Crippling your HandiNAVI General

Android is a disaster by design, and smartphones are cyberhumped at a hardware level, but functioning without one in urban society is increasingly becoming impossible. This thread is for discussion on making the best of it, revolving around libre alternatives to common apps, custom ROMs, cripppling your system, moving functionality to alternatives like notebooks, etc. etc. LinageOS device compatibility list https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ GrapheneOS device compatibility list https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices AFWall+ (frontend for iptables) https://f-droid.org/en/packages/dev.ukanth.ufirewall/ TrackerControl (for finding and blocking app-specific trackers) https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.kollnig.missioncontrol.fdroid/ PilferShush Jammer (passive and active microphone jammer) https://f-droid.org/en/packages/cityfreqs.com.pilfershushjammer/ OpenBoard (soft keyboard, no dependencies on Google) https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.dslul.openboard.inputmethod.latin/ Fennec F-Droid (Firefox for Android but slightly less cyberhumped) https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.mozilla.fennec_fdroid/ A good approach would obviously be minimizing your apps and your phone usage to the bare essentials, possibly moving some functionaliity to notebooks as stated above. Unfortunately, most, if not all smartphones do not allow you to completely lain out on them.

I use Fennec and it's pretty good.

>>19119 IceCat Mobile 68 is still best, it doesn't reset safe browsing options in about:config (Yes, about:config also works in mobile firefox & forks) Use "F-Droid Archive" repo to get it

>OpenBoard (soft keyboard, no dependencies on Google) Does this still have an autocomplete that learns words/phrases you use a lot? It's great for my job but I hate that it's done via keylogging me for google.

>>19118 since this is the security board it's worth of note that firefox on android is very insecure, bromite is a much better replacement additionally, lineageOS is arguably less secure than stock

>>19142 It only has basic text prediction as far as I know, it generally lacks some features like gesture typing, etc. AnysoftKeyboard supposedly has a much wider range of features, but I don't think that there are any privacy respecting soft keyboards with (good) learning text prediction right now. I could be completely wrong though, that's what I got from a quick search.

>>19148 >it's worth of note that firefox on android is very insecure OP here, I can get behind that, I don't usually use browsers a lot on my mobile phone, so I don't have any practical experience with them, hence why I just picked a less privacy-invading alternative to Firefox to put here. I've taken a quick look at Bromite and it looks promising so far. >lineageOS is arguably less secure than stock Could you elaborate?

>>19150 mostly because it's just not a security-focused project, and in the process of installing it on the average phone you'll be inclined to disable certain security stuff. baseline is equal security to stock android, and it only really has a chance to get worse. e.g. on most phones with lineage it's not possible to re-lock the bootloader after install, making evil maid attacks pretty trivial. additionally, this isn't inherent to the OS, but a lot of lineage users are inclined to root their phone, which basically fuarrrks over the entire android security model. not rooting does mean settling for less features sometimes, but it ultimately is much more secure

what can I use as a generic phone ad blocker, this soykaf is insane that isn't complete botnet

>>19156 I see, guess privacy and security just aren't that compatible when it comes to the majority of smartphones. I prioritize the privacy route as I have neither a big attack surface as I'm using the phone to make/recieve calls and use a select site once a week, keeping most of the functionality on a notebook, nor am I in a threat model where I should be worried about physical access.

>>19157 Depends on what kind of ad blocker you're talking about, browser add-on or standalone app? I'd recommend uBlock for browsers. AdAway (https://f-droid(dot)org/en/packages/org.adaway) is supposed to be good standalone app.

>>19158 lainon... unless you never take your phone outside you probably do have a threat model where you should be worried about physical access. phones are really easily lost or stolen. i agree with that mindset for say, desktops (i don't bother with encryption or secure boot because if someone has physical access to my desktop i have bigger things to worry about) but with phones you should worry! also... unless you're using degoogled lineage without microG you probably don't even have much privacy!

One thing I do when I need to install a cyberhumped app for work or something, is that i boot up an android-x86 QEMU image and install it there. Not once have I gotten a complaint from even the most malicious app about the fact that it's running on emulated hardware. >>19160 99% of phone thieves are just going to wipe it clean and flip the hardware. Trying to worm their way into your bank account isn't worth the time or effort or chance of being caught for them.

>>19160 I get your point, but I'm using degoogled lineage without microG, I rarely use my phone, and even if it would get lost or stolen and an attacker would gain access to it, there's nothing on it that could cause any significant damage, as I don't use it for logging into services, fetching my mail, let alone online banking. That's why I have my notebook with me all the time, I would've already switched to a dumbphone, but I need it's browser about once a week for a service I can't migrate to my notebook.

