Submitted 3 weeks ago by FallenWalnut@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://eurotechguide.com/state-of-european-tech/your-phone-runs-google-or-apple-does-it-have-to/
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/43965516
It is worth noting that both the hardware and software of Fairphone is heavily dependent on a Chinese company T2Mobile.
For those looking to avoid both US and Chinese companies, then the Jolla phone is the way to go.
They have a “fair labor” agreement with China so that it is as ethically sourced as possible. People can’t just get anything somewhere else. They are at least trying.
They also set up an initiative around the fair extraction of cobalt.
For the specs alone it is an expensive phone, but well worth it to me.
I do somewhat miss the HD haptics from my previous Samsung.
Slab phone is solved tech already and this is the time where we can vote for more ethical solutions without really losing anything. The newest fairphone is basically just a standard android flagship.
Let’s hope the growth means the software improves. I’ve never owned such a buggy phone. I would never be able to recommend anyone I know actually buy one and it’s pretty difficult to keep using it myself. I’m really hoping the upcoming Android 16 release fixes a lot of bugs but if past Fairphones are anything to go by I’m not expecting much.
I’ve been using a FP6 for over a month and I have no idea what you could be referring to
Sometimes after using the camera, the taken photos will just disappear.
Often my screen will freeze up and the ohone becomes entirely unresponsive until I turn the screen off and on again.
Sometimes the screen won’t even turn on at all and will then suddenly unlock and register every single swipe and tap I made on the off screen registers at once.
Then sometimes when idle the phone will just randomly crash and reboot.
A genuinely awful experience I have to say.
Fairphone 5 for ~ 1 1/2 years. Not a single bug encountered…
I keep reading comments like this though. Are people just expecting too much?
You can install iode on a Fairphone. I was using iode for years without issues. I would be surprised if it had many bugs specific to Fairphone.
That’s awesome to hear! I’m currently running iode on a OnePlus11 and the built-in firewall and metwork monitoring is awesome! I don’t even use the paid version. Maybe I’ll give fairphone a try next.
I might have to give it a try. I used CalyxOS on my old Pixel 7 and loved it so I’m hoping that will be an option once they’re back up and running.
the Jolla phone is the way to go
Are there any downsides to this? There has to be, right.
I mean the downsides are it’s Linux. That’s not without it’s upsides but the downsides are huge.
Would a phone have that many downsides? I would think that a computer would have much more. Maybe the phone companies don’t play nice? I 100% don’t know what the downsides would be.
Are there any downsides to this? There has to be, right.
SailfishOS userland is proprietary software. AOSP is more open than SailfishOS. The Android compatibility layer of SailfishOS is based on AOSP, so the stack to get the most important 3rd party apps working relies as much on AOSP as any Android ROM.
Upside of SailfishOS: There is a decent chance that the upcoming Linux ARM version of Steam + Proton will run directly on that device.
SailfishOS userland is proprietary software
I don’t see it really as a downside compared to Android, since no OEM is running clean AOSP.
I think I bought one, but I’m not sure. I might have been very drunk back then.
On the first one there were limitations on the android emulation stack. Not sure how they managed afterwards on later OS releases or how it will go with newer ones.
There will always be limitations unless massive changes occur such as Google open sourcing their Play Services as part of AOSP. MicroG has limited resources to implement compatibility.
This is exactly what we need: profound economic warfare, and lawfare against the sources exploiting us. We need to organize and support the groups that fight the forces leading to us getting exploited.
Our problems are fundamentally human sourced, and we need to take action to stop being vulnerable to exploitation and coercion.
All other problems CAN be resolved with time and work.
Some of those who work forces, Are the same who close sources…
Great use of RatM lol
They should partner use grapheneos and sell in USA.
Wasn’t the issue here that they would have liked to partner with GrapheneOS, but GrapheneOS didn’t want to, because of some security requirements that they had?
GrapheneOS had security requirements and they offered to help Fairphone implement them, but Fairphone refused. Apparently they are not interested in their user security and privacy. So I won’t be touching Fairphones with a 10ft stick. Motorola was interested and should be launching a phone with GrapheneOS preinstalled at the end of 2026 or 2027.
Personally, I’d love a phone I can experiment with pure Linux OSs or Sailfish on.
A secure Linux phone would be the ultimate goal I think.
I just bought a FP6 with /e/os installed by Murena in the US and it’s been great so far except that RCS isn’t supported by /e/os so group texts don’t work. Which is honestly a huge issue that is causing enough social friction that I’ll probably revert to an iPhone soon.
They partner with Murena for selling to the US right now (though its only usable on Tmobile).
They are trying to enter the US market on their own (perhaps with the Fairphone 7), but the US carriers make things way more complicated than other markets. They already sell their headphones in the US through Amazon as of late last year.
I’ve been using a CMF Nothing with /e/OS installed by Murena for a year now and I can say it’s been a breeze.
This is why new laws are being passed to verify ID on a hardware level. They know the enshittification has progressed to the point that people are starting to break away. They want to put a halt to that by any means necessary.
