They also took your FM radio
Cells phones outside the US could even record FM. All the technology that was kept from us because of things like copyright is staggering.
Yep, I remeber doing it a few times. Didn’t know phones in the US couldn’t record.
My dad has a Poco phone that came with FM radio from 2020 but Poco pulled an asshole move and pushed a firmware update a few years later that uninstalled the radio app on each reboot
Yeah, there have been a number of cool technologies we never got because of the copyright lobby. Hell, they almost banned the VHS player.
I lowkey kinda wish Fairphone would make a new phone that has an aux port for the craic. And an FM radio built in too. Use the aux port as an antenna like how older phones did before they stopped doing it.
What about telecommunication companies conspiring with phone developers to force communication into the different buckets of data, voice, and text and then charge us for each?
This reminds me when cellphone companies used to charge for sms sent lmao
That’s what I’m talking about, before cell phones were a thing, they weren’t a thing. When they were becoming a thing they specifically conspired to segregate data into different streams so they could rip us off. And yeah 30 cents to send a 140 Byte chunk of data
I love modern phone cameras. My Pixel 10 pro takes pretty amazing pics and I’m on graphene so I don’t worry about being watched. I do miss headphone jacks. I’ve been thinking about getting a portable DAC/amp and going back to wired headphones but I’m already carrying 2 devices because of my diabeetus, and I’m likely going to have a work phone soon as well.
DAC drains your battery like crazy. At least mine does when paired with Sennheiser HD6xx. You might want a battery powered one.
Activate Multi-User mode under GrapheneOS + add your work profile there.
PS: There are a few good headphone adapters w/power delivery available
Forced age attestation on unlock. Camera always on.
They are working hard on taking away SIM cards so that you can’t move to another phone without your provider charging you and giving you an okay.
Yes in theory eSIM cards are better, but the way many providers handle issuing you an eSIM card is a nightmare. Whereas with a physical SIM I can just pull it out and put it in any phone that supports that provider without a problem.
I went as far as buying one of those physical SIM cards that holds e-sims on it so that I can swap that into a new phone. But newer phones are more frequently not coming with SIM slots at all.
I’m resisting esims for as long as possible.
Nanosims provide this key feature where I can put my sim in a cheap 20$ flip phone when I go snowboarding or kayaking and don’t want to risk breaking my smart phone.
This also is a convenient way to get Google, and tech, and social media noise away from me for a short time.
I also noticed there is a complete lack of esim capable dumb phones. This has me starting to question the motivation behind esim.
Ehh…esims have their upsides (like instant delivery from your cell provider).
And for your case: Multi-sims (with telephone) are a thing.How often you need that though? I mean ordering a SIM. And if you need it immediately you just go to one of provider’s kiosks (which is plenty of them) and you get one instantly.
As for multi sims, that’s useful especially if you travel, but on the other hand there are phones with multi SIM slots. I have one right now. The sun card slot is just longer and you can put multiple.
The whole esim reminds me when I was at Verizon when they still used CDMA. Phones didn’t have SIM and you had to call provider to make a change. So to me it feels like a step backward.
I think what Cape is doing is innovative wrt esims.
But I’d still lose out in flip phones atm. I’d be totally fine beaming my esim over to the flip phone in a p2p manner and beaming it back when I am done. Its just a matter of, hopefully, someone making such a flip phone.
If it’s just for a throwaway situation like risky adventures in the mountains, I guess some refurbished device that is 3/4/5g capable would suffice me. Not like you can use 2G nowadays anyway.
I like eSIMs now because I can get a different account every month, data only and then I use jmp.net to have SMS and voice call services with a permanent number for when I need that. Its cheaper then anything else and more private too.
I don’t know who you’ve been getting your esims from but it I’ve used simjuno and nadanada both are pretty easy to setup.
As soon as the ability to just physically remove the SIM is gone, the big providers will add locks in software to enshittify the experience.
That’s a given. I can see Apple becoming a mobile service provider and locking all iPhones users to them, for example.
eSIM experience will only stay smooth as the alternative physical SIM option exists.
They’ve also done stuff like that with physical sims too. Obviously they couldn’t prevent you from taking out the sim card, but carrier locking has been/is a thing.
And there’s been times where x phone was only available with y carrier for a while.
Apple always sells their phones unlocked when you buy directly from them. I don’t ever see them ever going back on that.
Lock ins are only a problem if you sign a contract to get your phone costs subsidised. The solution is not physical sims, its stop buying over priced shiney things with a contract just cuz MaBell will give you a “deal”. You can almost always get a better deal yourself if you are willing to look for it.
I pay in a year less then most ppl pay for a month of the same exact service, but instead of paying T-Mobile or Verizon $40 I pay $4 for the same amount of data. Instead of buying the latest phone I get a used one that will get updates for the next 3+ years.
