• LostXOR
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    82 days ago

    Companies want to spy on you and make money, it’s no secret. Just install stock Android or your favorite fork; it quite literally takes 5 minutes with a WebUSB installer.

    • Virkkunen
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      142 days ago

      it quite literally takes 5 minutes with a WebUSB installer.

      With a supported phone, on a Chromium browser on Windows. It takes much more than that usually, depending on device, to unlock the bootloader and install a custom ROM

      • LostXOR
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        22 days ago

        I guess I only have one data point from installing Graphene on my phone. I can see why it would be harder on other devices. Though I was using Linux, and Windows is absolutely not required for WebUSB.

    • noughtnaut
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      82 days ago

      …and then you’re locked out of using your phone to pay for things, can’t install banking apps and marginal ID apps, et cetera. 😢

      • @[email protected]
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        32 days ago
        1. do you really need to pay with your phone?
        2. do you need to use a banking app and not call the automated system to check?
        3. What ID apps would you used on a phone? Having digital ID’s is in it’s own a huge breach of privacy and i would never consent to such a system
      • LostXOR
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        12 days ago

        It’s a tradeoff for sure but it’s worth it for a lot of people.

    • lnxtx (xe/xem/xyr)
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      6
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      2 days ago

      Unlocking bootloader took me few hours.
      I must register new account, install Windows application (Linux not supported, but Windows Server evaluation is free and works as a VM),
      have valid SIM card with Internet access.

      But worth it, much better experience.

      Unfortunately, average person won’t do all this things.

      • @[email protected]
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        52 days ago

        That sounds like Xiaomi. The best price to performance ratio of any OEM, but at the cost of terrible software and this… experience… when you want to get rid of it.

        Worth noting that not all OEMs are like this.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      82 days ago

      Doesn’t’ the fork like Lineage OS or Graphene also need to support those phone models first?

      • LostXOR
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        62 days ago

        Yep, Graphene only runs on Pixels but (IIRC) Lineage runs on most mainstream devices. Otherwise stock Android should work fine.