>>19142 I think learning phrases is undesirable from a security standpoint and automatically learning words Ive found creates a situation where you get suggestions for every spelling mistake you have ever made. A custom dictionary with manually added words phrases added seems to be a better approach even if more tedious to set up. The feature I really miss in open source keyboards is swipe/glide typing that actually works without so many errors in guessing what you're typing. There are some with this but I haven't seen one that's actually good.

(so, sorry for the ad btw) it's a concern of mine also, i did some research recently on de-googled androids and linux phones and i found something that seems quite promising, the PinePhone- a linux phone that has a removable battery, a series of KILL SWITCHES (hype), and 6 pins so you can Lain out on it, i saw an infrared camera someone made for it, one could conceivably do pretty much anything so long as the hardware is fine with it, they also sell their parts on their website too so there's that i just wanted to let you know if you havent seen this already, have a nice day :)

Have any Lains installed postmarketOS on their unsupported phone? There's a step-by-step guide here: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Porting_to_a_new_device but it looks too simple to be true.

>>19166 Pinephone is cool, but not yet practical for most people. I would love to use it as a daily driver when it has had more time to mature. The idea of running true Linux on a phone is awesome.

>>19170 Absolutely agree, I'm planning on getting one to have alongside my Samsung Gonna work on it a bit to see if I can get it to the point of it being close enough to a daily driver, should be easy-ish for me because I barely use my phone anyways

>>19166 >>19166 i use pinephone for daily driver with a stock os (changing soon hopefully to something a little more customized). the good: - works, no google soykaf - physical switches & removable battery for your paranoia - an actual linux system - hackable hardware (physical keyboards, fingerprint readers, etc. via the pogo bits on the back (above switches in Archtor's post) - breakout box to get hdmi,ether,usb - boot off of various media - hackable modem firmware the not so good: - battery life (see next point, likely related) - performance (optimizations needed badly sometimes; also, who the actual fuarrrk writes phone software in fuarrrking python? /nj) - weird bugs and crashes - mms doesn't work, normal person - lots of stuff missing or incomplete - aarch (it is what it is) - boot & system bloat (a full linux system, not really meant for mobile, needs the love of lain) overall, i personally like it. the bugs give it a neat character, although some are fuarrrking irritating. so, either way, it is servicable depending on your needs. i haven't really done much with it. it isn't any kinda high end thing, but it depends really on what you actually want in your phone, so set your expectations before you go buying it on a lark.

i remember there was a good guide about removing all google pings (captive portals and stuff) and switching to bromite webview, all done without root and using adb. does any of you guys have that saved and can post it here? it was quite helpful

>19167 So how did it go? full report plz, it's about time I tried this. I've got a phone that's community supported here, it wouldn't even need porting.

>>19163 There are old versions of Fleksy that work well, before it had weird idiotic Internet functionality. Plus you can remove the spacebar, make it transparent, and do all sorts of other soykaf with it.

I find that there's a big difficulty with attempting this while broke (and not knowledgeable of how smartphones work). Lineage and Graphene both have beautifully long compatibility lists... for very popular manufacturers of phones. What are all the folks with phones that are practically burners to do? Also, in relation to this thread, are there any projects for self-built smartphones? In the same way that many people build PC towers, and the same way that some people are beginning to attempt building laptops? Pic is a fun button you Lains might want.

>>19148 has a tracker why is Firefox insecure?

how do I replace the webview on calyx os? additionally, support for my device ends soon, what else is there for secure roms for the pixel xl2?

>but functioning without one in urban society is increasingly becoming impossible. Absolute state of lain

>>19279 Payphones no longer exist where I live. There were less and less and then, what with them there co-vids, they removed the last ones and haven't put them back. Damned co-vids.

>>19283 lets be real here though man, when's the last time you made a phone call, or needed to make a phone call ? I don't think I have in years. what else do you fvgs use cellphones for ? >maps this is useful when going new places I'll admit but there's nothing you can't either a) ask for directions for, or b) look up directions for at home and then write down and follow, at least in an urban setting and during reasonable hours. Outside of that it might be nice to have a proper map at hand. If you're the sort of person who gets lost walking around your own neighborhood then I suggest learning some basic strategies for orientateering, checking sun angle, visible landmarks, positioning of tv antennas, and recognizing the constellations. Its pretty easy and pretty handy. Also just walk around without your cellphone directions and pay some attention, its not that hard. >sms & email email you can do at home if you have a computer there. No big deal sms is weirder but you can do that at home, too I guess. man what else. >flashlight before there was the flashlight app, there were purpose built flashlights. They're generally better. >looking up random stuff on a whim just carry a Bible with you lol

