Can I pay for support of a new phone?

Hi eFoundation Team & community members…

I have ordered 2 new phones for me & my wife, but I have had it with Google.

We are awaiting delivery of these 2 phones:

Samsung Galaxy S21 5G 128GB (Unlocked)
MODEL NUMBER: SM-G991UZVAXAA

Galaxy Z Flip3 5G 128GB (Unlocked)
MODEL NUMBER: SM-F711UZGAXAA

I would be interested in paying for support for these 2 phones… I would even be ok with ordering another set of these phones and passing them to the team for development if needed

Is this an option?

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

You should probably define what you mean by “support.”
Just a suggestion.

I mean that the OS would install and ‘work’ on my phone model(s)

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/e/ OS is based on Lineage OS, and there needs to be a Lineage OS ROM (official or unofficial) for a device before it can be supported by /e/, officially or unofficially. Looking at the LineageOS Supported Devices page there is no official support for these devices, and there are no unofficial LineageOS ROMs that I could find in XDA Forums. I suspect this is because the devices are too new.

Unfortunately, whatever the reason, without support from LineageOS, these devices won’t be supported by /e/ - sorry!

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LOL… good try… Why not…:wink:

I think the goal behind /e/ was not understood here. It would probably have made more sense to inform yourself BEFORE buying a new smartphone.
The point is that old devices can continue to be used and do not become electronic waste after three years…as Google & Co are forcing on us.
I will use my oneplus 5 until it falls apart or there are no more updates from Lineage/e OS.
That is (one of) the thought behind /e/.

And by the way: the age where everyone can buy a new smartphone every year will soon be over anyway.

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It’s possible that new phones may eventually get a LineageOS build, especially popular devices like Samsungs, so that’s something to keep in mind, if you want to hang on to them for a future custom ROM installation.

Samsungs in particular might be a problem, though, now that VoLTE is becoming a requirement with some carriers in some regions of the world. I believe I’ve read here (and hopefully understood) that Samsungs use a proprietary implementation of VoLTE that doesn’t work with custom ROMs.

(Somebody more qualified than I am can explain that.)

Hi and good evening @quadratum-braccas, welcome to the /e/ community forum. Thanks for your interest in eOS.
Smartphones are usually closely tight together from their hardware and software side. Development from hard- and software goes hand in hand. That’s why unfortunately it is not that easy to make a third partly operating system (such as /e/) for a new phone, as there are many adaptations needed and all the sources of the original software are not available in order to facilitate this adaptation process.
This adaptation process is pretty costly in money or in time.
That’s why you don’t find a lot of recent phones with third party systems such as /e/ out there.
There are software developers passionate about developing third party and open source operating systems for smartphones - especially for popular ones. But it always takes time. For now, you find LineageOS (a third party operating system that serves as well as foundation for /e/) available for the Galaxy S10 and probably soon for the S20 as well. The S21 might take quite some months until a stable version will be available. Once LineageOS is available for a phone model, it is easy to run /e/ on the same device.
If you are interested in /e/ it would be probably more advisable to check first on what devices it is currently running - before you purchase one.
For now, /e/ can be installed on more than 150 devices. Some few (refurbished and new ones) can be purchased with /e/ preinstalled.

I am afraid, that’s the reason why you will probably not find someone stepping up to ‘just’ support the phones you propose.

I am afraid, I don’t have a ‘better’ answer for you for now.

With best regards.

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A custom android OS for those two specific models producted for USA and China only, could be never released.

  • SM-G991UZVAXAA
  • SM-F711UZGAXAA

Versions: SM-G991B, SM-G991B/DS (International); SM-G991U (USA); SM-G991U1 (USA unlocked);

Since the Galaxy s6 you need international model to use Custom OS.
Better buying a
Samsung Galaxy s10 5g international SM-G977B ( beyondx )
for /e/ official support…
https://doc.e.foundation/devices/beyondx
or envisage installing a G.S.I. ( only with unlocked bootloader witch is not you case )
https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=10626&idPhone2=9588
But according to voLTE issue, Samsung are not adapted to use in the USA better choose another brand like MOTOROLA or Teracube 2e

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Hi @quadratum-braccas builds for devices which already have support on Lineage is easy. This is because they already have device trees that /e/ ROM builders can use to build an /e/ ROM. That does not mean that we have only devices supported by Lineage. We do add devices which are not supported or on the LOS list For example the Teracube 2e . What is required in such a case is a ROM Maintainer . a person who can build and maintain the device for /e/. You can check the ROM Maintainer requirements for /e/ here.
You could check if there are some Unofficial builds, made by the community. Those are visible here
If you don’t find your phone in these lists, you can request support for it on our community forum.
We evaluate phone support based on most popular requests and feasibility. More at this URL

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What about starting a crowdfunding project e.g. on Kickstarter or Startnext etc. with a one or few devices (but most request devices like the newer but not yet supported Samsung Galaxy Smartphone and Tabs)? I would be more than happy to support and I hope I’m not the only one

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I love that idea! I would also be happy to support too. Others… ?