As an American, this is mostly a nonstarter, but right now, the only alternative that really intrigues me is the Jolla Phone (which I invariably have to look up to make sure I’m not getting it mixed up with Volla), because it’s the only one that isn’t just running a custom Android ROM. We need a true, viable alternative to Android and iOS and, to me, a de-googled ROM is only a half measure. Furthermore, the alternative needs to be free and open source, and community-driven.
Makes me wish I’d gone into software development 25 years ago because now I can only wish I could be the change I want to see in the world.
As I understand it they use the Android kernel since the hardware manufacturers does not add hardware support in the Linux kernel. So they don’t really have any option.
However, it is still an issue that it can’t be 100% de-Googled.
And I can guarantee you’d be basically helpless and mostly useless as a mobile dev in this landscape…
I’m painting a grim picture but the reality is that the task is so ginormous that it would take tremendous ressources and thousands of devs to make it happen.
This. I was putting a lot of hope into the PinePhone, but the effort required to 1) make it at least barely usable and then 2) keep it that way across updates is just too huge.
And believe me, I tried back then. Even as a software developer, I couldn’t live with it, making all the possible sacrifices. After more than a year of struggles I just got a Pixel 7 and couldn’t be happier to this day.
As an American, this is mostly a nonstarter, but right now, the only alternative that really intrigues me is the Jolla Phone (which I invariably have to look up to make sure I’m not getting it mixed up with Volla), because it’s the only one that isn’t just running a custom Android ROM. We need a true, viable alternative to Android and iOS and, to me, a de-googled ROM is only a half measure. Furthermore, the alternative needs to be free and open source, and community-driven.
Makes me wish I’d gone into software development 25 years ago because now I can only wish I could be the change I want to see in the world.
While Jolla phones aren’t running Android, they sadly still require the Android kernel.
As I understand it they use the Android kernel since the hardware manufacturers does not add hardware support in the Linux kernel. So they don’t really have any option.
However, it is still an issue that it can’t be 100% de-Googled.
*Linux kernel
And I can guarantee you’d be basically helpless and mostly useless as a mobile dev in this landscape…
I’m painting a grim picture but the reality is that the task is so ginormous that it would take tremendous ressources and thousands of devs to make it happen.
This. I was putting a lot of hope into the PinePhone, but the effort required to 1) make it at least barely usable and then 2) keep it that way across updates is just too huge.
And believe me, I tried back then. Even as a software developer, I couldn’t live with it, making all the possible sacrifices. After more than a year of struggles I just got a Pixel 7 and couldn’t be happier to this day.