I want a new phone, without Google or Apple

[earthquake]

What are my choices? I'm sick of all the spying and political biases.

I've ditched all social media, Linked•In, and my Google account, rendering my android phone pretty useless. And now my phone has gay wallpaper!

I've switched all email to encrypted ones and use VPN all the time. Is Blackberry around anymore?

I don't use apps very much but for the occasional navigation and shooting or photo editing or web surfing. Are we doomed and chained to the tech giants like microsoft, Google and Apple?

 

[Maggot]

 

[M8541Reaper]

If you don’t have a need to check your email while out and have a stand-alone GPS unit in your car, then go with a Nokia brick phone man. Otherwise I think blackberries can still be found.

 

[BullGear]

Jitterbug

 

[Redmanss]

You can’t take your phone back to 2005 and still want to have one do 2020 things. Apps are only written for Android and Apple. Some players try to break into the market, but they fail every time, even Microsoft failed.

Get a flip phone, a Garmin car GPS, and build dope cards on your computer or run a Kestrel.

 

[Aries256]

Blackberry runs android now, with windoze out of the market its apple and goolag. Might be able to find a phone running symbian, but itll be woefully out of date and not able to run much.

 

[MtnCreek]

I have a flip phone. Had blackberries before and decided no more of that shit about '07. If I absolutely have to fiddle with something, I'll fiddle with my pocketknife.

 

[MadDuner]

All of them will tattle and record your position and movements....

 

[Redmanss]

All of them will tattle and record your position and movements....

Very true, as well as all tech companies seem to be leftist strongholds. There's no escaping it while also having any form of connectivity.

 

[Palmershunter]

On a side note. Is there anyone out there that uses patriot mobile? Just wondering how their coverage and service is. If it is comparable I’m going to ditch Verizon

 

[Doc68]

Flip phone with no internet.

You're welcome.

 

[PolarisBreach]

There are some linux phones in development (PinePhone is supposed to be out soon), but you aren't going to get the same experience in terms of applications. Regardless, if you're on the internet, then advertisers have tons of ways to track you. Even if you set up your own email server, there's no guarantee the companies you email or do business with won't sell your information to advertisers. The amount of money pouring into AI and data science in the advertising world is probably second only to the government.

As far as the spying piece, it doesn't matter what OS your phone runs because the good attacks go after the baseband. That's why I laugh at all the people that spend money on things like the Blackphone and think they're secure.

 

[hollowoutadime]

Verizon prepaid is $25/month (5gb plan). Great coverage. With wifi at work and home, that's plenty for most.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Pretty much if you want phone with your modern features, you are basically stuck with the cult of Apple or the cult of Google.
Or go back to a simple flip phone with basically nothing but calling and SMS and call it good.
Aren't monopolies fun?

There are some 3rd world phones that run some other OSes, but you'll probably find it upsetting that you can't do all your stuff on them.
There are also attempts at a linux based phone, but those mostly seem to get stuck in the mud and not get any traction.

You could run a small Linux based tablet or laptop with a SIM card in it and use your own VOIP server, but carrying around laptop / tablet isn't really as convenient as carrying around a small phone.

You could also get an Android phone from China that is not hooked up to Google thanks to sanctions and then just have the Chinese government spying on you instead of Google.

What I might suggest as a practical alternative is get an android phone that can be rooted to run a custom stripped down version of Android with most of the google blob removed and such. Again you'll need to be willing to be a bit technically savvy, also if you still open up the google browser on it, well...

 

[Jgunner]

Ill prob run the one thats based off linux and maybe even do a prepaid to stop the revolving contracts that get worse every year.

 

[Maggot]

I have a flip phone. Had blackberries before and decided no more of that shit about '07. If I absolutely have to fiddle with something, I'll fiddle with my pocketknife pecker.

FIFY

 

[nso123]

This should work.

 

[TheHorta]

Telepathy.

 

[silentwoods]

How did we travel or survive the cold world before cell phones?

Answer, we did just fine.

We allow this.... convenience.

 

[Snuby642]

Somewhere someone can hack / crack an android and strip the os to what is wanted I'm pretty sure.