>>19284 You described why people get cellphones in the first place. Though everything you described is possible, it just isn't convenient. Not many people (who are employed) have the time to sit down and learn all these new skills, or can afford to be late to responding to communication. A phone let's them keep in touch with family members in cases of emergency too. It is a privacy nightmare to have one of these things, but through "crippling your handNAVI" as the OP puts it, you can make smartphones something that can actually be worked with. Hopefully there are better smartphones in the near future. Smartphones with Open-Source Hardware, smartphones that aren't built to break within just a few years, smartphones that are built to last. Smartphones that only have the basics of what you need and don't come with any bloat. Though (realistically) I doubt manufacturers are going to give into this demand.

>>19285 >You described why people get cellphones in the first place ok, so why do you keep yours ? I've never kept a cellphone, maybe I don't understand the perspective very well. >Not many people (who are employed) have the time to sit down and learn all these new skills (I assume you mean regarding maps) First of all, you already should have these skills. the fact that you don't should be an embarassment to your parents and an indictment against whatever school system you might have been processed through. Second of all, these skills aren't the sort of thing one sits down and learns, half of them are just logic afterall. Wonder which direction is which ? look at the satellite antennae. Its pretty fuarrrrrkkkkking obvious. I see people week after week following cellphone directions for places they've been a half dozen times to before, remembering isn't that hard. Only one you might sit down and learn is the constellations I guess, but if we're talking urban then that likely doesn't matter anyway. Third of all, so many people spend so many hours sitting ditzing around on their cellphones, browsing the infiniscrolls, checking zuckerbuch, what have you. If they were just wanting for time to learn these 'skillz' they probably could download an app and learn them in a week or two. Time may be precious but most people don't spend theirs well. >it just isn't convenient maybe I'm differently disposed but carrying around a little box everywhere I go and taking care of it and making sure it gets charged well when I can and that it doesn't get too wet or dirty seems like a nasty inconvenience compared to just not having to worry because your computer is safely at home with a wallsocket. >work communication unfortunate but seemingly valid for at least some jobs. Still, doesn't require a full handynavi, any old (cell) phone would do for that right ?

>>19287 >ok, so why do you keep yours ? I've never kept a cellphone, maybe I don't understand the perspective very well. Good question, firstly I think it helps that I didn't pay for it. It was a gift, I feel obliged to make use out of it that way. Though in the end, I come back to convenience. I personally use it to take calls for work, use it to read books, use it to listen to music. I can also use IMs like Signal to text friends for gatherings. If I got an old "dumbphone" as it was once called on here, I'd have to lug that around, and then an MP3 player, and then a "Kindle" and then a notebook which I could've done all of the above on anyway. There's talk in this thread about moving over things you do on smartphones to your notebook instead, I can see this being beneficial but then I think about the space that takes up. I'm now carrying a much more expensive piece of technology with a case and everything around. A little more secure, a little more functional, but a whole of a lot less convenient. Notebooks are also a lot harder to find physical fortification for. >the fact that you don't i do, I was just making a case for those who were not fortunate enough to get a proper education (majority of folk in my city). But yeah no, my point about navigation skills was stupid, I'll concede it. >maybe I'm differently disposed but carrying around a little box everywhere I go and taking care of it and making sure it gets charged well when I can and that it doesn't get too wet or dirty seems like a nasty inconvenience compared to just not having to worry because your computer is safely at home with a wallsocket. Most regular people I know aren't using their phones that often, and most moden smartphones have good battery lives on-top of that. It's as simple as remembering to plug it in when you get home and no longer need to use it. As for damage, it's pretty easy to get a good protective case. >any old handINAVI no. not in my case at least. most businesses I've interacted with always have their teams communicating over IMs, not SMS. Overall, I think you're kind of right. Too many people (who don't benefit from having one) have these things. Be it wizards, remote workers, so on and so forth. A lot of people end up compromising their security and privacy simply because they feel the need to fit in with the crowd. Many (mostly kids) end up compromising their efficiency too by getting something distracting. Though I still understand a smartphone's appeal. It's a durable, pocketable multimedia, recording, and communications machine. Everything at your fingertips at once. Once the concern of handiNAVI privacy is addressed, I see no reason why someone wouldn't get one. I think I should also mention that the area I live in is a special case. Everyone here connects to the Wired from their phones because they can't afford anything more than one. When remote learning and remote work came into effect, too many people ended up out of jobs and out of schools because they simply didn't have a device. Most people ended up purchasing smartphones to not lose their education or work. (Picrel)

>>19284 >when's the last time you made a phone call, or needed to make a phone call? Most people text now. Otherwise I would be making phone calls all the time. How do you call emergency services without a phone on the street? What if I just need a ride home? >I don't think I have in years. Some of us actually have friends and family.

