It seems that the motherboard is dead, and that it's a common issue with the 5a and I "should've known better," despite it being impossible to find decent information on phones these days.

I got it because it was the last Pixel with a headphone jack, and because it had good official LineageOS support. But I compromised: giving up the SD slot was tough for me, and now that I've been burned by not having one (I typically auto-backup my Signal history and other things to the SD card) I don't want to get another phone without it.

But the landscape seems bleak. The vast majority of phones that are officially supported by LineageOS are Pixels. It's impossible to find easy information on which phones have non-official LOS ROMs. Search results are useless these days, and I also keep running into an issue where after researching a phone for half an hour I discover that it has some arcane process to unlock the bootloader that doesn't always work, and the forum posters imply that the purchasers "should've known better." I'm just at my wit's end.

If anyone can suggest something that has decent deGoogled ROM support with the following features, I'd be very grateful:

• OLED screen (a must-have for my photosensitivity)
• SD card slot
• I am willing to give up the headphone jack in order to expand my options

I am in need of a separate degoogled phone for some things that require high level of privacy (nothing illegal).

I have 2 phones that I can use. One of them is my business phone (it has my business number, apps, data and that sort of stuff) which is now running an OS with all the Google spyware because it's necessary for the apps to work. I can reinstall everything on the second phone and use the first one as the secure device since it supports everything I need. The problem is that it has some issues on vanilla ROMs that I don't really want to deal with and the reinstalling will take a lot of time.

The issue with the second phone is that it is rocking an old MTK chip and rooting instructions are let's say a bit beyond my ability to understand. I still want to use it without Google if possible though. So can I degoogle its stock ROM with ADB or something? And is it worth trying or there will still be some vulnerabilities?

EDIT: to clear some possible misunderstandings, the reason of why I need a separate secure phone is that I am forced to use a very invasive proprietary app that I'd prefer just keeping on a separate device instead of trying to limit its spyware abilities with firewalls and that kind of stuff. I don't trust the last solution much. Also I can't use it in a VM because I need it to always be accessible wherever I am and yk carrying a PC is not an option

I have 5 of the older generation google home speakers that i dont use because google assistant got dumber and dumber so that in the end it was just easier to get up and turn off the light instead of having google do it.

It seems like a waste though to throw them away. Could I re purpose them in any way?

I really want to try Filen as my main cloud provider but my main brake point is that the app doesn't automatically upload my images in the background. I'm not sure if this is because I'm on the free plan or because of my device, has anyone had better luck with the automatic image upload in the background?

Sounds like trouble for Newpipe, Sponsorblock, etc...

Hi y'all, in my quest to de-goog my life, I've switched from using google's calendar to a new service from a company I trust more. (Someday I will self-host but not today)

In any case, I am looking for a way to have any new invitations which are sent to my google account be auto-forwarded to my new calendar. I was able to set up something similar for my gmail, but is there a way to do with with calendar events? I've searched around and not found anything yet.

Thanks for any ideas.

I've thinking about ditching my Protonmail email address with Posteo since I need IMAP support (because I hate using the Protonmail app) and honestly paying for Proton Mail Plus didn't worth the money because they are pushing me to buy the Protonmail Unlimited but I don't need all those capabilities nor would I use them and the best alternative I've found is Posteo and honestly I like it, I even got CalDAV support which I didn't have in Protonmail, but personally I don't know anybody who use Posteo, so I post this here.

invidious redirect of the yt video

One thing is being aware of bad actors on the internet, in that case IOS could be an option, other thing is being aware of the mass surveillance and manipulation across the digital space, and that's the thing we're more worried about in communities like this, in such case, IOS is no better than shooting yourself (i understand the point of the difficulties of having a custom rom, but that's just a skill issue).

You can't become privacy conscious without sacrificing something, some friend will go away calling you a paranoid, somo products you own will become garbage, that's just normal here.

Are there any good apps to use as a replacement for google maps? It's the only google service I'm still using.

