As complete digibete I have been trying to work out what is necessary to prepare for a download of the os/murena system. I managed to put the photos on to a laptop, get Backup for Signal, remove not useful apps.
Not yet worked out what to do with Bank app, and a couple of others I wouldn’t like to lose.
But now the question arises even if I dare to try the download am I just too late. As Fairphone only backed up 3 until end of August.
I am scared to try. Can anyone advise me ?
Hi Allt, welcome to the community forum!
Just because Fairphone won’t supply further updates that does not mean that you cannot install /e/OS on your phone anymore. As long as Murena provides /e/OS for the Fairphone 3, you can install it.
I understand that it looks a little scary to do so if one is not so much into tech. There’s an active user here in the forum trying to explain the steps as good as possible and support, you might want to have a look: A safe guide to install /e/OS on your Fairphone
About the remaining apps: It really depends on the apps how they can be transfered/ backed-up, or if it is necessary at all. For the banking apps, try to check the websites of the banks. For the banks it will be a very common use-case that people loose their phones and need to set-up their banking again - while you still have yours, the proceedure is likely similar
Following on banks, when my FP5 was being repaired, I used an old backup phone, no longer supported so I didn’t want to use it for banking.
The hard lesson: it is much easier to switch off any app authentication once you still have your old phone somewhat working. So make sure you clear that out before swapping the OS.
Thanks for taking away the fear of being too late to download the murena system.
And as for the apps, you’re right the bank will be
used to dealing with this sort of situation.
I’ve now found out that the idealistic bank I use has opened a physical branch not far from where I live. That means I can go along for help. Phew!
@janweiss and @meaghan might have followed this more closely, but one more consideration:
Going back from a recent /e/OS to Android OS on the Fairphone 
will probably only work with keeping its bootloader unlocked permanently as Android “rollback protection” should kick in given outdated security patches on Android OS for the FP3. Some apps with high security demands will not accept an unlocked bootloader.
Furthermore, I would assume that Cordon (Fairphone’s repair contractor in France) will no longer un-brick bricked FP3s now.
Or does anyone know more?
@Allt
Depending where you are based, you might consider asking a local Angel for help with switching
And following what @urs_lesse just said, I would see changing into e/OS as one way street.
Thanks again for the attention and warning, both Urs and Meaghan. I don’t mind it being a choice with no return.
After all I’m just trying to prolong the life of this faithful phone.
My base is Amsterdam. So maybe there’s a Fairphone Angel about who might guide me in the step?
I removed your mail address. All Angel locations are listed here fairphoneangels
Thanks for removing email address. I thought this is risky when I wrote it. I’ll hae a wee look at the list of angels now!
Since I made exactly the same switch a little while ago I can also share some experience:
If you have backed up photos and signal, thats already a big part. Don’t forget whatsapp if you use that.
Banking and authenticator apps take a little special care. There are essentially 2 ways how to do it in your case:
- Use a separate phone for transferring the apps: If you have a spare phone lying around somewhere thats not years old or can use the phone of a friend or family member, this one is the easier option. It means basically doing the procedure of switching to a new phone twice: First you install and setup the banking/authenicator app on the second phone using your fairphone before installing /e/os. Then you remove the apps from your fairphone (since the removal is easier at that point, as mentioned) and install /e/os on your fairphone. Then you install and set up the banking/authenticator apps on your fairphone with /e/os using the second phone (and remove the apps on the second phone). If the second phone already has those banking/authenticator apps installed, you can usually add a second account in the app.
- Use the provided methods from the bank or organisation of the app. As mentioned, this is exactly the same as if you have lost your phone or if it broke and is not usable. For my bank (Sparkasse in Austria) this means going to their local branch and getting a one-time code for setting up the app.
I would also go through all the apps and have look at which apps you use for authentication. For example in Austria there is a governmental id authentication app which also has to be transferred like a banking app.
Since this was not completely clear for me: If you lock the bootloader again after installing /e/os this performs a factory reset and all apps are gone again. So if you plan on doing this (which I would recommend if you really don’t want to go back), setup the banking/authenticator apps afterwards.
And as general remark: Unlocking the bootloader and installing /e/os definitely looks scary, especially without much technical knowledge but there is actually no knowledge required, since you just have to follow the step by step guide. @urs_lesse @Meaghan Pleaso correct me if I’m wrong, but as long as you don’t want to go back to stock android there is nothing that can go fatally wrong and cannot be fixed with some time and questions in the forum (even if you make a mistake during the install process). But it would be a good thing to have maybe an old phone that can do calls, where you can put your sim card in so you don’t have no phone at all if you would really need multiple attempts when installing.
And for the record, I have been using /e/os on my FP3 for almost a year now and it works really well, so I can only encourage you in switching to /e/os!
Thanks Fabian for sharing how you did the switch.
I hadn’t thought of transferring most important apps to my partner’s smartphone.
I will check out how that works. Perhaps experiment first with a not important app to see how it goes.
Thanks to all the helpful suggestions from the community forum I’m gradually picking up courage.
I installed e/OS on a FP3 about 4 years ago never had an issue with on line banking. Once you have e/OS installed, Download “App lounge” it is like a back door into google store or F-Droid open source apps. Go to the e/OS forum there is a list of banking apps that function. With e/OS you can block trackers and it is shocking how many trackers there are. My phone blocked 2022 trackers in the last 30 days from 20 apps. !!!
Thank you CFA for the encouragement. I’ve decided to postpone the download until I come back from a week on holiday end of October.
As I will need the phone during that time.
This is cowardly of me and procrastination but I immediately felt less stressed about it all
Duck Duck go also shows the trackers while using and you can easily burn off the sites you’ve been visiting.
Enjoy your holidays. Leave your phone at home and enjoy them even more. 