 

[BufordTJustice]

On a side note. Is there anyone out there that uses patriot mobile? Just wondering how their coverage and service is. If it is comparable I’m going to ditch Verizon

Yes sir, they piggy back the Sprint network, I haven't noticed much of a difference in my coverage compared to Verizon. My wife, on the other hand felt Verizon was " better", she switched back. So...not sure I'm any help!

 

[earthquake]

It's a shame we have to be beholden to certain OS's to simply surf the web on a smart device. It's getting real irritating the constant barrage of "wokeness" thrown in our faces on our pocket devices and television and internet. My TV and the internet is telling me I've always been a racist and need to watch all these BLM shows...thanks Netflix and Apple TV, Pandora, YT etc. etc.! And now my work is forcing mandatory racial diversity training on us called, pushing through our racial biases or some shit.

Thanks for all the tips so far. I guess I will just go back to a flip phone and Rand Mcnally. <\rant>

 

[W54/XM-388]

Somewhere someone can hack / crack an android and strip the os to what is wanted I'm pretty sure.

They already do, plenty of options.
You just have to be willing to go do a bit of digging on what rom you want to load and what phones are compatible and get it done.

Then live with the issues that some of the "conveniences" of being tethered to the borg won't be there.

 

[Snuby642]

I used to strip versions of windows by using dos.
Freed up ram and hd and made batch file transfers faster.

Quit the game and lost touch, no necessity.

When you wake up at 3am with a piece of code stuck in your head it's time to quit.

Paid placement killed my gig.

 

[W54/XM-388]

I used to strip versions of windows by using dos.
Freed up ram and hd and made batch file transfers faster.

Quit the game and lost touch, no necessity.

When you wake up at 3am with a piece of code stuck in your head it's time to quit.

Paid placement killed my gig.

Or just like use Linux instead?

 

[thejeep]

Ultra rugged Kyocera phones,GPS smartphones ..my guide

The $50 -$100 smartphone GPS solution,from left to right the Kyocera family Duraforce XD 5.7 inch screen , Duraforce Pro 5.0 inch screen , and the...

advrider.com

You might read this

 

[rockchalk06]

Your options are limited if you want quality.

Stop using Google chrome and stop using Google as your search engine. That will take care of a lot of crap. Run a VPN when not using your home secured through a VPN network.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

On a side note. Is there anyone out there that uses patriot mobile? Just wondering how their coverage and service is. If it is comparable I’m going to ditch Verizon

I want to switch to patriot as well!!

 

[W54/XM-388]

You should also check out T-Mobile, especially if you need more than one line in your house.
They have a lot of very reasonable straight forward plans.

 

[kenny1773]

Somewhere someone can hack / crack an android and strip the os to what is wanted I'm pretty sure.

Spend some time reading here, I once had such a phone, then just lost the time to get back into it. You need some tech skills, some time and some patience

XDA Forums

Android Forum for Mobile Phones, Tablets, Hardware & App Development

forum.xda-developers.com

I recently got back into it, I had an old motorolla phone laying around that I don't care if I brick
Found some good ROMs for it out there and loaded and played with a few, you can choose not to install google apps

You also might be able to do something with this

LineageOS – LineageOS Android Distribution

LineageOS Android Distribution

lineageos.org

There are offshoots that are more secure, but its a starting point for you.

 

[Goes-Bang]

PINEPHONE | PINE64

Quad-Core Allwinner A64 @ 1.152 GHz Up to 3GB LPDDR3 RAM Quectel EG25-G with worldwide bands Bootable microSD and 16GB/32GB eMMC Kill switches for LTE, Cameras, Wifi/BT, and Microphones Six pogo pins…

www.pine64.org

Don't really know much about it, but I have a buddy that did this.

 

[Mr.BR]

Assembling overpriced products out Chinese parts in Indian sweatshop/factory yet refuse to pay workers meager wages for 4+ months , Apple folks are truly the scum of the earth.

Workers riot at Indian iPhone factory after going 'four months without pay and being asked to work extra shifts'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...India-iPhone-factory-exploitation-claims.html

 

[elwarpo]

I am still running a windows phone. Not many apps but that is not a problem since they just spy on you and you can do everything via the web. Windows phone, Duckduckgo browser and VPN makes life a little more discreet.

 

[LawnMM]

If you have a cell phone your movement and location are tracked, period.

They have to know where you are to give you service and what tower to use for your call.

