The more I read about Google's proposed(?) changes to Android, the more I feel I need to invest time in @postmarketOS, to see what I would need to do to use it as my main mobile device.
Given how I use my phone, I suspect that this could be a bit of a challenge (or at least require quite a lot of compromises on my part, through no fault of the pmOS team), but perhaps a fun one(?)...
That, plus changes to the way it releases source code, which may impact GrapheneOS.
Take a look at Jolla Phone too. Never tried myself, but seems a valid (and functional) option.
I'm finding basic communication is totally fine for the most part (heavily depending on what you use) but any of the extended features that have become smartphone mainstays like banking and services are practically impossible without some compatibility layer, heavy compromises or my unfortunate preferred of just carrying a laptop!
there is only one good solution:
leave your phone at home!
i grew up without smartphone and we all somehow made it 🤷
I suppose that I should start sensibly, by writing a list of things to test.
What do I do, day to day, with my phone, and how important to me are they. Could I adapt my usage, or work in a slightly different way? Or is it a more fundamental thing?
I am using a OnePlus 6, which I think is about the best device for running postmarketOS at the moment, so I think that I'm starting from a reasonably sensible place.
What I did though was take a hard 'no Google' approach from the moment I first powered it up. No G account sign up, no G apps. I disabled ALL Google apps, but particularly GooglePlayServices. Also includes their keyboard, browser, search, AI, maps, e-mail, video, photos, etc and a few libraries. I installed F-Droid, which I use as much as possible but where I must use a proprietary app, I use APKPure, which I hate (it's an ad ridden usability nightmare but you can get most apps and just hold your nose about the crappy ads). Do need to set each app's notification to off for 'GooglePlayServices' reminder, otherwise there are constant interruptions. The ONLY app I once had to log in to Google for was when my banking app stopped working as they'd updated, wouldn't work with the previous version but APKPure hadn't caught up with the latest version. PlayServices and PlayStore were re-enabled for about 5 minutes only.
As a result, I get a clean, ad-free, privacy tight, un-augmented* phone experience, which is just what I want.
*I don't want location based ads or friend proximity or AI summaries, etc
Let me know if you want the list of disabled apps.
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