this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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If this happens, I guess it's Linux Phone time for me... I'm pretty certain GrapheneOS will be able to get around this abuse of power for a while, but it wouldn't take much effort from Google to kill them too ; they almost already have...
Or maybe dumb phone time ? But I like browsing Wikipedia and playing chess and RetroArch on my phone, I don't want to lose that just because big G$ said so...
The new requirements will "only" apply for "certified" Android devices. I'm pretty sure, devices running a custom ROM aren't certified, especially if you don't even have Google Services installed. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to a bright future for Linux phones.
Fwiw, just because a dumb phone doesn't give you access to "smart" features doesn't mean the capabilities aren't present on the phone. It's just a matter of what could be hidden on the circuit board (lots can be hidden in chips), and what can be hidden in usual expected traffic (if bandwidth requirements are low, even timing of packets could be used to encode hidden data that would never show up in any logs).
Plus the simple tracking of cellphones is necessary for them to function at all.
I wonder if there is a dumb phone with tethering currently. Cause if you don't mind carrying 2 devices, that may be viable for your use case
If you just need a mobile data connection there's alot of sim based wifi routers
Good point!
You can still use a dump phone. You can play and browse Wikipedia on a Steam Deck which has WiFi. If you are outsid, you can use a Mifi device of a USB LTE/5G dongle for the SteamDeck.
Steam decks are expensive and relatively bulky when compared to a phone. I don't think it's really a practical solution for most of us.