#aosp — Public Fediverse posts

The Medium app on my #grapheneos phone now fails to start, citing failed device certification. This was updated two days ago so I suspect they put in a new check that might be related to the developer verification program. I posted to the forum asking whether there are others noticing the same
#AOSP #medium

Parce que légalement rien empêche #Google de laisser mourrir #Android #AOSP dans sa version actuelle et de créer un fork complètement fermé si ?

My new phone arrived on Saturday, and I've been playing with it so that I can give at least a somewhat knowledgeable review. For a bit of background, try these posts.

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1/117016570097287465

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1/117080735346981626

Note that I have not tried Calculator, E-mail, Browser, Messages, or usb tethering and hotspot. I know that it will speak inside of the message edit box, but I haven't sent a message, since it seems I need to add a contact first. The only ones i would really use of those are Calculator and hotspot/tethering, anyway. I shall divide this into pros, cons, and overall opinion.

Pros
*It has real buttons. This was my main purpose in buying this phone. I was sick of touchscreens. The navigation pad isn't really tactile in the sense of having separate buttons as my Kyocera Rally did, but it's fairly easy to figure out, since it's just a circle with only four options.
* Yes, it has a screen reader. It's called Readout. Tello does not include the user manual in the box and directs users to the official one by TCL. For some inexplicable reason, while they mention other accessibility features such as hearing aid compatibility, they say absolutely nothing about a screen reader. Fortunately, both AT&T and Tracfone do. This is from AT&T.
https://www.att.com/device-support/index/tcl/flip-2/
* Readout reads almost everything. Almost all menus are read. Certainly, important ones such as settings are, except for the battery percentage. I can easily add a Bluetooth device, set an alarm, change ring tones, switch to usb file transfer mode, read all files on the phone (and presumably on an sd card/I'm waiting for that to arrive), read notifications, use the Music, Recorder, and Notes programs. I think I can also add contacts, but I'm still working on that.
*Files are easily transferred from my computer to the phone and vise versa. Even though it's a very old version (11), on AOSP, so I'm not truly surprised about that.
*It works well with an external keyboard. Mostly, I won't be using one, but it really helps when adding contacts, writing notes, or sending texts, though I usually do the last via Google Voice on my computer.
*It's not huge. I was concerned that it would be a very long phone, but it's really not. It's also narrow and very easy to hold in the hand.
*The battery life is excellent. It lasts for a long time if it's just sitting idle.
*It has a headphone jack. I really missed that when going to the SE3 from my A15. Now, I can listen to things without worrying that the batteries in my earbuds will die.

Cons
*Setting it up the first time requires sighted assistance. There is no way to turn Readout on with a hotkey such as the volume buttons, as with regular Android. But the option appears very early in the process, and if you wanted to, once it was on, you could finish the process yourself.
*Setting alarms can be confusing at first. For some reason, while it always speaks the first number in each column (hour and minute), when I arrow up and down, it says nothing. Then, when I go back to it, it will tell me the changes. For example, if the hour is on 9 and I set it to 10, it will not say "10". IIf the minute is on 29 and I set it to 30, it says nothing. But if I then go back to the hour column, it will say "10" and if I then go to the minute column, it will say "30". Now that I know this, it's fairly simple to do.
*The battery percentage isn't announced via the menus. As with the clock, I don't understand this. It reads everything up to clicking on "battery level" and then it just says "okay" without actually telling me the level. The only way I can be sure of it is to plug the phone into a wall outlet, a computer, or a power bank.
*The calendar does not speak at all. Absolutely nothing in the calendar speaks.
*It does not announce whose calling. At first, I was upset about this. Then, I realized that the only phone which did that was my Kyocera Rally and then only because I chose a ring tone that specifically read out messages. None of my iphones (SE, SE2, and SE3) nor my galaxy A15 read out numbers. I must unlock the phone to read them. Here, though, if I open the phone, it answers. The other option is press any key, so no matter what, I won't ever know who's calling. I can, however, set specific ring tones for contacts and just ignore everyone else.
*Programs can be installed on it, but it's not easy or officially supported. I wasn't sure whether to include this in Pros or Cons, but since everyone says it's extremely difficult, as the phone must be rooted and failure and even ruining the phone are possible, I put it under Cons. I won't be attempting it. But for those interested, this is a forum discussion that explains how to do it. It also contains a site with programs for flip phones in general, so you might find it useful, even if you own another model or brand entirely.
https://www.howardforums.com/threads/tcl-flip-2-modding-info.1927948/
*The branding on this phone is very confuding. When trying to determine if this phone had a screen reader, I came across several similar-sounding names. The Alcatel My Flip 2 and Flip Go 2 are entirely different phones. But the TCL Flip 2 and Alcatel TCL Flip 2, all with the model number T408DL (or ALT408DL) are the same thing.

