Buying new is still screwing yourself over. Buy second hand and take advantage of all the fools thinking they have to upgrade every year.
But then I wouldn’t have been able to make this meme.
Most used pixels are oem locked verizon ones. They say unlocked, but they only mean carrier unlocked.
You can check the model number to tell if it’s an OEM. I got my last phone off Swappa which allows you to filter by stuff like model number and condition.
this, especially as graphene seems to support devices outside of when google would
I really wanted GrapheneOS, but ended up with /e/OS on a fairphone because I refuse to give Google any more money.
After replacing the default launcher with Lawnchair, I’m pretty happy with it. The physical switch (remapped to control the torch) is a nice touch.
I don’t understand. Do you not know that buying second hand means the company does not get your money? I bought a second hand Pixel 8 at the end of 2024 just to put GrapheneOS on it, and I also refuse to give Google money.
I bought my Mum a Pixel 8 also this year, and put GrapheneOS on it - also second hand.
Either way, I’m happy for you that you ended up with a private phone, I just don’t understand why so many people seem to forget that second hand is a way of not supporting companies.
Yes buying second hand stops you giving your money to Google, however it still supports ppl buying them in the first place. And that supports Google.
I wish there was more options in the Graphene space as it’s something I’d love to tinker with too. But also don’t wanna buy from Google.
Hence why I go back to hoping projects like pinephone take off (albeit I’m realistic of the chances of that happening)
however it still supports ppl buying them in the first place. And that supports Google.
that’s not how second hand purchasing works
Has Hunter S Thompson always been in Trailer Park Boys?
Lahey and Hunter S Thompson don’t seem all that different.
The alternate reality where he ended up being a cop instead of a journalist.
He ran for sheriff at one point
This is exactly what i just did. No regrets. Foss everything, no mainstream social media. I love it
The Fediverse is not perfect, but it actually blew my mind a bit how much it lowered my blood pressure to not see the constant ragebait, and the calm of not being exposed and monitored at all times. I still have Snapchat just for one person, and WhatsApp which is Meta but still E2EE. Other than that, I’m all in on FOSS privacy approved apps and man does it feel great.
WhatsApp which is Meta but still E2EE
As far as you are told. There is no verification that is true.
They have had some third party audits. It is not totally convincing to me as being trustworthy, but I see it as more of an acceptable necessary evil. Better than Discord, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, probably even SMS. My wife’s whole family uses just WhatsApp, and so do some businesses even in her country. Believe me though, anyone I can get on Signal, Matrix, Session, etc, I do.
There have been third party audits, but the conclusions have been that you can’t know if it’s implemented correctly or at all. Nature of closed source. Because you can’t know where the keys are.
I get the doing business in their country. That is so difficult to overcome. I will not do it. Foot down on that one, and it does make it hard. My wife’s family does the same as you mentioned. I just tell them they are literally paying for fascism. They don’t care. Or you can pick from many of the ills of Meta products (energy use, AI, misinformation, or even simply making someone a billionaire by contributing nothing to society).
Makes it hard.
I’m working on it and avoid it when I can as I mentioned. The only reason I mentioned it is that it’s one of the last vestiges of apps I don’t fully trust. I treat it like SMS or email, I don’t send anything I don’t expect could be audited by the government with the right subpoenas.
But sometimes I’m in a weird position. If I need to order food in my wife’s country, I am not going to be able to contact the restaurant without WhatsApp. Then I, as a white American who doesn’t know them, am going to explain to the delivery guy the reasons why they shouldn’t support American fascism, in their native language that I am not 100% fluent in?
It isn’t American fascism of course. It’s everywhere.
But I get it, I find myself in the same boat traveling and visiting family. It really is pervasive. So in your scenario you can’t just go pick it up yourself?
I know there are other ones though: Everything in some places works like this where they want to do a call back - deliveries, doctors appointments, services. WhatsApp has almost, if not completely, replaced the phone, so even getting a local sim doesnt help.
I simply refuse to play along. I wont do it. Somehow we seem to work it out.
