Android

Many are going even further. Both my friend and I are planning to get dumb flip phones next. Forget also this smartphone always online stuff

Guess we are going back to the days when only nerds that knew how to flash better roms will be using Android.

Google is closing those gates as well. Pixel 10 drivers aren't in the new AOSP build. Graphene has been updated to the Android 16 core, but as Google tightens the leash, it will be more difficult. Google's plan to combine ChromeOS and Android into a MegaBloat will further make it so AOSP is useless.

Every time Google releases a new app for the core OS, they stop supporting the open-source flavor of it, which is why apps like the AOSP messaging app can't do RCS. Eventually all that will be left of AOSP is a mostly useless husk.

Google's intended use case for AOSP going forward is for vendors to be able to test pre-release things, primarily in an emulator environment.

Couple that with things like Samsung's Qualcomm phones can't be bootloader unlocked, and less and less phones in general can be bootloader unlocked, it is going to be an uphill battle for alt OSes.

Hopefully, this will drive enough dev time towards getting a proper Linux-based mobile device in the works, but even that will be problematic as most modems/chips available for that kind of project are inferior, slow, do not support all the bands/modes of modern carrier networks, and even after all of that, the carrier can still reject to certify the device for the network.

It isn't hopeless, but everyone is going to have to get creative and driven if we have any intention of retaining free and open mobile devices.

Guess we are going back to the days when only nerds that knew how to flash better roms will be using Android.

Will we even have that? IIRC, Google's changing the open source model for Android so its going to be a lot harder from ROM devs to keep up to date with security patches, and then more importantly, have access to device drivers

this is honestly my ideology at the moment... like freedom was the main reason I'm on android. Price wise it's already getting close, and most flagships have removed microSD card support by now. I'm seriously debating my next phone being an iphone just because most of my family uses them, and my convenience being on android is being actively removed anyway.

I can't even imagine that transfer, I've been android my entire life but, every time I talk to my family I list what I want in a phone, and every time I talk to them it seems apple has marked another issue off the list with an update.

Take the one thing Android has over Apple away. Why go Android then

They've passed the critical mass wherein they can dictate anything they want without losing any significant userbase. The only people that this is going to affect is a tiny minority of people who even know what sideloading is. If you don't think so, you're in a bubble.

These fuckers never wanted to be user centric opposite to apple, they wanted to be alongside apple in telling users what they can or cannot do. They're worse because of the whole advertising monopoly but most people don't even know what any of the above matters. They'll continue on like everyday.

I was wishy washy on whether my next phone would be android or iOS for years, but with this change my decision got a lot easier. Was fun while it lasted, Android - but if you're going to become a walled garden I'd rather be in the better one.

Maybe there's a silverlining of the custom rom scene interest growing again like when Android first came out among enthusiasts. Lot over the years just stopped flashing roms, since phones got "good enough" that it stopped being worth the hassle.

But, losing easy sideloading without need for adb is a pretty big deal for enthusiasts that more might start looking into custom roms again.

Can we update without adb? If updating all the apps also require ADB, this will get annoying fast.

If EU doesn't step in, I'm moving to custom ROM

Are the banking apps still blocked? How's the camera? It's been a while since I installed grapheneos...

GrapheneOS is probably not long for this world with how much Google has been fucking with AOSP's source code releases. We need full-fat mainline Linux on our phones, with no Android code included.