grapheneOS that should be no-compromises solution with it's sandboxed google apps. (Haven't used it myself.) MicroG now passes safetynet once again and is pretty stable. (Altrough on some phones you may need root to make it believe that the phone is not rooted.) Clean LineageOS without gapps is more usable than ever due to the huawei-google breakup resulting in a lot more apps being published on huawei appgallery without google safetynet requirement. (Unlike their playstore version.) Downloading apk from Appgallery website requires just some url manipulation for which you can use following bookmarklet:

javascript:(function() {window.location=window.location.href.replace(/^https:\/\/appgallery\.huawei\.com\/app/g, "https://appgallery.cloud.huawei.com/appdl" );})()

Source: me. I daily-drive 7 year old phone running LineageOS with almost no issues. I also have a backup phone where I multi-boot LineageOS+MicroG and postmarketOS for fun and experimentation.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#55

Post by kelnos »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #32
agloe_dreams wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is silly and false. Google's default android Messaging app in the US on all carriers is Google Messages and it uses RCS to do exactly what you are saying they can't do.

Have you ever booted AOSP on a device or VM? There is a messaging app that is part of AOSP that is not Google Messages

What does that have to do with anything, though? Google Messages is available to any Android OEM that passes certification, assuming they want it. Certainly Messages wouldn't be a part of AOSP, as Messages isn't open source.

Google Messages is the stock messaging app, and contains iMessage-like features. AOSP is mostly irrelevant. It's not clear why iMessage-like features would be an antitrust issue for Google anyway.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#56

Post by kelnos »

timthelion wrote: post #17

I use lineage on oneplus phones and have no problems. I can't do internet banking and a bunch of other non-free things, but really, who needs that? I have a web browser. The only thing that doesn't work is google meet and google docs and google drive because they intentionally break the mobile experience in the web. But there is a simple solution. Simply don't use google services. If/when my employer demands that of…

> I can't do internet banking and a bunch of other non-free things, but really, who needs that?

I do, and so do a majority of smartphone users. Good for you that you are fine doing without it, but most people will not accept that trade off.

I ran CyanogenMod back when that was a thing, but at that time SafetyNet didn't exist, and it was a rare event when an app that ran on Google-approved Android didn't run on CM. Nowadays I can't run an alternative ROM without sacrificing things I care about using.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#57

Post by [deleted] »

jancsika wrote: post #33

Someone should do a Linux phone that scales way back: 1. you can dial phone numbers somehow 2. you can talk on the phone 3. you can hear the person on the other line 4. the cell reception on the phone is decent quality 5. antenna is properly placed for very good reception 6. basic SMS works, all the time 7. has been extensively tested to work with a single carrier, any other carrier is no warranty 8. boot time and sh…

[deleted]

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#58

Post by maratc »

jancsika wrote: post #33

Someone should do a Linux phone that scales way back: 1. you can dial phone numbers somehow 2. you can talk on the phone 3. you can hear the person on the other line 4. the cell reception on the phone is decent quality 5. antenna is properly placed for very good reception 6. basic SMS works, all the time 7. has been extensively tested to work with a single carrier, any other carrier is no warranty 8. boot time and sh…

The meaning of the word "phone" has shifted in the recent years, and your requirements are a good representation of what that word meant in circa 2007; recently however the requirements 1-8 have so little relevance that it's possible to operate a device without satisfying any of them [0]. The new meaning of the word is an expanded version of #9 whereas it's a connected gadget that runs apps from the well-stocked built-in store.

Any newcomer, Linux or not, would immediately face the most obvious problem, which is a complete lack of a well-stocked store.

[0] I sometimes take my smartphone abroad for a combination of offline Google Maps and WiFi hopping.

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#59

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

kelnos wrote: post #55
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever booted AOSP on a device or VM? There is a messaging app that is part of AOSP that is not Google Messages

What does that have to do with anything, though? Google Messages is available to any Android OEM that passes certification, assuming they want it. Certainly Messages wouldn't be a part of AOSP, as Messages isn't open source. Google Messages is the stock messaging app, and contains iMessage-like features. AOSP is mostly irrelevant. It's not clear why iMessage-like features would be an antitrust issue for Google anyway…

https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Mess...

Re: I give up on free software phones (2019)

#60

Post by Mochsner »

jancsika wrote: post #33

Someone should do a Linux phone that scales way back: 1. you can dial phone numbers somehow 2. you can talk on the phone 3. you can hear the person on the other line 4. the cell reception on the phone is decent quality 5. antenna is properly placed for very good reception 6. basic SMS works, all the time 7. has been extensively tested to work with a single carrier, any other carrier is no warranty 8. boot time and sh…

Would muditaOS qualify?
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