Hey, I'm wondering what everyone uses for searching. I personally use a combination of these sites:

• mwmbl.org
• https://search.marginalia.nu/
• https://greppr.org/
• https://wiby.me/

For main driving I use duckduckgo

This post is going to be a bit personal (and maybe a little bit out of context, it's not just Google software I want to remove) but I'm tired of not knowing what to do about it. I want and have wanted to get rid of a bunch of proprietary software in my life, including but not limited to Google's software, for quite a while now, and I even got a Pixel 7A with hopes of installing GrapheneOS. But there are a few problems. First, my parents are understandably concerned and need me to use Google Maps' location sharing whenever I go to school. All my classmates use Instagram and we have that as our only messaging platform. I currently use DFInstagram, but I feel that it is not free from spyware. Finally, I also own a DJI Mini 3 Pro, and the associated DJI Fly app just refuses to work under GrapheneOS (I tested). Is there anything I can do to replace or limit the access of these aforementioned proprietary apps?

I've thinking about purchasing Proton Mail Plus only and just only to have IMAP support, but I've looked all the features that the Proton Unlimited Plan have, and honestly I believe it's worth, but I hate having all the eggs in the same basket.

The features I believe worth the most are the 500GB storage, IMAP support, all the VPN servers with P2P and unlimited SimpleLogin aliases, but when I ask if it is worth the price I mean, the majority of those features I can have them having individually with others services and even at lower price.

@degoogle I believe you should be speaking about Sapio so that many people contribute to its community driven database. Just saying (:

https://github.com/jonathanklee/Sapio

I haven't been able to update my cellphone anonymously with Aurora since January. Every time I try, Aurora errors out with "Oops, you are rate limited".

This isn't the first time Google plays at making non-normies' lives difficult. So I tried the usual tricks, updated Aurora, tried the nightly build, waited, tried again... for months - to no avail: Google just won't play ball this time.

Last week, Signal stopped working and demanded to be updated. Fortunately, Signal offers the APK as a normal download without having to get it from the hateful Google Play store.

Today, my home banking identificator app did the same thing and stopped working. I needed to make a payment right now, and I had no way to update the app: "Oops, you are rate limited". And my bank sure doesn't offer the APK outside of anything but the goddamn Google Play store.

So I relented and created a Google account. Which of course entailed giving Google a phone number. I sure didn't give them mine, so I phoned a friend abroad who doesn't care to ask him to receive the verification SMS on his phone and read out the code to me. Which worked long enough to set up 2FA and do away with phone numbers altogether. And finally, after an hour of fucking around, annoying other people and compromising their phone number, I could update my banking app and make my payment at last.

All that because Google has decided they want to control my phone.

Fuck Google.

Seriously, how they are allowed to hold the Android world hostage like this without getting their monopolistic ass Sherman'ed AT&T-style, I'll never know. It's long overdue.

Cannot find it nowhere. It is almost fully De-Googled and fossyfied but this Huawei-Honor-Android 13 is absolutely confusing

as title says, Honor 90 ROM anyone?

I have to have WhatsApp installed on one of my phones for work purposes. It's not possible to ask my work to give me a phone (I'm on zero-hours contract). I do have two phones - one DeGoogled pixel running CalyxOS and one iPhone XS. The iPhone I use for banking apps and basically anything that ties directly to me. Apple Pay and so on. Then I use the DeGoogled phone for everything else - most communications done over Signal, taking photos etc. This is my daily driver.

My question is this - is there any way to make WhatsApp as private as possible? I'm fine knowing WhatsApp reads all my messages etc (not really fine per se, but what choice do I have) but what I really don't want is telemetry. So which phone should I install it on? The private one to limit telemetry, or the regular phone to stop any telemetry from my private phone being read? Or is there some way I can remotely host an instance of WhatsApp or something?

The technical mechanism:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.devicelock

update

To be clear, I am not the OP who experienced this problem. I just linked them from here.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/9936059

I would like to collect the scenarios in which people are forced to enter Google’s #walledGarden (that is, to establish and/or maintain an account).

If someone needs a Google service to access something essential like healthcare or education, that’s what I want to hear about. To inspire a list of things that are “essential” I had a look at human rights law to derive this list:

• right to life
• healthcare
• freedom of expression
• freedom of assembly and of association
• right to education
• right to engage in work and access to placement services
• fair and just working conditions
• social security and social assistance
• consumer protection
• right to vote
• right to petition
• right of access to (government) documents
• right to a nationality (passport acquisition)
• right of equal access to public service in his country

Below is what I have encountered personally, which serves as an example of the kind of experiences I want to hear about:

• Google’s Playstore is a gate-keeper to most Android apps in the world and this includes relatively essential apps, such as:
  • emergency apps (e.g. that dial 112 in Europe or 911 in the US)
  • banking apps
  • apps for public services (e.g. public parking)
  • others?
• (education) Google docs is used by students in public schools, by force to some extent. Thus gdocs sometimes cannot be escaped in pursuit of education. When groups of students collaborate, sometimes the study groups impose use of gdocs. Some secondary school teachers impose the use of Google accounts for classroom projects.
• (education) A public university’s wi-fi network involved a captive portal and the only way to gain access was to supply credentials for a Google or Facebook account.

