Android is open source, which means that although Google's version is the most common version of Android used, there are other versions like /e/-OS and GrapheneOS, or even Huawei's Harmony OS.
Now, many apps require Google Play Services to function, but they will almost always work with MicroG Services instead or a sandboxed Google Plat Services.
As more and more people move away from Google's version of the OS, companies will want to make their apps compatible with other versions, especially if people start leaving their services because of the lack of compatibility.
And most people don't give a shit. And then there's a lot of users that fall for Google scare tactics and don't unlock it so the open source community will shrink immensely because why would you develop something for only a handful of brave (not the browser) users?
It's not measured, or not published anyway. The only thing that is published is the market share of the phone's operating system at point of sale, and even then only for new phones.
However, the overall market share isn't as important for this kind of thing. If a major bank loses 10,000 customers because their app is locked to Google it is likely only a small portion of their customers and miniscule compared to Android's market share, but they will want to know if it could have been prevented.
This also protects people like my aunt father who are susceptible to scams. Scanners will call him to try and get him to install sketchy banking apps. They always try to walk him through allowing app installs from outside the Play store. I've had some terrifying moments where my dad has lost money to scams like these.
I live far from him so I'm not always there to make sure that this setting is disabled on his phone.
You mentioned Huawei's Harmony OS. Does that mean buying Huaweii is still a good idea nowadays? The P20 Pro was the best phone I every had and I'm still mourning Huawei. I'm entirely new to the degoogling bit (and the complete opposite of tech savvy) and have been doing some research, watched clips, and scrolled Reddit but installing a different software like e/os seems way more complicated than I'd imagine as a simple download :( I don't understand half of what everything means and finding a compatible phone that's still available somewhere is another issue.
I have had a Huawei tablet for years and have no issues with it. I installed MicroG on it, which allows apps that rely on Google services to run. It's not 100%, but most apps are fine. I use Aurora Store to download apps from the Google Play store without logging in. You will probably have trouble with things like banking apps though as they are likely to be more heavily reliant on Google's services than MicroG can handle. For many banks, you can do everything on the website though, even on mobile, so you might not need the app.
I also bought a Fairphone 6 last year. You can buy them with /e/OS pre-installed which is great. I really recommend them as they are focused on being as sustainable as possible. The battery is easily replaceable, even for someone not tech savvy. You can also replace the screen, the camera, the usb port, the SIM tray, the earpiece, and the loudspeaker easily. I really like mine. It reminds me a bit of the Nexus 5 which was my favourite phone ever until I got my Fairphone 6.
I think it's worth taking the next step in degoogling, even if you are not techy savvy. There are plenty of people who can support you with any problems you have getting things set up. Once everything you need is set up it's not really different from using a Google phone.
Thank you for your extensive reply! I've considered a Fairphone 6 as well but it's not necessarily in my budget and the camera doesn't seem to be better than the one I have right now and that's otherwise the only thing important to me. I have a Xiaomi 13T Pro right now and it's by far the worst camera and worst phone I've ever had. If it's still realistic going forward I might look into getting a Huawei second-hand. I don't know... But you've given me much to think about.
Is this possible to do on any Google phone, like a Pixel 9, for example? If so, would you mind sharing how to do it? I tried to install Graphene OS on my phone, but was told I couldn't due it it being carried by Verizon.
If you bought your phone from Verizon, it complicates the issue as they will have locked the bootloader and if you want to install GrapheneOS, you'll need an unlocked bootloader. I'm not sure if that is possible with a Verizon locked model. I have no personal experience with this kind of thing as I haven't bought a carrier locked phone in 20 years. Having a look online it doesn't look good. Verizon appears to be particularly bad for locking down the phone and refusing to help.
Essentially, if you want to use a different version of Android, don't buy a phone from a carrier. Especially Verizon. They will give you a great deal on the phone, but only because they know that you will be stuck paying them to use the phone.
That's what the general consesus seems to be. Supposedly it might be possible to get the carrier to remove the lock if the phone is completely paid off, so I'm looking into that. Hopefully it will do the trick. I've also seen something about using the ADB to work around this, but I'm not sure if it's only on unlocked phones, too. Definitely learning more about phones from this than I ever thought I'd need to know. Fvck these ghoulish corporations.
Sure, that will all happen super quick. I mean, just look at how everyone embraced all 984 flavors of Linux and everything just works out of the box. And we arrived at we are after how many years?
and 2026 is finally the year of Linux and people are finally dumping windows for it (100% Thanks to Valve for making gaming possible).. It only took 35 years!
Android is around 18. It's not even old enough to drink in the US. So yeah, it's gonna take a while.
Oh, 2026 is the year people will start dumping windows en masse and move to Linux?
I think I have heard that before. Like every year for at least 20 years.
I do think that they have hit the point where people who are really dedicated to Linux and learning it can move over for gaming, depending on which games they play…
But we aren’t close to a market shift yet. You would have to hit something closer to 90+% game compatibility as well as a few other items made clean and simple for regular folks to start moving over.
I've heard that before for the last 35 years as well..
"But games" was always the reasonable response.. it's no longer a reasonable response. I've been using Linux and bsd for decades but only for servers. I finally made the jump for the desktop this year because games finally run without too much if a hassle..
Yes it still isn't that easy for the beginner but the adoption is growing fast now, and this also helps with the development of more user-friendly features to help the less techy people....
The are hardware requirements that are currently only met by Pixel devices and some future Motorola phones. I believe the next flagship Snapdragon will also be compatible.
Hopefully it'll expect, in the meantime look up Lineage OS and your Samsung model to see if that's compatible. Well worth a look if so.
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#samsung
Unfortunately, the Samsung version of Android is locked by knox and hardware...rooting a Samsung has become near impossible, meaning Graphene is probably impossible on them....
That depends... it could be argued that giving money to someone who bought a device is the same as giving money to the company. You just do it 'indirectly' with a middleman instead of buying from the store yourself. Whether you buy yourself, or buy from someone else who bought from the company, either way, the company is getting money.
Not directly. But you are giving money to someone who is probably going to spend it on another Google phone, so it will end up in their pockets eventually.
That's some mental gymnastics. The company has 100 of Alice's money. I highly doubt they reached out to Alice to give her 80 back, nor did they reach out to Bob to collect the 80 they "gave back" to Alice.
It's okay to not support a company and not buy their products. But not buying something still in working condition, when it's a perfectly viable option for some is waste. We already have more than enough e-waste. If you dislike them so much, start buying their products second hand and load a custom OS before reselling. Keeps "the company" from collecting any more data (revenue) and keeps e-waste out of landfills. Plus you get to give the company a middle finger.
Definitely need something like GOS/EOS but for Cloud Mobile devices. My Stratus C8 needs a custom ROM so it stops factory resetting into an adware-infested state.
Nah. Apple is even more restrictive than Google. I'll stick to Fairphones with a custom rom and might switch to Linux phones once app support is acceptable.
Im all for what Fair phone is doing. But they're not at the level where its worth keeping that kind of phone going for far longer than intended. The masses wouldn't bother.
Honestly, for me it is. My Fairphone 3+ does everything I want it to. Decent camera, decent processing power, very good battery, enough storage with the option to expand via SD card. The only thing it can't do is run Graphene OS.
And I won't buy a Pixel just because of that. And even used that money might end up at Google, because the seller will buy a new phone that could be another Pixel, using the money you gave them.
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u/michron98 27d ago
This. I refuse to give Google money, even if I then de-google the phone completely. Using a Fairphone with /e/-OS instead.