Your phone is about to stop being yours • Hacker News Board

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#501

Post by wasting_time » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:21 AM UTC

kuhsaft wrote: post #262

NDlurker wrote: post #30

>Android's openness was never just a feature. It was the promise that distinguished it from iPhone. Millions chose Android for exactly that reason. Google is now revoking that promise unilaterally, on devices already in people's pockets, because they've decided they have enough market dominance and regulatory capture to get away with it. This is why I've stuck with Android for the past 15 years.

This is a very HN view of Android. The "openness" of Android was for mobile device manufacturers, not app developers and end-users. Android's prominence was driven by the myriad of low-cost Android devices by multiple device manufacturers, whereas iOS is only available via iPhones. The vast majority of users don't care about "openness" of the OS. They care about the utility of their phone in everyday life. Can I acce…

> can I download an app off a random website and install it

This is a straw man. This change hurts third party app stores such as F-Droid the most. I vastly prefer it to Play Store for the same reasons I prefer GNU/Linux to macOS or Windows (discounting the fact that Linux no longer needs hacks to "just work").

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#502

Post by kuhsaft » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:22 AM UTC

fsflover wrote: post #383

Xunjin wrote: 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.

[flagged]

A GrapheneOS phone is just as open as the Librem 5. They both use proprietary blobs and hardware. Librem just tries to hide that fact.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935853#47943179

GrapheneOS is probably more secure also.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#503

Post by dartharva » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:25 AM UTC

cromka wrote: post #416

encom wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>free You forgot to factor in the cost of a Mac.

You don't need a computer to develop Android apps?

You can use _any_ computer to make Android apps. For iOS you strictly need a Mac.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#504

Post by catcowcostume » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:25 AM UTC

monooso wrote: post #428

kube-system wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

??? We literally quoted the exact same text. The plan does not outline what that quote does. You only have to do all of the things the quote claims you do in one of the three possible deployment flows. In "advanced flow" you don't have to do any of them.

No, you quoted some of the text. Hence my statement that you removed the context. If you read the full quote, it's clearly stating that you cannot opt-out of the update .

He broke the quote in 2 ffs, can't you read?

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#505

Post by catcowcostume » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:26 AM UTC

anonymousiam wrote: post #145

Anonyneko wrote: post #133

I've resigned to the fact that I'll need to use two phones, one with locked down Android/iOS for banking applications and government services (those require strong bank ID around these parts), another with some kind of a Linux or unlocked Android for literally everything else. Oh well, such is life, most people don't care enough about this to pressure Google/Apple/banks/governments into yielding. A big reason why a n…

In my informed opinion, anybody who does banking on their phone is taking a big and unnecessary risk. I wish I could say more.

Not a choice if you live in a "developed" country

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#506

Post by dartharva » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:31 AM UTC

john_strinlai wrote: post #384

wiseowise wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a very HN view of Android. Just because you're HN dweller doesn't make it HN view. The openness, freedom, customizability and accessibility (money wise) were the tenets that differentiated Android from Apple devices.

> The openness, freedom, customizability and accessibility (money wise) were the tenets that differentiated Android from Apple devices. i have never heard someone outside of tech circles (e.g. HN) mention openness, freedom, or customization, even as a passing comment. they use a phone to access mainstream apps (youtube, instagram, reddit, maybe their bank) and text/call. mention "apk" or "fdroid" and their eyes start…

> i have never heard someone outside of tech circles... mention "apk" or "fdroid" and their eyes start to glaze over

My no-tech middle-aged uncles and aunts know what apks are, and that you need to install apps from somewhere apart from the main Play store if you want them to have no ads.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#507

Post by wasting_time » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:39 AM UTC

627467 wrote: post #256

apt-apt-apt-apt wrote: post #209

Does this make Android the same as iOS now, in terms of how locked down it is?

Can you install different firmware/OS (tweaked and developed by others not sanctioned by apple) on your iPhone? Can you install unlimited unsigned apps on iPhone? If answer is "No", than No, android is still very far from as locked down as iOS

First they came for root privileges, but I didn't say anything because I hardly used it.

Then they came for F-Droid, and I didn't say anything because I don't know how to contact them.

Then ...

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#508

Post by kuhsaft » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:44 AM UTC

seba_dos1 wrote: post #499

kuhsaft wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misunderstand what the Purism Firmware Jail is. I don't blame you though. They seem to make it purposefully misleading. It doesn't isolate what runs in the OS. It just isolates the OS updates from the non-free blob updates. The OS still runs the non-free blobs. It just loads it from separate flash. https://github.com/linuxboot/heads/blob/c859c28b88b7bc197c16... https://forums.puri.sm/t/the-librem-5-blob-l…

It is you who is confused here. The first link is completely irrelevant to the Librem 5, and the second one points to a thread where the actual information present has been written by me. The only non-free piece of code executed by the ARM Cortex-A53 cluster on the Librem 5 is the SoC's mask ROM bootloader. Once the control is passed to u-boot/ATF there is not a single non-free blob that runs there. Some peripherals…

Ah. I see. So the blobs are loaded into the separate microprocessors. Either way, it's the same as pretty much any modern phone, where the modem (and other secondary processors) are running some proprietary firmware and is communicating with the OS processor.

I don't see how it's different from running a free open-source ASOP OS. On the mainstream Android devices, the wireless hardware is also isolated and communication is done via IOMMU.

There's some debate as to whether using the USB stack for communication to the modem in the Librem 5 is less secure than IOMMU as well.

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#509

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:52 AM UTC

handoflixue wrote: post #392

michaelt wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Alongside TV we had cameras, and families across the country filming birthdays and other special occasions. Alongside newspapers we had 'zine culture and mail-order pamphlets. There has always been the option to contribute - the Apple iPhone is quite possibly the first exception.

[deleted]

Re: Your phone is about to stop being yours

#510

Post by testing22321 » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 2:54 AM UTC

handoflixue wrote: post #392

michaelt wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Alongside TV we had cameras, and families across the country filming birthdays and other special occasions. Alongside newspapers we had 'zine culture and mail-order pamphlets. There has always been the option to contribute - the Apple iPhone is quite possibly the first exception.

You could film and put it on your tv, but you couldn’t create and distribute to the medium at large