I hope they will, but I’m a bit sceptical about how serious they are taking it since the beta version includes a proprietary maps app instead of say OSMand.
Also I doubt that their F-Droid fork will only include bonafied FLOSS like F-Droid does since they say it will include 60,000 apps.
It’s a little thing, but if they manage to do that and don’t include more proprietary stuff in their OS than Lineage I’ll switch over (and first thing I’ll do is install a different launcher). Currently I’m blocking all G%$&e domains and 8.8.8.8. via hosts file (Adaway). Because of that I have to block all “This Wifi has no internet connection” notifications and I even ban the Wifi and mobile network symbols from the status bar. Instead I’m using orbot’s onion symbol to indicate whether I have a working internet connection or not.
I actually think the main focus is not specifically on FOSS (though they try very hard to stay FOSS regarding preinstalled apps), but the main focus will be privacy and UX.
So for me this meant for example, that a (not yet) open source Maps App that respects privacy very well and provides good UX got the shot.
They said they aim to remove all Google targeted traffic -> the ask the people to sniff their traffic to find holes that might still be left.
DNS seems to be somewhat tricky, but it’s definitely a todo.
Still, is 1.1 1 1 or 9.9.9.9 better? As far as i can tell it’s still an American DNS provider?
It would be better to be able to specify your own choose of provider, if you’re going that extra mile…
The installation is really easy, if TWRP is already installed it’s just:
(1) Wipe data/cache/system and (2) flash the .ZIP
Similar philosophy as Lineage+MicroG but with a different look and no F-Droid store by default…
Telegram is installed by default
Signal is installed by default in place of the regular SMS! I didn’t find the way to revert to regular SMS for those that doesn’t have 4G always enabled…
you can use Signal to send and receive SMS too. You can later choose if you want to exchange data messages with a specific contact rather than SMS. Unfortunately you cannot choose per message. Install other messengers using SMS like QKSMS in case and choose them as default at first run. There are messengers in F-Droid for encrypted SMS as well.
The OS itself is stable… just some new things are not fully polished, yet.
Like the launcher asked to turn on location on every reboot (for the weather widget), the file synchronization shows a message on every upload (debug), files get uploaded twice, file sync eats up data … I didn’t use the sync since the very beginnning, so maybe some stuff is fixed already…
Those things are work in progress.
Put the .img into the directory on the PC where you have fastboot installed (resp. where you start the command).
Put the.zip (according to step 8.) on the root of /sdcard (on the phone).
You might also ask any /e/ specific question in the /e/ user forum.
Hi @Volker,
So, what do you think after 2 months? Are you satisfied? Is /e/ an OS that could be installed on a phone for someone with few skills (one’s parents for example…)?