@Sosthene running it on a cheap ass xiaomi, impressed for now.. theyve even managed access to apps on playstore without a google account !

@vbhide
I wouldn't feel safe downloading Google apps on my phone, even without having to connect to my google account. I downloaded the gboard because it seems there's no other way I can type Chinese on this phone, but even that feels already too much.

What gapps did you download?

@Sosthene no google apps but i need things like whatsapp and spotify which you need to get from the playstore (same for things like protonmail surprisingly).

This os basically tricks these apps into thinking there's a playstore and tricks the playstore into thinking theres a google account (see microG and aurora store).

If you're sure you dont need these then you can kill all such second order contact w google from the os.

@vbhide
Ok I think /e/ is very similar then, it also uses MicroG and Aurora store. I'm running it on a second hand Xiaomi too, so far so good.

Maybe our quest for smartphones that are (mostly) free, don't snitch too much on us and are still usable for daily life is finally over.

@Sosthene it will only get better over the next few years.. Librem and other pure linux platforms could become mature enough

@vbhide
May the gods hear you, I dream of an ubuntu phone but right now I just don't have the time to struggle with it everyday