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Comment by ghrl | Hacker News Reader

"Break free from Google" and buy a Pixel phone from them to do so.

But unironically Pixels are currently some of the best actually open phones. They do not lock down or require shady practices for unlocking the bootloader (although they do require a network check once that happens automatically, but it will permanently allow unlocking the bootloader if successful once. Pixels are very easy to restore and almost un-brickable, allow bypassing the boot screen warning by pressing the power button twice, actually allow relocking the bootloader and don't void your warranty unlocking it, don't have a shady one-time fuse like Samsung phones do with Knox, etc.

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Graphene is supposedly working with a major OEM manufacturer to have future device support independent of google, on a flagship device. It's been in the works for awhile but it's very exciting.

https://www.androidauthority.com/graphene-os-major-android-o...

I hope it's Fairphone.

Its not.

The tea leaves are indicating Motorola.

It won't be Fairphone. Fairphone is very far removed from the hardware requirements listed here https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices They don't seme to take security seriously at the moment, so the chance is low they are going to make the huge leap needed to meet the requirements.

Pixels are really great despite being from Google. I hope they will continue to make them unlockable/relockable. As you say they are also surprisingly hard to brick. Here is someone trying to break it intentionally during the GrapheneOS install:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik0AiO0WtuU

If you don't like giving money to Google, plenty of companies offer refurbished Pixel phones.

In the US, many refurbished Pixel phones are Verizon variants which disallow OEM unlocking.

When was in college and had Sprint this was a nightmare since then I wanted root for unlimited hotspot (Sprint made it easy that way), but most refurbished Pixels were Verizon variants.

And I couldn't just use OnePlus because they were only designed GSM networks or later Verizon CDMA-less. Then, new Pixels were unaffordable for me, but parents insisted on using Sprint.

I ended up getting a Pixel 3 off Mercari (which I still own) just to keep root.

Now, I can afford a Pixel 10 Pro new (which I am right now), alongside spare Pixel 9 and OnePlus 13R units. But even then (a) my income is lower than when I worked at Microsoft and (b) The OnePlus was from a trade-in deal.

Is it not possible to buy a phone in the US without any cellular providers involved? I thought that kind of lock-in was a thing of the past.

It is possible, but many people still buy them from their provider with financing or subsidies. That means people shopping for used Pixels who want to unlock the bootloader need to avoid the special Verizon variant which forbids unlocking the bootloader.

This is separate from SIM locking, which forbids use with another carrier. US carriers still do that, but are required to remove the lock after a while if the customer doesn't owe them money.

It's not clear why Verizon insists on permanently locked bootloaders or why Google agrees to it for Verizon when they don't do it on Pixels sold anywhere else.

Yep. I lost a restocking fee when I bought a used "unlocked" Pixel. Turned out it was not SIM locked, but it was impossible to unlock the bootloader. It was pretty easy to find a bootloader-unlockable Pixel once I knew what to look out for, but the first time I had no idea this was something you had to look out for.

Oh man, sorry to hear that! On the other side of the pond, carrier-specific/locked phones haven't been a thing for ages. Haven't seen a carrier-specific phone since 2013 or 2014.

> "Break free from Google" and buy a Pixel phone from them to do so.

Pretty much yeah.

Also, the surveillance tech is getting ahead of the people now, this article might make sense back in 2015, it’s not the case anymore, even if you use a full linux distribution, hardened too, but connected to the cellular network through a modem, the operator can pinpoint your location accurately, because all new cell modems are equipped with gnss and send the NMEA message either in demand or periodically to the towers.. not to mention if your software is open source and secure, your hardware isn’t, and until we reach that point, I would prefer to have a gray man model and blend in within the crowd rather than standing out like a sore thumb.

I have a Pixel 6a with GrapheneOS. Runs great for years, except for one or two apps that require an "official" Android.

Anyway, I now need to get the battery replaced, because apparently they are dangerous and Google pays for the replacement. Unfortunately, the replacement process requires the stock android to be installed. Meaning, I would need to backup the whole phone, reinstall stock android, then restore everything - and hope the whole ordeal works out.

That makes no sense. If there is a recall program for safety, surely they have to accept whatever software is on there? It's not relevant to the hardware repair

I've wanted to try this on my old Pixel 5, but it has the dreaded screen/motherboard failure. It appears there is no solution for that short of replacing the screen/mobo, which i've already done once after cracking it.

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