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Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

arstechnica.com

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Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#121

Post by fsflover »

TheMode wrote: post #39
ben-schaaf wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Besides not making smartphones what do you think the actual root problem is and how would you tackle it?

I believe that the root problems are programs having direct access to environment, being compiled down to hardware instructions, and these instructions not being easily interpretable (without having access to an already made interpreter) These problems cause software to depend on highly specific platforms [1] that prevent any hardware from being standalone-ly sustainable. * Environment access creates the opportunity…

Looks like you need a GNU/Linux phone like Librem 5 or Pinephone.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#122

Post by lawn »

ctenb wrote: post #117
lawn wrote: post #29

I've been using my Fairphone 4 for around a year or so and it's been great. An easily removable battery is a godsend and the phone is surprisingly durable as I've been dropping it a lot (me clumsy). I haven't encountered any issue and the one complaint I have is the lack of 3.5 jack. It was quite hard to find a USB converter that worked and having to use an adapter is really annoying. Still if this one breaks I can r…

I bought a converter too, but it just didnt work at all! Which adapter worked for you?

I don't remember the one I got, but I looked it up in a list. Maybe this was the list?

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fp4-list-of-usb-c-to-3-5-audio...

There's also an adapter on the official site that they say should work (but I haven't tried it): https://shop.fairphone.com/shop/usb-c-to-mini-audio-jack-ada...

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#126

Post by squarefoot »

christophilus wrote: post #78
amelius wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. But what OS would it run out of the box? And what would you run on it?

I’d want to run Debian + Phosh.

Add sandboxed Android layer for apps compatibility and it would be next to perfect.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#127

Post by opan »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #40
miduil wrote: post #12

I really wish Fairphone 4 had GrapheneOS support, but after almost 4 years of Fairphone 3 I decided to go with a Pixel instead. Too many hardware bugs with the FP3 that were never acknowledged by the vendor and unhappy customers with bricked FP4's that requires sending them back in. Also I would have hoped for them continuing the FP3 architecture, feels such a waste that they've now instead developed a much more expe…

I wished there was a Graphene/Lineage OS phone (OEM supported; not “flash it yourself” sorcery needed kinda thing). And something within the size of original iPhone SE or Mini with just even an above average battery. I’d pay a premium for that phone. It’s my wishful thinking about smartphones.

I don't think vendors can stop themselves from putting garbage in their ROMs. The OnePlus One had CyanogenOS, based on CyanogenMod. That didn't last long. Now I've heard the default ROM on OnePlus stuff is particularly bloated. I still use their hardware, but I only buy phones I can put another OS on, like LineageOS, or postmarketOS in the case of the PinePhone. I update the new-to-me phone right away to get the latest baseband firmware and such, then unlock/wipe/flash ASAP. Can't imagine doing it any other way now. If you buy a couple gens back of a OnePlus phone on eBay, they're pretty affordable.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#128

Post by opan »

cauch wrote: post #31
miduil wrote: post #12

I really wish Fairphone 4 had GrapheneOS support, but after almost 4 years of Fairphone 3 I decided to go with a Pixel instead. Too many hardware bugs with the FP3 that were never acknowledged by the vendor and unhappy customers with bricked FP4's that requires sending them back in. Also I would have hoped for them continuing the FP3 architecture, feels such a waste that they've now instead developed a much more expe…

> Too many hardware bugs with the FP3 that were never acknowledged by the vendor I have a FP3, and it has been my first and only Android smartphone. I now wonder if what I've experienced is the "normal Android experience" or if I would have experienced something different from another brand. I'm also avoiding / disabling Google stuffs (I'm using f-droid, ...). I was occasionally surprised to see how a lot of people a…

>I'm also avoiding / disabling Google stuffs (I'm using f-droid, ...). I was occasionally surprised to see how a lot of people are flooded with ads / unsolicited messages and seemed not to care. I don't get it, though, it looks such an awful experience.

I run into this with family members occasionally. Their music player or file manager has started showing ads, I recommend them the one I use on F-Droid, saying it may or may not be on the Play Store. Usually they go straight to the Play Store anyway and ask if any of their top ten results have the right icon/author. I really do get a better experience with F-Droid stuff. Never have run into ads or malware or whatever, can't imagine people thinking that it's normal to have such a bad experience. I don't know how they live with it.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#129

Post by opan »

squarefoot wrote: post #126
christophilus wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d want to run Debian + Phosh.

Add sandboxed Android layer for apps compatibility and it would be next to perfect.

There is Waydroid. Not sure if it would be a good idea to ship with it installed, though. It would probably set expectations too high.

Re: Fairphone 4 is coming to the US

#130

Post by opan »

TheMode wrote: post #14

Is the hardware really the bottleneck to sustainable device? The software seems more much important but nobody is tackling it. Having a phone with a new battery doesn't matter if I can't run the same apps as others.

Well said. Phones lose support long before their hardware is actually too weak. Also if we tried to optimize the software better, less of the hardware would feel weak.
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