I don’t see how apple or Verizon or anyone else could really ever make this setup not work for me unless they lobby congress to destroy MVNOs and used phone resale.
Won’t happen because then the major carriers will throw a fit.
That sounds like a major pain in the ass.
A lot less pain then getting stuck paying off $1000 phone and over $300 for service. I guess some people just prefer to get ripped off
What does the cost of the phone have to do with changing your plan monthly? You can not get ripped off and not have to do all that hoop jumping each month.
Well I dont have to change it monthly if i don’t want to but I happen to want to because it makes it harder to track and create a profile If I do. My actual phone/SMS service stays the same either way and routes over XMPP.
The cost of the phone is why most average people get suckered in to long term contracts.
Well related because just buying a phone outright in my area is not easy. I have to ship the phone direct from manufacturer because all the major retailers refuse to sell unless you buy through a contract.
Certain wireless providers ban phones they don’t like anyway, even if it’s unlocked. It’s depressing.
Always buy unlocked. I transferred carriers on the bus one afternoon and by the time I was home, it was done and I had already deactivated my old account. Kept my mincer and everything. It was even simpler because I have a dual eSIM. Once it was done, I deleted my original eSIM. There’s also the big advantage of using dual eSIM when traveling internationally as you can just activate foreign networks immediately.
But even if you don’t buy unlocked, the carrier has to unlock your phone if you’ve been with them for like 60 days or something according to the FCC. My friend couldn’t get his phone unlocked so he threatened to report them to the FCC and BOOM. Unlocked remotely. It was crazy that it had to go that far.
Locked phones aren’t really a thing in Canada; they are all unlocked. That doesn’t dictate the eSIM switching process be easy between devices though :/
Also, wtf is with the “only one or two eSIMs” limit. That physical eSIM card I bought will fit as many fit in storage; something like 8 apparently. I hate arbitrary “no, only X” limits without a justification.There is only zero, one, and N (more than can be used because of physical or natural limits) in my mind. :P
what the fuck? I stopped on “no jack for you sir” phase, no doubt I am not going for another smartpone when the current one dies out
The first phone I got with an e-SIM crashed during startup. After it cooked my old SIM card. It was so arduous to get fixed. So fucking stupid. This tech isn’t ready for prime time if it can’t handle the phone crashing at specific points.
Take away your ability to install apps that aren’t stamped approved.
Oh wait, one did it over a decade ago and the other is about to start enforcing it.
Oh, and there’s pretty much only the two of them.
Is there any way to stop this?
Use graphene OS or deal with the “advanced flow” process once
I understand but the problem is my phone in not supported sadly
Pretty sure only pixels are, but Motorola was working on one. It’s fucking stupid that the only phone they support is manufactured by the company that is causing most of the problem. Their phone sucks too.
I agree I hope something changes in the future
Next flagship Motorola will have official GrapheneOS support. It will be very expensive. After that, hopefully more mid-level Motorola phones will be supported too.
OR - they could dumb down grapheneOS so that it can run on a lot of other phones ?? ? maybe? yes? I get the desire to be able to encrypt the entire drive - that IS important, but I think its more important to get the functionality of graphene provides to more people. A non-google based phone is pointless on only google based hardware.
The flagship Motorola also sucks, missing a bunch of features that even my $150 Samsung J3 had
You can still find LineageOS for your device. Check their wiki, they support A LOT of devices.
Well I guess I am not lucky because I even checked there and still my device is not supported.
See if there is an XDA page for your device. If it has a qualcomm chip, there’s likely some custom roms for it.
I searched and I found nothing, seems like I am cursed
Click the “Show legacy phones” or something similar. Some cellphones were supported, but no longer receive updates, so they do not appear in the supported list unless you explicitly tell the page to show them for you.
I check the lineage devices list very frequently, only Pixel phones are getting support mostly, maybe fairphone too
I bet there’s a single Fairphone in my whole country tho
I got a cheap used Pixel at the tail end of support, it’ll last a few more years. After that I hope there will be more Motorola phones than the currently planned.
That’s not really a hardware solution
Not really. The companies will continue removing end-user ownership, even if they move to alternatives. The profits must flow, the number must go up.
If people start to boycott it can make a change
Boycott the technology they have forced on humanity. There’s a growing number of basic tasks that require a device and there’s a large portion of the population that just doesn’t care enough to not fall in line.
True, no change can be done without a will that comes from most of the people, but that’s life, somehow you need to feel like a feather moved by other people’s choices.
Focusing on what we can do is a better choice.
With how apple shit is treated like divine ambrosia and, in many places, a status symbol, I seriously doubt any boycott against them will have any effect.
