Thank you for sharing your experience.
It’s true that /e/ doesn’t suggest alternative apps.
So maybe we could add to the documentation some links to already existing known website listing a lot of alternatives.
It woud also be nice to have a HowTo about the different method to download and install an app (with the default Apps store, F-Droid and Aurora Store).
@kontakt thanks for sharing your experience, very interesting discussion.
On your point below around apps, just to reformulate and make sure it comes out clear
Would you be looking for the /e/App store to give only curated recommendations instead of giving access to the original app? Like i type ‘Facebook’, the Facebook app would not be listed and instead i’d see SlimSocial as in your example? Same for WhatsApp and so forth?
I imagine this could work for a few ‘titles’ but when there is no alternative client, it would become a black and white situation and you would have no app offered. In a nut shell, either you use the original client (bad for your data) either you’re out and loose the ‘benefits’ or the connection to the ‘community’ using it.
Your argument can be also turned around. When you use SlimSocial you still have a Facebook account so you keep “feeding” the beast even if you don’t share your data. You will still interact with other people on Facebook who will not see the difference.
We all agree the best option is no ‘Facebook’ at all.
Thankfully there are several ways to get there…
I think it’s really important that /e/ keeps giving options to people. In its base it’s open-source and privacy-safe, and then people have the option of installing whatever app they want. That’s the only way to make it acceptable to the general public at the moment. I do think, based on what @archje said above about deinstalling the /e/ app store via ADB, that it would be a good idea if as many apps as possible are de-installable on the phone itself, including the app store, but i think that is in the /e/ pipeline, together with a fully FOSS version that does not have the /e/ app store but Fdroid instead.
I hope the /e/ team is simultaneously bringing out a 3rd version, the “minimal profile”, which would just be a backbones version of /e/ with as few apps as possible on it (perhaps just the dialer, the messaging app and optionally the /e/ app store).
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