Overall Opinion
I absolutely love this phone! It's small, light, has real buttons, speaks what I need it to speak, and even has some extras like music, Recorder, Notes, alarm/timer, and hotspot. I can finally simply call someone and hang up without annoyances, an use a phone that doesn't require the strength of Hercules and the hands of a giant to hold! I would highly recommend this to anyone who just wants a simple phone and doesn't want to pay over $300 for the Minivision2+. While the Flip 2 isn't designed for the blind, it does most things right and can definitely be used daily.

#Android #accessibility #AOSP #blind #Dumbphone #FlipPhone #MiniVision2+ #MobilePhone #TCLFlip2 #Tello #technology

Side note...

Amazing the difference in app size between the three I currently rotate through.

- Helboard Keyboard is around 25mb.
- Unexpected Keyboard is 1mb.
- FUTO Keyboard is 134mb, although that includes voice to text dictation built in (open source).

#AOSP #OpenSource #Helboard #FUTOKeyboard #UnexpectedKeyboard

I'm having a bit of challenge with the Helboard keyboard. Love everything about this relatively lightweight keyboard app, but...

I install fresh. Everything is fine for a few weeks, then it starts to "learn" (?) to replace the space in between words with a lower case b.

Starts randomly, then picks up frequency until I go berserk.

If I reinstall, issue goes away, and the cycle starts again. Anyone else having this challenge?

#Helboard #AOSP #OpenSource

@[email protected]

Porting phones to create degoogled ROMS or alternative mobile OS images for it is not usually an easy thing. For starters it requires owning the device for testing (at the risk of bricking it if something goes really wrong), and it having a bootloader which can be unlocked (which is also something OEM's are closing off more for the newer devices), as well as having its kernel source published. That said, luckily the list of devices with degoogled ROM's or alternative OS's for them is likely longer than you think.

For those new to the process, the best general resource for instructions on how to unlock your phone’s bootloader and flash alternate AOSP ROM’s or non-Android OS’s is https://xdaforums.com/
Please note that not all carriers and oem’s allow you to unlock the bootloader though, so choose your device carefully for this.

You will also most likely need a PC (desktop or laptop) with adb & fastboot on it. These are apps used in the terminal, but you only need to copy and paste a few commands into them to use it.

If you have a Google Pixel then the best option is Graphene - https://grapheneos.org/

For other devices you can use a “degoogled” Android ROM and get apps from the open source F-Droid app store - https://f-droid.org/
Some choices for this are:
Lineage - https://lineageos.org/
crDroid - https://crdroid.net/
/e/os - https://e.foundation/e-os/
Iode - https://iode.tech/iodeos/

OR use a a true alternative mobile OS. Options for this are:
Ubuntu Touch - https://www.ubuntu-touch.io/
Sailfish OS - https://sailfishos.org/
Mobian - https://mobian-project.org/
Postmarket OS - https://postmarketos.org/
Plasma Mobile - https://plasma-mobile.org/
Droidian - https://droidian.org/

You can also purchase devices with alternative OS’s already preinstalled from:
Volla - https://volla.online/en/devices/
Jolla - https://jolla.com/
Fairphone - https://fairphone.com/
Murena - https://murena.com/
Furilabs - https://furilabs.com/
Brax - https://www.braxtech.net/

linuxmobile #google #android #libre #foss #degoogle #enshitticiation #digitalsovereignty #aosp #smartphones

The recent update for LocalSend has REALLY improved transfer speeds. And this is not a subtle improvement.