>OpenBoard Highly retarded for how good you'd expect it to be. It gives me a double number row but barely any special characters so it's very inconvenient anytime you need to use a character that isn't a digit. Lacks customization. I mean, I still use it, but I wish it were better. Leaves a lot to be desired. Furthermore, if you're using a stock Android ROM with Magisk (as a lot of us still are), then you still need to enable G-Board by default or else it will break your phone. I guess it's because OpenBoard isn't systemized so it doesn't get accessable until after you decrypt your disk. I'm sure there are workarounds though.

>>19290 >Some of us actually have friends and family. if you want to quit using a cellular telephone, you can use heaps of alternates. -Homephone -email and online text chat -online audio chat -online video chat -send letters -meet in person frankly the 'my inflexible boss demands that I reply to SMS within 2 hours at all times' is a better excuse than that

>>19295 >if you want to quit using a cellular telephone I didn't say that. >my inflexible boss demands that I reply to SMS within 2 hours at all times' is a better excuse True, some people need it for work as well. Are you done proselytizing?

>>19118 does anylain have the image guide of android openpgp encrypted sdr?

>>19118 >ctrl+f >no clipboard WARNING: APPS ARE STEALING YOUR CLIPBOARD DATA https://github.com/8enet/AppOpsX https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.zzzmode.appopsx/ >clipboard access is never required on the app/apk permission manifest so you will need to trigger a clipboard (long press on a text or textbox) through the app first before being able to disable read_clipboard via appopsx >MANY POPULAR apps actually abuse this since it's still ain't fixed yet even in android 12 and it is hidden away and impossible to know unless you had root and the app below https://appops.rikka.app/ (install with Shizuku) >does not actually disable read_clipboard >although it will notify you of apps reading it when activated the clipboard notification >lets you temporarily allow permission (somewhat buggy and may require a restart)

what phone model line is best for privacy? I understand that most customOS are compatible with Google's stuff for security purposes, but I'm curious about what phone model line is most privacy respecting and still compatible with customOS. I should also note that I am not particularly affluent and I'm more in the market for second hand phones that might be deprecated by now. Though responding to this reply with a generic answer rather than one that tailors to a broke-ass such as I, would be good too.

Agreed completely. fuarrrk Google, they are an awful company. Posted from my Google pixel 5a, unironically the best phone to degoogle

I have a pixel 4a I bought for like $250 that I flashed CalyxOS to, I carry it all the time and I really enjoy it. I have a pi running pihole at home and when I switched to calyx the blocked dns percentage dropped from 12% to like 0.25% since my phone was the only cyberhumped device on the network. I've always ran personalDNSfilter cause it's light and lets you use dns-over-tcp and i autistically watch its log and the phone makes zero connections to soykaf I don't want now https://f-droid.org/en/packages/dnsfilter.android/ . I'd recommend anyone that cares about their privacy to get a cheap pixel and flashing it is as easy as finding the correct rom for your device and plugging the phone into your computer, I did it from a raspberry pi. Also use mull for browsing: https://forum.f-droid.org/t/mull-browser-privacy-oriented-browser/16413 It's basically ff with a bunch of settings from torbrowser and the arkenfox-user.js. Think it comes default on DivestOS?

>>20020 dns-over-tls, im retarded. You can load lists of DoT, DoH, or regular udp servers into pDNS and whenever you switch networks or anything it will poll them and select the fastest one. You know your isp/service provider routes all your dns requests directly to their own servers and even if they don't it's trivial record every regular udp lookup and add it to your 'permanent record.'

Hello, friends. I've recently come into the possession of a Samsung A02 phone. Indian market phone, but I think it'd be fun to try and degoogle it. Everywhere I look I find no resources or custom roms for it (except for a third party TWRP flashing guide on XDA, I don't trust it one bit). Any suggestions on how I can do this?

>>19179 Does it have issues with getting calls while it's suspended? I want to buy this as my daily driver (mainly because it has a modem kill switch) but it HAS to ring. The phone has to always ring and I can't afford to miss phone calls. Have you had any problems with not getting calls?

>>20029 There are xda guides to degoogle one ui and install microg, just skip part installing them if you don't need it

>>19150 >>19156 afaik the main security flaw with lineage is that secure boot is disabled. if an attack on secure boot in your threat model, then yeah you can consider insecure. however for everything else, it's reasonable to say it is as secure as standard android and definitely more privacy respecting.

