this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
867 points (99.3% liked)

Technology

81078 readers
4133 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 27 points 3 days ago (6 children)

The Graphene devs explicitly only support Pixels. Sticking with Graphene means continuing to give Google the profits from your hardware.

/e/OS is not bad as an alternative. The system wide ad and tracker blocking is nice.

[–] mal3oon@lemmy.world 23 points 3 days ago (2 children)

This is a big issue that the fairphone doesn't have its dtb open yet. It's not easy to build ROM for it. Despite their core claim of sustainability, without addressing the blobs, it remains just a tad more convenient for green minded people. We need a full Fairphone.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 days ago

That's fair and all, and I see your point. A 100% "fair" phone is the end-goal.

Butin the battle against corporate douche-baggery, if we keep making perfect the enemy of good, we'll never get anywhere.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 19 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

/e/OS is not bad as an alternative. The system wide ad and tracker blocking is nice.

I switched to e/os on a couple of motorolas that supported it and it's great so far.

The comparisons to GrapheneOS are fair to some degree, but also not. Graphene is meant to be privacy and security hardened, whereas e/OS, while it is more secure than regular android, is more concerned with privacy hardening. The biggest misconception people have seems to be thinking that privacy and security are the same thing; and while that is true on the surface level, security (a la GrapheneOS) goes much deeper.

So while my phone may not be as "hack resistant" as a GrapheneOS, it's degoogled and very protective of tracking, which is what I'm primarily concerned with. So I'm happy.

I just wish I could afford a fairphone in Canada.

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

FYI, I think your third mention of Graphene was meant to be /e/OS.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago

Whoops. Thanks for the catch.

[–] noname_no_worries@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I just bought a refurbished (as new) Pixel 9 to use Grapheneos.

Saved ~50% and didn't pay Google.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sticking with Graphene means continuing to give Google the profits from your hardware

GrapheneOS only supports Google Pixel because they are the most secure Android phones, with open-source images and 5+ years of security updates.
You don't have to give money to Google. I got my Pixel 4a and my mother's 6a from second-hand sellers.

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sure, but then you are also not funding Google's competition in order to help improve choice.

Buying second hand might make you feel better because you didn't directly fund Google, but you're still helping them maintain their position.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

«Funding competition» means giving money to Chinese State companies, for most consumers.

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Most of the american companies are using Chinese manufacturing for much of the devices. Fairphone is European, but same manufacturing sources.

In 2026, as a Canadian... Choosing between a country that is adopting nazi practices and threatening us with annexation, and one who has a questionable history but is overall doing more for climate change and global stability right now than the other... The choice is easy. Anything but american.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 1 points 1 day ago

No, it's choosing between giving money to a company or to no one at all, in the case of a 2nd hand.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 3 points 3 days ago

They said "possible someday", not "possible currently".

Google makes way more on services so I don’t think they are making that much off the phones.