I’ve noticed that when creating an account for a public service I often have the option to supply credentials for Google or Facebook to bypass the verification process. In all cases of this kind of registration shortcut being used for public service, there was an alternative Google-free way to open the account. But in the private sector, I’ve seen this style of registration that absolutely required a proxy login via some shitty walled garden (like the university wi-fi). So I wonder if there are any situations where a government (anywhere in the world) requires a Google account in order to get service.

Since last updates Cromite begin to have some things for me. Every time I open the app, there's a new tab for me. Every time...any way to avoid this?

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/16224989

What OS can I install on a Samsung GT-I8730?

Hi everyone!

I have to use an iPhone for work but I have an old Samsung GT-I8730 lying around.

It’s a really old phone but it seems to work well on its base Android OS, so I would want to experiment a bit with it.

I have experience with Linux distributions on my computers, but I’ve never installed an alternative OS. That’s why I’m looking for advices on what I could install on such an old piece of hardware.

I’ve always been interested in /e/os as I think it would still allow me to use my (swiss) banking apps, but I’d be interested in any distribution which might also make it possible.

If no OS would make such a thing possible, I would just want to know what I could install on this device to experience a bit.

Thanks in advance for your help!

WILL BE UPDATE OFTEN Last update : 8/30/2024

THE GUIDE FOR DE-GOOGLED APPS

(🏆 = just the best app ; ❤️ = a more than excellent app)

REMEMBER : Do not install every apps you find, for your security and privacy only install needed apps.

ANDROID

1- Phone and messaging

Phone --> Fossify Phone 🏆

Messages --> Quik SMS 🏆

Contacts --> Fossify contacts 🏆

Whatsapp --> SimpleX ❤️ Briar (For advanced users, maximum privacy concerns)

2- Networking

Chrome (browser) --> Cromite (must be configured) Mull ❤️(slower but not chromium-based, must be configured)

Discord --> Element (matrix.org client)

Reddit --> Voyager (a Lemmy client)

3- Multimedia

YouTube --> Libretube ❤️ Tubular (a NewPipe fork)

Spotify --> RiMusic ❤️

Google podcasts (podcasts) --> Antenna Pod 🏆

Gallery --> Fossify Galley ❤️ (Basic app) Aves ❤️ (Advanced gallery)

4- Tools

QrScanner --> Binary eye 🏆

Gboard --> HeliBoard ❤️ (OpenBoard fork)

IME keyboard --> Sayboard

Local sharing --> LocalSend ❤️

Google authenticator (2FA) --> Aegis 🏆

Lastpass (password manager) --> Bitwarden 🏆 (Self-hosted) KeePassDX 🏆 (local storage)

Gcam --> Open camera

5- Others

Clock --> Clock You

Google calendar --> Etar ❤️

PDF viewer --> MJ PDF

Office --> LibreOffice Viewer ❤️ (Only for reading)

LINUX

For more convenience, you can download your apps using the command line and flatpak (Flathub.org)

1- OS

Some Linux distributions recommendations :

• Linux Mint and Pop OS (for all levels)
• Arch (mainly for gaming but you can use it as working OS)
• Debian (for productivity (greatest compatibility) )

For most basic users I recommend using Gnome desktop environment

2- Softwares

Browser --> Firefox 🏆 (It's recommended to tweaks and the settings and use custom user.js (Explanations about user.js)) Librewolf ❤️ (For an out-of-the-box great experience)

Office --> The LibreOffice Suite ❤️

File sharing --> Local Send ❤️

YouTube --> FreeTube

Adobe Illustrator --> Inkscape

Lemmy --> Photon

Matrix --> Element

That's all, hope you enjoy, do not hesitate to save the post for future updates and comment your recommendations below ⬇️⬇️

I set up a Raspberry Pi 3 with AdguardHome for a friend of mine, and told him to disconnect everything at home and try to watch anything on his phone, being the only device using his home's internet.

He just sent me this, and now he's ready to #degoogle 🤣🤣🤣

He says there were hundreds in less than 5 minutes.