>>20029 >no resources or custom roms I'm in a similar position and would like to know if following these guides would actually accomplish anything. https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/jqxe1u/tutorial_how_to_degoogle_any_android_phone/ https://www.reddit.com/r/privatelife/comments/rohq46/100_foss_smartphone_hardening_nonroot_guide_40/ >>20314 Do you have a link? There are a lot of search results. Does it de-OEM too?

>>19283 same here, they removed the payphones from existence and no one actually cared about it, sad soykaf. though having a cellphone is useful and conforting, now you have only one device where 15 years ago you had to spend a soykafton of money in every device. my xiaomi costs 150 usd at most

>>20037 Been using one as my phone for >1y. MMS, SMS, calls work as long as you're not on some weirdo carrier like Google Fi. Do some carrier research first in their forums bit the basic phone functionality has been working for a long time. It gets calls in suspend just fine. You can also switch over to the alternative FOSS modem firmware.

I really need to root my phone, but I find it impossible. Everything is outdated, some scam, or you go through all the steps and nothing happens. Not to mention most of the tools are wangblows only. I always thought, "oh I'll simply search for and read a guide to root my phone one day", then when that day came I stepped into a world of like, no resource hell...

>>19167 I have been attempting to do so for the past few days. Since Linux is licensed under the GPL, and courts have historically been very favorable towards upholding it, many manufacturers make sure the kernel source code for their devices are freely available on the internet. From there on, it's a simple matter of downloading the kernel source, compiling it on your machine, and flashing it with a native Linux userland to your device. At least, in theory. The kernel source for my device, a Galaxy Note10 Lite, has several errors when compiling which I have to squash one-by-one. It involves a lot of googling and patching and is quite tedious. If I ever get anything out of it, I might post here again. (pic related is a near cousin, the Note 9, which has the same SoC as mine)

Does anyone know of any research done on smartphones at the hardware/firmware level? For x86, for instance, there is this nice paper: https://blog.invisiblethings.org/papers/2015/x86_harmful.pdf Not to mention, of course, the research done by the developers of coreboot, libreboot, osboot, heads, me_cleaner and so on.

>>20391 I worked in IT for 10+ years and no amount of bullshittery I saw when it comes to computers even touches what I see in smartphones. I am convinced that nobody actually has any fuarrrking idea what they're doing when it comes to smartphones. Everybody is just winging it. You know how people wing it with PCs? Turn that soykaf up to 11. Everyone is just throwing soykaf at a massive black box and seeing what sticks and trying to convince everyone else that they know what the fuarrrk they're talking about. You just try to piece together disparate little bits of possible truth and god help you if you need a deeper explanation of something because no further level of detail is known to the person who wrote what you're reading. I just watched a youtube video of a guy demonstrating how to get a certain phone into fastboot mode. It did not go into fastboot mode. He posted a video of his instructions literally not fuarrrking working. He doesn't even know what it looks like when it works! fuarrrk me!

>>20397 Do you expect to get the radio and camera to work? Please do post your update.

I came up with a concept that could be interesting if doable. Have it so your phone doesnt connect to a tower for your own calls and uses a meshnet to route your app based calls through the phones of other people on the meshnet. Your phone only connects data to the tower relating to other people. Is that even possible? If not the next solution is using a mobile hotspot to connect your phone to while its it's in aeroplane mode with no sim card. If you want more distance and further anonymizing your location also add on a cell signal repeater and set up the hotspot to only connect to the repeater instead of near by towers. This would make it almost impossible to accurately track your movements I believe. Am I wrong?

If my phone isn't supported by Lineage, is it still possible to take one of their ROMs, put in some effort, and get a custom ROM that works for me, or would I need to do serious programming? Also, is there something like the Archlinux wiki but for phones?

Will a "factory reset" remove malware? And can the reset mechanism itself be infected, or is it read-only? Should I just buy a new phone?

>>21106 I feel like it should remove the malware. It basically removes all configs and user files. I imagine a malware is considered a user file. That's considering the malware doesn't go so deep to the point to persist inside system files and stays even after a reset. I don't think it's likely that kind of malware is on your phone though.

>>21107 it could be embeded ito the frimware wich presistes even efter a factory reset but it's very unlikely

>>21107 >>21117 What makes it hard to infect those areas compared to the rest of the system?

All I want is a decent modern smartphone with a removable battery I can put Lineage on. Lain has any suggestions?

>>20400 lmao why tf would anyone keep a video that achieve nothing on?

