You could buy a used Pixel, if you don't want to support Google.
this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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Privacy
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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
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Check out UBports/Ubuntu Touch, it’s a linux-based OS with a neat desktop mode when docked.
Suggesting a non-Android-derived mobile OS shouldn't get you downvoted. While I too risking going against the grain, I recommend OpenHarmony. It is available on laptops and should become available on smartphones eventually.
Would anyone know of a custom ROM for an Oppo Reno 4 Pro? Looked everywhere, can't find one.
I've heard good things about Iode OS. Apparently it's security focused but I honestly haven't looked in to it at all
No, it is not.
They forked LinaegeOS, which is 0 security oriented, stripped it of all its private services (like Seedvault) and now want the user to pay a subscription for their non encrypted backup servers and a shitty DNS blocker
Yeah that's pretty shitty
Be aware that they use a freemium model. You'll have to pay for their built-in ad blocker to be useful.
That's a little stupid. I use vpn with adblocking capabilities, I feel like that will accomplish the same thing
It doesn't block nothing without payment, but it doesn't block everything either, which makes it useless IMO.
/e/OS fan here, imo it combines a great design and interface with lots of privacy options. Super easy to use. Also the combo with the Murena Cloud is incredibly useful Best deGoogle option imo
/e/ is not private at all
They have a lot of telemetry already installed, their voice to text is sent directly to OpenAI, and their Cloud is not encrypted (and presumably in the US), so anyone can view all your data without a subpoena when (not if) their services get compromised
I sorely miss DivestOS for this purpose, but I'd consider CalyxOS (development sadly on pause) ~~and iodeOS~~ as runners-up. /e/OS got caught sending voice-to-text data to OpenAI, so I'd stay away for the time being.
edit: sad to see that iode has a freemium model on some of its features. see replies for more nuance on the /e/OS situation.
LineageOS will get the most years of support out of the most devices. While leagues ahead of Android for privacy, bear in mind that it still isn't airtight with regard to the occasional piece of telemetry data sent back to Google. It's about the only thing that can keep one of my older Pixels somewhat up-to-date.
LeOS is like LineageOS with all Google telemetry stripped out, but only in GSI form (no builds optimized for specific devices), so YMMV with hardware compatibility. I have this on my Samsung tablet.
I've also heard about Volla Phones (with VollaOS) and Brax Phones (with iodeOS or Ubuntu Touch), but haven't taken a serious look since the screen sizes offered are too big for me.
I might try out a Linux phone next, but the relative lack of battery optimizations and edge-case issues leave me a bit hesitant. Also, check out detailed comparison of the common Android ROMs with regard to privacy and security: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
Thanks for all of the options! May look more into LineageOS
/e/OS got caught sending voice-to-text data to OpenAI
To clarify it's an optional STT service, not on by default if one is not using Murena services, which before sending data proxy it so it's not associated with a specific user account, for anonymization. It even says so in the screenshot of the links post, for premium Murena service users. FUD from https://lemmy.ml/post/35472063?scrollToComments=true seems to already be working out, sadly.
Details https://doc.e.foundation/murena-voice-to-text including "This feature is exclusively available to Murena Workspace Premium users."
The developers' response to the threads bringing this up with them were absolutely abysmal. They wouldn't even answer the question "does e send data to third parties when this feature is turned off" directly
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LineageOS and the companion microg for LineageOS is a good alternative. They offer a wide variety of phones (and some tablets) that are supported. Been using microg for LOS for over 5 years now with no major issues.
Good to know, thanks!
GrapheneOS is the only one cellebrite admits it has trouble with, I can't recommend another OS, but I can say that being resistant to the government hacking your phone has recently become more important and it might be worth reconsidering.
Why not install LineageOS on your S20?
Thought since my phone couldn't be rooted I wouldn't be able to change the OS. It's the SM-G981U model
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