Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

9to5google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 184 posts

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#121

Post by phh »

jnk345u8dfg9hjk wrote: post #118
phh wrote: post #85

Dear LineageOS and other third party Android OS users (including waydroid), Google wages a war against us using 3rd party apps as a proxy. They are pretending that Play Integrity API (previously SafetyNet) protects the user, and recommend it to app developers. What can you do against this? Before trying anything to circumvent PlayIntegrityAPI/SafetyNet, start by opening a ticket (sending a mail, adding a comment on p…

> A full-time attacker just need to spend their day scouting for approved firmwares and re-use them What do you mean by that? The secure boot chain (all the way from the boot ROM) must not be broken for "hardware-backed" Play Integrity to pass. How could you reuse firmware with that in mind?

Play Integrity API passes enough for most apps, including Google Pay (the only known exception is Mc Donalds) by simply reusing the "fingerprint" of another device (the "fingerprint" is basically just a version number, except it's globally unique not just model-unique). In those cases, if the system says "sorry I don't know how to do the secure boot chain verification" rather than "the secure boot chain says it is an un-certified firmware", Play Integrity API will say all is good.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#122

Post by indymike »

poisonborz wrote: post #74
reify wrote: post #2

I install Lineage on the phones of the elderly at local care homes and any people who are interested in prolonging the life of their old phones. Poor people can't afford a new phone every two years. When in your 80's you dont need or want the constant nagging of apps pestering you when all you want to do is text and call your family and friends. I use abd to delete/disable every unnecessary useless app and leave them…

Take something as simple and necessary like Messenger or WhatsApp. Try to use it with no previous knowledge, texting, calling, turning on camera during call. All the text the UI displays, how it is worded. It's ridiculously unintuitive, not inclusive, a real barrier. There should be law to mandate the UI of any app beyond a userbase of 100M. If you say that would severely restrict apps becoming that big, yeah that wo…

> There should be law to mandate the UI

No thank you.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#123

Post by keyringlight »

azalemeth wrote: post #41
atahanacar wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why banking apps don't work with root/ROMs. In my country, if your phone is rooted or you have a custom ROM installed, banking apps just warn you about it, saying "Your phone is rooted, if you don't know what it means your safety could be compromised", allowing you to disable further warnings.

Which country is that, if you don't mind me asking? My experiences have been either a) cancelling my account with no notice due to a policy change (Revolut); b) no cares whatsoever (Monzo, a UK digital bank, TSB, a UK traditional bank, or Danske Bank, a Danish traditional bank) or c) a national identity system (MITiD, a Danish single sign on) blacklisting my account instantly and requiring a single, fragile, loseable…

The other angle to this is that going increasingly web/app based lets them shut down local branches. For my city the last permanent branch is closing soon so should I be locked out of an app the alternative would be the website which last I checked was designed for desktop browsing, or in-person service is a 6 mile journey to a 'mobile branch' available for 45 minutes a week.

I'm currently using an old PixelExperience build which takes some efforts to hide it's unlocked/custom rom status (right now it passes basic but not strong attestation). What I really wonder about is while we don't have the software environment that the OS isn't tightly coupled to the handset (i.e. generic system images) where the optimums are for security if someone doesn't regularly upgrade phones to maintain support from the original manufacturer. The most recent official android for my phone is 8, I'm running 9, so that's at least 5 and a half years old.

From a glance at XDA there's a collection of 11-14, however that brings up another issue of being able to establish trust in whoever is building your OS. Is an individual volunteer graciously building the latest version producing a recent version better than an older build from an established organization like lineage, or better than the ancient official build. Would my phone be seen as more secure by restoring older software and relocking.

