Hey people! I was wondering if anyone here has heard of/ used Morena’s /e/OS and would be willing to share some opinions?

I was looking to get a FairPhone 5 sometime soon anyways and randomly came across the option to get it “without Google

Which took me a bit off guard because I never really considered that something like that could be an option (without the hassle of rooting a phone and slapping a custom OS on it). So - is it any good? It says that you can still install most regular Android Apps. I don’t think I would miss any specific Google features, and getting a fresh start with a phone does sound nice.

  • Pherenike
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    21 hour ago

    I’ve used it for four years on my Fairphone 3 with no serious issues. I don’t use their cloud storage solution so the recent outage didn’t affect me at all. My battery often lasts up to 40 hours. I am very careful with what I install on the phone, but it works and is private/secure enough fur my threat model. I recommend it wholeheartedly

  • @madnificent
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    22 hours ago

    I run e/OS on a FP5. I ran e/OS on a Essential PH-1 before and going back to a phone with Google installed just didn’t sit right with me. I did not feel like I could trust the device even after trying to toggle as much of the creepy spying off. As if there’s still someone probably looking over your shoulder because you configured something wrong.

    It is not perfect, but it is easy to use and full-featured. All regular apps feel great and battery life is good. I still use specific Google services (such as the calendar for work) but no specific Google apps. I guess Maps is the biggest challenge now but alternatives are good enough to get around with.

    You can run Android apps. Not sure about payed Android apps. I try to install FOSS apps through the integrated f-droid store if they’re available there. Installing app store apps sometimes fails because Google blocked the installer. I could install everything so far when needed (including banking apps and specific apps for the vacuum cleaner and such). Sometimes the Android app store apps don’t update for a while and I don’t notice.

    I don’t use Murena’s services but self-host Nextcloud. Based on the information they send I think they’re doing a great job for their size.

    I flashed the FP5 myself with a beta of e/OS when it was just out because the other phone was broken and (again) I did not feel right with the spying demon in my pocket with native Android. You could flash your device too.

    It’s comfortable on this side. If you have further specific questions, shoot.

  • snrkl
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    12 hours ago

    I just went with GrapheneOS on a Pixel… It’s as close to “it just works” as you’re going to get in my opinion on a device that respects your privacy. .

  • 73ʞk13
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    5 hours ago

    I’d recommend iodéOS instead of /e/OS as the former is considered a bit more secure than the latter, see overview of Custom ROMs here (summarized from a well known German IT-Security Blog). You can also buy a FP5 with iodé preinstalled.

  • @kronarbob
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    95 hours ago

    I use /e/OS on my OP7.

    • Their tracker/ad blocker is great.
    • Their app store has a rating about privacy/tracker for each apps.
    • They implemented tor in the OS, and you can choose if you want to activate it and for which application.
    • They have a mock location feature.
    • I get monthly update, and it works smoothly.
    • You do not need to use murena account to use the OS

    For the drawbacks :

    • They have an app store that can install both applications from the play store and from Fdroid, but it isn’t very convenient as you can’t add Fdroid repos, nor uninstall applications with it. (and I’m unable to use it to install applications from the play store for more than a month, I’ve installed the aurora store )
    • Most of their system applications are open sources applications available from Fdroid but with a different icon and name.
    • Their navigation application named “Maps” is a rebrand of magic earth.

    It’s all I have in mind at this moment.

    When I’ll change for a fairphone, before turning to /e/OS, I’ll probably try iodé OS. It seems they have similar privacy /anti-ad features but the OS might be less bloated and the system app are not rebranded, they keep their original name and icons.

  • @[email protected]
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    35 hours ago

    I have a fairphone 5 running /e/os, and my previous phone was a galaxy S9+ running IodéOS.
    Unfortunately i don’t have time to write a whole review for you, but if anyone have any specific questions about either i’d be happy to answer them when i get time.

  • @[email protected]
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    46 hours ago

    My wife recently got a murena Teracube and we have rather mixed feelings about it so far, worst problem is very poor mobile network connectivity. E.g. when leaving WiFi range, it doesn’t autoconnect to mobile, or no connectivity after crossing the borders (I checked the bands, they are fine). But here I’m not sure if the problem is hard or software. Another annoying problem is that I can’t get owntracks run properly. On my Fairphone 4 (FF OS, so still Google Brand) I never had those issues.

  • lemmyreader
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    67 hours ago

    /e/os is LineageOS + microG with an easy installer available or pre-installed purchase. The interface design is based on how iOS works, for example to move an icon on your phone long press one of the icons and wait till they all go wiggling and then drag the icon to where you want to have it.

    I think /e/os is okay for folks who want a deGoogled phone that comes pre-installed.

    In case anyone wants to try the /e/os easy installer on an old and supported phone, the /e/os easy install is really much more easy compared to plain LineageOS install.

    • caos
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      77 hours ago

      The interface design is based on how iOS works, for example to move an icon on your phone long press one of the icons and wait till they all go wiggling and then drag the icon to where you want to have it.

      In case you don’t like the interface, you can also simply install a different launcher and set it as the default start app. There really is a lot to choose from: https://android.izzysoft.de/applists/category/named/tools_launcher?lang=en

  • @Dust0741
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    7 hours ago

    Per their own releases, they includes October’s AOSP security patches.

    This is pretty good, but still behind GrapheneOS in terms of security.

    (I did a quick search, so I could be wrong)

    Edit: Oct patches were included on a release from 1 week ago. I have no clue what their history is

  • Captain Baka
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    7 hours ago

    I have a Fairphone 4 with preinstalled /e/OS and I can say I really like it. I really don’t miss the Google Apps, but if you would need any you could install most of them. Lastly they had a major server fuckup (many Murena services were unavailable, like Update and Drive) but that’s solved mostly now.