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Solutions for bypassing the September Lockdown WITHOUT breaking the bank? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/android@lemdro.id
14 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've been about, and so far, almost everyone's advice has been, "Buy a Pixel and install Graphene," which I think is frankly quite unrealistic. Even the cheapest device that's still supported (Pixel 6) is still about $200 refurbished, and that apparently loses support one month later (October 2026).

So basically, are there any options for people who aren't wealthy?

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[–] 11 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Buy a phone supported by LineageOS. If the phone doesn't have bootloader relocking, you're pretty much trading security for privacy, but it really depends on your threat model. Lineage does support a much wider array of devices, whereas GrapheneOS only supports Pixels (until their partnership with Motorola kicks off), and CalyxOS supports Pixels, Motorolas, FairPhones and the Shiftphone 8.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    CalyxOS, huh? I haven't heard of that, and it seems to support some fairly reasonable devices.

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    • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    You can still sideload apps. While the change is ridiculous, you still can sideload apps. They just make it significantly more painful to enable sideloading.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Yeah, except for developers who don't want to give their ID to Google. Those apps won't be able to be installed on standard android devices at all as far as I can tell.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    The situation is pretty confusing, but you're still gonna be able to side load unverified apps. The "advanced flow" that makes sideloading obnoxious to do is specifically for unverified apps, whereas verified apps (where devs have to fork up their ID to google) can be installed without any hassle.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I see. Safe to assume the confusion is part of the design.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    The other problem with this is that this is all controlled through the Play store API, not your device, so they can yank your access to all of those unverified apps any time they want and say "actually, no verification = no run, fuck you, pay me"

    If you don't think they will, that they're not just dying to do exactly that and squeeze people just that little extra bit more for YT Premium subscriptions or whathaveyou, ask the people who had their movies yoinked from their library with no warning by Sony (over fucking licensing costs, at that, not even hurting their profits directly) if they thought that would ever happen and how it worked out for them.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    And apps that google simply won't approve, like ReVanced.

    I'm lucky I bought a Pixel some years ago, I have been using it stock but I've been backing up all my shit this last month in preparation to put graphene on it. It'll be a cold day in hell before they force me to watch YouTube with ads and no sponsorblock, I'd sooner read a book.

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    • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    In addition to the options below, I highly suggest Backmarket pretty good deals on refurbs there too :)

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 months ago* (1 child)

    Do they have some kind of deal with Samsung? I looked, and as far as unlocked phones go, the only thing they have for less than $300 is various models of Samsung Galaxy.

    Edit: Nah, there's definitely something going on there. I went to the site, clicked Android phones on the first page, and got a listing of strictly Samsung phones.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago*

    They have pixel phones as I just checked when I wrote the reply, you just have to scroll or search

    EDIT: But i can agree that it's pretty annoying for user interface stuff that they automatically go to samsung :/ the android smartphone category though is bountiful for pixel / motorola

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