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No smartphone. Eccentric, comes with significant practical and social costs.
Desktop-style Linux (PostmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch, others). Most hardware is barely usable or unusable. Few desktop apps are optimized for touch on a phone-sized screen.
iOS. Apps can’t exist without permission from Apple. Even in jurisdictions that forced them to allow other app stores, notarization is mandatory and they can withhold it.
All of those are bigger problems than the mild crappiness of Android.
Complete tangent, because the OP of this comment thread is a joke anyway, but my boss is in the first group. This guy may own a smartphone but it lives in a drawer, I’m sure. Like, he has never once just scrolled on his phone to kill time, no way. He might have sent one text message in his entire life. And this guy is only a couple years older than me, under 50. Some people just live in a different world. He and I both live in Illinois, just so you know it’s not some third world country. Well, not yet anyways.
I actually have PostmarketOS installed on an older phone. It’s both really cool, and nearly unusable as a phone. It’s slow. The battery lasts about four hours. The cameras sort of work… or did. I just opened it to refresh my memory of what was broken about the image quality and it says “no camera found”. I hope Linux phones get better, but I can’t replace my Android phone with this now or soon.
As for iOS, I have no comment on whether it’s better than Android or not, nor do I particularly care. Apple’s strict control over the app ecosystem is so unacceptable to me that it makes the platform a non-starter regardless of its merits. I continue to be surprised that’s not a majority opinion among tech-literate people.
‘an older phone’ is doing some heavy lifting there
you got oneplus fairphone and pixel all working fine and heavily commnuity supported
limited hardware choices is always the trade off
as to apples control, given the september vendor lock change and the continued increase in locked boot loaders how is android not getting to be just as bad?
It’s a Pixel 3a XL, which does seem to be one of the better-supported phones on PostmarketOS, which I see has renamed itself Nura and might work better after a reinstall instead of an upgrade in place. It still doesn’t claim to be ready for a general audience.
how is android not getting to be just as bad [as iOS regarding vendor control over app installation]?
Android is absolutely getting worse, but it’s not as bad yet, and as bad isn’t on the current roadmap. Important with regard to that is “Android” can mean more than one thing, including Android Open Source Project, Google-certified Android with Play Services and the like, a vendor distribution, or a third-party distribution. Even the worst case, a notarization-like system on Google-certified Android coming in the future, will be possible to turn off with an officially-supported procedure.
how can anyone trust their personal data being safe
You can’t trust any of these megacorporations to do anything other than maximize their own profits, Apple included. It’s possible to decide exactly how much Google stuff you want in some of the above descriptions of “Android” with increasing hassle as it approaches zero.
and if you are running graphine or the like it’s the same boat as the linux os options
No it’s not. Open source Android distributions usually use kernels compatible with the OEM proprietary drivers, so stuff actually works. Something like that might be possible for desktop-style Linux, but that’s not what the existing distributions actually do.
It still doesn’t claim to be ready for a general audience.
sure, and for the iphone crowd i wouldnt recommend it
Important with regard to that is “Android” can mean more than one thing
and im obviously talking about anything not fully stripped of google services
my original complaint wasnt including graphine and that lack of clarity is on me
You can’t trust any of these megacorporations to do anything other than maximize their own profits
don’t both sides same this, anyone paying attentions knows google has been especially bad this year
the sad fact is ios is the lesser evil atm for personal privacy gag
No it’s not. Open source Android distributions usually use kernels compatible with the OEM proprietary drivers, so stuff actually works. Something like that might be possible for desktop-style Linux, but that’s not what the existing distributions actually do.
phone makes phone calls, camera does camera things
banking is fucked but meh
what exactly do you need? i actually like graphine but
the problem is hardware keeps getting more hostile towards it, wont be long before it’ll be much worse
this may be the last non adversarial generation of it
sure, and for the iphone crowd i wouldnt recommend it
I’m the using desktop Linux for decades crowd, and it’s not good enough to replace Android on my phone.
phone makes phone calls, camera does camera things
See my previous comment. The camera does not do camera things, even after I fixed the permissions problem for /dev/video* that produced the initial error message. It’s a bit like the experience of trying to run Linux on a laptop (other than a Thinkpad) 20 years ago.
what exactly do you need?
Bare minimum:
A camera. Doesn’t need to be good, does need to take pictures that roughly convey reality.
Signal. This is my main means of (tele)communicating with people important to me. There’s Flare, but that needs to pair with a device running the official client (or maybe a fork).
Whatsapp. I don’t love it, but it’s hard to avoid.
A web browser and mail client PostmarketOS Nura has passible options there.
A VOIP solution for a USA phone number that can do calls and SMS. I use Google Voice now because it’s free; I might pay a small amount for an alternative.
Turn by turn navigation for car and bicycle.
Some things might work on Waydroid, which pretty much runs LineageOS in a VM. It was fussy last I looked at it, and that suggests the obvious option of running LineageOS on hardware, which I do.
hardware keeps getting more hostile towards [GrapheneOS]
They recently announced a partnership with Motorola.
