/blog/tags/setup/ falkp.no/blog (Setup) Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Thu, 26 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000 /blog/posts/android_with_as_little_closed_source_as_possible2/ Thu, 26 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000 /blog/posts/android_with_as_little_closed_source_as_possible2/ <h2 id="overview" > <div> <a href="#overview"> # </a> Overview </div> </h2> <p>Read part one of <a href="http://0p.no/2013/11/25/android_with_as_little_closed_source_as_possible.html">Android with as little closed source as possible</a>, <a href="http://0p.no/2013/11/25/life_without_us_cloud_services.html">Life without US cloud services</a> and <a href="http://0p.no/2013/12/31/androids_privacy_invasiveness.html">Androids privacy invasiveness</a> if you&rsquo;re wondering why I&rsquo;m doing this.</p> <p>This is an update on how to live with a free and open (Android based) phone.</p> <p>Some time during 2014 I went all-in, and removed Google Play. My previous article (<a href="http://0p.no/2013/11/25/android_with_as_little_closed_source_as_possible.html">Android with as little closed source as possible</a>) left a list of closed source apps I was still dependent on:</p> <ul> <li>Google Maps</li> <li>Yatse</li> <li>Youtube</li> <li>TinyCam monitor free</li> </ul> <p>When dropping Google Play I had to drop Maps and Youtube. They can&rsquo;t work without. Maps is replaced with <a href="http://osmand.net">OsmAnd</a>, which even can work totally off-line (no data usage, lower battery usage). Youtube can be used via a web browser.</p> <p>I still have a folder of proprietary apps on my phone, installed via a <a href="http://downloader-apk.com/">APK downloader</a>. There&rsquo;s even an app to let you know when there are updates: <a href="https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=apktrack&amp;fdid=fr.kwiatkowski.ApkTrack">ApkTrack</a>. These apps are due to services hard to avoid (Spotify/Wimp for music streaming, Ruter for public transportation, NRK for public broadcast TV, Tesla/Airtame/SeekThermal for special hardware). These apps doesn&rsquo;t bother me, and the OS with privacy guard has them locked down.</p> <p><img src="proprietary.png" alt="Proprietary Apps"></p> <h2 id="firmware" > <div> <a href="#firmware"> # </a> Firmware </div> </h2> <p>There is still no phone with open firmware in sight. Even FirefoxOS comes with binary blobs. But getting rid of the three big ones, <a href="https://medium.com/backchannel/why-i-m-saying-goodbye-to-apple-google-and-microsoft-78af12071bd">Apple, Google and Microsoft</a> is a good thing, no matter what you&rsquo;re running.</p>