With whatever Google’s been doing lately to android, and the general decline in custom ROMs, I’m wondering if custom ROMs are even worth the hassle anymore or if just tweaking settings and using ADB on any phone is enough these days. Thoughts and suggestions?

  • hauiA
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    8 hours ago

    It is absolutely a great idea. These shit phones are fucking dangerous.

    They’re completely different, depending on your needs. Some work easily for those without tech knowledge or very strict needs at usability, some are for privacy enthusiasts or endangered people and some are for techies who want to advance humanity.

    I suggest trying on an older phone you already have or buying a used one.

    Generally, i suggest not buying new at all, as a form of protest, anyway.

  • MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    19 hours ago

    I’d say if you have a relatively clean phone such as a Pixel or another one with minimal bloat, and install a ROM that comes with all the google apps and everything, then the benefit is probably fairly minimal.

    But if you do a degoogled ROM then it’s a huge difference. Stuff like GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, /e/OS.

    Or if you have a phone with a ton of bloat and additional crap added like Samsung or the many Chinese brands, then even a ROM like LineageOS with google apps would be a big improvement in where data is getting sent.

  • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    Please never speak like that again. It’s always worth using a custom operating system such as lineage OS. You cannot let Google defeat you.

    The open source community will defeat Google.

  • ISOmorph@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    That Google is attacking custom ROMs should tell you anything you need to know. Definitely continue using ROMs as long as possible and pray to holy GNU that linux on mobile will attain day to day usability until that fails. It’s actually looking pretty promising on that front!

    • utjebe@reddthat.com
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      23 hours ago

      It’s difficult to understand the move against custom ROMs. Especially considering the size of market for “weridos” that will spend hundreds of dollars on a device and first thing they do with it is unlocking bootloader.

      Take that away and you go head to head against Samsung and Apple. And you will not win.

      • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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        21 hours ago

        I am sure they are tracking public sentiment and the normies are taking notice. So they are fro at running that IMHO

    • Sunoc@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      I was recently wondering if I should try GrapheneOS on a second-hand Pixel, or PostmarketOS on a Pinephone… Any experience withe these ?

      • irotsoma@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        15 hours ago

        GrapheneOS is great, but this move by Google may make it difficult for Graphene to continue to offer major updates. Only time will tell. But for the short term it’s a great option.

      • Grey Cat@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        GrapheneOS 100%, it’s a really good Android experience, unless you really want to root your device without much bother. You won’t find as much customisation as in other ROMs but it’s a very solid ROM and sandboxed play services is really nice.

      • Scott@lem.free.as
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        1 day ago

        You 100% should.

        I bought a second-hand Pixel, installed GrapheneOS the moment it arrived and never looked back.

        I recently installed Curve for contactless NFC payments. Their support is terrible but, after some teething issues, it works without any problems.

      • utopiah@lemmy.ml
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        23 hours ago

        Depends what you are looking for.

        If you need a specific Android app that does not work on Waydroid, sure, go for GrapheneOS (or another deGoogled AOSP solution) but if you do no need that (and don’t mind carrying a rather larger phone with limited battery) then PmOS on PP is very interesting to explore.

      • FruitLips@lemmy.ml
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        22 hours ago

        Happy with my 2nd hand pixel / graphene OS. Avoid Verizon models- they hate everyone they can’t control & make the boot loader impossible to unlock.

  • utopiah@lemmy.ml
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    23 hours ago

    Daily driving /e/OS on CMF Nothing 1 for months now https://murena.com/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-cmf-phone-1/ with 0 tinkering, just bought it and didn’t stop since day 1.

    Check my post history for more details (as I discussed a bit more about it just days ago) but basically if deGoogling is important to you (which I imagine since you are posting on the privacy community) then yes, it’s definitely the most pragmatic compromise if you genuinely need Android based apps.

        • pmk@lemmy.sdf.org
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          2 minutes ago

          Mm, depends, do you use a regular 5v charger or those fast charging chargers that take like 30 mins to charge the whole battery while making it quite warm?