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Comment by janvlug | Hacker News Reader

Better totally leave Android.

It will be a long tough uphill battle, but digital freedom is possible.

Purism is for example providing the Librem 5 phone with PureOS. Closing the app gap is big challenge, but I use the Librem 5 as my daily phone. Yes, I may have some inconvenience, but I have freedom, and the software is getting better and better.

For more info see also:

* https://puri.sm/posts/googles-new-sideloading-restrictions-w...

* https://puri.sm/posts/closing-the-app-gap-momentum-and-time/

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> Better totally leave Android.

to where? Everything else is either worse or non even remotely close to matching Android's features and accessibility.

You got to take a small toll on comfort if you want anything not backed by a huge evil corporation to have a chance.

Before it was Linux and now it's Ubuntu Touch, sure it's not perfect but it's a very much usable system which needs more people to try it out as their daily driver. I made the shift a month or so ago because I don't want to have to choose between two evils.

How can I use an OS that's not iOS on Android as a daily driver? 99% of what I do on my phone is chat to my friends and pay for things, which I won't be able to do at all with the free OSes. I might as well go without a phone at that point.

I guess the offered way for problematic apps is Waydroid? I'd be interested to hear how that works in practice.

What's the problem? Use Ubuntu Touch with Waydroid and install the WhatsApp apk, or Signal, or whatever else.

You don't need to be using Android to run Android apps.

> 800$ for 720p screen and 3GBs of RAM > Can't even use a bank app with it I'm sorry, but this will never see adoption wide enough to be useful. I can't imagine paying 800 and still having to carry a "backup" phone for payments, public transit and such.

At that cost I'd think more about seeking out a second hand phone that's survived and has good parts availability/repairability to keep it going. It would seem with both you're in the situation where google doesn't about you but at least the phone would be semi-smart enough to do some tasks and less drain on the wallet.

i read the exact same comments about the Librem 5 on HN back in about 2017/18. hope they'll continue with progress but it is giving, "This year is the year of the Linux [phone, desktop]!"

Purism is a shit company. It took 6 years to get a refund for my Libem 5 order (it was ready to ship after 3 years). I had to file a complaint with my credit card company.

Other people who paid over $1,000 got their shit out of date phones before me! Fuck Purism. They can go die in a fucking cesspit.

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