>>21118 I think it requires a vulnerability in the android bootloader burner or for the would-be-infected phone to plug their device into a attacker-controlled computer

Use Exodus to see what trackers are on your apps. Use NextDNS to block app trackers. Configure it manually from information from Exodus. Use a good VPN to keep your cell provider from snooping on your traffic.

My current setup: Pixel 6a running CalyxOS NextDNS blocking trackers picked up on other devices by Exodus ProtonVPN using SecureCore Messengers: Signal/Session/Matrix Browsers: Brave/Brave Beta/Brave Nightly, Bromite, Fennec, Firefox/Firefox Beta/Firefox Focus/Firefox Focus Beta/Firefox Klar/Firefox Nightly, IceRaven, Mulch, Mull, Tor Browser/Tor Browser Alpha (the Mozilla-based browsers are just used for various accounts) OpenBoard is my keyboard KeePassDX is my password manager Aegis is my TOTP client And I use PWAs in the Mozilla browsers for streaming services

>>19118 Whats a good old phone to get for Lineage under 100 usd? I like Graphene but I dislike their model of only supporting newer phones.

Currently I utilize a used pixel 5 with graphene. I like it, but always humored doing something a little sillier. Such as a pi with a USB/cellular dongle of sorts. Some places like jmp.chat appear interesting. Being able to drop the mainstream smartphone and make a safe mobile seems plausible, but not currently able to implement easily, least not yet.

I rooted my phone lains (yay!) what now? i already configured AFWall. i also installed termux so i guess that i can use more power tools now oh and i'm running crdroid as the ROM what cool things can i do? any suggestions?

>>21885 You'll want AdAway. As far as my rooted devices go (none of them are my daily driver, I just root them as a hobby), you'll want Magisk Delta so that SU permissions are denied unless you explicitly whitelist that app.

>>21906 thanks, done and working! >my daily driver is not rooted is there a reason for that? also anything else i can do? i think i'll try postmarketOS if there's not much else

>>21923 It does lower the security model of one's phone. Plus it's a Pixel running CalyxOS so it's already pretty secure and degoogled, just sending a fake ID to Google's servers.

rethink from f-droid does a lot of ad-blocking and tracker blocking as well as blocking network access for apps, all in one. highly recommended. better than other options imo especially since it does everything you need in one app

I hate using smartphones and was getting away with not having one for a little while. I started having to use whatsapp more now, and leaving my bedroom to see the world had a weird side effect, where to effectively interact with people long term i have to have social media acconts, at least a Whatts and a Insta ig. I bought a Motorola E13 because it was the cheapest I could find that wasnt piping all my info to the CCP. Unfortunately, apparently there isn't any way of unlocking its bootloader, which doesnt let me de-google it effectively. With that, I managed to improve the situation a bit by cleaning the bloat with ADB and getting replacements for the default apps. Also, I did not login with a google account at any moment and I've been using F-droid and Aurora store for installing apps without having to deal with Google Play. The easy way to still have smartphone functionality is just buying a phone supported by GrapheneOS. I guess the Lain way would be hacking together a SBC portable with 4g and VOIP capability. The most complicated part is the software, but I was able to find some pre-made stuff around. I find that approach interesting because I want to eventually run around with some DIY goggles, and for that I would want dual image out, and most phones can't even handle one.

Lains, is there a way to listen to music on my handiNAVI like a normal Lain or do I have to keep using mpv cause nothing else is FOSS and m3u compatible at the same time? What the actual fuarrrk? Somebody told me to use KDE Elisa, but it's terribly fat and I couldn't make find any audio files anyway (they're all opus). Why can't I have a nice music player which would simply allow me to handle my .m3u files in an organized manner without having to deal with codec issues and other bullshit? Phones are so terribly fuarrrked, goddamn!

Ok, so it looks like I'm switching to Bromite browser. Firefox is fuarrrking terrible, I literally can't open more, than one tab. This thing seems to be much faster. I just hope it really includes some reasonable privacy features. Otherwise it's just pointless. Well, at least no google buttplugs.

>>22398 Bromite is abandonware. A former developer from that project forked it and created Cromite, which works just as well.

If you have money, paying for SIP trunking and using a device with no built-in modem is actually an option. Emergency services are more-or-less compatible with that option, depending on a number of detail. As >>19160 notes, don't give access to anything important to a device that can easily be ripped from your hands by some runner scum and don't store anything on it (it's most likely to be stolen when decrypted).

>>22309 Afaik VLC does that just fine. There's some weirdness about its reputation for some reason or another, I think it was some whining about bloat.