Lol, story of my life. But the best part is looking at people’s faces when you say ‘I don’t have whatsapp’ 🤣
There is no verification that is true.
But there is a nearly continuous stream of occurrences where Meta is caught lying.
deleted by creator
It is actually verified e2ee. However, they do keep a ‘spare key’ for every single user and chat, you know, in case they need to help you, the good guys at Meta.
Can you show me where it’s verified? Did someone get to see the code?
https://www.nccgroup.com/media/fzwdxklh/_ncc_group_whatsapp_e001000m_report_2021-10-27_v12.pdf
https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/843.pdf
Also, their e2ee is built on the signal protocol. Now, their server code and client code are not open source, so they could have left all types of doors open for their benefit. Also, the Metadata is not encrypted at all, something they actually brag about for some reason.
And just to be clear, I am a genuine 'everything-meta-hater" (and Google, MicroShit, Crapple, Crapsung, etc.), but spreading misinformation doesn’t help preaching about privacy and security.
That verified if their backups were end to end encrypted though right?
It’s also interesting what was out of scope:
Limitations
The following components were not in scope; NCC Group was therefore unable to evaluate and identify issues with them:
• Third-party and proprietary HSM vendor implementation.
• Backup encryption implementation.
• Side-channels in the access, creation, modification and deletion of backup data on third-party cloud storage.Dude, you seem to be under the impression that I’m somehow defending meta, and you’re evidently in battle mode. I said my piece, provided the evidence as requested. I guess this is where I drop off of this convoy for ith you, buddy. Make of it what you will. Have a good day.
Why use WhatsApp instead of Signal? I don’t go near WhatsApp because of Meta, so I genuinely know very little about it.
I just did this too, except I bought a refurbished Pixel, so I paid someone else $100 for Google to fuck off lol.
The only reason I don’t use GrapheneOS is because of thte tight coupling they have with Google’s hardware.
It’s not that they have a deal with Google, it’s that Google’s hardware security is best bar none except maybe iPhone. And Graphene is the best way to degoogle, as counter intuitive as it may seem. They are working with other manufacturers to get these security requirements for new phones so Graphene can be put on them.
They are currently in talks to use Verizon phones.
Edit: whoops that was Motorola, my bad.
Not much longer im sure. I have no reason to believe that they will continue making it possible to un/relock the bootloader considering their push for google certified only android.
This is what I’m afraid of too. I could see apps like fdroid and the ability to install custom roms being taken away within the next year or two. I hope I’m wrong but I don’t have a good feeling. I need Linux phones to be a thing now more than ever.
I need Linux phones to be a thing now more than ever.
This doesn’t happen in a vacuum. If you’re not already, find a project and contribute towards it some way.
I assume you either mean financially or in terms of general support and word of mouth. Trust me, I wish I could be a dev so, so badly, but as interesting as code and computers are, I’m light years away from getting in there and being able to fuck with shit. I love learning about programming, but I’m not the best at actually learning it. lmao
I say, as I sit in a first level computer science class, typing this because I’m totally lost in the actual lecture.
Yes, I said “in some way” because not everyone can contribute code directly. There are other things besides money you can offer to contribute (graphic design, community/brand management, communication, general organizational tasks, forum moderation, etc) but funding is usually the simplest and most necessary.
I wish Ubuntu Touch wasn’t the main player because I dont want to give Canonical money 😭 Better than Google or Microsoft though.
Wdym by “you could see” as if its not whats already announced to be happening. Fdroid will not cooperate with googles app verification process which means Fdroid will stop working on all google certified devices, meaning everything other than devices with custom ROMs. NewPipe also announced they wont get google verified meaning it will stop working too.
Is the “Nothing” phone product a custom ROM? Sorry if dumb question I’m a bit out of my element.
ROM basically is just another word for operating system so its about the software not the hardware. So only devices (phones) that allow you to install your own custom operating system (like a modified version of the original android that comes with it or even a proper linux OS) will allow you to install apps not certified by google.
