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

Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

theregister.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 335 posts

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#191

Post by medvidek »

epolanski wrote: post #108
amunozo wrote: post #92

Earlier 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. 1. My bank doesn't allow to go in person without an in-app taken appointment. 2. My nephew can't play football in his team, because the team has an app to book/signal your availability. No other way. 3. Half of restaurants in my area do not have non-QR code menus, they just don't. 4. McDonald's will make me pay the scam pricing you get without the app. 5. My doctor gives documentation only and exclusively in di…

1. I don't know any bank that does, but in any case voting with your wallet is always an option.

2., 3., 4. Voting with your wallet once again.

5. That would be illegal in many jurisdictions, some countries even have a centralized systems for doctors to upload documentation (that you access using your ID as an authentication token).

6., 7. Unless the employer provides said smartphone, that would be illegal to require in most countries.

8. Vote with your wallet, also all such airlines can print a boarding pass for free if you do the checkin on the website.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#192

Post by aembleton »

jodrellblank wrote: post #145
epolanski wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. 1. My bank doesn't allow to go in person without an in-app taken appointment. 2. My nephew can't play football in his team, because the team has an app to book/signal your availability. No other way. 3. Half of restaurants in my area do not have non-QR code menus, they just don't. 4. McDonald's will make me pay the scam pricing you get without the app. 5. My doctor gives documentation only and exclusively in di…

(Depending on whether you mean "can't exist without a phone" or "can't exist without an Apple/Google monopoly ecosystem") 3. you don't need an Apple or Google account to scan a QR code and open a web page. 4. Why is it "scam" pricing? You're getting a discount from giving them your information with an app. Like Kindle charging more to remove adverts. Dislikable, scummy not scammy. (i.e. they aren't taking your money…

> 8. Ryanair says you can check-in on their website: https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-us/articles/12888891271953-Ho...

Last year I could check in on their website, but needed the app for the boarding card. They might have changed that, but that article doesn't make it clear.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#193

Post by deaux »

aembleton wrote: post #188
abc123abc123 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the way! I do not have a smartphone. I print maps, use email, print boarding cards, do my banking and shopping with a web browser, pay with cash or a debit card. I think people have been brain washed to believe they can no longer live life without being enslaved by a surveillance device. Lost? Ask for directions. Need a map? Go to a hotel or a tourist center, or print one in advance.

When you go on holiday, do you have to find an Internet café to print off your boarding pass for the flight home? Or do you select destinations covered by airlines that allow you to get a boarding pass more than 48 hours in advance?

They said they don't use a phone. You can do online check-in on any device with a browser. I'm sure you can point to a single airline that only offers it through a native mobile app but that'd be an extreme exception.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#194

Post by deaux »

stdatomic wrote: post #113
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #76

The challenge isn't buying it, the challenge is being able to do phone things with it. Nowadays, you can no longer exist in society without a phone. 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. Banking, government, authentication, postal service and public transit apps are just some of t…

There was a time back in covid days where you had to have an app on your phone to go through customs clearance in Canada.

I refuse to believe that's true. That they were denying Dorothy (92) from going through customs because she couldn't use an app. That's an extraordinary claim.

If they weren't denying Dorothy, that means you did not need an app.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#195

Post by zb3 »

pjmlp wrote: post #110
ALLTaken wrote: post #81

Sounds very much like HarmonyOS. I was just in a Huawei Store and I think from a UI/UX perspective, despite being quite new, it's incredibly slick and leaps ahead in great design and integration within the HarmonyOS ecosystem. Even saw it being used as Laptop OS and Mobile, the convergence is quite applaudable. The kindest was that the store's staff advised against buying the device as it's quite painful to use it wi…

The next version of it, HarmonyOS NEXT is microkernel based, and they have two new languages of their own. ArkTS, inspired in Typescript and similar nodejs runtime. Naturally due to performance problems, they decided to come up with another one, also Typescript inspired, but ahead of time compiled, GC and effects. It is called Canjgie. This naturally is a big effort rebooting the whole ecosystem, it only works becaus…

Ok, but that HarmonyOS NEXT is closed source and Huawei devices don't allow system modifications, right?

There's "OpenHarmony", but the question is whether we can practically run it on Huawei devices..

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#196

Post by medvidek »

aembleton wrote: post #188
abc123abc123 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the way! I do not have a smartphone. I print maps, use email, print boarding cards, do my banking and shopping with a web browser, pay with cash or a debit card. I think people have been brain washed to believe they can no longer live life without being enslaved by a surveillance device. Lost? Ask for directions. Need a map? Go to a hotel or a tourist center, or print one in advance.

When you go on holiday, do you have to find an Internet café to print off your boarding pass for the flight home? Or do you select destinations covered by airlines that allow you to get a boarding pass more than 48 hours in advance?

Most hotels would be happy to print your boarding pass for free.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#197

Post by deaux »

usr1106 wrote: post #180
amunozo wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I am from Nordic country. I did not use any cash, had no wallet for several years. It's not needed. After the US government acting like it does I mostly stopped using cards. Like with phone OSes a US-controlled duopoly. Cash does not to need to be used anywere, but cards can be avoided for weeks until I need to use it again. Most can be handled by cash or bank transfer without problems. For phones I have not any Goog…

> Cash does not to need to be used anywere, but cards can be avoided for weeks until I need to use it again.

Your experience sounds interesting but I can't infer what this sentence means.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#198

Post by bombcar »

eightysixfour wrote: post #166
Insimwytim wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> restaurant menus Well, that's easy to deal with - don't go the restaurants that openly disrespect you. Out of all the examples you have presented everything had worked somehow without phones not so long ago. Maybe, with the exception of online public transit status streaming. And public transit still works without it.

I hate when people respond like this, I recently did three months with a dumb phone to attempt to get away from iOS/Android in a major US city and it was impossible. All of the things that made it impossible used to be possible without a smart phone, but they aren’t anymore and they’re not magically back when you try and navigate life without one. Things like paid surface parking lots. Used to you could pay at a mach…

Maybe living in the “big city” sucks harder than I thought.

I can and have gone days without a phone in “semirural” areas (not even Amish) and have been fine.

Restaurants without printed menus are just not places I’ll go.

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#199

Post by vivekd »

deaux wrote: post #194
stdatomic wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a time back in covid days where you had to have an app on your phone to go through customs clearance in Canada.

I refuse to believe that's true. That they were denying Dorothy (92) from going through customs because she couldn't use an app. That's an extraordinary claim. If they weren't denying Dorothy, that means you did not need an app.

It was compulsory during COVID and it became optional later

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArriveCAN

Re: Where to buy a non-Apple, non-Google smartphone

#200

Post by medvidek »

jolmg wrote: post #176
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"As an individual, it feels like my options are to either submit or try to live a hermit's life, bringing endless suffering and exclusion to myself." Classic "all-or-nothing", "black and white" HN comment No middle ground. Two extremes and nothing in between In the real world, few people think this way Not only that, but it's common today to have more than one computer There is no shortage of HN comments that keep cl…

This probably depends on location, but generally, you cannot log in to your bank account on your laptop/computer without using your phone's banking app for 2FA. That's the status quo among banks. Whether it may be possible to convince a bank to give you a hardware token instead if they even still make them is not an assured thing.

I have several accounts in different banks (across two different countries) and never had problems with using SMS as a second factor for internet banking. Definitely not status quo, at least in Europe.
Post reply on HN