>>19295 Are you one of the elusive lainons blessed with a family that includes no norΜies at all? You're an exception. For most, even just getting them not to use megacorp spyware and use the basic telephone network is already difficult.

bump (third time trying to post)

>>22604 If you can't communicate with your family through anything that's not owned by fuarkbook, can you call them family?

>>23878 Normal cattles entire digital lives are already owned by the Zuck and other big tech companies. It is hard to convince them to sacrifice conveniency for privacy because they are not willing to learn or because it seems too hard for them.

>>24442 Just being in the background of a photo someone uploaded to Facebook you without consent are in their generative image training dataset so dont think you rent included. Blaming it on individuals is moronic.

>>24443 It's a human problem, not a tech problem. I didn't sign up for a 1984 style surveillence state where everything I do or say is being recorded and sent to Big Brother.

>>24448 Yes it is a human problem but from top down not bottom up is what is meant

Is GrapheneOS my only real option for a secure phone? Their website says they upstream their work, so why can't I benefit from those improvements while using Lineage or something else?

>>25457 i would take anything that website says with a grain of salt since the main dev is infamous for saying a thing and negating it 5 minutes later. personally i would like to know the state of security on postmarketOS.

Might as well say this here. I wonder why no one has tried making a BSD based OS for phones not even companies tried to despite it would probably run better than Linux based Android. >>25457 I havent seen complains of CalyxOS but they do make some bad choices like using DuckDuckGo browser default unless they changed that after it was exposed DDG gives Microsoft data.

You could put the most secure, private os ever developed on a cellphone and it still wouldn't be enough. Cellphone hardware is massively compromised in multiple ways by design before it even leaves the factory. You can make your cellphone a little more secure from certain threat models by installing a better os, but that's about it.

>>25458 >the main dev is infamous for saying a thing and negating it 5 minutes later Any examples? >>25460 >CalyxOS Another Pixel exclusive. Why?!

>>25476 > Another Pixel exclusive. Why?! Pixel has the most basic Android setup so it's easier. But CalyxOS also is for Fairphone and a few Motorola models and the SHIFT6mq. Motorola runs a version of Android also more bare so that's why Motorola is among supported devices. Other manufacturers put a lot of custom stuff on their that make everything harder to develop a custom rom with any proper degoogling and security features. Once you know this that anything that is just AOSP or close to it you can figure out what phones you can build your own port of a custom rom for if you know how and have the resources.

>>25458 >personally i would like to know the state of security on postmarketOS. Isn't it the same state of security of desktop Linux?

>>25477 Why does it matter how much custom stuff the manufacturer adds, if you're going to wipe it all clean anyway by installing your own ROM ?

Maybe i was retarded for thinking that, but i assumed that PilferShush Jammer jams microphones in such a way that they can't record what you speak. There are some actual tech that does that by using powerful and mostly unidirectional ultrasounds. But this app and the hardware of a phone can't do that, what they do is emitting ultrasound noise, so that phones and other "smart" devices which communicate your personal data without your consent to other "smart" devices, now can't hear each-other, and fail to communicate your personal data out to other random people's phone while waiting in line at the Wall Mart. I was actually retarded enough to test it and be disappointed when i was still able to hear myself talking on the record lmao.

>>25477 The Motorola models will lose support in August, and the SHIFT6mq already EOL. Fairphone could work if you live in Europe and don't care about hardware.

>>25496 Correction, they are now also sold in the US under the Murena brand from /e/OS.

>>25490 A lot of proprietary stuff are used to make everything work. I dont know the details because I dont program my own custom roms. >>25496 But those arent technical reasons as far as I am aware, just lack of maintenance because they just dont expect the models to be used much longer and dont want to bother buying more if the ones they test on break. >>25491 While not foolproof since software can get around it, if your phone has a headphone jack there are blank plugs you can get that basically disable the microphone by registering as an external microphone but there is no microphone.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. 1. GrapheneOS is the best. The hardening and how quickly they push updates is better than all other custom ROM projects. 2. DivestOS is almost as good as GrapheneOS, and supports some more devices than Pixels. 3. If you can't run GrapheneOS or DivestOS, then keep whatever came with your phone. Use ADB to remove or replace as much as possible, and install a firewall. This is actually better than switching to LineageOS or /e/OS because they are very slow with software security patches and don't integrate the manufacturer's firmware security patches at all. They also break Verified Boot, meaning malware can infiltrate the bootloader and become impossible to remove.

>>25502 First I heard of DivestOS. Is it new?

