It's literally Chinese government spyware
Use GrapheneOS and avoid tracking and data collection of any kind, free yourself from Google and other Big Tech companies and use open source software to guarantee your personal privacy and security.
this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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Chinese spyware? Certainly didn't know that... I that the reason they were banned from US?
Apart from that, I just don't really want to free myself from Google, Microsoft etc. I still depend a lot on their software and products, and privacy to that extent, while it's certainly not good, I personally don't mind it.
I respect that some people are more careful about their privacy, that's how it SHOULD be for everyone. Unfortunately I still need and want to use their products, so I find it obvious they want something in return. The worst it can do to you is show you personalized ads... Or at least I think so.
"Chinese Spyware" is probably a little hyperbolic, but it's not a claim without merit either.
Basically, the issue is that companies that operate in China are beholden to an authoritarian government that has the power to get whatever data they want from the company. Add to that, for the average person, their smartphone contains a ton of data about them and is often brought into trusted networks when you turn Wifi on, collecting even more info.
In the US they were banned largely because the company has very close ties to a foreign government and regulating that communication is far harder once the devices are widely available.
Right now, that data is mostly used to build a profile about you for the purposes of advertising because that's what's profitable, but that data exists and can be used for other things if someone with access wants to.
I personally am a sucker for Chinese Designed UIs, they’re really well polished and thoroughly skinned for Android, and Harmony OS (no matter what Huawei says about it, I’m still inclined to believe it’s Android) is no exception to that. The ecosystem stuff MrWhoseTheBoss showcased on Huawei products seemed pretty well done, and it made me think how good an ecosystem like Samsung’s could’ve been.
It’s proprietary though, and you can’t really get it on anything but Huawei phones. Unfortunately, these aren’t the golden days of custom roms anymore where people are porting Flyme onto their Redmi Note 5 Pros anymore :(
If it wasn’t for the obvious gripes I have about Huawei, I would probably have no problem using it, alas, I am just fine with using a custom ROM like RisingOS on my Pixel 6a anyway.
I agree - I also really enjoy the polished look of modern chinese UIs, certainly more than whatever Google is trying with Material U.
This is in my opinion one of the great achievments of Android, the fact that manufacturers can change so many aspects of a phones UI. Not like with Windows Laptops for example where each and every one looks and behaves the same.
I'd be curious if you can still sideload the Playstore and Play Services. I have a Huawei Mate 9 Pro and Honor V8, both on their chinese firmware and its a matter of downloading the Play Framework, Play Services, Google Account Service and the Playstore itsself as an APK to get a working playstore.
I have no idea how that's done. It's probably a nightmare not having playstore.
Although now that I think of it, you have things like apkmirror so I guess it's not so bad.
It doesn't matter what they call it. I still wouldn't consider their phones, and for once, it has nothing to do with American politics. I just don't think they make good phones, at least for the European market
Well, yes, I have never tried any Huawei phones myself. So I don't have an opinion on how their phones are. But this OS really seemed cool to me when I saw it. Idk how much time has it been active, maybe I'm a bit late?
I think China can fuck off, and fuck Huawei.
Fuck the surveillance in the os, the phone themselves are pretty good.