Buy a last gen Pixel used from a private seller maybe like on eBay and install GrapheneOS OS on it. If you don’t want to mess with a lot of stuff, you can use the main profile for foss apps and open another user in which you install sandboxed Google Play services and gradually switch to foss apps more and more
Comment on Long-time iOS user considering switch to Android - Need advice on $1000 flagships
cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 days ago
ive been burnt on pixels (love the nexus line and the motox but pixel is just eh) samsung is great though (i have a s24+); just go in and turn off all the ai stuff and disable gemini.
qweertz@programming.dev 2 days ago
Sxan@piefed.zip 3 days ago
I have a Samsung Flip. It’s incredibly hard to disable all of the bloat, and I’ve found stuff gets randomly enabled after every update, which happens once a month or so.
Every month, I have to go through all of the shit I’ve disabled - every uninstallable Samsung app which I’ve turned off background data - and check that Samsung hasn’t re-enabled an app’s ability to change system settings, or use background data. I’m not even convinced turning that stuff off does anything, since Samsung clearly has fine-grained control of settings; disabling the option to perform notifications, for instance.
My device is not on the supported list of any de-Googled or Linux OS, so I’m stuck until I replace this device - but I’m never buying another Samsung.