
Refurbished Samsung Android Phones Sans Google Now Available - prince707
https://www.ibtimes.com/refurbished-samsung-android-phones-sans-google-now-available-2795252
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Jaruzel
How in the long term will this be any different from Google?

Reading the features of /e/, it recommends the use of a an @e.email account
(like Google and their recommendation of a gmail account), /e/ runs their own
cloud service for your files (like Google), and pre-installs apps of their
choosing (like Google). I'm struggling to see the difference.

What I want is an open OS on my phone, with the ability to _properly_ remove
any pre-installed apps, and to choose all my own apps from my own sources. And
to be able to auto-backup my files to my own private cloud. That's the only
way I'll feel properly in control of my own phone.

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omnifisher2
I seriously wish they went with Motorola. Almost all phones are officially
unlockable. They are also available at reasonable price (€100-200 - Moto G4 to
newer ones). Sorry US hn readers, we Europeans do not (may be rarely have)
have locked/carrier controlled phones.

~~~
beojan
> we Europeans do not (may be rarely have) have locked/carrier controlled
> phones.

I think it's fairly common with subsidized pay as you go phones (at least in
the UK), since the network has to earn back the subsidy somehow. With phones
on a contract, it's not necessary since you're locked in to the contract, but
even so, it at least used to be the rule that the phone would be locked to the
network, but they would provide the unlock code once your contract was over.

EDIT: Yep, turns out all the major UK networks (except Three) lock phones:
[https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-
internet/advice...](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-
internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/mobile-phone-locking-and-unlocking)

~~~
ljcn
It's now free to unlock on most networks (not EE) during contract, and MUST be
free once the contract has ended.

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Animats
No, not "now available". _This is NOT a pre sale: you’ll go through a 0€
checkout process (you won’t be asked for any payment details). This is the
best way for us to plan for volumes by market, and to keep you informed when
products are available._

I have a Caterpillar-branded phone which has never run much Google software. I
bought it new, and when it ran the startup program asking for a Google
account, I answered "Later". Then I deleted the startup app, installed
F-Droid, and deleted almost all Google stuff, although not Google Play
Services. That breaks too much. Other than Google Play Services, you can turn
almost everything Google off without side effects. Then install replacements
from F-Droid's open source store.

That's the big headache - Google Play Services. Does /e/ have a good
replacement for them?

~~~
Jaruzel
/e/ bundles microG as a Google Apps replacement.

[https://microg.org/](https://microg.org/)

~~~
solnyshok
how good is this replacement? do most of the apps work? google apps like maps?

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throway13231
This is well appreciated. I was recently shocked/surprised, after running a
netstat, at the number of open network sockets. Even worse, stopping all apps
with netguard, still lets 'system' open a connection to GOOG's servers! This
is absolutely horrifying; I wonder what kind of data big brother Google has on
me and billions like me.

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nextos
With device-independent ROMs and unlockable bootloaders, this is quite easy to
do in a large set of recent phones. See [1] for a detailed list.

There are some model-specific glitches, though. Some manufacturers haven't
implemented Treble HAL properly.

So, for the time being, I prefer running pure AOSP on a Pixel. Paradoxically,
the best way to use Android but avoid Google is buying a Google phone.

[1]
[https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/wiki](https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/wiki)

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fghtr
One can also buy refurbished smartphones with Replicant:

[https://tehnoetic.com/mobile-devices](https://tehnoetic.com/mobile-devices)

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8bitrebellion
Sorry if I'm just being stupid, but aren't there other alternatives to /e/
already available?

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samtrack2019
it's not clear to me but where is /e/ based? is it American or Chinese (or
even Russia) based? how would that be different from Google, honest question,
why should I trust it?

~~~
drad
> it's not clear to me but where is /e/ based? is it American or Chinese (or
> even Russia) based? how would that be different from Google, honest
> question, why should I trust it?

I cant speak for where /e/ is based but the correct answer to why you should
trust them is "you shouldn't", regardless of who the company is or their
intent for as we know intent can and likely will change down the road.

