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There are a lot of suggestions to switch to Graphene right now. I tried Graphene twice for weeks at a time on a Pixel 6 Pro. Here are my observations/thoughts.

* None of my banking apps worked.

* Ended up using Google anyways for maps because the "free" alternatives took me miles out of the way or had no clue where things were.

* I never got the full zoom capabilities of my phone's camera to work, despite installing - you guessed it - Google's camera app.

* Swipe to type might as well have been non-existent.

* RCS never activated despite days of trying - oh, and that required installing Google Messages. Most people in the US still use text.

* There feels like a dearth of FOSS photo galleries with competitive editing features. I ended up installing.... Google Photos.

* Backing stuff up automatically... you going to also self-host NextCloud? Are you going to set up SyncThing? This is not a simple software swap - it requires a whole lifestyle.

I'm a software engineer and competent with Linux, etc... and I felt like I had reduced a $800 phone to the equivalent of something I could buy on prepaid for $150.

I'm sure there was a way to "fix" it - but that's the point. I do this for a living, and I don't have time to fix it. My phone has to work. Period.

You guys realize that basically *nobody* outside of this small echo chamber is willing to deal with that right?

I don't even hate the project - I follow several of the developers and they're fucking *awesome human beings* doing amazing work. Essential work that is needed and used by probably 10's or even 100's of thousands of people with high threat profiles. But almost nobody is going to do this unless they have significant other factors contributing to their threat profile, or they're nerds like us who are willing to tinker for hours to get less than what they get by pulling a stock phone out of a box.

The year of the Graphene Phone will happen at the same exact time the year of the Linux Desktop happens. When it just works. 99% of the time. With no sacrifices in feature set or performance.
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The Daniel đź–– 2y ago

I’m basically a prisoner of iCloud. The amount of time I’d have to spend figuring out where to migrate everything is giving me nightmares.

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nobody 2y ago

I understand. My point is not that it can’t be done though. It can. I’ve done it. Three separate times. It’s takes time and effort and can be done.

I would look into NextCloud if you want to move. You can sync the contents of your iPhone with the app. Once it’s all done (and it could take a long time) you’ll have less to worry about switching. I’m willing to share what worked for me (as well as what didn’t).

As it is, I still use Google Photos for my long term storage despite owning an iPhone. I have unlimited photo storage there, and no desire to migrate 400GB of photos and videos to another host.

The idea that people only buy iPhones out of stupidity, Stockholm syndrome, or being a sheep is kinda pissing me off though. The number of people willing to make backhanded insinuations about their friends on here is disappointing. The number of people thinking that buying a phone directly from Google, a company that literally decided to remove “don’t be evil” from their motto, to run software that won’t meet the needs of 99% of users, makes them better, smarter, or in any way freer, is ironic. And anyone who thinks I’m lazy after working 70 hours a week to care for my family while still managing to run several side projects, is misinformed.

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The Daniel đź–– 2y ago

Thanks, I won’t make a move on this without a lot of consideration and will definitely have questions about the process. I’m trying to remain optimistic about a future where Apple isn’t the enemy of innovation, but man, it looks bleak right now.

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nobody 2y ago

All major corporations are going to be the enemy of decentralization. So are the governments of the world. Anything that can't be regulated and monetized.

I predict:

* Google will do the same thing at some point - sideloading will be the only way to use Nostr apps

* If Nostr grows to any significant size, there will be congressional hearings

* A relay operator will be arrested for hosting illegal content at some point - probably unknown to them

* The former two points will likely be related

* Both app stores will ban Nostr apps over moderation, not lightning

* Apple will eventually enable sideloading globally, because the US will not like being left out of the EU's freedom

* Apple will adopt lightning (as will Google) just as soon as the government has figured out how to regulate it (which they will)

* People will still find ways to dodge being tracked with Bitcoin, and those ways will technically be illegal - and people will do it anyways.

Time will tell.