Years ago, I switched to an iPhone. It’s awful, but the alternatives were even worse.
Before that, I experimented with everything: full de-Google setups, vanilla Android approaches, and compromises like LineageOS with Gapps. None of them were good enough for me. The middle ground (LineageOS + Gapps) served me for years, but eventually, essential apps started requiring vanilla Android, which I refuse to use due to privacy concerns.
At this point, I still prioritize functionality and reliability, so stock Android and iOS are the only realistic options. I’m not a journalist in a dictatorship, so my data leaking isn’t a life-or-death issue, but Google’s data-exploitative business model makes Android the worse of the two evils. Both platforms have major flaws, but blatant privacy violations are a dealbreaker for me.
In an ideal world, LineageOS or GrapheneOS would work seamlessly with all apps, but that’s no longer the case. The perfect OS is out of my reach.
If my needs were still limited to calls, SMS, and email—like in the 2000s—there’d be plenty of great FOSS options. But the 2020s demand more, and the FOSS world hasn’t kept up.
I’m seriously considering using my laptop for 99% of my computing needs in the future.
Years ago, I switched to an iPhone. It’s awful, but the alternatives were even worse.
Before that, I experimented with everything: full de-Google setups, vanilla Android approaches, and compromises like LineageOS with Gapps. None of them were good enough for me. The middle ground (LineageOS + Gapps) served me for years, but eventually, essential apps started requiring vanilla Android, which I refuse to use due to privacy concerns.
At this point, I still prioritize functionality and reliability, so stock Android and iOS are the only realistic options. I’m not a journalist in a dictatorship, so my data leaking isn’t a life-or-death issue, but Google’s data-exploitative business model makes Android the worse of the two evils. Both platforms have major flaws, but blatant privacy violations are a dealbreaker for me.
In an ideal world, LineageOS or GrapheneOS would work seamlessly with all apps, but that’s no longer the case. The perfect OS is out of my reach.
If my needs were still limited to calls, SMS, and email—like in the 2000s—there’d be plenty of great FOSS options. But the 2020s demand more, and the FOSS world hasn’t kept up.
I’m seriously considering using my laptop for 99% of my computing needs in the future.