Android is like Windows in the 1990s. It’s fucking everywhere and literally too big to boycott. Most OEMs also prefer to play ball with Google and keep the phones locked because it’s profitable for them as well. Boycotting a specific OEM might cause some damage to them, but it won’t budge Google. It’s good that some companies are making phones that ship with more open android clones, but those phones are still too expensive for most people to buy
Capitalism made them so big.
They will try to discourage use of on-screen keyboards (making them dumber and less reliable) to force you to use AI dictation and sell you more headphones.
Damn, that’s so viable. don’t give em ideas
At that point I think I would just go back to a brick phone again. I used one as my only phone for the past several years before getting a second hand fairphone with calyx, I really don’t have a problem with going back.
90% of the reason for the fairphone is I work in office now and I get bored for an hour lunchbreak. But being able to send my partner more higher quality cat pics is a bonus too.
And pay $3 to subscribe to the on-screen keyboard as an added function.
(Fuck, I’m sorry I’m giving them ideas)
I recently lost the voice assistant on my phone because it got replaced by Google’s stupid AI shit, which I refuse to use. Now the old assistant, which shipped with this phone and which it has used for the years that I’ve had it, is “unsupported by this device.” Don’t even need to buy a new phone for them to take features away from you.
Next thing to take: unlockable bootloaders so you can no longer install an alt OS.
Pretty much done on most smartphones.
Then buy a fairphone or other phones that do allow it.
Installing GrapheneOS on my pixel was easy, but I had to go through hoops to get my old Motorola G7 running iirc PostmarketOS (now called Nura).
Had to install some program on my desktop so I could ask my connected phone for a series of unique character strings through the terminal, then enter them in a specific order on Motorola’s website where they check if your phone is applicable for unlocking bootloading. It says no, so I look around and find a list of carrier codes that indicate whether or not it should be, and mine should. I ended up finding some forum posts from years ago talking about how the website is wrong and lies to you, and that if you change the url that it gives for applicable devices to include your phone’s strings then it’ll correctly identify the device as applicable for bootloader unlocking. Finally got then to send me an email with the unique code for my phone, and I was able to follow the instructions to install PostmarketOS.
and then hardware gated LLMs forcing you to use goverment approved AI in your phone to do everything
what do you mean next? it’s already happening lol
I miss the headphone jack so much.
That’s still a hard requirement for me, but I don’t mind using older “tech”.
I totally get it but I have been pretty happy with the earbuds to be honest. I know that’s a bit of a hot take but I always wanted wireless in the past and I use my jabra’s on a daily basis. Still, I dont like the removal of useful features, we could easily have wireless earbuds and still have headphone jacks for fuck sake
Same. It took about a decade after the widespread removal of headphone jacks before wireless headphones became a reliable replacement. Now I can’t imagine being tethered to my phone.
>they took your bootloader unlocking >they took your sideloading(i think)they took your job(2027)
Next they will add more AI and more tracking and more ads.
I recently upgraded my phone, and the lack of a 3.5mm jack really hurts. But at least I have an excuse not to listen to my sister’s 20 min Whatsapp voice messages…
One other thing I really miss is the LED indicator that you have new notifications when the screen is off.
when the screen is off
Well that’s your problem. You’re supposed to be engaging with content 24/7. The screen turning off at all sounds like a user error.
I used to love my multicoloured LED on my Nexus 4. I could configure it to flash in a different colour depending upon which app the notification was coming from.
Starting 2019 most smartphones vendors have stopped adding the notification LED which could be explained by the advent of AOD and a drive for smaller bezels.[6][7]
An always-on display (AOD) is a computer-device feed feature mostly found on smartphones that has the device display show limited information while the phone is asleep. I
both from Wikipedia. tl;dr. modem screens can be switched on partially and do so efficient enough to replace LEDs. if and how they do depends on the os
It’s so much less convenient tho. The led meant you knew at a glance that there was something for you, you didn’t have to look at the screen long enough for it to trigger the screen, then process a whole* bunch of info BEFORE determining if there was something for you.
Huh? That doesnt make any sense. For AOD to work without draining battery way too much it has to be OLED of some kind (or eink). But still to this day something like half the phones are built with LCDs, even moreso in 2019.
Writing this on my $100 LCD phone from last year without a notification LED. Actually had one on my previous one. And I hated it, though thats just me, I hate LEDs in general and always disable/disconnect/tape over them so that my room doesnt look like disco christmas party at night.
Cheap solution, whatever your charger port is, they make that to 3.5mm
I loved my Xperia M and its huge ahh LED
With wireless charging existing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got rid of the USB port as well, and sold phones with no ports at all, just wireless everything.
And it will still be out of warranty for liquid damage, while a Casio with user replaceable battery is 100m resist.
If I had one wish, it would be for Casio to make a dumbphone
I miss the slide out qwerty keyboard my old HTC Inspire had.
I want a sidekick lx with a touch screen, a modern processor, and an unlocked bootloader
