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Would it be possible to dumb down a linux phone? (feddit.it)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Regardless of the distribution, would it be possible to have a phone that can be simplified to include only the features you want? For example, I would only want a calendar, notes, a calculator, calls and messages. I wouldn’t want a browser, an app store or any other way to easily install them. Is this possible on a Linux mobile distro? Does it require a lot of work, like making a specific distro for it?

Linux feels like a great option for this because it can leave enough freedom to dumb down what you don't need while also keeping a big level of customization, not everyone needs are the same regarding to dumbphones

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[–] 4 points 5 months ago* (10 children)

Yes, I have a PinePhone and PinePhone Pro both with PostMarketOS so doing this is as easy as few sudo apk add packagename or sudo apk del firefox.

Now... if you want a daily driver then as few others hinted at, it's much harder. I would instead, if deGoogle Android is an acceptable compromise for you, get a 2nd hand Pixel 8 or above, install GrapheneOS on it, remove the browser and that's pretty much it already since it doesn't come with an app store or equivalent. Well, there's the GrapheneOS equivalent but there are ~10 apps on it at most last time I checked.

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  • [+] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)
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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    I have GOS, you can't remove it unfortunately. Those kind of people are everywhere online but never forget it's your device. You can do with it whatever the hell you want, regardless of what the "point" of anything is.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (2 children)

    Right, you actually can't AFAIK but you can disable it.

    It's indeed not the point. GrapheneOS focus is on security. If you want to have complete control you'd better go with a Linux proper phone but AFAICT, unless you are fine with ~4hrs battery and/or can spend 1000€ on a device that very people have, it's not for most.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (4 children)

    Degoogled Google phone is still the funniest shit to me, I can't understand it

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    It's a pragmatic compromise. The assumption is that Google is not literally evil, solely a very large advertisement company which subsidize very cool hardware in order to sell more ads. It's the same principle as using a rooted Meta Quest when one doesn't even have a Facebook or WhatsApp account.

    I imagine than everybody who is into that situation will move to Motorola or Valve Frame when those will become available. Until then the bet is that the hardware does not have hardware backdoors because so far nobody disclosed any.

    If you really are into trusting hardware I recommend checking https://precursor.dev/ and similar initiatives.

    I did mention Linux phones too but again that's not for everyone.

    IMHO it's much better to use a GrapheneOS deGoogle Android device today, knowing the limitation, than using a Googled Android device today, Pixel or not, and complaining about all the limitations about it while waiting for a theoretical better solution that is simply not yet available.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (2 children)

    Who knows if this is true because I don't have the expertise to understand if it is or not, but supposedly the explanation given by the GrapheneOS team is that the pixel phones were the only phones that had the hardware security strong enough to provide the security model GrapheneOS wanted.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago* (1 child)

    I know the reasoning, it does make sense in a way, if you trust Google. But that's kind of the point, you can't truly look into their hardware, who knows what is within the chips, potentially not even accessible by the OS. I wouldn't trust the firmware made by Google if getting away from Google because it is evil is literally the point.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    I'm currently using a Pixel with GOS on it. But I "went away from Google" (stopped using their services) because I don't trust them to keep the telemetry about me they store safe. (Or use it in a way I'm fine with).

    And altering the physical hardware in a way to spy on a phones users, irregardless of the operating system, isn't a reasonable concern (I believe you can think of a fair few reasons).

    There are very few phones that actually have open firmware, which is unfortunate, but in most peoples cases (like when you don't trust Google to use your data responsibly) they can accept that risk. They have done it with every other phone they used as well. And those were (probably) a lot less open than Pixels are.

    You can also make the more meta-argument that since the police in Catalonia and French law enforcement saw those phones as a threat, you can be sure you have secure phone in your hands.

    p.s. This was a lot less concise than I expected. Sorry for the text wall :)

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