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this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
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Privacy Guides
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I am aware of the shortcomings of my choice.
But my priority is to not give a cent to Google: what am I supposed to do then?
I argue that GrapheneOS gives Pixel phones more value, thereby supporting Google. That is not great.
If your priority is to not give a cent to Google then don't use GrapheneOS. There are other degoogled OSes for people whose priority is that. If your priority is security then you'd be willing to sacrifice on avoiding anything Google by getting GrapheneOS.
In any case, technically if you wanted to avoid anything primarily made by Google you'd have a Linux phone. The degoogled Android OSes are still based on Google's open-source code.
That's true.
Unfortunately that's not possible: I live in a country that delegates secure authentication to banks, and banks only supply 2FA apps that work in Android or iOS. If I had a Linux phone, I'd still need another phone with Android just for the purpose of banking, interacting with social services, logging in my work hours, getting notifications from the post office...
That's the misery of Android: Google is such a pervasive monopoly that even if you want a fully deGoogled OS, the basis of it has to be 95% made by Google anyway because the rest of society goes along and reinforces their monopoly. And at some point, even someone like me has to make compromises to simply live normally.
I would gladly buy a Linux phone and I'd even put up with their quirks (I tried one once so I know they're not as polished an experience as Android). But I am also a practocal man and it's just not an option.
I'm sorry to hear that, but also, what does that mean for people in your country who don't have smartphones? I know that sometimes people aren't allowed to own smartphones (refugees, or sometimes imposed on a defendant as part of criminal proceedings)—if you don't own a smartphone can you just not participate in society there?
Tbh when I've been required to install some kind of dodgy proprietary app that doesn't work well with GrapheneOS I just tell them I don't have a smartphone and they seem to be fine with that and offer me a "low-tech" alternative for whatever it is (usually some kind of 2FA app). It's concerning when important things are inaccessible to people without a smartphone, because of course that's the baseline for things being accessible for everyone regardless of their phone situation, e.g. people with degoogled phones etc.