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Your phone is about to stop being yours

keepandroidopen.org

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Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm considering switching to GrapheneOS... What's this about RCS not working?

RCS can be hit or miss on GrapheneOS, but they have made significant progress recently. It requires using Google Messages rather than any other messaging app, and may require enabling an ICC authentication option that is disabled by default. And it may depend on your carrier. RCS is kind of a pain in the butt but the messaging improvements over SMS are substantial which is why I wanted it. When I first tried last fal…

RCS barely works on regular Android.

In the last week or so, multiple people have told me they cannot text me. I found that I was getting a "verification limit exceeded" error (perhaps because of my unusual behavior of usually being at work or at home, both which have known wifi networks, and sending maybe half a dozen texts any day?). I got the error to go away for half a day and they were still unable to message during that time, and now that I have it disabled I still appear as online on RCS (yet still unreachable?) so they still cannot message me lol.

I've been on the other end many times across multiple Android devices across multiple years, being able to send messages to some RCS users, being unable to send messages to other RCS users, not being able to receive messages in group chats entirely comprised of Android users, etc.

SMS/MMS: Handled by carriers, you can send messages to people who are offline and they'll get the messages when they turn their phone back on.

Telegram/FbMessenger/Whatsapp/etc: Handled by individual corporations, you can send messages to people who are offline and they'll get the messages when they turn their their device on.

RCS: Handled by both Google and carriers at the same time for some reason, maybe 80% chance of being able to send a message to somebody who's online, let alone offline.

I'm sure there are multiple reasons it was challenging, but Google and friends have not risen to the occasion at all. Truly a garbage protocol.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#402
post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What should Google do when a change they are making to protect regular less-technical users breaks functionality needed by more advanced users? Put it behind an USB ADB only toggle and be more transparent to avoid slippery slope?

That requires having a PC to unlock basic functionality on your Android device, assuming the change we're talking about is still app installs. I don't think OS vendors should be expected to keep people from doing dangerous things. A warning label saying "hey that's dangerous because..." is reasonable, but anything more and they're trying to be my sysadmin against my will.

The sysadmin part is their value-add. One reason my current phone being an iPhone after being 100% Android for a decade are the better walls and nicer garden.

These are sold as consumer devices and not general computers. It sounds like you want something different. They’re selling cars and you want a motorcycle.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not true, running your code on your phone with Xcode has always been free.

With a free account, it needs to be reinstalled every 7 days because the signature expires. It's hardly convenient for personal use.

even worse - if you need to build some app with entitlements or some features likes push notifications etc then you need non-free account

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#404
post #16

Let me play out a scenario, imagine to use a Desktop Hardware like a complete built rig, you would need a specific OS like Windows 11 and you could not run Linux on it, just because it's a vendor lock-in. Why is this acceptable for phones but would not for the case above? I know a lot of people don't care, and that's ok, but we should root for an open choice for the users.

> Why is this acceptable for phones but would not for the case above? PCs happened by accident. Before the PC, people had TVs - devices not for creating, but for passively consuming content made by big corporations and the state. And we had games consoles - devices not for creating, but for playing games made by a medium-sized company, with strict approval by a huge company (who want a cut). Strictly censored to be a…

I think this was because of the “IBM PC Compatible” market. IBM was using off-the-shelf components for its PC system and other manufacturers reverse engineered and cloned the system and started selling IBM clones. Interestingly Microsoft who controlled the OS became the monopoly and gatekeeper of that market, not IBM (hardware). MS was making a ton of money by selling OS licenses and online software stores was not a thing since the Internet was nonexistent/limited. “Developers, developers, developers” were the king in that business model so they didn’t need to give a cut to MS or IBM to build on a PC system.

Saying that I think the situation in the smartphones today is less about the business model and more about control and surveillance.

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

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#405
post #269
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I developed my first Android app when I was around 16 years old and I remember distinctly wanting to publish it on Google Play, but couldn't because they required developers to be 18+, and this was even before they introduced strict identity verification requirements. And iOS was a lost cause as XCode famously requires an operating system that only runs on very specific hardware for which I had no money. No matter, I…

This is why I really wanted Capyloon to take off [1]. The idea was to build a whole mobile OS around PWAs. App Stores are just CDNs. There are no weird rules about payment processors. The ecosystem did not need to start from scratch. Unfortunately, it just never gained the necessary momentum. [1]: https://capyloon.org/

I've still got a firefox OS phone in a drawer somewhere. I was disappointed it got discontinued like so many other mozilla projects.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#406
post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GrapheneOS is significantly more secure, more private, and more free. Not sure why you would use /e/.

Well, for one you can actually buy an /e/ device right now. Also, once you have it, it just works. Some people like that.

If there's one thing I've learned about the custom Android community (and to a lesser extent, the Android community) it's that "it actually works" isn't really important or convincing to them.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#407
post #353

Okay, so buy a new phone I guess that is yours?

Sure, and don't get to go on public transport (or pay surcharges for paper tickets, depending on if your country still has that option), don't get to participate when everyone else can add music from their phone at a party, don't get to buy leftover food because the proprietary app doesn't run on there (it kicks me out for fraud detection half the time already), don't get to visit various websites that fingerprint yo…

It is challenging, but fighting for your freedoms is the only way not to loose them. Sent from my daily driver Librem 5.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#408
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stop being yours As if most android maker phones don't already fully own your device - preventing you from unlocking of bootloader and installing an OS that actually doesnt enforce the restriction google is introducing in their flavour of android. To pretend that with this change android becomes exactly like iOS is... ridiculous? I can pick any 10yo old android phone from my drawer and develop for it, no problem an…

I hear what you're saying, especially around just moving to iOS not being a better argument. However with > And if I'm already this motivated I'm certainly motivated enough to wait 24hs on future (more locked down) devices. But I don't think that's the point. It's a continual erosion of people's ability to use hardware _they own_ in ways _they want_ under the guise of 'security' - which to be fair google does fuck al…

> It's a continual erosion of people's ability to use hardware _they own_ in ways _they want_ under the guise of 'security' - which to be fair google does fuck all to actually prevent malicious, scammy and misleading apps from appearing on their play store.

A lot of people don't seem to understand this and point out that Android is still more open and free than iOS, but iOS has never been about openness and freedom. People believed in Android, and in Google. Now they either see Google betraying them (once again) or only see the Android vs iOS comparison, forgetting about the implications about autonomy, agency and about the future of Android. Many people don't care which actors control their digital lives and what motivations they have. People should be made aware that Google is on their side and that they have shown many times that they have no honor.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Every 7 days, forever ? At some point you have the thing working to your satisfaction and just want to continue using it.

Hell, maybe you just want it to not break during a long vacation.

Or maybe everything is normal, but, oops, you forgot the last renewal and it stops working exactly the moment you needed it most.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#410

WHERE DO I SEND MY MONEY? This is the question this website should be answering. Signing petitions is all well and good, but I want to vote with my wallet. WHERE DO I SEND MY MONEY??? One thing I will do in the future is buy a nifty Motorola / GrapheneOS collab phone, but I can't do that yet. So for now: WHERE DO I SEND MY MONEY? It is literally amazing to me that people aren't giving this as an option on such social…

> WHERE DO I SEND MY MONEY?

Good question. Here you go: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5

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