I really like it, but I also mostly use F-Droid apps. You can install Google Play in the regular app sandbox, which prevents the worst of the issues andn provides most of the benefits.

That said, there are still some caveats:

• NFC payments don’t work - I use a Pixel watch instead, which works fine (it’s paired to a separate profile on my phone with Google Play installed)
• some banking apps don’t work (some check if your phone OS is stock)
• some apps just don’t work without Google Play services running (e.g. the Sensi app for my smart thermostat), and some have issues even with it running

But other than that, it works pretty well! I have three profiles set up:

• Owner - default, with no Google Play
• Work - handful of work apps using my work Google account
• Google - apps that require Google Play, using a fresh Google account

I’m using a Google Pixel 8, and it does what I need it to do.

Yup, I go out of my way to call any personal computer a PC. For example:

• Macbook Pro PC running macOS for work
• Thinkpad PC running Linux at home
• desktop PC running Linux for gaming
• desktop PC running Linux as a NAS
• handheld PC running GrapheneOS for a phone
• handheld PC running SteamOS for gaming
• wearable PC running WearOS as a watch

They’re all PCs, because I can run whatever I want on them. My Switch isn’t a PC because I can’t run whatever I want, but everything else in that list absolutely is. Yeah, I get weird looks sometimes, but I’m stubborn.

Honestly, I don’t have any issues with app selection on Android, my main issue is w/ app selection without Google Play Services running. I’ve moved to accessing most services (e.g. banking) on my phone’s web browser, which works surprisingly well.

It would be even cooler if they left it for users who want to self-host the BE for this.

Yup. If that was the case, I would probably use stock Android instead of using GrapheneOS. But no, Google insists on getting its fingers everywhere, so I insist on some inconveniences to prevent that.

I would love the conveniences that stock Android offers, but I’m unwilling to accept the privacy compromises.

Yup. I just purchased something from Home Depot and opted for the emailed receipt (needed for a rebate), and they didn’t ask for my email because they could look it up from my credit card (must have used the same card to order something online). In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they get the card owner’s name as well, so it might not matter which card you use.

Eh, my store doesn’t require using the loyalty card to get discounts, the loyalty card is only useful for gas discounts, which I’m not going to use anyway because I already get decent discounts on Costco gas. So I don’t bother w/ the loyalty card because screw that noise.

If a store requires a loyalty card for competitive prices, I shop at a competitor that doesn’t require that BS, or I use my parents’ phone number or something.

One creepy thing though is that banks can still track my transactions because I tend to use the same card. I bought something at Home Depot the other day and opted for the emailed receipt (needed to apply for a rebate), and I didn’t have to enter my email in because they recognized my card and linked it to another time when I had them email a receipt (or maybe it was an online account for delivery). So in response, I try to cycle which card I use at a given store so they hopefully don’t associate my data, but I think purchases are tied to my name, so it probably still happens.

It has massive market share and uses Google search by default. If another company owns the browser, they’ll likely change the default search engine, and since almost nobody changes the defaults, it’ll eat away at Google’s marketshare.

For example, Microsoft would be pretty interested in buying it to promote Bing search. Edge is already based on Chromium, so they could reuse their existing teams to offer support for it.

Exactly. There are workable alternatives to most of the others, but YouTube has a stranglehold on that type of content due to the network effect. Examples of alternatives:

• docs/sheets/drive - Microsoft Office 365, OnlyOffice, or self-host LibreOffice Online (through Collabora CODE builds); if you just need drive, there’s also BackBlaze, AWS, DropBox, etc
• phones - I use GrapheneOS on their Pixel devices, but plenty of other Android phones support LineageOS/DivestOS/CalyxOS
• calendar - still looking for a replacement for my smart watch, but I’ve been using my Nextcloud install; there are also some FOSS calendars that support CalDav as well, so look around
• maps - I’ve been using Organic Maps, which has been great; main problem is searching for addresses, but if it’s in there, the directions so far have worked fine; there’s also Apple maps, Bing maps, and probably some others
• translate - it’s built in to Firefox, and it seems to work well enough in a pinch

But there’s really not much for YouTube. I guess there’s Odyssee, Rumble, and a few others, but they don’t have anywhere near the content as YouTube, so they’re not really practical alternatives. I actually sub to Nebula which is the closest to a replacement so far, but there’s still a ton of content that doesn’t have a direct replacement there.

