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CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

calyxos.org

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Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#141

Post by vbsteven »

cdesai wrote: post #120
vbsteven wrote: post #113

I’m thinking about buying a degoogled Android phone to replace my iPhone. The main things I want are: * Spotify needs to work over Bluetooth in my car * WhatsApp needs to work (preferably with push notifications) * I need the Fitbit app to work so my watch can show push notifications from my personal apps * a network-based location provider to be consumed by my personal apps (I’m working on a personal data and automa…

I can confirm that, * Spotify over Blueooth in a car works. * WhatsApp works, with notifications * I'm not sure about FitBit, per https://plexus.techlore.tech/applications/fitbit it might not but things may have changed. * We include some providers by default and you can install more from F-Droid.

Thank you, that sounds very promising.

Is there a specific device you would recommend for long-term CalyxOS support?

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#142

Post by ignoramous »

_abox wrote: post #131
kelnos wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the trade off that I hate having to make, and I'm glad to see something like Calyx here. I want a phone that respects my privacy and is secure, but I also want to use apps like Google Photos (my favorite app that I use more than anything, aside from Firefox), Lyft, Netflix, Slack, banking apps, airline apps, and, critically, Google Pay. I get that using many of those apps might increase my exposure to trackin…

I agree, this is my stance as well,. Though I don't think Calyx tries to limit tracking on installed apps. I would recommend using something like TrackerControl to limit those.

TrackerControl doesn't encrypt your DNS queries, though. You'd need to proxy DNS requests to another app like http://github.com/ch4t4r/Nebulo which supports DoT / DoH3 / DoH for that.

(disclosure: I co-develop a FOSS TrackerControl alternative)

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#143

Post by nobodywasishere »

brundolf wrote: post #132
vbsteven wrote: post #113

I’m thinking about buying a degoogled Android phone to replace my iPhone. The main things I want are: * Spotify needs to work over Bluetooth in my car * WhatsApp needs to work (preferably with push notifications) * I need the Fitbit app to work so my watch can show push notifications from my personal apps * a network-based location provider to be consumed by my personal apps (I’m working on a personal data and automa…

> Can other Android flavours like GrapheneOS or LineageOS do this? There's a separate question you're missing: what your Google Services situation is Distros like Lineage come without Google Services; if you want them, you install them yourself "gapps" is the official one. It's straight Google everything. Lineage OS + gapps will give you a very clean and nice Android experience if you don't care about Google collecti…

Currently been using LineageOS for three years now, latter half without GApps/Play services.

Google maps (from Aurora store) works perfectly fine on my phone without it.

Telegram notifications work perfectly fine.

My banking app works fine.

Apple Music and Jellyfin work great.

I use nextcloud for contacts/calendar/cloud/photo management.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#144

Post by cdesai »

fragileone wrote: post #97
cdesai wrote: post #88

Lead Developer here, AMA?

1) What would you say are your unique differences from LineageOS and GrapheneOS? 2) What big goals/projects are planned for the future? 3) Where do you see Android as a platform in 5 or 10 years? Any predictions or notable obstacles? 4) What do you think of mobile Linux distributions?

> 1) What would you say are your unique differences from LineageOS and GrapheneOS?

We do borrow a lot of code from other projects and try to send any fixes / improvements back to them.

We try to provide an OS designed to ensure maximum usability and flexibility, so that you have an array of choices available to ensure your privacy and security.

For example, I really like the way we have microG available - https://calyxos.org/features/microg/

You can choose to disable it (which still has benefits), keep it enabled, or even login a Google Account. There's even a fourth option where you have it enabled but without the notifications / communication with Google servers, where it's still useful for some app compatibility, and things like location providers and exposure notifications.

> 2) What big goals/projects are planned for the future?

Our biggest goal has always been expanding the reach of the project. We want to support cheaper phones which are widely available in the world.

We also have a bunch of features in the works or planned for the future - Panic trigger improvements, built in ad/tracker block (without losing the ability to use a VPN), and more. Most of it is documented as https://gitlab.com/groups/CalyxOS/-/epics

> 3) Where do you see Android as a platform in 5 or 10 years? Any predictions or notable obstacles?

We will be at S now, which means we'll be at Z in 7 years. What happens then?

Kidding aside, I'm always excited by watching the changes Google is doing (some of it is done in the open, through AOSP at https://android-review.googlesource.com/ - you see lots of Rust here nowadays, I need to learn that)

Fuchsia is also going to be interesting, they must have something planned.

