It’s important to recognize that Android distributions without Google’s (spyware) Play Services are vastly better for privacy than the commercial Android distributions that ship on most phones. To overlook/minimize that difference by calling them “just” different Android distributions is misleading.
I mean yeah I know they’re better, I run lineage os, but it still is just another android distribution, not a real android alternative. I feel like the people who just want safer android are going to be confused by them being called “alternatives” and the people who want an alternative know that they aren’t really alternatives.
The need being served here is for an alternative to Google’s spyware, not for an alternative to Android.
The Android operating system itself is not a significant privacy problem. (It might seem like one because most Android distributions include Google Play Services, but without that, Android is pretty tame and very useful.)
Aurora isn’t really anti-google as it’s merely a different front end for Play (that you can use anonymously).
You could say the same about Piped, which is just an alt front end for YouTube.
None of these alternatives seem to tackle the networking effect of the root Google services. None of them address durability, either. Proton VPN launched in 2017, Google’s been around since 1998. Microsoft’s been around since 1975. IBM’s been around since 1911.
If you don’t mind rebasing your entire digital profile every five or ten years, these alternatives are fine. But most people don’t want to ditch a 20 year old email address or fiddle with a brand new OS, when enshitification can be right around the corner for any of these services in another few years.
Ffs, I’d just finished putting the shine on my PLEX server before they shit the bed.
Aurora isn’t really anti-google as it’s merely a different front end for Play (that you can use anonymously).
Need more calendar options such as mailbox.org.
Good start though!
Yeah, plus all the android alternatives are just different android distributions.
It’s important to recognize that Android distributions without Google’s (spyware) Play Services are vastly better for privacy than the commercial Android distributions that ship on most phones. To overlook/minimize that difference by calling them “just” different Android distributions is misleading.
I mean yeah I know they’re better, I run lineage os, but it still is just another android distribution, not a real android alternative. I feel like the people who just want safer android are going to be confused by them being called “alternatives” and the people who want an alternative know that they aren’t really alternatives.
The need being served here is for an alternative to Google’s spyware, not for an alternative to Android.
The Android operating system itself is not a significant privacy problem. (It might seem like one because most Android distributions include Google Play Services, but without that, Android is pretty tame and very useful.)
Mailbox is pretty good. The UI is a bit clunky, but so far I like it.
Agree on the calendar. In particular would like to find one with map integration.
You could say the same about Piped, which is just an alt front end for YouTube.
None of these alternatives seem to tackle the networking effect of the root Google services. None of them address durability, either. Proton VPN launched in 2017, Google’s been around since 1998. Microsoft’s been around since 1975. IBM’s been around since 1911.
If you don’t mind rebasing your entire digital profile every five or ten years, these alternatives are fine. But most people don’t want to ditch a 20 year old email address or fiddle with a brand new OS, when enshitification can be right around the corner for any of these services in another few years.
Ffs, I’d just finished putting the shine on my PLEX server before they shit the bed.