LMAO
Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
151–160 of 335 posts
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#152Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. You cannot even book appointments in a lot of banks today, a thing you could do in the 90s. Like that, a lot of services are unavailable without a smartphone and its non-smartphone equivalent is not available anymore.
This might be country specific? Specifically dependent on laws in the fields of consumer-protection and keeping things universally accessible. I don't own a smartphone. I have never owned a smartphone. There are inconveniences, and big organizations definitely try to push you toward the way of doing things which has the lowest costs for them - but there are no actual blockers. There is always a path involving actual…
To be honest, I never tried, but I see for example the removal of more and more procedures in person. In Spain where I'm from or Switzerland where I live it can be still manageable, but in the Nordic countries for example everything is digital and even cash is barely existent. A lot of payments are made by phone apps only.
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does this permeate the HN all the time. You can 100% function without a fucking smartphone. My Dad doesn’t have one, he has zero-to-no trouble going to the bank and paying his bills and just about every other imaginable thing. If there was something he could not do and there were repercussions for it he’d be calling an attorney to rectify the situation. It is crazy to keep reading this over and over on HN, so wei…
> "Why does this permeate the HN all the time." It's a bias, an in-bubble illiteracy effect, concerning the perception and analysis of realities (e. g. experiences) outside that bubble, mirroring an in-group's projections about an out-group. It is, in my decades of experience, a very common phenomenon in the IT sector. > "My Dad doesn’t have one, he has zero-to-no trouble going to the bank and paying his bills and ju…
Well, no surprise that it works in Germany, but I am not so sure it will in the Nordic countries for example.
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#155I looked at Punkt. They keep saying "If you don’t pay for the product, you are the product". Okay, all fine and well. But what will my phone still actually be able to do if / when I stop my subscription? Not a single clear answer besides "[…] gradual feature deactivation, and ultimately reverting to a device running AOSP". Doesn’t really inspire confidence.
Swiss privacy phones? https://www.punkt.ch What subscription?
Look at Punkt MC03 + AphyOS, scroll down to "Subscription: 2 years free of charge" and expand.
https://www.punkt.ch/products/mc03-premium-secure-smartphone
There's a little bit - but barely - more about AphyOS in the FAQ if you scroll way down.
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ubuntu Touch was amazing, way ahead of Android and iOS when it came out, the touch gestures were so much better than what was available. But then it's just maintained by very few people nowadays and half abandoned. You can buy a used Pixel 3a if you want to toy around with it, they cost nothing.
That's so sad. I even clicked around on their page to find out how I could contribute as a developer, but their gitlab repo seems abandoned since way before the latest release and all "how to get involved" articles eventually point to 404 pages.
You might have more luck searching "ubports".
Personally I would recommend postmarketOS + plasma mobile instead, but I didn't think ubports/lomiri were dead yet.
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#157A less drastic option is get an Android phone and put Lineage Android on it. https://lineageos.org/ There's a bunch of officially supported phones but most Android phones will have unofficial support also.
I would highly recommend getting a device with official support for the best experience. I wouldn't get any phone not on their supported devices list unless it were free of charge, and even then I'd be a bit sad.
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know I live in Oregon or whatever but a lot of people use cash.
"I live in a place that hasn't seen progress and still uses physical cash." Isn't really useful to those of us who live in places that don't even use cash. Also, I don't really want to go back to using physical cash thanks.
Progress, as in, you've gained the privilege of third parties tracking every payment and every bill you've split with friends, sure.
Let's be realistic; payment services are convenient, but not advantageous in every single way.
Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#159Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone. millions of people would like a word… > Most things will work but it takes one critical service that doesn't have a viable workaround, and you're forced to buy (and possibly carry) a "mainstream" phone just for that. Absolutely not, if there is “critical service” that requires an iPhone or Android you call an attorney. > Banking, government, authenticati…
Browser is great until it tells you that you need to use a mobile device. This happens all the time on multiple KYC platforms in the US. My laptop is an equally mobile device, they just don't recognize that.
you have an example where you are forced to use a mobile device? genuinely interested cause while I have a smartphone I don’t have hardly any “apps” on it (on my iphone all the “apps” are on the first “page” (without grouping). I do not like the idea of losing a phone and potentially someone getting access to my entire digital life (my phone password is 6 zeros) and I genuinely do not use phone for anything important