Most of the time people talk about custom roms they mean open source software that replaces the pre installed closed source software. Nothing phones are closed source so they are probably not on the “good” side here.
I never know what to expect from Google. They respect open source efforts to an extent, but play Calvinball with where they draw the line. In any case, Motorola will be an option soon, maybe more. And there are other custom ROMs, albeit not as thorough as Graphene. And for me? They can’t take it away now that I already did it, so I’m good for up to 7 years unless my phone breaks.
Worth it. Try any Samsung phone with Google’s shit and Samsung’s shit on top: I swear you these one are practically unusable, like you carrying an bloated mini-ad-computer with you. A implanted bug in your teeth or ass would hurt probably less then this. Before I use any of those, I rather use a “dumb” phone again.
Debloating an S10 was removing a long list of shit. I have seen the list only got longer with the newer models indeed. But one can survive, with the right tools.
I’m glad that GrapheneOS exist, and it’s sad that they are the exception and not the rule.
I think projects like CalyxOS and LineageOS should adopt some feature from GrapheneOS like contact/storage scopes, sandboxed Google Play Services, Network and Sensor toggles.
At the same time, I think GrapheneOS needs to reevaluate their presence in social media.
Same here. Google pixel 10 with grapheneOS.
This is the way
I’m about to do the same … question is without the google services is it worth a pro over even an a ?
To me it wasn’t. I don’t think The non-a Pixels can really justify their price based on the hardware itself.
I tend to just buy a used model, I’ve got the 8 with graphene and no complaints, that said I do very little with my phone these days
I’ve got an 8a which I got on sale when the 9a came out. I tend to keep my phones for 4-5 years, so this should be good for a long while, though I hope the Motorola collab produces something good. I also do little on my phone these days by design. If I could get by without owning one, I’d be thrilled.
Yeah I used to be the guy who did everything on his phone and now I just mostly use it for photos, maps and messaging and I try to be on a laptop when I can
Considering waiting to see if Motorola releases a GrapheneOs built in Razr I’d consider that. But can’t help but wonder how much they would mess up the core important pieces of Graphene for their overlords who wants AI down our throat
I got a pro because it was heavily discounted at the time. The one thing I sort of appreciated is the display LTPO thing, which enables it to gear all the way down to 1hz to save power.
thing is kinda moot since the 9a and 10a achieve significantly better battery life than the 10 pro (10a uses the prior gen SoC which seems to have better idle power characteristics).
I’m running grapheme on a Pixel 9 Pro Fold I got used ~ quite happy with it so far :)
I got an ‘a’ model and its been totally sufficient at a much lower price. But I guess it depends on how you plan to use it.
The a series have been great to me so far. The specs are usually more than enough for most use cases you’re gonna have for your phone, and the 9a and 10a both have better battery life than the rest of the 9 and 10 series’ respectively.
The a series is substantially cheaper for what is, in my opinion, a totally justifiable Android experience that isn’t gonna be much different than the other models for most people.
HOWEVER, I will say that if you plan on running a lot of apps that need to operate in the background or be constantly on, especially if you play games at the same time on your phone sometimes, the RAM could be too low for your liking and might occasionally lead to an app’s background process freezing for a bit. (e.g. a timer might freeze if the app isn’t actively open)
Not really, but I got one anyway because I need the storage. I wish I would have gone all the way and got a TB but I couldn’t buy that one in cash in store so I didn’t.
It’s why I made sure to get my newest phone used, but that comes with the risk of getting a Verizon model (in the US) which can’t be bootloader unlocked. Had to return the first one I got off eBay for that reason, and the second one I made sure to ask the seller where they initially got it from.
Google? Motorola https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47214645
Soon, but not yet! I needed to upgrade, can’t wait until 2027 or whenever. But hoping it’ll be one of their flagships, the new Razr is pretty dope specs wise.
Yeah I’m on a 2025 moto, done the best I can with shizuku but it’s trash. I’d leave it at home.
GrapheneOS seems to feel the same way about Google: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/116159602850585685
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