• GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 months ago

    The best middle ground is probably GrapheneOS with sandboxed Google Play Services. At that point, most things “just work” and you can at least mitigate Google’s spyware.

    • toastal@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      9 months ago

      Middle ground option has a weirdo author & is limited to Google’s Pixel line only (which eliminates one of the best parts about Android vs. iOS: device variety so you can find something specific to your needs)

        • TotalSonic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          Sony Xperia 10 iii has all those things, and you can run Sailfish OS on it, including VoLTE and Android app support with it.

            • TotalSonic@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              9 months ago

              Whoops, yes you are correct, you would need to go to Asus for front facing speakers. Maybe the Asus Rog 2, which can run degoogled Bliss ROM

        • toastal@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          9 months ago

          Crazy how these went from standard features to niche in a generation. Like a sibling comment mentioned, I picked up an Sony Xperia III 5 with microG for Lineage OS installed (tho I swap OLED + <6" screen for your front-facing speaker requirement). Stupidly, not-rooted I still can’t run banking apps since custom ROMs are dangerous (but make me safer). Ironically, the banking apps I would use have trackers in them since it’s their security/privacy that matter, not mine.

            • toastal@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              9 months ago

              Feel ya. The Xperia line still has them where you have to choose between dual SIM or microSD, but if it’s that simple why aren’t more phones offering that in their SIM tray (oh wait, they want you to use e-SIM so you can’t just physically swap it to another phone with ease)

      • TotalSonic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        Yeah, which is why I use de-googled “vanilla” Bliss ROM 17.2 (Android 14 with latest security patch) on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro instead of going the Graphene or Calyx + Pixel route. This way I have the hardware features I wanted (headphone jack, micro SD card slot, 5000mAh battery, 108mp camera, stereo speakers, 120mHz refresh rate) all for cheaper than a Pixel, and the Bliss ROM community is pretty friendly and dedicated in my interactions with it.

        • Quastamaza@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          9 months ago

          is your phone still officially supported by the oem with security patches? Because if not, no custom rom update can have the full range of security patches.

          • TotalSonic@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            9 months ago

            There are “vanilla” versions (which is what I use) that are basically de-googled AOSP which work well with apps from F-droid, Izzy-on-droid, and free apps from Aurora stores, which you can also install MicroG on if you wanted to - and there are “Gapps” versions which have Google Play Services, the Google Play Store and some of the basic Google apps pre-loaded.

      • Interstellar_1
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        What is the issue with the author? I was thinking of installing graphene