It’s likely I could find a solution or a workaround to most of bare minimum categories if I worked at it for a while. Then I’d have a kind of usable, laggy phone with terrible battery life instead of the decent experience I currently have with LineageOS. Why would I do that?
Alternatives include:
All of those are bigger problems than the mild crappiness of Android.
Complete tangent, because the OP of this comment thread is a joke anyway, but my boss is in the first group. This guy may own a smartphone but it lives in a drawer, I’m sure. Like, he has never once just scrolled on his phone to kill time, no way. He might have sent one text message in his entire life. And this guy is only a couple years older than me, under 50. Some people just live in a different world. He and I both live in Illinois, just so you know it’s not some third world country. Well, not yet anyways.
im pretty close to becoming the tech guy with a gun next to his toaster, im sick of what the nerd reich has done on all levels of tech
not much i really do on a phone any longer that cant just be done on a pc
bro we both know mild crappiness isnt what im complaining about
also both your option 2 and 3 are better atm
/c/unpopularopinion
i genuinely worry for anyone that bases their preferences on how many goobers agree with them
I actually have PostmarketOS installed on an older phone. It’s both really cool, and nearly unusable as a phone. It’s slow. The battery lasts about four hours. The cameras sort of work… or did. I just opened it to refresh my memory of what was broken about the image quality and it says “no camera found”. I hope Linux phones get better, but I can’t replace my Android phone with this now or soon.
As for iOS, I have no comment on whether it’s better than Android or not, nor do I particularly care. Apple’s strict control over the app ecosystem is so unacceptable to me that it makes the platform a non-starter regardless of its merits. I continue to be surprised that’s not a majority opinion among tech-literate people.
‘an older phone’ is doing some heavy lifting there
you got oneplus fairphone and pixel all working fine and heavily commnuity supported
limited hardware choices is always the trade off
as to apples control, given the september vendor lock change and the continued increase in locked boot loaders how is android not getting to be just as bad?
but all of that is moot
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2026/10/26/google-changed-gmail-on-october-16-check-your-account-now/
signs have been more and more obvious this year, how can anyone trust their personal data being safe
and if you are running graphine or the like it’s the same boat as the linux os options
It’s a Pixel 3a XL, which does seem to be one of the better-supported phones on PostmarketOS, which I see has renamed itself Nura and might work better after a reinstall instead of an upgrade in place. It still doesn’t claim to be ready for a general audience.
Android is absolutely getting worse, but it’s not as bad yet, and as bad isn’t on the current roadmap. Important with regard to that is “Android” can mean more than one thing, including Android Open Source Project, Google-certified Android with Play Services and the like, a vendor distribution, or a third-party distribution. Even the worst case, a notarization-like system on Google-certified Android coming in the future, will be possible to turn off with an officially-supported procedure.
You can’t trust any of these megacorporations to do anything other than maximize their own profits, Apple included. It’s possible to decide exactly how much Google stuff you want in some of the above descriptions of “Android” with increasing hassle as it approaches zero.
No it’s not. Open source Android distributions usually use kernels compatible with the OEM proprietary drivers, so stuff actually works. Something like that might be possible for desktop-style Linux, but that’s not what the existing distributions actually do.
sure, and for the iphone crowd i wouldnt recommend it
and im obviously talking about anything not fully stripped of google services
my original complaint wasnt including graphine and that lack of clarity is on me
don’t both sides same this, anyone paying attentions knows google has been especially bad this year
the sad fact is ios is the lesser evil atm for personal privacy gag
phone makes phone calls, camera does camera things
banking is fucked but meh
what exactly do you need? i actually like graphine but the problem is hardware keeps getting more hostile towards it, wont be long before it’ll be much worse
this may be the last non adversarial generation of it
I’m the using desktop Linux for decades crowd, and it’s not good enough to replace Android on my phone.
See my previous comment. The camera does not do camera things, even after I fixed the permissions problem for
/dev/video*that produced the initial error message. It’s a bit like the experience of trying to run Linux on a laptop (other than a Thinkpad) 20 years ago.Bare minimum:
PostmarketOSNura has passible options there.Some things might work on Waydroid, which pretty much runs LineageOS in a VM. It was fussy last I looked at it, and that suggests the obvious option of running LineageOS on hardware, which I do.
They recently announced a partnership with Motorola.
ok and? my buddy literally has been daily driving one for more than a year and the camera on his pixel works fine, not a 3 though
im pretty sure he has whatsapp
i think nav is a bust will agree
and trust me im huffing the motorola copium but ive learned to be real skeptical
wont be even the 2nd time they dropped a promise this decade
It’s likely I could find a solution or a workaround to most of bare minimum categories if I worked at it for a while. Then I’d have a kind of usable, laggy phone with terrible battery life instead of the decent experience I currently have with LineageOS. Why would I do that?