DeGoogle Yourself

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A community for those that would like to get away from Google.

Here you may post anything related to DeGoogling, why we should do it or good software alternatives!

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My internal fight over what device to buy (lemmy.kde.social)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by tubbadu@lemmy.kde.social to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml

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Hello there! This is my problem: I'm going to buy a new smartphone, and I'd really like to degoogle myself as much as possible. The idea would be to buy a device compatible with LineageOS, but... Supported devices are usually older models, and often there are newer devices with better specs for the same price, that does not support lineageOS. Is seems a shame to buy a device with lower specs than another one just because of software compatibility. So the alternative would be to buy an unsupported device, unlock the bootloader and debloat it as much as possible, flash privileged fdroid and aurora store on it, install microg, etc... What do you suggest me to do? Is the second alternative a viable option? What other steps should I do if I decide to go that way?

Thanks in advance folks!

Edit:
Thanks to anyone for the great answers! I finally decided to buy a pixel 6 (or 6 pro if I find a good deal) and install a custom ROM on it! GrapheneOS will support it for "only" 3 more years, while other roms like lineageos or divestos will have longer support. What do you suggest? Graphene OS and when support ends switch to another one? O directly use the other one?

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[–] Genghis@monero.town 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

I recommend you purchase a Google Pixel 6a or above (minimum security support ends July 2027) and flash GrapheneOS. (Pixel 8/pro preferred)

Aurora Store doesn't avoid Google since a lot of the apps from the play store include Google's SDK and libraries. microG also doesn't avoid Google as it is still running proprietary Google code and has more privacy/security weaknesses

Sandboxed Google Mobile Services is a much better implementation which is featured in GrapheneOS. The services are not privileged and is treated like any other app. They don't downgrade privacy or security unlike the other alternatives.

There are much more privacy and security benefits using GOS. Here is a 3rd party comparison between different mobile OS.

[–] tubbadu@lemmy.kde.social 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

thanks for the answer! I would gladly do this if only pixel phones had an SD card... Sadly they don't, and I really need it, so no pixel for me :(

[–] Genghis@monero.town 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You can always connect a USB stick or card reader with an SD card via USB-OTG

I will recommend you do use a phone that still receives security updates (Not EoL) because I don't want you to lose out on security just to deGoogle.

If you are strict on having an SD card slot and your phone is still receiving support, you should use StockOS to receive firmware updates as soon as possible. If the phone you decide to get is EoL, the least bad option would be DivestOS (fork of LineageOS)

Again, I would advise not using an EoL phone.

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