Background
I feel like it is influencing my experience with OS’ greatly, so I think you should know it.
4chan like AKA TL:DR
- Don’t like google
- Purchase FP5
- Try to degoogle it
- Updates don’t work
- Switch ROM to Iode
- Be delighted
Normal
I have purchased a FP5 in late November and degooged it as usual (and turned off myFairphone since I couldn’t find it’s source code.
I have not received an update since then.
Also I have run into some trouble with the stock OS in general.
The lack of updates really bothered me and I could not figure out what was causing it.
Factory resetting the device fixed this problem.
I came to the conclusion that Google’s Android, which FP does little to change (and that’s alright) might not be for me.
I have bought the phone when I have learned that CalyxOS will support it, so that was high time to check what OSs the FP5 supports.
Unfortunately Calyx wasn’t there yet.
That left me with Iode and /e/.
Since I do not like the design of iOS (/e/) and Iode sticks closer to Lineage, which I have used before, I decided to go with it.
Installation
I couldn’t decide between the installer (v0.2) or the manual method.
I have tried the Installer first. It looked nice and ran on Wayland.
Unlocking flashing did not work and I needed to do it by hand.
That’s when I have decided to switch to doing things that way, especially when I have noticed that zip with the OS did not have the same checksums as the ones that I have downloaded and confirmed(!).
I have managed to install it.
First impressions
I have relocked the bootloader and with MicroG all the apps work as expected.
More customizable
- ROM Base
- During the initial setup (install?) the user is asked to choose what software they want installed, and what MicroG functionalities they enable.
- More Android options
- Removing the stupid white “navigation” bar with a simple switch
- One can even choose what GSM network technologies to use :0
More insightful
Apps like Lineage’s Trust or Iode’s Iode allow users to see what a normal Android distro would not bother with, like if SELinux is running or what domains are apps contacting.
A “premium OS”
Iode offers something that is called a iodeOS Premium. I find that name misleading, since buying it effects the functioning of one app (Iode blocker), that one can ignore and still the privacy is still better than on Lineage.
What you are paying for is basically the full version of the DNS blocker.
At 4€ per month it seems steep, but it’s a way of supporting the developers – it may seem not nice since it’s not free but I think it’s one of the better ways to do it.
Drawbacks
- There is no setting to limit battery charging to 80%
- That’s unhandy but bearable
- There is no software warranty from what I can tell, since Iode does not mention it explicity
- I can live with that – this is what using Linux feels like
- Neat-pick – if you don’t disable apps during the initial setup, they cannot be uninstalled and even sometimes removed (looking at you AudioFX), so if you will use another fdroid client than the official one, do not enable it
Summing up
I can say that Iode feels more like Linux compared to FairphoneOS and I mean that in the best way.
I recommend it to anyone that does not like google and owns the FP5.