I’d be curious, it seems obvious the world is coordinating it in some way.
I don’t think it requires or implies coordination. What looks like coordination might simply be an overall increase in authoritarianism governments globally which all share many of the same incentives to limit privacy and increase population tracking.
I have had this for 4 months and love it. Previously had Samsung 25 Ultra. Hated it.
Anyone know if the coming Android restrictions will impact support?
Ok, I like that attitude, but could you go into more detail? AFAIK hardware wise the samsung will likely be better in every way I think?
It wasn’t a hardware preference, it was a privacy and control preference. Samsung is a data miner. I absolutely hate being locked out of my own shit. It doesn’t belong to you, but you’re renting their device and paying with data. I can see the calls home on my monitoring software, and now they have that MS linking SW that you can’t remove. I hate Samsung. Also, my S25 Ultra broke twice and I only got about 2 weeks use out of it total. Once, fell out of my pocket on carpet. Last, off coffee table and into floor. Those things are expensive and extremely fragile now.
Fairphone is honestly not a bad switch. It’s smaller than a flagship Samsung screen, but as ethically sourced as possible, modular so repairs are easy, open source software, privacy focused, has an ecosystem curated with care, and you can sideload all you want. I think I pay like $25 or $45 a month for unlimited everything with hotspot through the provider that supports it in the US. Also, there is no bloatware. It’s the absolute minimum needed for them to be a marketable solution in my opinion. My battery has never died. Sometimes it uses less that 10% a day. Samsung was a nightmare constantly draining. I could go on and on.
Have any of you checked out the reviews on their site? The one’s in Dutch?
Hilarious. Almost none of the reviews are about the phone itself, but the promotions surrounding it, whether its available in certain stores, and my favorite, the font on the case.
I guess the phone is so awesome they have to think of other stuff to complain about :/
I haven’t had one very long, but I found it surprisingly easy to ditch all the Google shit. The phone itself feels like a mild step back, but not an unwelcome one. I’ve also never been one for all the advanced nonsense tech flagship phone manufacturers tend to stick in there.
That said, the stock UI is trash and I eventually landed on using Kvaesitso instead. There are other FOSS launchers out there though, if you don’t like that one.
Another nitpick, the slide button that turns off access to the camera and microphone… It should be a physical break, not a software one. You can have it slid to the off position and then turn access back on without moving it again. Which means the mic and camera are still physically accessible to the rest of the phone. I want there to be a full on break in the circuit when I flip that switch. And one for speakers too, because a speaker is just a crappy microphone if you access it the right way.
But otherwise I’m pretty happy with it and don’t miss my Samsung at all. Exploring FOSS alternatives for my apps has been fun too. And I even managed to turn off most of microG’s permissions because I don’t need them.
I want a folding fairphone
I would just love a smaller one in general. Hate big phones. Give me a pixel 3 sized one at most.
Main reasons I stopped buying Fairphones:
Other than that - it’s a great company and a team of good people.
I miss my pixel 4a dearly. Found it in the old phone box the other day and couldn’t believe how little it was.
What is the claim behind “runs Google?” The Fairphone also runs Android doesn’t it? How is it any less Google than a Samsung?
it’s only the open source part? normally, google injects proprietary code into phones, usually through “google play services”? idk I’m just kinda a hobbyist
I think they mean Google play services yeah. When i was running cyanogenmod on my phone, I had the option to not install Googles play services.
Some apps rely on that being installed but most worked fine.
Sure, google play is a standard part of android, but you don’t need to have it, though you do need SOME kind of app installer. Samsung ofc has its own. Kindle Fires used their own and didn’t have Google Play iirc, but you could install it yourself.
If it has a MicroSD slot, 3.5mm jack, a removable battery and costs no more than £300, I’m interested! <3
I’d rather it were made in Europe too, but I understand we can’t have everything, supply chains being what they are.
P.S Bonus points if it has an IR blaster, I use the one on my current phone quite a lot, surprisingly enough!
They can’t sell them that cheaply. They don’t have the numbers compared to big brands, and they make a real effort for sustainability which is a huge problem with cheap-ass phones.
interesting, they swapped their S24 with the fairphone .
itistime@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
Avoiding Chinese companies is a factor for me, BUT if the choice is between a Chinese company that wouldn’t comply with a five-eyes data request vs one that would, then I would definitely prefer my data be stolen by a foreign country that doesn’t see me as a sovereign risk
1984@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Its getting kind of silly to be afraid of China when big tech is American…
Fizz@lemmy.nz 2 weeks ago
You should avoid both. I avoid the us tech because its on a trajectory towards what china currently implements. China has a ton of offensive security capability and they use it constantly.
corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
The NorTel remembers.
how_we_burned@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Chinese company who has to comply with the CCP is a problem for me, and my work.
inari@piefed.zip 3 weeks ago
What’s your work?
kilgore_trout@feddit.it 3 weeks ago
We have come a long way, to be finally more concerned about our government spying on us than about a foreign nation.