Cheap 'smartphone' without bloatware

[Lemsta69]

8 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

ADB will run all of its commands in a shell on the phone. Similar to how chroot works in Linux. 

right. but iirc you can't delete system apps if you don't have SU permission.

[userabcd]

Nasa phone shop in MBK which lists most of the phones available and their prices.

 

A few phones are available in your price limit but not so easy to find a decent phone for under 3000 Baht.

 

 

[Mickeymaus]

27 minutes ago, connda said:

Just an FYI.  The OPPO I have runs ColorOS over Andriod 5.1.
LINE works fine.  However, if it didn't it would be fine with me.
LINE is a "honey-gatta-have" app that my wife wants on my phone as she insists it will save money with "free calls."  If it died today I'd celebrate and remove it.  It would save 1/2 a gigabyte of space on my phone.

LINE like so many Andriod (an Apple) apps is a combination of spyware and data collection and advertising junkware. 

You are right. LINE doesn't work with Android 4.2 on my Note II anymore. On my Galaxy Tab S2 that has now Android 6 it says minimum OS is Android 6. On my Galaxy Tab S7 Plus with Android 11 it says minimum requirement is Android 7. A bit confusing...

[cleopatra2]

19 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

right. but iirc you can't delete system apps if you don't have SU permission.

You can delete system apps for the default user without root. 

What you cannot do without root  is uninstall from the system partion to free up space. 

 

[dhupverg]

How about a degoogled phone?  https://privatephoneshop.com  

Rob Braxman also has a line of degoogled phones.  https://brax.me/prod/host.php?f=_store&h=rob&p=&version

[The Fugitive]

On 10/18/2022 at 5:05 PM, Lemsta69 said:

banks etc don't normally support rooted devices. 

Thanks for that. Good to know before I start fiddling!

[Lemsta69]

2 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

What you cannot do without root  is uninstall from the system partion to free up space. 

right, that's what I thought. so without root your options for freeing up space are limited. 

[The Fugitive]

On 10/18/2022 at 11:29 PM, sometimewoodworker said:

As it is an iPhone it will be supported by apple, on average, for twice the lifespan of an equivalent Android phone.

Good to know for buying reconditioned. Many thanks! 

[connda]

1 hour ago, Lemsta69 said:

afaik you can't actually do much via ADB without root/SU, but it's been a very long time since I've rooted a phone and I've forgotten all the steps. 

Exactly.  ADB has a "root" switch, but the phone architecture can override it.

 

[JimmyJ]

On 10/18/2022 at 5:10 PM, KannikaP said:

I have an Huawei and couldn't use it without Google Apps.

What was not working?

[connda]

1 hour ago, cleopatra2 said:

ADB will run all of its commands in a shell on the phone. Similar to how chroot works in Linux. 

I'll play with that.  I'm running ADB via Linux and bridging the phone in developer mode.  I'll try ADB native on the phone just for grins and giggles.

[JimmyJ]

I can live without rooting the phone if I can deny all Permissions to all Apps.

 

3 months ago I made the mistake of buying a new Samsung.

 

The phones I have used for years allow me to deny all Permissions to every App if I wish to. 

 

I never considered that this will be any different with other manufacturers, but I now find that Samsung forces Permissions to many apps.

 

Currently the "Permission Manager" shows that I am forced to give access to "Phone" to 10 apps, Storage to 3 apps, Contacts to 2 apps and Call Logs, Camera,  and Location to 1 app each.

This is 24/7 forever, no options for the owner.

 

Samsung's answer to Google Assistant is Bixby.

Bixby Routines gets perpetual permission for 5 of those, and Bixby Voice gets access to 6.

24/7/365 compulsory Data Mining by Samsung.

 

But actually Samsung has access to more than this, as there are many pre-installed apps which are not listed by the Permission Manager for some reason, and some of these also have irrevocable Permissions.

 

I cannot accept this situation.

 

So I need to find an Android manufacturer who allows Permissions to be denied for all apps.

 

Can anyone help me with this question.

I am afraid that the Demo models in phone stores won't allow Permissions to be denied, even if it allows that when not in Demo mode.

Or that the staff who hang over one while handling phones will not permit it.

 

Do any of you have phones that allow all Permissions to be denied?

 

(If you don't mind experimenting, you can always turn the Permissions you use back on.

Data is never lost by doing this - you are not deleting.

Your phone will work as previously once you allow Permissions again).

 

Thanks for any relevant info.

 

(Do not want an iPhone).

 

 

[KannikaP]

47 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

What was not working?

Sorry bad wording. I need Google apps on the phone for it to be of any use. It works perfectly.

[2baht]

3 hours ago, connda said:

How's that.  If the phone can be rooted you can use computer apps like 'adb' to in developer mode to remove apps off of the phone.

Good, go and "root" it!

[fdsa]

 

3 hours ago, connda said:

LINE like so many Andriod (an Apple) apps is a combination of spyware and data collection and advertising junkware. 

same as Whatsapp, Telegram, and every single other mainstream messenger.

 

3 hours ago, connda said:

Nice site for checking out specifications. 

the most important part of this database is not a specifications but an ability to flash a custom firmware. If you could install LineageOS it means that you could install anything else.

 

 

[fdsa]

2 hours ago, dhupverg said:

How about a degoogled phone?  https://privatephoneshop.com  

Rob Braxman also has a line of degoogled phones.  https://brax.me/prod/host.php?f=_store&h=rob&p=&version

this is my preferred choice, however it does not fit the topic starter's budget.

