Technology

I've been using GrapheneOS for a couple months after having tested it on an older phone for a while. I'm really loving the level of control I have over what I give apps access to. If you have a spare Pixel to test on I definitely recommend it! I've been getting away from all Google stuff and finding free open source and self-hosted alternatives. I'm running in the opposite direction of all the AI and data-farming.

Same, I've always been android and windows and heavily anti-apple

It's like people have completely forgotten what Apple was like before the iPhone

I don't know if I've ever really been pro-Microsoft, they had just been what gave me the freedom to get the job done. I even had a Windows CE phone back in the day, because it worked.

When Microsoft started monetizing every little thing and became outright hostile with its users is when I made the switch to Linux, the learning curve was steep but it didn't take very long to get a handle on it

Early on I think I made the mistake of trying to hurry to get a windows experience out of Linux when I should have started where I started with Microsoft, at the command prompt

I used DOS for a long time before Windows 3.1 was even on the scene. Thinking back, even when I was using Windows at first, I was always finding myself bringing up a command prompt to do things.

Linux brings back some of that nostalgia, but it is so incredibly more capable and customizable than windows

The user experience of GrapheneOS is basically the same as vanilla Android, except that you have more control (you can uninstall google apps, for example), but at the cost of a small minority of apps (banking ones, for example) not working (out of the box, sometimes at all). My banking app works, and a quick google search will tell you if yours does too. If your old pixel is not too old (4 is no longer supported, 8 definitely is, not sure abt in between), you should give it a go. I think you'll see it's not as big of a step as you maybe currently imagine.

I've been GrapheneOS on my pixel7pro since march and I have no complaints. Everything works, and I have control over what apps have access too. The only thing I will say is that if you need the camera to take gr3at photos, its not nearly so good with grapheneOS. I pretty much always have a mirroless camera with me anyway so it dosent bother me. I just use the phone camera for quick snap shots

Gemini can be disabled. Uninstall/disable the Gemini app if your phone has it then go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > digital assistant > Google > none.

Apple isn't gonna have your back on this either you minds well run to foss forever if this is gonna be your Hill to die on

Not liking Apple for ethical reasons is one thing, but thinking they don’t make good products surprises me. I think the current generation of MacBooks are some of the best computers ever sold.

No, Google is using their influence and our reliance to steer society. Please don't forget how passive language enables the worst abusers.

Apple is pushing AI even for their Mac lineup. Apple is a US company and had to be forced to allow Sideloading in select regions. Jumping to another US company seems like a lateral move.

Moving to dumb phones or custom ROMs is the best alternative available.

Every new stupid implementation of AI feels like a prank.

probably not, unless you add certain services back onto your phone. currently, gemini needs the google workspace to do anything, even something like setting a timer or reminder. i obviously dont know what change they make with that announcement, but i dont think they would offer such a feature without sucking the user deep into the google service world.