How can i safely use versions of /e/OS where official support stopped? Like Pie or Nougat.
Am i supposed to use something like a security suite? Can i still safely use the Browser?
Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online services
Even the most up to date version of the /e/OS system (even excluding vendor/kernel) is currently vulnerable to hundreds of security issues: https://divestos.org/misc/e.txt
So no, there is no way to use an even older version with any degree of security.
Complete exaggeration. On older phones even older versions od /e/OS will be more secure than the last release of manufacturers stock Android. I know that /e are behind on pulling in changes from upstream, and I know you keen to promote other, more secure custom ROMs, but statements like this really don’t help. Security is relative,
As the /e/ documentation states
If you are looking for an OS with hardened security, use Graphene, if you are searching for an OS that helps you keep your data safe from Google, use /e/OS .
A few points to bear in mind when deciding how to proceed:
The older Pie & Nougat versions of /eOS, which stopped at v0.23, are still likely to be more secure than the latest stock ROM from the manufacturer (which for these devices is likely to be one or more Android versions behind, and which will not have received any updates for some time).
/e/'s built-in apps are always going to lag behind the upstream apps from which they have been forked, in terms of bug fixes and new features. So you could consider using the original apps instead of the built-in apps. All of them are available from F-Droid. See more details about this here
If you are running an old device with not a lot of space for installing these apps, you might be better to try and find a Lineage for MicroG ROM for your device. That, with the upstream apps installed, will give you a setup not very different from /e/OS, but in a significantly smaller footprint. Official downloads are available here, but I belive they only contain versions from LOS 17.1 (Android 10 / Q) onwards. For earlier versions, check in the XDA Forums for your device to see if anyone there has access to an older ROM you can download.
On the plus side, v0.23 was the last version of /e/ before the introduction (without any beta testing by users) of the Avanced Privacy feature, which seems to have caused a lot of problems for many users, especialy with apps using location or requiring internet access. Quite a few people here are still using it, and I don’t believe that doing so is a big risk in normal, everyday use.
I hope that helps you decide how to proceed
Devils Advocate: “can I safely use…?” you probably can’t, but you can reduce your exposure and risk and thus adjust the fallout. I had phones in states where I could tolerate loosing them unlocked. How much havoc could an intrusion cause? how would you recover digitally?
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