Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#261

Post by pessimizer » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:12 PM UTC

wiseowise wrote: post #248

tourmalinetaco wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Zero bloatware, adware OS that works out of the box and doesn’t change every year. Now that’s just blatantly bullshit. The OS takes up at least 9GB. There are many Linux distros that take half of that. Not to mention the OS is preloaded with a lot of Apple’s proprietary apps, most of which are designed to pull you into some kind of sales pitch. Fitness+, Apple Music, iCloud, the entire OS is an ad designed to sell…

> Now that’s just blatantly bullshit. The OS takes up at least 9GB. There are many Linux distros that take half of that. Don’t care about that. > Not to mention the OS is preloaded with a lot of Apple’s proprietary apps, most of which are designed to pull you into some kind of sales pitch. Fitness+, Apple Music, iCloud, the entire OS is an ad designed to sell you on their ecosystem. I’ve been iOS user for almost two…

You seem to be conceding every point but the last, but in a sarcastic tone?

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#262

Post by jqpabc123 » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:18 PM UTC

Blip-A wrote: post #238

jqpabc123 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's all money. They don't want you keeping a phone for 5 years. Yes. Hardware vendors love Open Source. It essentially cedes all control of the market to them. They spend minimal time/money/effort on software development and updates because surprise, surprise --- it doesn't produce profits, it consumes them. Hardware is where they make all their money. The only realistic way to get long term software support on Andr…

> The only realistic way to get long term software support on Android is from Open Source. This means installing a replacement, 3rd party Open Source ROM. What ROM do you use and what level of support does it provide? I was interested in third-party ROMs until I read this part of the GrapheneOS FAQ[1]: > GrapheneOS can only fully provide security updates to a device provided that the OEM is releasing them. When an OE…

What ROM do you use and what level of support does it provide?

See here: https://e.foundation/

Do they just allow older phones to run newer versions of Android, albeit without full security updates?

The "full security updates" GrapheneOS references has to do with proprietary device drivers. This is an unrealistic over-reaction in my opinion.

Why abandon perfectly functional hardware based on some unknown possibility that exists with both old and new hardware? Newer, supported devices could easily have these same sort of issues. They really don't know and the OEM does not offer any guarantee or certification otherwise. If the mere possibility of a bug is enough to abandon support, they really shouldn't support anything because this possibility always exists.

Most security issues occur in the OS or can be mitigated in the OS. Without physical possession of the device, access to drivers passes through the OS.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#263

Post by mgbmtl » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:20 PM UTC

A bit tangential: I was happy to learn about Android apps that can change the home screen, such as Lawnchair (thanks to whoever pointed that out to me, after I had posted an cranky comment that was understandably downvoted).

For example, it makes it easier to disable the search on the home screen, and many other tweaks. I also like being able to hide apps from the list of all apps, but they are still accessible using the search. It helps make the bloatware less visible (ex: I don't use the Youtube app, or most other pre-installed apps).

I use a Pixel 6 with very few features from Google, and happy with it. Long-term support is the only issue, although they do offer 5 years for security updates, which is better than previous Google models.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#264

Post by sufficer » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:23 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #243

OJFord wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: why give yourself the headache of coupling having a great camera to choosong a phone then, if it's important to you? Why not have a compact camera as well as whatever phone, and carry that when quality matters?

You’re right, we should also carry around a separate GPS device, MP3 player, one of those portable TV players, and everything else like it’s 2005.

Although you jest, phone cameras are always not as good as a regular camera due to the physics of lenses, apertures etc being so much bigger in a camera vs a phone.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#265

Post by scarface_74 » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:24 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #260

scarface_74 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you have a supported device and you are one of the single percentage of people who want to run non Google Android or deal with the hassle.

> Only if you have a supported device Not a great point, Apple only sells like five devices.

Apple has had security updates for the following iPhones this year: iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone 7Plus iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 10, iPhone 10XR, iPhone 10s, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Plus, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and two generations of iPhone SEs and a couple of iPhone Minis

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#266

Post by Faark » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:26 PM UTC

dtagames wrote: post #132

Sony makes several very nice high-end Xperia phones and all of their stuff is stock Android.

Agree, am on Sony as well. Just make sure to pick one that is widely used and thus have other distros available. Had that with my previous one, so didn't check with my current... AOSP available, but not great. I went back to a stock image and continued from there...

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#267

Post by aceazzameen » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:28 PM UTC

deng wrote: post #39

I always get a used phone (2-3 years old) that is officially supported by LineageOS. I've made good experiences with Motorola Moto G phones. A good alternative are Pixels or OnePlus. My current phone is a Motorola Moto G6 Plus, which was released in 2018, now running LineageOS 20 (Android 13) just fine.

I've always wanted to try LineageOS on one of my older devices. But I always end up getting a device that never has Lineage support. I have a Samsung Note 4, Note 8, and now Note 20 Ultra. Meanwhile, support is for Note 3, 9, and 10.

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#268

Post by gettodachoppa » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:34 PM UTC

Daegalus wrote: post #10

The Pixel is the closest. The reason you don't see long term support on Android is because of Qualcomm. Qualcomm wants manufacturers to build on new chips, so they deprecate older chips and stop support. Most manufacturers don't want to hire kernel and hardware devs. Samsung can pull off longer support because of Exynos and they have a lot of inhouse expertise to extend support on old Qualcomm chips. It's all money.…

How is the actual phone (not computing device) hardware on the Pixel?

The last time I had a Google phone was the 2012 Nexus, and I said never again. It had absolutely trash speakers and microphone. I couldn't be talking to someone when it was windy, I couldn't hear them. And when I tried recording a video at a sports stadium, the audio was completely distorted from the noise because the mic couldn't keep up with the noise.

Is the Pixel a good choice for people who spend the majority of their time on the road and not in a quiet office or home?

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#269

Post by scarface_74 » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:37 PM UTC

sufficer wrote: post #264

scarface_74 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right, we should also carry around a separate GPS device, MP3 player, one of those portable TV players, and everything else like it’s 2005.

Although you jest, phone cameras are always not as good as a regular camera due to the physics of lenses, apertures etc being so much bigger in a camera vs a phone.

According to the original poster

> … that software does amazing things with old camera hardware .

This is what a good phone with a good camera can do better than a great camera with mediocre software

Re: Ask HN: Stock Android phone free of bloatware?

#270

Post by gettodachoppa » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 6:38 PM UTC

tourmalinetaco wrote: post #110

aaomidi wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not getting the updated proprietary blobs for the chips. You’re just getting an updated OS.

Which is better than nothing.

It's better than almost anything else. I don't understand you people worried about driver bugs in a smartphone.

Facebook isn't going to deploy malware to my phone using Whatsapp, MS isn't going to do that using Outlook, Google isn't going to do that through Google Maps. Everything I used is either by a reputable developer, or open-source from F-Droid.

The only way I'm getting malware is if they manage to: 1) exploit a bug in my up-to-date web browser, 2) bug #1 is used to exploit a bug in the hardware driver. Oh, and of course, since I only visit reputable sites, I'm never exposed to malware. I'd have better odds of winning the lottery.