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Ask advices about smartphone changing when you try to remove Google of your life

~ahirusan

Hey, long time since my last time here. Bartender, one coke zero, please.

I profit to be here to ask one question about smartphone.

Today, I have a OnePlus Nord since mostly two years, and I am almost satisfied. I have Android smartphones since about ten years today, and I change my phone almost every two years. I want to keep my current phone longer, this time (for ecological reason). My first problem is the software update (with security fixes) seems to be over in one year, and I don't like to have a phone without security fixes. My second problem is I try to remove maximum Google usage in my (personal) life, and I am not sure if that to keep a "standard" Android phone is a good thing here.

For the moment, I had these solutions for my next phone:

Take an iPhone, that means spend about 2 to 3 times the price (I exclude iPhone SE here) that I usually spent on my smartphone, but I will keep this phone longer with security support. If I go to this solution, I think I will wait until the iPhone have USB-C port.
Continue with OnePlus Nord and use custom ROM. I already try custom ROM in the past on my older phone, and I knew that I will lose some functionalities, and I don't want to come back to custom ROM on my main phone.
Get a new phone and use custom ROM. For me, it is a bad idea. I will lose guarantees and I come back to the previous point (Don't want to use custom ROM any more, outside experimentations on old phone).
Try to get an Android phone without Google services. Outside Huawei and some Fairphone phones, it is not simple to find (and I will miss some functionalities and some app, I think). Furthermore, I don't think it is a good idea to get a "Chinese" smartphone.
Continue with Android smartphone with Google services (and remove or deactivate all apps I don't use, like I do on my current phone).

I am not in the rush here, like I said before I am almost satisfied with my current phone, and it is OK until I have security support.

Maybe, guys, you have advices on my issue and have another solutions.

Thank you.

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Replies

~ahirusan wrote:

Thank you for your answers, guys.

~2pie wrote (thread):

In the same line as what tatterdemalion is saying, in case you go on the custom ROM route, be aware of the importance of Google Play. A lot of application will not work if Google play is not installed on your phone (Signal, among others). Been there, been beaten. Didn't know about GrapheneOS, though.

~ew wrote (thread):

Hello, I have used a fairphone2 with LineageOS without microG. I have used it as a phone (voice, short messages) and satnav (Osmand+, I cannot confirm what tatterdemalion writes, so it might be somewhat dependant, on where you are, and what quality the openstreetmap data has). I had installed a few apps from fdroid, but I never really used this stuff much. When it broke on me, I went back to a stone age flip phone. If I need navigation, I'm probably driving in a car, so a small notebook works well for me.

~tatterdemalion wrote (thread):

The most compatible solution, the one that gives you the best privacy without costing you functionality, would be to get a phone that will run GrapheneOS (presently, that means a Pixel). GrapheneOS runs real Google Play Services in a sandbox separated from the rest of the OS and applications. However, they only support these devices for as long as Google does (3-5 years) because of the inability to update kernel code and firmware blobs independently. But they do take privacy extremely seriously (sometimes to the point of security nihilism).

What I'm currently doing is using a phone supported by LineageOS for MicroG. MicroG replaces Google Play Services for most purposes. It comes with F-Droid integrated as a system app, but you can install proprietary apps with Aurora Store. I have not found any proprietary apps that didn't work except for some Google apps I wanted to install in the "work profile" sandbox. The only problems I've found is that all of the free mapping/routing software (like OSMAnd+) do not look up addresses and occasionally provide weird routing; and there are no decent Free Software voice synthesis engines (I installed Google speech services, but forbid them network access).

What you're currently doing is what I did until recently — have Google Play Services installed, but uninstall all of their user-facing apps except for Maps.

GrapheneOS

LineageOS for MicroG

~superfxchip wrote (thread):

Correct me if I'm wrong here, and apologies if I got it twisted, but wasn't there found to be a backdoor secretly implemented in a model of the OnePlus? Also, i might be misconceiving it for a different "Privacy conscious" smartphone, but wasn't it notorious for being used on cracking down on shady types? Am I thinking of a diff smartphone?