Wow, that’s terrible. I still need to get around to blocking my smart TV as well, since we only use Netflix and our Jellyfin install on it. Thanks for a reminder. :)

Maybe we’ll actually see people switch to Firefox if that happens.

Yup, and that’s why I largely recommend DIY. If you commit to DIY, you will do the necessary research to not get too ripped off, and you can usually start w/ stuff you have laying around anyway. In my case, I upgraded my old Phenom II from 15 years ago to a Ryzen 1700, so I used the old Phenom PC as my NAS and just needed to buy some drives (got WD Reds). I have since upgraded my 1700, so now that’s what’s in my NAS.

If you’re unwilling to put in the work to DIY, I recommend cloud services instead. This solves two problems:

• unsophisticated NAS owner likely won’t do regular offsite backups
• no hardware to get screwed on

So either commit to DIY, or use off-the-shelf cloud products. I cannot recommend anything in between.

I built my own with an old PC, and it’s pretty easy. You can install TruNAS or OMV if you want, but I ended up just installing my distro of choice (OpenSUSE Leap in this case), set up BTRFS on my NAS drives in something similar to RAID 1, and set up a few services (Samba, Jellyfin, etc). TruNAS or OMV will make that initial setup a lot easier, so do that if you’re not confident.

The Raspberry Pi is not nearly fast enough for what I want it for, and I had an old PC laying around, so I figured I might as well reuse what I have. I started w/ a Phenom II x4 from 15 years ago, and recently upgraded to my Ryzen 1700. I plan to upgrade my NAS hardware whenever I upgrade my gaming PC to keep things recent-ish. Total power draw is somewhere around 50W, so a fair bit more than a Raspberry Pi, but only like 2x more due to the drive overhead (I use NAS-grade HDDs).

How are you forced to use their modem?

My old ISP gave me a router/modem combo and wanted to charge me a fee for it, so I just bought my own modem and returned the router/modem after transferring the config over. There are tons of modems for all kinds of stuff online, just look around and find something compatible.

My current ISP is just Ethernet at the wall (pretty odd setup), and it’s been well over a decade since I dealt with a modem, so maybe things have changed. But it’s probably worth checking out, especially if they’re charging you for use of the modem (check your bill).

And anything that touches on security (i.e. connected to the internet), and routers definitely count here.

Yup, my Mikrotik router is doing great years after I bought it, and I expect to keep getting updates into the future. I used to use a LinkSys router w/ DD-WRT and later OpenWRT, and I think those are still supported to this day.

Exactly. As a consumer, when I buy a product, I’m not just buying the state of things at the time, I’m buying with an expectation of ongoing support. If they choose to not support it themselves, I should be able to support it myself.

In the old days, hardware came with schematics, so when the manufacturer warranty ended, customers could repair things themselves. That should extend to software as well, since software is just as much a part of the functioning of a device as capacitors and whatnot.

To each their own I guess.

My SO and I have been on MVNOs for years. Neither of us use a ton of data since we’re either at work (either use work wifi on phone or work computer), at home (home wifi), or driving. I use <1GB data (web browsing, random app stuff), and my SO uses <4GB (Instagram/YouTube while exercising outside). I’m on Tello and spend <$10/month, and my SO is on Mint for $15/month (yearly plan w/ 5GB data), and that’s plenty for us, and we almost never hit our data caps.

We spend $25 total for two lines. I’d have to get 4 lines w/ the major carriers to get anywhere near that price per line, much less total. I have three kids (all too young for phones), and I could get them all basic lines for less than a single line at a major carrier. In fact, I’ve thought about getting an extra line just because, which would cost $6/month if I forego the data plan (or 7/month for 1GB data).

To me, priority data isn’t worth the cost, especially since it’s something like triple our current cost. Maybe I’ll care when my kids are old enough to have phones, but for now, there’s no way I’m spending that much just to have a little faster data.

Go to an MVNO, and you can get unlimited data for $25 or so.

Nah, put a traffic cone on 'em.