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A letter to the CalyxOS community (calyxos.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Sad news - I have been very happy with CalyxOS, and not sure if I would want to continue using it without security updates or move to another ROM on my Fairphone 4. It seems perhaps that I would anyway need to reflash when they get to the point of resuming updates? Anyone get a clearer reading on that than me?

I have been contemplating trying out Ubuntu Touch which has according to their site 100% compatability with Fairphone 4 now, but there are some functionality that I think would struggle without, and if I can't get it working as I want, I wouldn't be able to reflash CalyxOS now. Getting a new phone to install GrapheneOS is not an option for me.

What are other people here using CalyxOS going to do to maintain a modicum of privacy on their mobile devices?

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[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The way that was going, I thought they were going to announce the end of the project. Glad to see it's just a temporary pause on updates!

The best Android alternative from a privacy standpoint forr the Fairphone 4 is iodéOS, which is a privacy-focused fork of LineageOS that fully supports the device (including re-locking of the bootloader). LineageOS isn't really a privacy-focused project, but it would also come with some improvements over stock. You can also get a version of LineageOS with microG here.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I didn't realise iodé supported relocking on FP4. I don't suppose it'd also happen to support microG in work profile only, deleted from the personal profile?

Because I'd love to return to ethical hardware from Graphene/Pixel, and the lack of FDE on Ubuntu Touch really rubs me the wrong way.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

I'm not sure, but you can always try asking on their forums or in their Matrix chat. It's a friendly community.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

What is FDE?

EDIT: Full-disk encryption?

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Yup! Even just LUKSing a partition is hacky. And I lose things often, so it's an important thing to me.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Why iodeOS over GrapheneOS?

Edit: oh you said for the FairPhone, not Android in general. GraphenOS is Pixel only at the moment, at least until they launch their own device

[-] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's probably the death of the project. Just read the letter the project is dead. Who is going to send the time to move to another ROM and then come back after they're done? And who knows when they'll do it again.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

I'm trying out LineageOS. It seems to have most of the user facing stuff I care about. I did have to manually install F-Droid, then add the repo for microG and install that, then manually install Aurora, so some more manual work was required, but it seems fine. It has options to deny network access to apps, though it's a bit hidden in the network settings for each app instead of thru a "Firewall" app. It also comes with SeedVault so I was able to import my CalyxOS backup and get my apps and settings restored. My banking app (USAA) works fine too.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

It has options to deny network access to apps, though it's a bit hidden in the network settings for each app instead of thru a "Firewall" app

You can check out RethinkDNS for blocking or isolating apps.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I'm already hosting my own PiHole and using Quad9 as my upstream, so I have DNS filters already in place. Some apps however if you use a restrictive DNS will just use Google DNS all on their own, so I like having the option to just disable network connectivity altogether for apps that don't need it.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

If Lineage allowed me to relock my bootloader I would probably had gone with that vs GrapheneOS. I DONT know why GrapheneOS developers insist on the world's ugliest UI for all their applications and icons.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Try /e/OS

https://doc.e.foundation/what-s-e

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I'm wondering about LOS re-locking on particular devices. DivestOS used to allow that, not sure if only on pixels, but if divestOS which was based on LOS could, I don't see how that code can not be ported over upstream LOS. Have anyone seen an effort similar to divestOS in this regard?

this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2025
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