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exerceo
21d

Modern smartphones: "Powerful", "marvelous", but corporate overlords dictate what you actually get to do with it.

They lock your bootloader and prevent you from installing third-party operating systems.[1] Now they are starting to block third-party app installation only in certain situations, but this will sure as hell escalate.[2]

They block you from using the MicroSD card properly or take away the memory card slot entirely, decide what you are allowed to screenshot[3], and they lock your user data (like browsing history and saved pages) away from yourself to "protect you" from imagined evils. But this "protection" is actually the curse.

They also refuse to implement features people ask for like always starting with the rear camera regardless of the last used camera[4] and let the user backed up saved pages[5]. Something as simple as turning the flashlight on and off while recording a video took over a decade for Samsung to implement when shouldn't have taken a single afternoon.

----

Sources:

[1] Xiaomi prevents unlocking the bootloader but graciously allows it seven days after purchase. I believe that as the buyer, you should be able to install any operating system you like.
[2] (added through edit, hence last) Since Android 16, Google blocks APK installations during phone calls, supposedly to protect against scammers. But if history teaches us anything, it means this will quickly escalate and end with APKs being blocked completely or only installable through ADB, which requires an external computer and a USB cable.
[3] Google and Apple let app developers block users from taking screenshots. This is, for example, used by WhatsApp to prevent screenshots of profile pictures, even though everyone knows one should not put something in a visible spot on the Internet that one does not wish to be preserved. I believe people should have the freedom to screenshot anything that appears on their screen, like desktop operating systems (Windows and Linux) do. The buyer deserves to have the final say on a device they paid for.
[4] https://r1.community.samsung.com/t5...
[5] https://forum.developer.samsung.com/...

rant

modernism
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Comments
  • 1
    21d
    > (added through edit, hence last)

    I forgot to remove this text after editing the numbers. I can't edit it anymore. Sorry for the confusion.
  • 1
    21d
    Lol I did not know that WhatsApp blocks screenshoting profile pictures. 😂
    That's useless, I'll just take a photo to the screen with another phone.
  • 1
    21d
    @cafecortado It has a far worse quality.
  • 1
    21d
    @retoor Only a matter of time until they hide profile pictures from there. Or until they let websites block screenshots too.
  • 1
    21d
    @exerceo They can even block tools like scrcpy for parts of the screen now it's insane and inane, just because someone could record a netflix show
  • 1
    21d
    play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

    just buy a pixel phone and install graphene os. done.
  • 1
    21d
    @retoor Ha noob, I can code on android just fine ;P termux + desktop mode ;P
  • 0
    21d
    @alexanderwang it's innocent until proven guilty. google tensor doesn't have spyware until you prove it does.
  • 0
    21d
    @retoor amateur, I just send SMSes to and it compiles and runs the code remotely ;P

    (termux can also run vim ;P)
  • 0
    21d
    @retoor Whatever granny ;P

    And no you didn't ;P
  • 2
    20d
    @kiki

    > just buy a pixel phone and install graphene os. done.

    Google phones are garbage with a giant centered rear bulge and with lack of MicroSD.

    See https://odysee.com/@rossmanngroup:a... (by Louis Rossmann) at 1 minute, 20 seconds. Linked outside of YouTube because we never know how long Google will tolerate criticism of itself on its own platforms.
  • 1
    20d
    @exerceo no other phones support graphene os
  • 0
    20d
    @alexanderwang says something about other phones, especially those that lack security chips
  • 1
    20d
    Addition: they block battery replacements. What used to be a normal repair is now "unauthorized".

    The buyer must have full authority over their phone. As Louis Rossmann said, if buying isn't ownership, piracy isn't theft.
  • 0
    20d
    @kiki Those "security chips" mainly lock out the user. Same with TPM.

    See also: Windows 11 must be stopped by Jody Bruchon: https://youtube.com/watch/... (mirror: https://brighteon.com/15861626-b9c2... - Jody Bruchon mirrors his videos to many platforms thankfully.)

    The sequel: https://youtube.com/watch/... (mirror: https://rumble.com/v167uin-windows-... )
  • 0
    20d
    @alexanderwang a hardware backdoor is a very complicated thing. What if hackers found it? You can’t just patch it later with an update. Hackers leaking data this way will undermine google’s integrity in the eyes of huge government/corporate customers that buy pixel phones in thousands.
    Custom roms are a niche thing. Graphene os is a niche thing within a niche thing. So you say google is willing to do all that, and for what? To spy on graphene os users that are like 0.01% of their overall users? They simply don’t need to — stock rom on pixels gives them enough data. If they really wanted to own graphene os users, they should’ve made installing graphene os (or any custom rom) impossible
  • 0
    20d
    @alexanderwang so what is it, google or government?
  • 0
    20d
    @alexanderwang oh, isn’t that the same quartz that lives off bill and melinda foundation?
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