Edit: some answers put directly to the questions.
Hi there, after my FP2 unfortunately is not working anymore (runs very unstable after seeing some water) I opted for a FP3 and directly installed /e/. Now I got some questions.
All installed apps are on the “main screen” or if I install more then the screen page can hold, a new one is added. But I can’t manually add one. I also didn’t find a way to group apps together. And there is no option to swipe up and have all the apps there.
What do I need to install in order to achieve this?
How can I uninstall or at least disable (not just force a stop) of preinstalled apps which I don’t intend to use? (Mail, calendar, …) I can’t even remove the icons from the screen.
A different launcher. There’s a ton of them.
If you need some inspiration … Android 7 Nougat / 8 Oreo / 9 Pie: Home screens / Launchers
With a different launcher you could remove the icons from the home screen.
If you really want to uninstall system Apps … First Steps after installing /e/OS | removing bloatware
There is an app preinstalled named OpenKeyChain. My first move was to install f-droid and it right away wants to update this app. The /e/ app store doesn’t see any such update (Is there any use of the /e/ app store if I don’t have a google account?) The questions is now, as a system build in app, do I run into problems updating it via f-droid?
Camera App. That HDR is causing crashes is well known. I also have difficulties with the zoom. It always takes a while and the app easily starts trying to refocus again. Also pushing on the screen to focus on a certain point instead of the middle seems very difficult. Anyone experienced similar problems and has a workaround? (I changed the settings from “focus auto” to “focus locked” for now and the behavior got a little better.)
Also were did the predefined settings for landscape and sunset and such go?
Location. Is there a problem with the location on FP3? The preinstalled Weatherwidget is always off by some kilometers as it seems.
MicroG, my second move was to disable everything under the MicroG settings. Is it possible to set this up in a way, that I only benefit from the push functionality?
Explanation for the question: At the moment I have installed the f-droid telegram version, which always has an icon active because of the issue of not using gcm but needing to be active to receive in a timely manner, new incoming messages?
I’m also using conversations which under /e/ always displays an information of the connection status of the accounts set up. I never had this with LineageOS. Can I disable this?
In general, I would like to understand better the privacy implications (What data goes were when using which option) of using different things. Where can I find information about this?
Root. I read it is possible but I need to keep the bootloader unlocked? Any other things to keep in mind? I read when installing root, the data partition gets wiped, so currently installed apps settings are lost, is this correct? (I’m asking mainly for the omemo keys of conversations and if I can back these up and restore them).
Encryption. Does anyone has experience with this jet? (Devise rooted, not rooted, experience with system updates)
About encryption: as far as I know the data partition on /e/ is always encrypted. During the beta testing OTA updates went fine (I didn’t root my FP3) with encryption.
modem.zip Under LineageOS it was “necessary” to manually update the model file. How is this handled with /e/?
Situation seems not clear at the moment.
LineageOS for FP3. I saw a thread that there is a 16.x Lineage OS under development. I assume they want to benefit from the work /e/ is doing, so that’s why they also stick to 16 and there will not be a 17 anytime soon?
PS: I miss my FP2 (and its size) with LineageOS snief I do appreciate the more mature look and battery life of the FP3. If anybody thinks a more detailed write up of FP2 vs FP3 from the perspective of a google free OS user might be of interest to the community, let me know.)