Kidding aside, it’s mostly the things that you only get from complete vertical (proprietary) integration:
- Handoff
- Bluetooth (AirPod) device sharing and handoff
- Shared clipboard
- Shared notifications state
I’ll never get this with a Linux + Android combo, and I get that. But it’s tough to let go of.
Also: Pixel 9a face unlock (yes, for max security don’t use it) is terrible compared to any iPhone.
While Apple’s Handoff is a tightly integrated, proprietary feature, you can achieve similar cross-device continuity between Android and Linux using open-source tools—most notably KDE Connect.
Thanks. I use Gnome, but I'm familiar with KDE Connect.
Have you tried it? I did not, so I have no experience.
Also clunkier things like LocalSend and even Syncthing. they require a step or two, but to me that step is worth the sovereignty.
For instance, with Syncthing, I literally have a "clipboard.txt" file synced p2p between all of my devices. I copy paste into that on one device and a moment later that "clipboard" is updated on all my devices. ...One hidden benefit is it has an arbitrary history. If i copy twice on an apple device, the previous copy is overwritten :P
syncthing is the GOAT and an unsung hero. Completely agree.
Are you running Graphene or stock Android?
I completely agree. I couldn't live without it. I lose sleep sometimes worrying about it going unmaintained one day.
GrapheneOS and Linux machines. Möbius Sync kind of works on iOS tablets but it's janky.
I have Möbius on my iPhone. Best there is, but definitely janky.
re Graphene: any tips on private spaces or how best to manage Google Play + Services, assuming you use it? I’m not ready to go into hard mode quite yet.
Usually the more uncomfortable the more safe. 😂
I would say, use different users, for different groups of apps (open source, google, and maybe an install), because google can collect data in the background from all apps, so better to split them in different users/spaces.
But this is kind of uncomfortable, because you might have to switch users to achieve things.
But kind of motivates, to only use apps that fit in one user, the opensource apps.
Also use aurora instead of play store.
No, that’s specially not how Graphene’s sandboxes work.
You are right, that private space is different.
About google sandbox, I tried to refer to this:
"Apps within the same profile can communicate with mutual consent and it's no different for sandboxed Google Play."
And it is true that "not all apps", because:
"As with any other app, it can't access data of other apps"
But, I just learned this a few days ago:
What else would you correct?
What do you mean? The separate users' filesystems are entirely firewalled from each other.
I'm referring to this, unless I've grossly misunderstood:
"because google can collect data in the background from all apps"
Not grossly, but a little. When you have separate user profiles, upon switching to one of those, that profile thinks its the entire phone - doesn't know the others exist, can't see them. So whatever you do **in that profile** might all be spying on eachother within that silo. But when you switch to a different profile the spying ends/stays in the other one.
So a lot of Graphene users will keep all the freaky shit in one profile (I have one called "Goolag") and all their safer, private stuff in another. That's what the other commenter meant about having a purely FOSS profile and attempting to use it as much as possible.
I would do maybe the opposite of what most people recommend: install all the compatability stuff (google play services, etc. everything in the "Graphene app store" app) but **don't log into any Google accounts there**. Let the phone do normal stuff like notifications and whatever so you're not in hell on day one.
Then make a pure FOSS profile and try out the alternatives there, like ntfy for notifications and whatever else. See if you can handle that and _maybe_ switch to it full time.
Honestly the worst part is maps, which is no surprise. Organic Maps and Magic Earth and OsmAnd~ are pretty solid, but still a far cry from Google and Apple maps. I don't surrender on this front - I use the FOSS maps as apps, but I'll sometimes use Google maps (logged out) in a web browser with VPN on - or Apple maps via duckduckgo.
The profile switching is pretty fast, but it's still a drag and I don't find myself using it as much as I thought I would.
Very helpful. Thanks. (FYI tried to zap you, but it failed.)
Any experience with or opinions on a "private space" as an alternative?
If you can believe it... I've been fixing my full self-hosted lightning address and node since you alerted me to it being down lololl
anyway, I don't know what you mean by "private space". Wat dat
It's not well documented, but this is the best I've found.
whoa cool! setting one up now!
SyncThing is really cool! I also used it.