>>25498 If i would be afraid of my own microphone, i would just use the Snowden method, rip it out and use an external one whenever needed. The real fun would be jamming other people's microphones. Like how you can jam cameras with IR LEDs, but you would jam other microphones with ultrasound. Unfortunately it seems to be much more difficult, the most practical device i've ever seen was a hand band with huge speakers protruding from it. Also it was far from perfect in its results, although pretty respectable and probably a milestone, but it was big and impractical even for non-stealth use.

>>25504 Sound you cant hear can still damage your hearing so id be wary of this.

>GrapheneOS I would guess the percentage of /sec/ posters, not even Lainchan posters in general, who run Qubes is tiny. I would guess that even the percentage of /sec/ posters running hardened versions of traditional distros is also very small. So what are we worried about? Why are phones different? Just degoogle/de-vendor and you're done, the same way we remove Windows and install Linux then call it a day. Given the Android permissions and compartmentalizing security model, it's probably more secure than any standard desktop Linux installation anyway. >>25502 >ADB I haven't heard of anyone doing this, so it might not actually work, but you could also degoogle and de-vendor by installing an AOSP GSI. Unlike a whole custom ROM, a GSI only replaces the Android OS layer without affecting the firmware layer. You could then continue to receive device security updates from the vendor and Android OS security updates from Google without the bloatware and spying of either. You also wouldn't have to worry about if you missed anything with ADB.

>>25579 It's really too bad that GrapheneOS doesn't provide a GSI. I don't see why not, it would be better than nothing. Just say "THIS IS UNSUPPORTED" before you're allowed to download.

so i asked in this thread how was pmos so far and after using it for about a month here's my review, in case anyone is considering it: it fuarrrking is like kicking dead whales down the beach. if linux is currently a bunch of scrap metal taped together, this is the equivalent of an abstract modern work of art put together by bile. It's like no one fuarrrking knows what they're doing and every update something breaks be it calling or audio. Of course they're also implementing bloat systemd now and even the so called "minimalist" distros like sxmo use crap like pipewire and dbus. Their versions are a joke, "stable" versions are just 2 year old versions that do not work and "edge" versions are actually what stable is but they frequently break, while the website still recommends to use stable when it's missing basic stuff like a screen lock. Most apps do not work properly on mobile too, since it's all just literally downloaded from the alpine repository and "hopefully it works". You can just basically use the phone as a pdf reader and sms, so much for muh linux on phone larping. Now whit all of this said imagine the security of this. I'm going back to stock android with just some stuff removed with adb and call it a day. I can't have a phone that does not even call or use GPS properly and needs constant fixing and pretend i do it for security while that's terrible too anyway. A PDA with a proper distro on it is much better for a portable unix.

>>25818 >A PDA with a proper distro on it is much better for a portable unix. I don't know anything about hardware so maybe I'm missing something important, but it just doesn't seem that hard to make a mid- or budget-level phone. Linux on a tiny ARM computer is a solved problem and even back in the day there were cellular cards for laptops. It's like as soon something gets the label of being a "phone", some kind of curse falls on it.

Should I use profiles on the regular instead of just for particularly untrusted apps? On computers you don't want to always be running as root, but on a phone you're not root anyway. ...Right? It seems like the default profile has some privileges that user-generated profiles don't, like changing tethering settings and toggling battery saver. The other profiles can also be blocked from installing apps, but does that provide real security beneath the interface level or is it just for stopping kids?

>>26500 Oops, don't know why I said profiles, they're called users.

my stupid xiaomi doesn't support any roms, could rooting it lobotomise it enough so it stops being spyware? or should i just sell it and buy a new one?

>>26824 Sell it and get another one, try local or niche brands if you can. One that comes with AOSP-based orb managers like AllDoCube. These brands come with less spyware than the mainstream stuff., and they are cheaper too. Xiaomi is rubbish, packed with adware and bloat. Even basic low-end chopping boards can handle run-out-of-the-mill tasks like web browsing, or snapping a photo of the handsome man in the mirror. Some of the more obscure brands have amusing names too, like SEGO (blatantly uses the SEGA logo). I reckon they do not have enough balls to inject spyware lol...

>>19118 >LinageOS How come everyone talking about Lineage, but no one ever mentions crDroid? It's more configurable and supports more cheap devices.

>>26825 you post like you're farming reddit karma before selling your account

My stupid ass job makes me clock in with an app, if not for that I wouldn't even carry the stupid thing with me.

Is there any "privacy-friendly" way to get working RCS on Android? This becomes increasingly important to me for interoperating with iphooners, but it seems to require all of the safetynet checks and such, which I personally find to be a massive pain. Idunno. Maybe running Google Messages in an isolated VM?