I came to use this e/OS/ phone because I was tired of being tracked by google who are now introducing Gemini AI for all users and I am definitely not interested in using this.
I moved away from using my gmail address about two years ago and realised I could escape more of their pervasive reach if I stopped using stock android ROMs.
Also, I remember loading an older phone with cyanogenmod about a decade ago and loved the interface and control of the apps.
My main goals were privacy and usability. After quite some experience with different Custom ROMs I was looking for a simple solution, that really works without too much maintaining. So my criteria were mainly:
In the end, I had GrapheneOS, e/OS and iodéOS to choose from. I tried e/OS first and it worked, so here I am.
I’ve been an enthusiastic Apple user for 20 years. However, the loss of Advanced Data Protection for UK users combined with the political change in the US made me re-evaluate things.
iCloud is now replaced by Proton, and after seeing iOS updates revert settings to default behind my back I decided to replace my iPhone too. I’ve never liked Android, but I found /e/OS while roaming the internet and decided to buy a FP5 from Murena and try it out.
I’m happy so far. I don’t use many apps, but I’m satisfied the ones I want to use work OK on this platform. I’m also satisfied by the potential hardware and software longevity, although I do cast nervous glances at the security patch level dates not being as recent as I’d like. That’s the only criticism I have so far.
The statistics of blocked trackers in Advanced Privacy was certainly an eye-opener…
It makes me wonder how many users Apple has lost to Murena in recent times? The only unfortunate thing is all my apple devices sitting on the shelf gathering dust. I should really think about selling them (if anyone wants to buy them). I had hoped to hear that Apple had won their case against the uk government, initially, but, I have my eos tablet now, as well as the phone, and don’t I will use them again.
OEM Android installations do the same thing. One of the big reasons I’m trying to make /e/os my one and only mobile OS is the fact that every time stock Android updates, I have to check all my setttings, and that takes a while.
I don’t think they’re doing it on purpose though. I think there was a time when developers took great care not to corrupt existing user settings, but these companies with big market share like Apple and Samsung just don’t care if they annoy the shit out of their users. It’s like you take what you get and be happy about it.
Hi folks!
From the beginning of the mobile area I was reluctant to run with the crowd. I was never a person who believed the hypes, and so the first cell phone came into my life about 2001 for a job where it was a compelling necessity. At this time cell phones had long been a matter of course in my circle of friends.
At this point I might add that I am not anti-tech. As a child I played Snake and Asteroids on an Apple II, enjoyed the Atari 2600, loved my Commodore C64 and my Amiga 500 and ended up with Laptops and Personal Computers, currently running a self-build system with a RTX 4080 and an AMD 5800X3D 
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As you may perhaps sense, some inconsistencies are announcing themselves at this point 
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The next big step in this general development was, of course, smartphones. Again I was reluctant, this time the more so as BigTech was rising. Thanks to my parents, I have always taken a critical view of society and its development, and wanted nothing to do with the emerging dynamics of data collection and evolving surveillance options.
It was in my holidays in 2019 that I finally decided to become part of the smartphone world. I was traveling abroad with friends in my rental car and had to rely on their navigation help via smartphone. I love paper maps, but the convenience was undeniable. Still, I was hesitant and was searching for alternatives to the data-minig stock-ROMs before finally buying a smartphone.
And along came e/OS/ 
!
It was in 2020 that I finally heard about e/OS/. That gave me the final push. For me personally, e/OS/ is the best compromise between usability and data protection. I love the idea behind it, can live well with the occasional problems, have great respect for the people in the background who program and maintain this alternative for us and am fascinated by the friendly and helpful community in this forum.
Hail to the stars 
!
Finally some words on the inconsistencies indicated. As some of you may have already guessed from the specs of my rig, I am a part-time gamer. This, for now, requires Microsoft WIndows, which I run with O&O ShutUp10++, but still…
The same is true with my smartphone. I love the implementation of MicroG, as it enables me doing the things I want to be able to do with my smartphone. But I take note that a purist would reject it. I rejected the German electronic patient file (ePA) because of security concerns and the floating idea to sell its data to BigTech, but I use some tracker-heavy apps (e.g. public transportation, music streaming and the like), all of which I have banished to a work profile with TrackerControl running in the background. For navigation I use MagicEarth, which is great, but to find stores, services etc. in the vicinity of a place unknown to me, I use GoogleMaps without login from my work profile. I have the A-GPS feature activated but activate GPS itself only when needed. I want control over my data, yet I use a cloud solution (Murena). And so on. In this respect I am a mixed bag. You could also call it a tightrope walk between convenience and self-determination.
