First, I have to explain, I‘m not a developer and I have not compared any source code. This is only a short review from a user.
Magma ‘will’ be also a ‚googlefree‘ Android. Magma is a based of AOSP – Android Q. I have build it for my both xiaomi devices (Mi5s and MI5s Plus). I have had also build eOS Pie for both devices, so I was able to compare.
After flashing the OS I haven‘t installed anything else, because I want know if the OS is connecting to Googlag. So I have used my PI-Hole and have monitored all connection for 24 hours. Result: No Goolag connections. Same as on eOS.
MagmaOS
Android Q
Small prebuild apps
F-droid is included
Easy to build with ‚old fashioned way‘
Only availabe for a few devices
No enhanced services like ecloud
No MicroG included
eOS
Android nougat and pie, no Q in near future
Alot of prebuild apps – small version is planned, but noone knows when it will be available
Apps store, that includes tracker apps
Build only via docker or a build script.
Available for a lot of devices
Enhanced services – ecloud / email
MicroG included
From my personal side of view, magma is a nice, googlagfree OS for people which are able to build her own rom (if the device is not supported yet) and, like me, want decide by his own what apps are on the device and which don’t need the enhanced services.
If you are able to build for your own and if you want have a googlagfree Android Q – try magma.
A short WWW research shows me that MagmaOS is little or not known at all and therefore only known to insiders.
The fact that microG is not included by default is not a disadvantage for me, because I simply installed it on an ASOP 10 device.
What are the requirements to build your own MagmaOS device?
Is the Telegram Magma Community absolutely necessary?
Interesting is “Android Q” aka Androis 10, because it has already arrived on some devices and especially makes forget the security handicaps with Android Nougart and Oreo.
i think /e/ is on the right track here and so is MagmaOS. It’s all about your goals as an organization. MagmaOS’ goal is to be an OS for powerusers who can build their own ROMs. /e/'s goal is to be the default privacy-safe OS for regular, mainstream users - the “moms and dads” of the world. For that, you need the whole feature set that /e/ is in the process of developing.
on another note: i think it’s a GREAT achievement that there are zero Google connections both on /e/ and MagmaOS. Well done to both these OSs! It would be worthwhile reporting this more broadly; e.g. via an independent privacy evaluation of /e/ (i’ve seen the previous one, an updated one of the new Oreo and Pie builds would be a big plus)
That’s pretty good for both if there were no G connections.
I wonder how it is without microG? Something like Signal, Wire - in which case is microG missing?
I’m using since july 2019 no MicroG on my device and all my apps are working. Sure there are some which will ask to install goolag services, but I can skip that. And Protonmail has no push messages. But that’s ok for me. Push messages are not good for your health
Two things that tend to get forgotten in these discussions [although you do mention it in the review] is that ‘e’ is being developed as a complete Google free ecosystem which is a heck of a lot more involved than just developing the rom and secondly that it is being developed with “ordinary users” in mind not just for us geeks.
From dyed-in-the-wool LineageOS users I read in the WWW again and again “LOS is as far as possiblede-googled” (in german: “LOS ist weitestgehend entgoogelt”).
If this assessment were correct, /e/ wouldn’t have to make any further efforts, right?
That statement us not right. LOS has not removed everything. There some goolag code still in the sources which is removed by e.foundation (as far as I know)
Magna is based on AOSP and has also removed this (as far as I know).
That means, from privacy view there is a difference between LOS and eOS/magma
Mhm, I don’t agree. Because the Apps store is full of spying apps. What, from my personal side of view, is totally against the credo of e.foundation.
And that’s the difference to magma. There you will find only f-doid for apps without trackers.
Yes I agree on that point and I am not sure what can be done about it, but you have misinterpreted mine. That is you are not comparing apples with apples. You are comparing a basic rom with an ecosystem. rom, storage calendar etc etc.
The e-Apps Store can be completely removed (even on unrooted devices). After an OTA it will not be reinstalled. In its place I installed the F-Droid App Store as a system app.
@harvey186: Are the e-Weather App and the e-Browser still g°°gle-ig enabled?
When I try the /e/ Apps Store, it works as it should. Recently I even found two of my banking apps. So it can be quite useful. Every user is free to use this or other Apps Stores.