More like going from Impulse to Warp speed!

Definitely worth testing out.

#OpenSource #LocalSend #GrapheneOS #AOSP

https://localsend.org/

#Google hammers another, extremely petty nail in the #Android #OpenSource Project’s coffin
https://www.osnews.com/story/145738/google-hammers-another-extremely-petty-nail-in-the-android-open-source-projects-coffin/

«Google is clearly trying to kill whatever’s left of the Android Open Source Project’s rotting corpse, only barely technically complying with any license requirements only because they’re obligated to.»

#AOSP

I found a new phone and a new company to go with it, though the phone is unlocked. It's a TCL Flip 2. It's cheap, it talks, and it has real buttons, completely eliminating my issues with touchscreens. It is also very affordable. The company I'm trying is called Tello. I am currently with Mint Mobile, and I have never had a problem with them. But I like Tello's pricing and build your own plan option. Now, I will be able to make calls and hang up easily. Plus, it has things that I use the most, including clock, timer, alarm, weather, and even a recorder and media player! The only thing I would really miss is Seeing AI, but I can always use my iPhone or Galaxy A15 for that. Here is more information on the phone.

https://tello.com/buy/phones/tcl-flip2-new-volcanoblack-8gb-tcl

#accessibility #Android #AOSP #blind #buttons #FlipPhone #MintMobile #phone #TCL #technology #Tello

Mon téléphone fatigue mais on est d'accord que c'est mieux d'attendre de voir comment va se passer le verrouillage d'#Android début 2027 avant de changer pour un autre sous #AOSP hein ? 🤔

Côté téléphone, j’ai un Nokia 8110 4G depuis quelques années. C’est un dumbphone sous #KaiOS, avec tethering (partage de connexion ternette). Je l’ai ressorti après avoir perdu mon smartphone… le clavier T9 est devenu capricieux, passer des appels devient hasardeux, mais ça me permet de recevoir des SMS — ne serait-ce pour les services d’authentification.

L’alternative moderne (mais toujours en 4G)  serait le Dumber Mini, sous #AOSP + #MicroG :
https://dumbphone.fr/telephones/dumber-mini

3/4

#DumberOS

Wie kan mij in contact brengen met developers in de 112NL app van de Landelijke Meldkamer Samenwerking 🚨 ?

Deze app werkt niet op het grootste Europese mobiele OS, /e/OS (>100.000 gebruikers). We komen graag in contact met de ontwikkelaars van deze app, want dit is absoluut niet nodig.

Dit komt door Play Integrity, waarvoor goede alternatieven beschikbaar zijn die net zo veilig (veiliger!) zijn maar WEL werken op /e/OS.

#FOSS #opensource #FOSS #privacy #android #AOSP #tech #eOS #Murena

Wie kan mij in contact brengen met developers in de @[email protected] en Funda? Beiden werken sinds kort niet meer op het grootste Europese mobiele OS, /e/OS (>100.000 gebruikers en snel groeiend). We komen graag in contact met de ontwikkelaars van deze apps, want dit is absoluut niet nodig (voor veiligheid of andere redenen) en we zouden hen graag hen een guide toesturen die deze alternatieven beschrijft.

#FOSS #opensource #privacy #android #AOSP #Linux #tech #funda #Rabobank @rabobank

@murena

People talks about Huawei smartphones that what they didn’t know it’s actually De-googled Android devices with the worse way of Google Services implementation, and I see another YouTuber that roast about Huawei devices in global market that aren’t actually HarmonyOS, because the exact HarmonyOS is actually only avaliable on Mainland China for now and those marketing try to fool user to cap their own de-googled AOSP build as “HarmonyOS” and they should rebrand their AOSP build as “Huawei Android” instead of fooling people with the brand that actually aren’t same.

