Hi everyone,
this is my first topic and I hope I chose the right category.
I have been an iOS user for more than 10 years now and I got used to the golden prison I was in. Some weeks ago I decided to escape from it and I bought a Fairphone 3 with /e/ on it. But to be honest, I am a bit lost now and I am still using my old iPhone.
Here are my questions to help me start with Android and more specifically with /e/OS
Is there a starter guide somewhere to help newcomers (especially those coming from iOS) ? Like migrating data and so on…
What are your general/basic tips for using Android safely ? Like the typical question should I get an antivirus ?
There are a few key Apps I am using on my iPhone that are missing on the “Apps” application and for which there are no alternative, are there other places where I can download them ?
I hope my question are clear and precise enough to get an answer. Thank you in advance for your help.
Hi Smart.
Welcome out of the golden cage.
I cannot help you at the moment. I will help you as I can in the future, since it will be hard for you not to try to get back in the comfortable, yet closed cage.
I’ve been in your exact situation more than 20 years ago when I switched from windows to Linux.
What I warmly recommend from my experience is to stop definitively to use the other phone. You will be always in the middle.
If you are missing an App, you can request it directly in the Apps installer, so that /e/ devs can have a look at adding it.
Be aware that since /e/ comes without the genuine Google services many Apps depend on, not every App out there will work reliably or at all. /e/ has an Open Source replacement in place which enables many Google-dependent Apps to run, but this has limits.
A popular App store combination apart from the built-in Apps installer are F-Droid, which only has Open Source Apps built from their sources, and Aurora Store, which is a Google Play Store client available via F-Droid, letting you install free of charge Play Store Apps anonymously (to access paid Apps you bought you need to login with a Google account).
You can find more commercial applications with “aurora” store, with an anonymous account (search in /e/ app store).
But theses applications get your phone informations once installed. It’s up to you to choose.
As said Piero it’s better to use a site than installing a commercial App such as twitter.
Hello, welcome in the forum and thank you for your purchase!
Here is an additional answer
No, there isn’t a big guide about migrating, the only HOWTO about Apple/iOS is this one about migrating Contacts to eCloud. You can find the complete list of HOWTOs here.
Encrypt your phone (it’s already done by default on the FP3),
Use a good password to lock your phone (only useful in case of a physical threat),
Don’t root your phone (FYI the equivalent of rooting an Android device is jailbreaking an iOS device),
Only install trusted applications, and not the first Calculator, Flash light or Fart app you find. Ideally, only install open-source apps that are on F-Droid (every F-Droid app is also available in “Apps”),
Update your device to receive the latest security updates,
Don’t let Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or NFC activated when it’s not needed.
If you respect this, you are safe (or at least you can’t do anything more).
For me, an antivirus on Android is useless. It’s just a proprietary app (not open source), with trackers built-in it, that will ask for a lot of permissions, spy on you and use RAM and battery. There is no risk (let’s say almost no risk because the NSA could send you one) of getting a virus if you respect what I said above.
Like other people said before me, you can use Aurora Store:
or request the app you want to use (banking apps might not be added even if requested) thanks to its codename (you will be able to see the codename of an app in Aurora Store, under its name).
