Why I moved from GrapheneOS to iodéOS on my Google Pixel
(the.unknown-universe.co.uk)
from TheIPW@lemmy.ml to degoogle@lemmy.ml on 14 Jul 12:51
https://lemmy.ml/post/50043201
from TheIPW@lemmy.ml to degoogle@lemmy.ml on 14 Jul 12:51
https://lemmy.ml/post/50043201
I’ve been using a de-Googled Android setup and found myself running into the same issue a lot of people probably do: the privacy-first option is great right up until the everyday stuff stops working properly.
In my case, banking apps and Android Auto were the sticking points. GrapheneOS was excellent in principle, but iodéOS ended up being the more practical fit for my actual use case.
I’d be interested to hear where other people draw that line between privacy, convenience, and reliability.
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I’m grateful that most of my banking can be done directly through a browser on my phone or on a CPU (I also never used the apps before my switch).
I don’t have a infotainment system in my car, CoMaps and BT audio is all I really need anyway
I never used a banking app nor Android Auto. For me, these are not reasons to go with a less secure/private OS.
Most of my purchases are with cash, once in a while I’ll use my credit card so I have no need for a banking app. Usually, I do my banking at an ATM.
As for Android Auto, my phone stays in airplane mode most of the time. In order to use AA, I would have to allow constant cell-tower tracking by turning off airplane mode.
At this point, idc about banking apps… I thought I would, but I really don’t. I did log into my bank in the desktop browser, setup automated alerts to try and overcome the need to log on often. All bills are already auto pay, and tried to fix anything else I might be, like auto transfers, etc.
So far, when I do need to log on, I’ve got the mobile link favorite on the phone browser to skip the app, or again, just use the desktop. The trade off is worth it.
Next will be taking all the off-brand esp32 sensors and integrating into HomeAssistant so I don’t need those apps either. Can block external internet and use locally 😁. My daily driver of LineageOS but I have a signed out Android at home just for those apps/ purposes.
Mobile deposit is the main use case that keeps banking apps critical for some. If you don’t receive paper checks or have a local branch/ATM at which to make deposits. Otherwise, it can be a real pain to not have the app.
Ohhh touché. I haven’t had a paper check in many years so I sort of forgot all about that!
A very awkward decision. GrapheneOS, with its compatibility layer and sandboxed Google Play Services, Google Play Store, and Android Auto, should have better overall support.
I can’t speak for banking apps, but GrapheneOS is fully compatible with Android Auto anyway.
I’m like 28 hours into my GrapheneOS phone experience (I’ve used it almost daily for a couple months on a tablet but that’s been mostly NewPipe), and so far my banks’ app works (I should report that to the compatibility list, it’s not currently in there), along with basically everything else I used. If anything most of the weirdness seems to come from the jump from Android 12 to 17, and transferring data from apps that are mostly if not entirely on device. (KDE Connect is the goat yet again, extremely helpful here too)
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/pictrs/image/2af3ed8d-5c90-47cf-bc41-794a1677ddec.webp">
The privacy world is not the same ever since banks invented banking apps.
I’m confused. You write as if privacy and convenience are somehow related. They’re not. They’re completely independent of one another as are rabbits and trains. You’re regurgitating corporate-propaganda: software-companies steal your resources (time, money, electricity, bandwidth, data, etc.) and retort they do so for your convenience when confronted. That’s a lie. It just so happens it’s easier to steal when your software has a monopoly and vendors actively prohibit and deter any alternative software.
You don’t get a choice of what software is on your computer when you buy it from the retailer. The fact is you’ve been conditioned and only know how to use proprietary-software that’s become a standard via lobbying and exclusive contracts between software-vendors and OEMs. That has fuck all to do with convenience.
The fact that Google and Apple have a near duopoly over software distribution on mobile-computers (i.e. I want to use my bank’s app and that’s only distributed via Google’s PlayStore™ or whatever Apple’s thing™ is called) is a national-governance issue not a mater of convenience.
Neither Google nor Apple are doing charitable works here. I’ll brush over the details to paint a picture: any financial transaction that occurs within an ‘app’ distributed by those platforms results in a demand from the distributor for a percentage of that sum. How that general thrust affects banking ‘apps’ I’m not sure and I would hope there’s caveats for essential infrastructure like banking. Probably not; regulation is nonexistent for software-companies.
I don’t bank with banks that limit their clients to an ‘app’ distributed solely by Google or Apple. That behaviour has nothing to do with convenience and everything to do with economics, politics, self-determination and self-respect. I consider it abuse to the user to run non-libre software.
@dropdrip @TheIPW "Apples thing" is just called "App Store"
I weigh my ideals against the possibilities and make compromises along the way. Thats not regurgitating propaganda but my reality. Feel free to get things working the way they should be in a privacy first setting and I’ll applaude you. I can’t yet I live at least part of my ideals.
I’m not saying privacy and convenience are the same thing, or that the situation is somehow natural or benign.
I agree that the real issue is power, distribution control, and the way mobile software has been turned into a duopoly.
What I meant was more practical, for ordinary users, the choice often ends up being between an ideal setup and one that still lets them do necessary day-to-day things like banking and navigation.
That doesn’t make the underlying problem any less political, it just means people are forced to make compromises inside a system they didn’t choose.
I found it easier to get AA working on Graphene if you use a wireless adaptor.
Did you try exploit compatibility mode in your banking apps before leaving Graphene? It fixed all of my banking apps.
Never heard of iodéOS. At first glance it looks like they take LineageOS for microG, bloat it with some random apps, and expect us to pay them for adblocking. Am I missing something?