There's a number of factors in balance here I'd love to hear views on from someone involved in consumer bank app security, as much as they're able.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#124

Post by humpydumpy »

AnonCoward42 wrote: post #61
wanderingmind wrote: post #46

Happy user of LineageOS. Unfortunately I need a few apps that look for Play Store like Whatsapp, so I'm using LineageOS+ MicroG. Have been using an old Moto G7 for years and it has still been faster than most Samsung phones. Thinking of upgrading but I'm gonna wait until the phone physically breaks down which might still be a few years away. If you plan on installing Lineage, I strongly recommend buying Motorola phon…

I wanna add Xiaomi, however with the caveat that I like neither bootloader unlock procedure. Xiaomi wants to install their software on the host (I recommend a VM), you need a SIM installed, and you have to wait 7 or 14 days for the unlock to work (on MIUI at least, Android One does not have that). On Motorola you have to connect to the internet for 3 days at least and you may not interrupt it otherwise it resets (I h…

reading the sibling comments... the current state of smartphone software is absolutely disgusting. Great were the days of the PC, where you could just install any OS, could make and restore backups of the whole disk. With smartphones now you have to beg the manufacturer of a device you paid money for just to maybe be allowed to install a different OS. It is sad that so many people supported this shit in the past and still do.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#125

Post by esperent »

wanderingmind wrote: post #46

Happy user of LineageOS. Unfortunately I need a few apps that look for Play Store like Whatsapp, so I'm using LineageOS+ MicroG. Have been using an old Moto G7 for years and it has still been faster than most Samsung phones. Thinking of upgrading but I'm gonna wait until the phone physically breaks down which might still be a few years away. If you plan on installing Lineage, I strongly recommend buying Motorola phon…

Are you sure WA needs the play store? I use Android but with most apps disabled - no browser, no Play store, no Google services, all the Samsung crap disabled, and so on. When I need to install an app, I enable the Play store, install it, then disable the store again (using ADB). I also do a monthly update of all the apps.

WA works fine. Messenger works fine, Spotify etc., they all work. The only app I've found so far that doesn't work - logs me out five minutes after disabling the Play store - is the ChatGPT app.

Aside: my phone is so much better for my mental health since I've done this. The constant desire to research things is quieted. Now, if I really need to look something up I open TickTick and set a reminder to do it later on my laptop.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#126

Post by utrianenuirtne »

reify wrote: post #2

I install Lineage on the phones of the elderly at local care homes and any people who are interested in prolonging the life of their old phones. Poor people can't afford a new phone every two years. When in your 80's you dont need or want the constant nagging of apps pestering you when all you want to do is text and call your family and friends. I use abd to delete/disable every unnecessary useless app and leave them…

Do you mind sharing in want kind of context you do this/what structure allows you to do this? Sounds like a nice way to help people.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#127

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

broodbucket wrote: post #10
reify wrote: post #2

I install Lineage on the phones of the elderly at local care homes and any people who are interested in prolonging the life of their old phones. Poor people can't afford a new phone every two years. When in your 80's you dont need or want the constant nagging of apps pestering you when all you want to do is text and call your family and friends. I use abd to delete/disable every unnecessary useless app and leave them…

I wish there were more incentives for people to develop accessible software experiences. Navigating the digital world is really hard for the elderly but it doesn't have to be that way. I guess this problem will eventually go away as digital native generations are all that exist, but it does feel like we've left a lot of the populace behind (and then bemoan that they don't understand us).

The digital native generation will also age and will face challenges such as difficulty reading small text, accurately pressing keys on the screen, or executing intricate hand gestures. However, they will all have Neuralink implants, and everything will be decided for them by AI algorithms anyway.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#128

Post by shaunpud »

I've used LOS in the past and loved it, but in recent times with all the cars now supporting Apple and Google, it's that much harder to make the switch. It feels as if we need a dedicated "cheap" phone (obviously talking G here) just for the car to have navigation work? I've de-Googled everything recently, but this is the last thing, which seems to be unavoidable?

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#129

Post by brnt »

dheera wrote: post #23
brnt wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around here using an app for two factor is widely a default. Even the government requires it for their services. It's a practical requirement, just like how a back account itself is.

What app? A standard app like Google Authenticator? If so you can get a Yubikey and use Yubikey authenticator on a LineageOS device and it will work fine with all of those services. It follows the same standard as Google Authenticator and is a drop-in replacement.

Each their own individual apps. I only wish they standardized on TOTP or U2F.

Re: LineageOS is currently installed on 1.5M Android devices

#130

Post by shaunpud »

CSDude wrote: post #50

Lineage (as I known it as CyanogenMod) saved a lot of old phones for my family instead of going to dumpster. I have a Samsung tablet that has no way of getting latest certificates to go into internet.

I find their supported devices list is quite small, considering, so did your family have devices on that list, or did you experiment by flashing other hardware?
Post reply on HN