And something that they need to stop is deploying crappy GBox or fibonas as their own Google Services implementation. Why? because it would be helpful for anyone.

And to any of you who have bought the Huawei devices which it isn’t actual HarmonyOS, just make it as secondary smartphone and get the Android devices with actual Google Services implemented y default and certified.

#Huawei #HarmonyOS #smartphone #Android #AOSP

مدخل إلى أنظمة تشغيل De-Googled: بين الخصوصية والتوافق العملي

في عصر يُقاس فيه قيمة الهاتف الذكي بقدرته على تسهيل الحياة اليومية، يُقاس ثمن ذلك غالباً بكمّ البيانات الشخصية التي يتم جمعها وتحليلها من قبل شركات التقنية الكبرى. ومع تزايد الوعي بهذه المعادلة، برز تيار متنامٍ يبحث عن بدائل تمنح المستخدم سيادة حقيقية على جهازه، وهنا يأتي دور ما يُعرف بأنظمة تشغيل De-Googled – أي الهواتف التي تعمل بنظام أندرويد مفتوح المصدر (AOSP) بعد تجريدها من خدمات جوجل المغلقة، وعلى رأسها Google Play Services، ذلك المكوّن الذي يعمل في الخلفية ليدير الإشعارات والموقع والمزامنة والتحليلات.

لكن ماذا يعني هذا التجريد عملياً؟
لا يقتصر الأمر على حذف تطبيقات جوجل الظاهرة كـ Gmail أو الخرائط، بل يتعداه إلى إزالة طبقة برمجية كاملة كانت تتصل بخوادم جوجل باستمرار، مما يمنح المستخدم فجأة ثلاثة مكاسب واضحة: خصوصية أعلى (توقف جمع البيانات الوصفية للاستخدام والإعلانات)، أداء أفضل (توقف العمليات الخلفية المرهقة للبطارية والذاكرة)، وشفافية أكبر (إمكانية مراقبة ما يرسله النظام فعلياً عبر أدوات مفتوحة المصدر).

ولكن، كأي خيار تقني، هناك ثمن يُدفع:
قد تواجه بعض التطبيقات التي تعتمد على إطار خدمات جوجل (كبعض تطبيقات البنوك، أو خدمات البث، أو ألعاب معينة) صعوبات في التشغيل، وإن كانت أنظمة حديثة مثل GrapheneOS توفّر حلاً مبتكراً عبر تشغيل هذه الخدمات في بيئة معزولة (Sandbox) دون منحها صلاحيات النظام.
الإشعارات الفورية قد تتأخر في بعض التطبيقات التي تعتمد على خوادم جوجل للدفع (FCM).
يتطلب الانتقال لهذه الأنظمة قدراً من الصبر والتعلّم، خصوصاً في إدارة التطبيقات عبر متاجر بديلة مثل F-Droid أو Aurora Store.

بين هذا وذاك، تتنوع الخيارات:
تتفاوت هذه الأنظمة في أولوياتها: فـ GrapheneOS تُركّز على الأمان الصلب (Hardening) وتوفير عزل قوي بين التطبيقات، بينما /e/OS تسعى لتقديم تجربة "جوجل-فري" مع الحفاظ على سهولة الاستخدام اليومي، وCalyxOS تقدّم توازناً بين الخصوصية والتوافق، مع دعم مدمج لتشغيل بعض خدمات جوجل بشكل محدود وآمن، وأما LineageOS فهو الذي يفتح المجال أمام عدد غفير من الموبايلات للاستفادة من مزاياه.

الخلاصة الواقعية:
الهاتف المجرّد من جوجل ليس حلاً سحرياً يجعلك "غير مرئي" على الإنترنت، فهو لا يمنع تتبعك عبر المتصفح أو التطبيقات الأخرى، ولا يحميك من ضعف كلمة السر أو الهندسة الاجتماعية. لكنه يُعيد إليك عنصراً أساسياً: حق الاختيار – أنت من يقرر أي الخدمات تثق بها، وأيها تسمح بالعمل على جهازك، ومتى يتم الاتصال بالخادم البعيد. إنها مفاضلة شرعية بين نظام متكامل ومريح، وآخر أكثر انضباطاً ووضوحاً، تبعاً لاحتياجات كل مستخدم ودرجة وعيه الرقمي.

