Switching to /e/os on FP4 now

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1

After long consideration I have decided I want to switch to /e/os on my FP4. The one app I needed a google account for is no longer needed, google’s plans to require app authors to pay a fee, google in general - it’s time. The FP4 is still working great so I am holding on to that.

What would the best strategy be? Back up everything and make a list of all the apps and logins, I got that. But the actual installation of the OS.

I remember when I got the FP4 I had a choice. Does that mean the phone is unlocked for doing so? It there an option to make switching easy when I reset to factory settings?

Any indication of how long this process would take?

Thanks!

2

Hi there,
@piero-e has a nice guide and answers questions about the installation often, if you still have any after reading his guide: A safe guide to install /e/OS on your Fairphone

You might find answers to your questions in that thread aswell

3

Thanks, I will follow that!

I do have to say that the first section, “Things you must take care about”, is wildly confusing and badly written. But it sounds like a very important step so some clarification there is needed. I am a software developer but many terms used I have no idea about.

4

Hello, @jerry1970,
English is not my first language, what do you propose to improve ?

5

Official documentation is here, if you want to compare … Install /e/OS on a Fairphone FP4 - “FP4”

Reading in the /e/OS forum, the /e/OS Installer seems to be a bit hit and miss for users (may work, or not), while the command line instructions should work (and are easier to troubleshoot in case of any issues).

6

Hi! Not exactly your question - but may I ask if you considered to use LineageOS? I ran it for years, it is official supported for FP4 and - in my opinion- the best OS.

7

Oh, that is a very good question and suggestion. I thought the official alternative was /e/os.

Only thing I need to know is whether Swedish BankID and Swish and my bank app can be installed and work, those are crucial.

Just read that /e/os is a fork of LineageOS with extra privacy things. They also have email and calendar services that I do not need (self-hosted). Need to find out what the privacy things are exactly, otherwise it’s the easiest setup I will choose. :slight_smile:

8

I can help you out there but I need more info because some parts I just do not understand. What would be a good place to discuss?

9

I am comfortable with the command line so I will choose that path. But the warnings about bricking your phone if something goes wrong is something I would like to understand before I start.

10

The risk of bricking the device are.

  • relocking the bootloader with an older version of “Android Security Update” → device don’t boot anymore, you have to send it to Fairphone official workshop (you need a purchase invoice).
  • relocking the bootloader when asking for “unlock_ability” return 0 → you will not able to unlock anymore (so stuck with current OS) → you have to send it to Fairphone official workshop (you need a purchase invoice)..
11

Ooh, that is an excellent list, thanks!!

12

/e/OS can’t do “crucial” when it comes to banking Apps working.
They can break at any time, for any amount of time, even if other users may report them as working right now.
This is something many users don’t get and stumble over. Not much is needed to go from “Hooray, it’s in the list!” or “It works for somebody else!” to “Why is it broken now? It worked before! I need this!!1!eleven!!”.

This is systemic as long as banks don’t officially support their Apps running on Android custom ROMs like /e/OS or LineageOS and instead try to implement ever evolving checks against this (which /e/OS or users themselves then try to work around).

You don’t want this uncertainty and risk if those Apps really are crucial for you.
Sticking with Fairphone’s OS as a Google-certified Android OS gives you the advantage of a chain of obligation. If your banking App doesn’t work and seemingly it’s not the App vendor’s fault, Fairphone have an obligation to look into it and fix it, if they can. If Fairphone would realise the issue lies deeper in the Android base, they could turn to Google, and Google would have an obligation to look into it and fix it, if they can.
With installing an Android custom ROM, you are leaving this professional sector. It’s communities and best effort then. Which tends to be a great experience if you know what you are dealing with, users choose this path for reasons afterall (including me), but obligation to get issues sorted out only goes so far in this territory.

There are two different kinds of “official” at play here.

LineageOS uses “official” as a term for builds which meet certain quality criteria and thus are being built and distributed by LineageOS, see Requesting LineageOS for your device | LineageOS Wiki and charter/device-support-requirements.md at main · LineageOS/charter · GitHub

/e/OS is the alternative OS Fairphone officially promote, because the vision of the OS aligns with something Fairphone would like to see (without further spending resources to make something like this themselves, as they did back in the Fairphone 2 times), and because there’s a foundation and a company behind /e/OS with which Fairphone can engage and deal in a business relationship. The latter is something LineageOS as a community project is lacking, for comparison. Fairphone and e foundation/ Murena have an official partnership in place.

You can still reduce Google dependency considerably while sticking with the stock OS.
Remove your Google account from the phone, abandon most of the Play Store Apps in favour of Open Source ones (have a look at f-droid.org), really take the time to sift through all the settings to disable a lot of things you don’t like, uninstall so-called bloatware.
Here’s some (now very old) inspiration in case you need it … Google Apps keep reinstalling/ reactivating - #34 by AnotherElk

13

Seems here a lot of murena fans around :wink: I am a convinced LOS-Fan, the risk of banking apps was a question of rooting. And setting back and flashing back to stock or e/os is no problem at all.

14

/e/OS fans are LineageOS fans, too, as /e/OS is based on LineageOS :wink: .

Rooting is not the only stumbling block in this.
Many users aren’t rooted and still get into trouble with banking Apps, a little problem awareness doesn’t hurt.

I’m very glad your use cases work well.

I am always happy to recommend LineageOS in cases where it makes sense (example).
Fandom in itself will not become good advice automatically.

15

Even a non rooted phone can be refused because

  • unlocked bootloader
  • lack of certified boot
  • safetynet integrity
  • lack of real Gogol Play Services
  • …

The 3 first are fixed using a build from the /e/ “official” branch
But, microG that mimic Gogol services needs constant improvements

16

Hi, yes, maybe a question of experience and of priorities. For me the biggest secuity risks are Google, Meta and Tec-Monopolists. - long story told very short. I use as allday device an Tab A out of 2014 with unofficial builds that still gives us Security updates- from Android 9 ( end of support) to LOS 20). And as long as possible I’ll prefer LOS also because it is worth to keep the OS open and “free” and sustainable and community driven - as well as using a device like FP 6 that is too expensive and not the very best phone - so for me e.g. a GrapheneOS on a Pixel would be bizarre. But all this wasn’t the question- every one can read and compare and make a decison on her/his own. Don’t mind - Digital Independence and Human Reflections mean a lot for me.

17

Hi, Jerry!

For me, the official /e/OS installer worked fine on FP4 (from stock FairphoneOS). Install /e/OS on a Fairphone FP4 - “FP4”

I think the major benefit of /e/OS over LineageOS is the App Lounge where you can install Google apps without logging in to Google services. I don’t know how private it actually makes it, maybe the more tech savvy here can tell me.

However, my banking apps work (Finland) as well as the Helsinki City public transport app. Actually, now that I think about it, all the apps I’ve downloaded from the App Lounge work.

Lineage is great and has a newer version of Android, but for me, /e/OS seems very solid and comfortable with built-in privacy protection features (e.g. ad and app tracker blocking). There’s also the Murena office suite which admittedly I haven’t used much because I already have other solutions for file storage, for example, but it looks nice. Very happy with /e/OS!

18

Well, with Google requiring app makers to register and pay a fee, it will probably mean many apps from F-Droid will stop working. I just want to get rid of the google dependency.