Yes, I've bought a phone made by Google.
But I still want to de-google it.
It just needs the right operating system
background
Since November 2020 I've been running a long term experiment to see if life on the internet is possible without Google & other large, rich, mostly US, tech companies.
For my phone, this means I've been running LineageOS on a OnePlus 5 for almost 6 years, and its worked out very well.
As you are reading this, its clear that I'm knee-deep in Google because I'm using their Blogger.
In my defense, I'm doing this on an ancient, blogger dedicated, Linux laptop. But for all regular computing I have another 2 Linux Mint desktops which don't run anything from Alphabet or Meta ...as far as I know.
I block all Javascript, only selectively letting any scripts run, but none associated with Google, Facebook or YouTube ...I know, its not perfect!
Why get a new phone?
I had 3 issues I wanted a fix for:-
1. GPS on the old OnePlus was weak. It generally couldn't lock when running inside a vehicle (e.g. bus, airplane) or many buildings
2. I wanted eSIM for our overseas trips
3. I wanted longer battery life
I discovered that the Google Pixel 10a could achieve the above for a reasonable price (<£400). The only problem initially was there was no LineageOS image for this phone.
However, the GrapheneOS project is built around support for the Pixel range.
GrapheneOS
I quote:-
"GrapheneOS’s objective is to make Android-based phones substantially more secure and privacy-focused while keeping them practical for everyday use and compatible with Android apps. It works toward that through system hardening, stronger app sand-boxing and permissions, and defenses that make vulnerabilities harder to exploit. It’s an open-source, nonprofit project."
I can still install Apps via F-Droid, rather than run a Google account for Play store access. However, you could install from Play if you wished to do this.
It was easy to install the OS, actually I'd say easier than LineageOS.
my Apps
Here are my main apps running with Graphene:-
F-Droid: my go-to for applications
Vanadium: This is the default web browser. I also have IronFox which I'm just trialing.
Telegram: Previously used Telegram FOSS, but this is no longer maintained. Now use version from Telegram website. Unfortunately 'push-notification' doesn't work on this version without Google support. However, I just leave Telegram running in the background to overcome this limitation, and it doesn't seem to drain the battery.
CoMaps: based upon Organic maps, but a better version, still uses OpenStreetMaps.
Gallery: I'm using both the default, and Fossify's version for Photo/image display and simple editing.
Camera: Again the default version, but also MA Camera & Libre Camera. I'm undecided, so may carry on looking. Also using Magnifica as a magnifying glass/mirror (it does not save images, but has already been useful)
gptAssist & whoBIRD: excellent apps, both from 'woheller69' check his stuff on Github.
Keepass: password manager. At the moment, this is not working properly with Vanadium when it comes to grabbing passwords. Its a known problem, but I'm hoping for a fix.
conclusion
I like the phone. Its about the same 'face' size as the OnePlus 5, just thicker.
I only charge to 80% in the belief this may extend battery life, but this gives me plenty of useful hours each day.
It is (quite naturally) faster than my old OnePlus 5.
CoMaps plus gps works great.
It remains to be seen whether I can setup an eSIM successfully, but I won't know until I'm about to go on holiday.
 |
| OnePlus 5/Google Pixel 10a |
Its a keeper, defo!
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