Reading all the points that everyone is making, about features that they would like to have or definitely don’t want in the eos system, I wonder if it might be possible to have some of the more contraversial and less essential features available as optional extras, that can be installed if required? I am not a system developer so, I don’t know if this would work for e/os. But, it just occurs to me that, if it was possible, it might have a lot of benefits. It could be a way of testing out new features, certainly in terms of user popularity. Some features may be added made available but, then discarded later, if they are not being installed, or are being uninstalled quite soon after being tried. By all means do tell me if this wouldn’t work in practice!
I still use a macbook. I also still use an iPad, because there are a couple of iOS apps I paid for to help with working on the car, which I’m not paying for again. I don’t imagine the number of users lost is harming Apple so far. I certainly had no trouble selling my iPhone and it was enough to completely offset the FP5.
Hi all,
V new to the forum, after lurking for some time. Have been using e for a couple of months on a Pixel Tablet. I had spent a couple of months using GrapheneOS on the device, but wanted something lower maintenance (and bit prettier!).
I have been an Apple user since 2012. Trusted the company with my data and trusted its stance on privacy. After several problems with my devices, cloud storage costs and the distasteful push of AI features, the final straw was Big Tech’s dreadful approach to current US politics. For all of their talk in the past, these companies have done nothing in the face of Trump and co. I genuinely think their status is dangerous to the world.
I moved to Linux last year on my laptop and tried daily driving a Surface Go with Ubuntu as my tablet. The former was a huge success but the latter wasn’t a good experience so I started looking at custom ROMs. Enter e!
My iphone is the last piece of the puzzle, as it is on a contract from the cekk network provider. Once that device is no longer serving my needs, I may get a Fairphone direct from Murena, just for convenience.
I am enjoying this process and learning a great deal about tech and culture.
Merci beaucoup, or, as we say in Wales: diolch yn fawr iawn!
Welcome, or “degemer mat (or donemat)” as we say in Breton !
and Cymru is Kembre (quite same pronunciation)
Hello, i’m using /e/OS since many years, (before the v1.0).
I convert a lot of people around me and make install /e/ on more than 178 devices (majority Oneplus brand phone).
I discovered flashing phones with alternative ROMs using an old HTC One running Android 1.0 (LOL). I installed my first custom ROM on the device to upgrade it to Android 2.1—it was a CyanogenMod ROM, if I remember correctly.
Later, I bought a OnePlus One and followed the official guide to install CyanogenMod. That’s when I got hooked on installing custom ROMs on devices. CyanogenMod eventually died, but it was reborn as the LineageOS project.
At the end of 2018, I bought a new phone: the OnePlus 3. I immediately flashed it with LineageOS. A few months later, I tried /e/OS, but at the time, I didn’t like the default launcher, so I went back to LineageOS without the Google Play Store. However, I noticed I wasn’t receiving notifications from some apps I used regularly. That’s when I discovered microG, and I realized that microG was already integrated into /e/OS with some extra privacy feature that i was already using with lineageOS.
So in 2019, I decided to switch back to /e/OS—and I’ve stuck with it ever since. I’ve also tested other de-Googled ROMs like DivestOS, LineageOS with microG, iodéOS, and GrapheneOS, but /e/OS remains my favorite.
Currently, in my free time, I work as a tech installer for /e/OS, helping customers who are looking for clean Android devices. I actively promote de-Googled Android phones, services and knowledge, giving users the freedom to choose what they want to install and how they use their device. In my free time, I regularly refurbish OnePlus devices and install the /e/OS ROM.
Enjoy.
Hi all,
I’m using e/os 3.0.x now for a month. And I’m happy with it! Before I switched from my work Samsung A54 android 15 phone, I already started ‘unappsing’ so a change of OS would become more smoothly 
I run for many years a VPS with nextcloud, so the setup of e/os and connecting with my nextcloud instance went also great. Configuring Davx5 was also a small step. I tried to install as little apps as possible. To support the e/os project I also donated a (small) amount.
Now I’ve to do a little research (read this community) for:
I still follow the posts on mastodon on Grapheneos, Iodes and ofcourse e/os. Also I like the effort of Volla and the dutch startup of OwnPhone. So I’m definetly a DeGoogle fan
I also wrote a blog (in dutch) from my installation journey of e/os: Nothing CMF1 met murena
I hope to use e/os ‘a little longer’
Bye!
You may read the linked reddit post for more general info on that question (no idea if your phone allows it though):