I'm looking to get a custom ROM that has good compatibility with my device. Would you recommend /e/? I couldn't find a tutorial on how to install it with Linux but I don't think it should be that hard to figure out.
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2025
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Privacy
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Hard truth: outside of GrapheneOS there is very little security and privacy gains from a custom Android OS over stock.
From best to worst:
Graphene OS
iOS
Stock Android / non rooted custom OS
Branded stock android
Rooted phones of any type
EOL phones
It's hard to compare the security of systems. Also how is IOS number2!? Theres a lot of research put into finding holes in hardware and software since they are so popular, also they have backdoors for the government baked in along their walled garden.
Speaking about privacy, there are alot of gains from passing from a closed source ROM to a open sourced one. Or even better to an open sourced phone running Linux(yes I know very few can daily drive them).
On security it's complicated and depends on many factors.
iOS second? What a joke.
Sorry its true. The app sandboxing and private relay alone are better then anything stock or these lower tier custom android os provide.
That seems like an overly black and white position over something that can be either quite valid or entirely nonsense depending on the situation and/or threat model.
Something's are just more secure and private then others. That's just a fact. For example, as of now GrapheneOS is the most secure and private consumer mobile OS. There is no gray area.
Now whether your threat model requires it, can be much less black and white.
But users here tend to gamify privacy and think they should get whatever the "best" one is. They tend to do whatever the most upvoted github list tells them to do.
Rarely do I see someone like yourself, who considers threat model.
GrapheneOS wins, but whether iOS is more private than CalyxOS or /e/OS I think is very gray, and depends on the threat model, and on most devices they are going to be a significant improvement in privacy, and often security, over stock Android.
And privacy may not be the only consideration when choosing a device.
Since my threat model includes mainly surveillance capitalism (and no evil maids or targeted attacks) I don't particularly feel like trusting a big tech that's running their own targeted advertisement system.
Personally I think if you look at what privacy features CalyxOS actually offers or read reviews from someone like kuketz you realize its pretty lacking in both privacy and security.
What Calyx does offer is a decently degoogled experience for people who don't have the budget, access, or want for a Pixel with GOS.
I understand your issues with Apple, that's fair. OTOH I think their offerings, such as private relay, RCS messaging by default, properly implemented sandboxing are objectively better privacy features then what most android operating systems can offer. They also are much more reliable in terms of security updates.
I also have had issues with Calyx using pretty obvious lies to market themselves such as saying the OS can't be tampered without your knowledge. Not that Apple doesn't have its fair share of blemishes.
And you think degoogling offers no obvious benefits in terms of privacy?
I do. I think its a bit overblown as none of these operating systems are completely degoogled.
I think its much better to focus on things like not having apps with privileged access this includes, a lot of peoples go to play services replacement, MicroG.
I can empirically say, that just switching from stock to a degoogled ROM gave me a significant battery boost. I have no idea what that thing was doing in the background, but it's already doing a lot less of that.
For microG... Until UnifiedPush becomes more widespread the choice between having your notifications go through FCM and halving your battery life is going to be a tricky one.
Good call deleting that trash comment.
I'm pretty sure you implied that the ranking was based on security and privacy. I don't see the privacy benefits of using iOS over a custom privacy OS.
Do your research then. I'm not here to hand hold you through this.
Privacyguides.org is a great place to start for beginners.
Their forum is also a much more informed community then what you will find here or god forbid r/privacy
👍
Yeah I would put it #1.
Why?
When a mobile hardware is only from Apple.I have read this several times, and still have no clue what you're trying to say.
root allows system-wide adblocking. thus more privacy, not less privacy
Root also adds massive attack surface which easily outweighs those benefits. Not to mention non rooted DNS solutions provide a similar benefit.
Security != Privacy
That's idiotic. Your data being insecure is inherently not private.
They are two sides of the same coin.
So more security equals more privacy? Is that why iOS is second in your rankings?
Not necessarily, there are tons of things that are very secure but not at all private.
But.. having a massive attack surface and known security issues and thinking your data is somehow private because you use a FOSS application is silly.
EDIT to answer your edit: partly. I mean regular timely security updates seems to be a struggle for most of these android OS but also because it provides a bunch of privacy by default options that these other android ROMs don't such as a private relay, default RCS messaging, and makes them easy for users.
You do have a good point. However, I can’t consider a proprietary operating system like iOS truly private. It may be secure (certainly more so than stock Android and some random custom Android based ones) but if I can’t be sure that my operating system isn’t spying on me, then security alone doesn’t matter much for me tbh. Apple’s operating systems are no exception to this.
So, in a ranking that considers both security AND privacy, iOS being the second one is questionable. However, if the ranking is based solely on security, then I have no issue with it.
sigh
My evidence is something being proprietary and in the hands of big tech (in this case Apple). What makes you blindly trust in Apple's words?
I didn't like my tone in my last response so I apologize.
Something being propriety isn't evidence of anything nefarious nor is something being from a large company. That's not evidence at all.
I'm not trusting Apples word, the privacy feature examples I've mentioned are proven working methods. Unless you have some source showing that RCS or their private relay don't work in someway.
I don't know about you but if I don't know what a program that I can't inspect the code of does, I'll just assume the worst case scenario. I can't prove it but you also can't prove that it isn't doing something shady, can you? So what if I am using Private Relay? Apple will know what websites I visit or what I do with my phone as long as I use their proprietary operating system and who knows who they'll give it to. And with this, I am saying it again: Apple's operating systems are no exception to this rule.
So you actually inspect the source code of everything you use?
This whole line of reasoning really only works if you have the expertise to understand the code in the first place. Otherwise you are just shifting trust from what the company tells you to what a third party looking at the source tells you. Sometimes that works but its in no way fool proof.
There is open source malware. FOSS /= trustworthy the same as closed source /= not trustworthy.
If you don't trust Apple that fine. Some people won't ever use a Pixel because they don't trust Google. It doesn't change the fact that Google currently makes the most secure, hardware wise, consumer smart phone. The point being this shift in trust is more of a personal choice then a good privacy or security practice. Just as using something like e/os or lineage over iOS is.
No, of course I don't. I am not as paranoid as Richard Stallman, but I am also not as pronoid as the average human to just use proprietary software when there are similarly functioning open source software. With open source software, you can inspect the code and compile the code that you inspected. This is not true for something like iOS.
And of course, FOSS malware also exists (for example the recent xz data compression program). But guess what? You can find if it is really malware or not because you ultimately can inspect the code and compile the code you inspected. That is also why the malware in xz was found out. Who knows what there is in closed source software you can't inspect the code of. Do you perhaps believe in security through obscurity?
Using open source software is always an advantage. Praise for privacy software should be earned through the ability to verify them, and not granted by default.
Windows is rooted by design, and that's completely fine by everyone and their dog
Lol nobody is calling windows secure or private. Nobody even mentioned it.
Companies literally pay thousands of dollars a year in hardware and enterprise software to make up for its deficiencies.