Your options are Apple/Google or no cell phone and anonymity

 

[Snuby642]

If you have a cell phone your movement and location are tracked, period.

They have to know where you are to give you service and what tower to use for your call.

Your options are Apple/Google or no cell phone and anonymity

They know when you are sleeping,
They know when your awake,

They know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.

 

[Lawless]

I still have a very nice Blackberry from just before they went away. It’s the all metal really nice model. I have thought a few times about reactivating it. I’m not sure if their email system still would work or not.

 

[Kalthoff]

Jolla to the rescue, running the Sailfish OS.

https://jolla.com/

https://jolla-devices.com/sailfish_devices/

https://sailfishos.org/

Jolla and Sailfish was created by a group of disgruntled ex. Nokia employees, after m*cr*s*ft bought and hamfistedly destroyed what at one point was the pinnacle of mobile phone technology.

I've been a happy users for many years.

Its basically Linux for mobile devices, with a user interface and software stack crafted by people who learned their craft at Nokia back when that company was the very best in the world.

 

[EddieNFL]

How did we travel or survive the cold world before cell phones?

Answer, we did just fine.

We allow this.... convenience.

My MIL once said she doesn't know how she got by before paper towels.

 

[Kamerad]

https://combatstudiesgroup.blogspot.com/p/store.html?m=1

Somebody have feedback on this stuff?

 

[Alphatreedog]

 

[BullGear]

I'm so glad I grew up without cell phones. I can't imagine how many bad spankings the old man would have given me if he was able to call me home. Without cell phones, he had time to calm down before I happened to come home. I feel for these kids today. Being at mom and dad's beck and call.

 

[Snuby642]

No annoying texts or amber alerts at 3am.

 

[BullGear]

View attachment 7501534

No annoying texts or amber alerts at 3am.

Yeah, but how did those handset cords get unwound like they always did. That always infuriated me.

 

[Aries256]

Hold your nose and pick the lesser of two evils if you want a modern phone. Apple and goolag are the two only players in the game with app reach. Forget blackberry and nokia as they’re running android. If youre up for rooting, and are comfortable with that, and dont mind a host of weird problems then android is the way to go for total control over the phone.

 

[308pirate]

Get a flip phone, a Garmin car GPS, and build dope cards on your computer or run a Kestrel.

I'm almost there.

I have an android phone that runs without me having a google account. All the other stuff you mention I've already been doing for over a decade.

 

[myronman3]

when i retire...in the not so distant future....my cell is getting tossed out the window. smart, flip, or otherwise. i’m fucking DONE with it. the ONLY reason i have it now is it is a work phone. done even have a personal one, and i’ll enjoy not having it.

it’s like facebook, twatter, and all the other shit. i DONT fucking need it, and moreover, i dont WANT it.

if you want to hit shitstains like zuckerberg where it hurts, quit using their bullshit. just shut it off. like was said above, before all this shit we did just fine......i’ll even say much better. there are days i wish a solar flare would burn out the tech. think about how nice that would be.

 

[Mike Casselton]

View attachment 7501534

No annoying texts or amber alerts at 3am.

Turn the alerts off and go into do not disturb mode through selected hours.
Mine are 9:30pm-7:30am.
It's set to where only selected people can call or an unselected caller can call 3x in one minute and it'll ring.
Peace and quiet through the night.

I've gone through all the permission settings and cleaned them up.
It's amazing how little BS I get now.

 

[charnicus]

Location services, “learning”, Siri, Instagram, Facebook, etcetera. A combination of deactivation and deletion goes a long way. Put electrical tape over the camera and turn off the mic to take things to the next extreme. Hard to say if it all really works but I no longer see advertisements for shit I was talking about 15 minutes prior.

 

[Aries256]

View attachment 7501534

No annoying texts or amber alerts at 3am.

Used to have a black one like that when I was a little kid, the original fidget spinner , then when I was older took it apart to see what make it tick. Nothing fascinates me more than old/ancient tech. Hell seeing a vacuum tube, or a thyratron run is beautiful sight.

 

[Snuby642]

When I was a kid I would ride my bicycle uphill both directions to the gas station and stick a tube from the tv in the testing station.

If it checked bad buy a new one go home and my dad would install it.

Simple times.