I’ve been trying hard to FOSS up my life in recent years and have been looking into de-googled Free replacements for Android, I currently have a standard Samsung S9+.
I know GrapheneOS is the go to for a lot of people but it would require me switching phones to a Google Pixel, I’m wondering if the switch is worth it or can I get something similar on the phone already have?
Side question if anyone on a UK sim provider has had issues running GrapheneOS or other Free OS’s?
UK sim provider user here, no problem with GrapheneOS at all. I would say it’s worth switching to a Pixel device for the ability to relock the bootloader. You can find second hand ones in the UK on Ebay basically at all times.
In terms of other free OS’s, someone’s already put the effort in and curate one here:
I have never tried a custom os on a phone but have thinking of doing the same as you. So I’ll piggyback on this a bit is there any FOSS OS for Samsung phones?
is there any FOSS OS for Samsung phones?
PostmarketOS is a modern non-android OS based on Alpine Linux for phones and other devices. It has a variety of user interfaces, and on many devices it can run a mainline kernel (meaning, you can usually run the latest version of Linux instead of some older version with a bunch of device-specific patches as is often the case on Android and elsewhere). You can find its device support table here. There are currently six samsung phones in the ‘community’ category.
There’s also Mobian, though the list of supported devices is limited. Works great on the OnePlus 6 though!
Haven’t had much luck, Seems most FOSS OS projects I found stating compatibility with Samsung are either dead or very early devolopment.
I did find one guide for removing google crap from seemingly any Android device, I’m still looking into and I ain’t super tech savvy and still learning the FOSS ways.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-degoogle-any-device-and-install-microg.4058743/
If you’re not fixed on GOS, you can install any other compatible ROM, like /e/, LineageOS, or PixelExperience.
All of them are better from stock. You may find other unofficial ROMs on XDA. But, be careful with unofficial ROMs.
GL.
Awesome thank you!
lineage os isa popular open for degoogled phones and they have a long loft of compatible phones. Personally i use murena aka /e/os but it is not that widely available
xda-developers is a good place to find a lot of info
