(Please when answering, assume I’m not a beginner at privacy/programming :) I know where the good stuff at)

First off, shameful confession: I’m writing this on a dying yellow iPhone XR I bought second-hand three years ago (189€). I absolutely love the look of it: the screen, build quality, are all amazing. The only problem was the locked ecosystem (sideloading Spotify/Torrent client was sooo hard).

I saw the android phone of my mother dying really fast. She currently has a Xiaomi phone that’s ridiculously big for my hands, there’s advertisements in the stocks apps (?!!), the UX is janky and everything. It looks like a bloat, privacy nightmare.

So… because it’s impossible to find a jailbreakable phone nowadays I need to buy an android and ideally I would want:

  • Good screen (vivid colors)
  • Good build quality (not shitty plastic)
  • Don’t care about the camera (I don’t want those ridiculously big cameras they make nowadays)
  • Would want to install either GrapheneOS/LineageOS

The things that scare me off:

  • I really need my bank app and I need it updated so I have to use Google Play Services but I don’t want it to plague my phone with privacy bullshit (I want to be degoogled)

The things that excite me:

  • Customization possibilities
  • Learning experience
  • Even more privacy than a de-googled IOS phone :)
  • F-Droid!! (Maybe I’ll find a beautiful IRC client)
  • More choices for Mastodon & Lemmy clients
  • Freedom of free software.
  • client for open-source git providers :)

But to get all of that, I don’t want Google, I need shitty apps (non-free software) I have to install:

  • Instagram (for non-technical friends)
  • GitHub (job & open-source)
  • No-Ad Modded Spotify from Balatan
  • Discord (gamer friends)
  • Telegram (cryptobros friends)
  • Steam (because I still love gaming)

Any advices? Phone ideas? I’m so lost in this ocean of choice (freedom ✨)

My current phone:

  • Earth Walker@lemmy.world
    191·
    3 months ago

    Get a Pixel 7 or newer and put Graphene OS on it. Pixels are excellent phones and have good support for custom ROMs. The Pixel 6 has a lot of weird issues that the others don’t have, so avoid it. Graphene is the best ROM for privacy AND security, and it is also relatively user-friendly.

    Or, if you want an older phone, try a Pixel 3, 4 or 5. They are good phones with an older design style that may appeal to you.

    /e/OS (also known as Murena) is also a good ROM for privacy, and supports a broader range of devices.

    • codenul@lemmy.ml
      31·
      3 months ago

      Typing this up on /e/os on OnePlus6t. Love it for ~2 years now. Signed up and support the project now with their ecosystem (64gb option).

      • Earth Walker@lemmy.world
        21·
        3 months ago

        I’ve heard a lot of people complain about software glitches and minor hardware issues. These issues may be due to the fact that the Pixel 6 was the first Pixel to use Google’s own Tensor chips.

    • Andromxda 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇹🇼@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      21·
      3 months ago

      Or, if you want an older phone, try a Pixel 3, 4 or 5

      These are outdated and don’t get security updates anymore, and thus shouldn’t be used anymore. The Pixel 6a is supported until 2028, the Pixel 8 even gets 7 years of security updates (until 2030), the Pixel 8a and 9 are supported until 2031.

      /e/OS (also known as Murena) is also a good ROM for privacy

      /e/OS is unfortunately highly insecure and shouldn’t be compared to GrapheneOS or recommended. Graphene is really the better choice here.