[fdsa]

On 10/18/2022 at 5:05 PM, Lemsta69 said:

banks etc don't normally support rooted devices. 

yes, this is correct. However this approach:

On 10/18/2022 at 5:05 PM, Lemsta69 said:

I stopped rooting my phones because a lot of critical apps wouldn't run on them despite using Root Cloak et al.

is not correct. You should have a rooted phone for normal everyday usage and a separate device for banking which should have NO any other apps installed except the bank ones.

[fdsa]

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

So I need to find an Android manufacturer who allows Permissions to be denied for all apps.

...

Do any of you have phones that allow all Permissions to be denied?

such phones do not exist, because the manufacturers profit from collecting and reselling customers' data.

 

one of the solutions is installing custom OS such as LineageOS with privacy software such as XPrivacyLua.

[connda]

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

I can live without rooting the phone if I can deny all Permissions to all Apps.

 

3 months ago I made the mistake of buying a new Samsung.

 

The phones I have used for years allow me to deny all Permissions to every App if I wish to. 

 

I never considered that this will be any different with other manufacturers, but I now find that Samsung forces Permissions to many apps.

 

Currently the "Permission Manager" shows that I am forced to give access to "Phone" to 10 apps, Storage to 3 apps, Contacts to 2 apps and Call Logs, Camera,  and Location to 1 app each.

This is 24/7 forever, no options for the owner.

 

Samsung's answer to Google Assistant is Bixby.

Bixby Routines gets perpetual permission for 5 of those, and Bixby Voice gets access to 6.

24/7/365 compulsory Data Mining by Samsung.

 

But actually Samsung has access to more than this, as there are many pre-installed apps which are not listed by the Permission Manager for some reason, and some of these also have irrevocable Permissions.

 

I cannot accept this situation.

 

So I need to find an Android manufacturer who allows Permissions to be denied for all apps.

 

Can anyone help me with this question.

I am afraid that the Demo models in phone stores won't allow Permissions to be denied, even if it allows that when not in Demo mode.

Or that the staff who hang over one while handling phones will not permit it.

 

Do any of you have phones that allow all Permissions to be denied?

 

(If you don't mind experimenting, you can always turn the Permissions you use back on.

Data is never lost by doing this - you are not deleting.

Your phone will work as previously once you allow Permissions again).

 

Thanks for any relevant info.

 

(Do not want an iPhone).

 

 

This is why I simple state that all 'smart-phones' were explicitly designed as spyware and private data collection devices.

[connda]

20 minutes ago, fdsa said:

this is my preferred choice, however it does not fit the topic starter's budget.

It doesn't matter.  It adds to the gist of the topic.

[connda]

18 minutes ago, fdsa said:

yes, this is correct. However this approach:

is not correct. You should have a rooted phone for normal everyday usage and a separate device for banking which should have NO any other apps installed except the bank ones.

However the trick is?  Removing all the the bloatware, junkware, app that you yourself didn't install, pre-installed c**p by Google, etc etc etc.

[JimmyJ]

3 hours ago, dhupverg said:

How about a degoogled phone?  https://privatephoneshop.com  

Rob Braxman also has a line of degoogled phones.  https://brax.me/prod/host.php?f=_store&h=rob&p=&version

Have you ever purchased from/used a phone from either place?

 

Or has anyone else here?

[fdsa]

8 minutes ago, connda said:

However the trick is? 

russian hackers will not empty your bank account using yet another Whatsapp vulnerability.

But yes, for a peace of mind you would have to remove all the preinstalled cráp.

[fdsa]

2 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

Or has anyone else here?

I've simply bought a Pixel from Ebay ????

[fdsa]

11 minutes ago, connda said:

It doesn't matter.  It adds to the gist of the topic.

then, to further add to the gist of the topic, I should tell everyone that one shouldn't buy a "privacy", "freedom-respecting" and whatever else phones such as Librem5 or Pinephone because mobile Linux OS is not suitable for daily use yet (and most likely never will)

stick with usual smartphones that could be reflashed with a custom Android OS such as LineageOS or GrapheneOS.

[Photoguy21]

You can ROOT a phone if you go into the Advanced Settings. I wouldnt bother but if you want to you can.

[Lemsta69]

16 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

You can ROOT a phone if you go into the Advanced Settings. I wouldnt bother but if you want to you can.

nonsense. rooting is much more complicated than that, it requires flashing the device with an unsecure kernel, unlocking the bootloader etc etc. no easy task or we wouldn't be having such a long conversation about it, OP wouldn't have to ask which device is rootable.

[Photoguy21]

Just now, Lemsta69 said:

nonsense. rooting is much more complicated than that, it requires flashing the device with an unsecure kernel, unlocking the bootloader etc etc. no easy task or we wouldn't be having such a long conversation about it, OP wouldn't have to ask which device is rootable.

You believe what you want to believe but the facility is there in An droid but not in a standard menu. I think the OP may have to ask what day it is.

[JimmyJ]

4 hours ago, connda said:

This is why I simple state that all 'smart-phones' were explicitly designed as spyware and private data collection devices.

Yes, they are tracking/data mining devices.

 

And people pay them to spy on them, but part of the package is people get to make/receive phone calls (which the people pay for).

[Lemsta69]

6 hours ago, fdsa said:

You should have a rooted phone for normal everyday usage and a separate device for banking which should have NO any other apps installed except the bank ones.

yeah probably but I just CBF with rooting anymore so I've decided to just be a lemming and run with the herd over the cliff ????