Does anybody else have an /e/ phone that they’re not using as their main phone?
Why not?
In my case:
waiting for v 1.0 and for the possibility to uninstall apps I don’t want (Tasks, Weather…)
waiting for a solution to a problem I had with Shelter. Once I uninstalled Shelter, I was not able to wipe off the ‘copy’ of Contacts, Files and a couple of other apps that Shelter had created for me under my ‘Work’ profile, and in order to clean up, I had to reset the phone.
waiting for a solution I like and trust for emails. No, the @e.email account and client don’t do the trick for me, nor does Tutanota, as much as I like them – at least not for more than a few emails a day. Hey.com could perhaps be a solution, but it’s 99 USD + taxes per year.
My main concern with /e/ and other privacy focused versions of android is that I fear I will be prevented from using apps I need or want to use. I don’t mind using a goolag app when that’s the best option available. What I don’t want is for goolag to track me or collect info about me when I’m not choosing to use one of their apps.
Concrete example: when I’m trying to get someplace in Los Angeles nothing beats Google Maps, so I want to use it then. I’m OK “paying” for that service with some tracking info while I zoom around L.A. But I don’t want to wonder whether it’s tracking me in the background when I’m done using it.
It’s not the user-space Google Maps program that’s tracking you although that does offer an interface to view your location history. It’s:
the device location history (that’s extremely confusing to configure even for Google people)
the “improve accuracy” positioning feature that works in the background and leaks what wifis and bluetooth devices are around you so it will help you and them to get a more precise position indoors (it actually works REALLY well, except for obviously leaking a lot about you, your neighbors, etc. and draining your battery)
Other than that of course Google Maps will send your position and destination and many other things when running but it doesn’t do anything in the background. You can even ask it not to save any history (which is unclear if it really does anything on Google’s servers but it’s incredibly annoying in practice as if you want to look up something or you’re interrupting the route for anything you need to find again your previous destination, as your history isn’t saved).
What is one problem for me is that the builds are relatively old (like in Oreo) for devices that have well working LineageOS 17.1. And this is relatively important not because of “latest and greatest” OCD but because apps in Android 10 can’t get unique identifiers from the phone anymore.
I use /e/ as daily and don’t want to use any gg ‘service’ because gg already tracks me by…
99% of my contacts, ‘full-gg’ users ! And bank and administrations are the most important ones #rage using gg APIs and aws without my consent, without any alternative to save my privacy (see SNCF app post for ex.).
No ‘if’ for me, using e with as few datas leaks as possible (no cloud) is a hurry,
I fully understand google maps thing, because objectively it is the best search tool,
but if I can give you a piece of advice you can do, so to limit damage and tracking:
you can use google maps in your browser (google.com/maps), and only then when you have the exact address of what you were looking for, you could use magic earth, or whatever you want.
Remember to delete cookies in your browser from time to time.
Of course, I understand it’s not a complete solution for not being tracked, but at least avoid the maps app that constantly runs in background collecting your private data.
I agree that /e/ is ready for use and I used it as my main phone for 6-7 months
Then I had a hardware problem and a friend gave me her old iPhone 6S as a gift.
As I happen to like the iPhone I got from my friend, I think I won’t go back to using /e/ as my primary phone until the four things I listed are solved.
BTW, has anybody had the same problem I had (and described above) with Shelter?
Hey @dotcoma,
I have used Tutanota as my main email service for the last two years… I find their service very satisfying and stable.
I would totally recommend the service.
I pay them 12 euros a year, not because I need the storage but because I think they are doing an awesome thing
Hi, I am also paying them 12 Euros a year and I like them and trust them.
However, I’m not sure it’s really practical to use them as my main account. Compared to GMail, sorting and archiving email is a not as practical and fast, imho.
Hi @dotcoma, before I read your last message, I was wandering what main phone you were using. I guessed it was a GPRS phone with no internet!
I am sorry for you to have had the /e/ phone broken.
I understand your frustration about not having what you want but being back to Apppple sounds strange to me.
Often when i use my /e/ phone I see the useless and “buggy app” Weather and think I would prefer not having it (and I don’t understand why it has not been removed in /e/!).
I have also moved Tasks app in a “far away” page where I put not used apps. I don’t see it anymore.
I use Shelter for WA 3 other apps. Yes, Shelter creates apps in the work profile, but only a few. All apps remain frozen on my phone when I don’t need them.
Having a trusted email free of charge looks hazardous. I pay for email provides, located in my country. Why not use tutanota for all mails ?
I hope you will be back to /e/ soon and keep faith in a possible change in this world!
Did you restart the phone? I think its a matter of the launcher that these app icons remains until you restart. Its the same when you deactivate work profile the app icons remain like nothing happend. In LOS you can understand when its active or not. I hope the launcher will be further developed.
If you have a pixel 3a then you should definitely try CalyxOS, it’s even better than /e/ privacy-wise and above all security-wise. It also has the microG to make annoying apps work. Compared to /e/ it only lacks the googlish “account experience”.
I’m also wondering why /e/ that aims to empower its users still doesn’t let them uninstall the apps they don’t want on their phones. It’s an important point to correct ASAP.
I’m also curious to know when will the v. 1.0 finally be released. Could someone please tell us?
Do you use CalyxOS? I did look at it. No community/forum. No roadmap. No documentation. No associated services (like ecloud). “Here, trust us, download and run…” and I don’t really know who “us” even is. Am I missing something?
I think it would be awesome if the store app had a page that lists all the default/standard apps with a checkbox next to each that lets the user choose which ones he/she wants. On first boot after a fresh install, that page could be brought up to install the apps.