> 4) What do you think of mobile Linux distributions?

I have massive respect for them given the work they're doing. I always see at it this way - we're working on Android, and especially on the Pixels - all the hardware is there working for us, so we can focus our efforts on improvements in other areas.

Linux on mobile has to spend a lot of time catching up to just the basics (getting phone calls working for example).

There are pros and cons to both, it entirely depends on your use case to see what fits.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#145

Post by wintermutestwin »

brundolf wrote: post #132
vbsteven wrote: post #113

I’m thinking about buying a degoogled Android phone to replace my iPhone. The main things I want are: * Spotify needs to work over Bluetooth in my car * WhatsApp needs to work (preferably with push notifications) * I need the Fitbit app to work so my watch can show push notifications from my personal apps * a network-based location provider to be consumed by my personal apps (I’m working on a personal data and automa…

> Can other Android flavours like GrapheneOS or LineageOS do this? There's a separate question you're missing: what your Google Services situation is Distros like Lineage come without Google Services; if you want them, you install them yourself "gapps" is the official one. It's straight Google everything. Lineage OS + gapps will give you a very clean and nice Android experience if you don't care about Google collecti…

X >will give you a very clean and nice Android experience if you don't care about Google collecting your data.

I must be confused here, but isn't the whole point of installing any OS besides Android on an Android device preventing google from collecting your data? Why else would anyone deal with a non-standard OS?

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#146

Post by barbazoo »

grey_earthling wrote: post #16

From https://calyxos.org/about/ : > In social science, agency is defined as: the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. > built-in integration for Signal and WhatsApp calls Signal and WhatsApp are both fully centralised, tied to a single organisation each — they are antithetical to agency. Why not use open protocols like DeltaChat, Matrix or XMPP instead? > built-in free “Vir…

> Why not use open protocols like DeltaChat, Matrix or XMPP instead?

I can give you an answer for Matrix and it's usability. It's difficult to onboard users, at least it was ~a year ago. I wouldn't want to expose my non-tech friends to that.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#147

Post by [deleted] »

zozbot234 wrote: post #53
fitblipper wrote: post #28

The thing which always makes me hesitant about these projects is that they don't receive frequent security audits and not having an expensive brand behind them makes them more at risk to being willing to trash their name at the cost of my privacy and security. I consider these to be a fairly critical part of any project which claims superior privacy and security. I think about it this way: Should I trust A. The compa…

This is why I see projects like postmarketOS, Mobian and Debian Mobile as having a lot more potential. Let's be clear about this, these projects are not practically usable right now in a "daily driver" sense, even compared to a simple AOSP-based custom ROM. But they have the right goal in place - sharing a single , unified code base across our mainstream and mobile OS's.

[deleted]

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#149

Post by dyndos »

kelnos wrote: post #124
_abox wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calyx has more focus on functionality and privacy rather than security. On Graphene, security is always priority #1. For example: Calyx provides MicroG. This means you can talk to Google Play services, though in a better, more privacy-conscious way. MicroG is an open implentation of Google Play Services. However, MicroG requires signature spoofing: You need to install a fake Google certificate so that it can trick of…

This is the trade off that I hate having to make, and I'm glad to see something like Calyx here. I want a phone that respects my privacy and is secure, but I also want to use apps like Google Photos (my favorite app that I use more than anything, aside from Firefox), Lyft, Netflix, Slack, banking apps, airline apps, and, critically, Google Pay. I get that using many of those apps might increase my exposure to trackin…

Note that the GrapheneOS developer has indicated they are working on getting the Google Play Services apps to run sandboxed like normal apps, without extensive system permissions. This could be quite promising.

Re: CalyxOS – De-Googled Android Alternative

#150

Post by cdesai »

vbsteven wrote: post #141
cdesai wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm that, * Spotify over Blueooth in a car works. * WhatsApp works, with notifications * I'm not sure about FitBit, per https://plexus.techlore.tech/applications/fitbit it might not but things may have changed. * We include some providers by default and you can install more from F-Droid.

Thank you, that sounds very promising. Is there a specific device you would recommend for long-term CalyxOS support?

The newest Pixels are the best given that's what Google will support the longest, and with every Pixel generation they make a lot of improvements.

https://calyxos.org/about/faq/device-support/#update-timefra...

Pixel 6 is right around the corner, however it'll take a few months for us to get it all going (getting the phone, porting Android 12, making changes for Pixel 6)

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