----------- يتبع

#de_googled
#aosp
#Privacy
#Cybersecurity
#GrapheneOS
#CalyxOS
#LineageOS

Sign your #crDroid builds and keep Play Integrity happy. https://crdroid.net/blog/2024-06-01-sign-your-crDroid-builds-and-keep-play-integrity-happy

#android #aosp

Fiven that Google has decided to "boil the frog" by slowly closing off Android, with a significant move towards this happening this September, and given that might impact the development of degoogled AOSP ROM's as well, I've been testing out Ubuntu Touch as a daily driver once again.

I used "UT" as my mobile OS on my daily drivers from 2018-2022, but then carriers in the USA required VoLTE to make calls, which UT did not suppprt at the time. But the past year VoLTE support was added to a number of devices, and tons of other improvements have been made recently for the latest 24.04.2 I am testing now, and which should be released to the public soon. There are a few issies which make this not quite as easy to use as my Android phone still, but grateful for the devs at UBports & the UT community for how many fixes & new features have added in the past few months.

I really like the Merlin Bird ID app, BUT it's proprietary, and only available on iOS App Store and/or Google Play.

After doing some research yesterday, I discovered the open source project Birdnet-live, which has a direct Github download. No Google Play!

Maybe useful for some of you.

"Professional bioacoustics in your pocket. Built for field researchers, conservationists, and serious birders."

#AOSP #OpenSource #GrapheneOS #BirdID

https://github.com/birdnet-team/birdnet-live-app

As someone deep in the weeds on #AOSP source code, you know what else is wrong?

The move from Google to change APPLICATIONS_RESTRICTIONS_CHANGED from being fired by the OS when enterprise MDM applies them, to an intent that is only fired if you have Google Services (a different intent com.android.vending.action.APPLICATIONS_RESTRICTIONS_CHANGED). MDMs providers of course are now forced to publish on Play Store if they want Android Enterprise. Which requires Google Services and APIs that are not on #AOSP. A look at managedsetup module and you find comments as *TODO* and *FIX-LATER* except it never was, never will be.

You know what else is a no-go for #deGoogled phones using Android apks? Push #notifications. They require #gms #firebase #tokens, and do not work on devices without them. This means that push to send an OTP code? That message that was supposed to show on someone's phone? Not delivered. Delivered late or after it expired. There is an alternative, #UnifiedPush https://unifiedpush.org/ but no adoption by #devs means non Google Certified devices are excluded. And no, signature spoofing and #microG is not a solution.

#push #aosp

Android developers:

The point of having separate system and user data partitions is to be able to replace the system without losing your data.

So why is it that the instructions for installing every open source Android tells us to backup data and format the user data partition?

Especially on a platform that doesn't have¹ any good backup solutions?

1) Last time I asked about Android backups, the only notable response I got was "why do you care so much about backups anyway".
#Android #AOSP #eos #Lineageos

@calyxinstitute Is it an opensource and audited feature? Will it work also on alternative ROM, without the need of any Google service?
#opensource #AOSP

https://www.wacoca.com/games/1404668/ Black SharkがXiaomiのエコシステムから離脱：ゲーミングスマートフォンシリーズにとって、困難な転換点となる。 ##GAMING #AOSP #Game #GameNews #games #GamingNews #HyperOS #ゲーミング #ゲーム #ゲーム攻略 #ゲーム最新情報 #スマートフォンゲーム #ブラックシャーク #携帯

For those who are researching the different AOSP projects out there, you will probably cross paths with this site at some point (and probably should 😂 )

https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm

#AOSP #DeGoogle #DeApple #OpenSource

/e/OS blocked 25,688 tracking events over the past week. The 1% that went through were because I allowed them.

See how /e/OS protects my device from tracking attempts!

#privacy #android #degoogle #aosp #murena