this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2025
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Enshitification

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[–] grue 215 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (15 children)

>reboot to bootloader -> unlock -> you will use your warranty -> yes

It's fucking outrageous that companies are allowed to blatantly lie like that (you will not, in fact, lose your warranty -- Federal law doesn't allow it). Every company that displays such a fraudulent message ought to be fined by the FTC, or worse.

[–] spankmonkey 72 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

ought to be fined by the FTC, or worse

Fines don't work, just start throwing people in jail already.

[–] grue 26 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

By its nature, the only penalties that can be applied to a corporate entity are fines or revoking its charter. The latter is what I had in mind when I wrote "or worse," although I suppose piercing the corporate veil and going after the company's executives personally is certainly an option too!

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

OP seems to be Austrian. I don't think the FTC has anything to say about Austrian laws.

[–] obre 22 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

OP may or may not be Austrian, but is definitely behind seven proxies

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[–] [email protected] 116 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

At this point, I find a rom I like then shop for a new phone in the supported section

[–] BatrickPateman 68 points 2 weeks ago (19 children)

Bought my Pixel just for GrapheneOS. It is not perfect, but better than all the Samsung etc. shit. And for the next couple years I am not forced to upgrade due to missing security updates, so there's that.

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 2 weeks ago

Don't forget the part where the preinstalled OS forces you to accept the Google ToS. You just spent a few hundred bucks on a new phone and then it won't let you use it without also selling your soul.

[–] [email protected] 82 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I am concerned to find myself in a green text unironically

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 weeks ago

My sexual orientation is now this post.

[–] passiveaggressivesonar 70 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

All that trouble yet you still install whatsapp. Make them text you by sms

[–] Serinus 57 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 weeks ago

SMS is arguably worse than WhatsApp, at least in terms of overall security

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

SMS is literally unencrypted and contents of messages stored on your cell provider’s servers. At least WhatsApp is E2E encrypted (even if the metadata isn’t- just use Signal).

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[–] PagPag 16 points 2 weeks ago
[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Make them text you by sms

SMS is expensive in Europe. There is a border and international charges every 100 kms.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

My banking app won't work if I'm rooted and before that when I had developer mode on it wouldn't work. Just gave me a error so I have the login to Firefox each time. I hate apps that block you because they can't track you anymore

[–] [email protected] 46 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Banks that do this are just ignorant and hypocritical. Those same banks will let you log in from a web browser on the phone that is just as (un)likely to be compromised or from a desktop computer where you also have admin rights.

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[–] bokherif 13 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)
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[–] DaddleDew 59 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (9 children)

GrapheneOS. Easy, quick, reliable.

Yeah you have to buy a phone by Google but I don't mind giving them money to reward them for making a decent phone with an easily unlockable bootloader that lets you do what you want with it, even if it means denying them your data. This is extremely atypical from a company like Google so I want to encourage that kind of behavior.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (17 children)

-no SD slot
-no headphone jack
-no swappable battery
-camera juts off the back so it doesn't even sit flat

But hey, you can take your temperature by pointing the camera at your forehead!

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[–] DaddleDew 14 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Paid under 400 for a new Pixel 7 two years ago after waiting for the prices to go down and it was about to be discontinued. No idea how much they cost now but you'll always overpay if you go for the latest and greatest.

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[–] synapse1278 12 points 2 weeks ago

Pixel 7a can be bought new for 350€, this is what I would consider a decent phone. Admittedly I don't need much from my phone other than text, web browsing, taking photos.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

For peeps who want a lower cost option, Motorola allows easy unlocking too. I have a moto g7 power that I got for under $100 running Lineageos with microG. Its a six year old phone but it runs Android 14 just fine. I work in construction and I don't even use a case because these Motorola phones are durable and inexpensive.

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[–] homesweethomeMrL 46 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

And that's after you swim through a hundred forum posts to figure out how the fuck to do it and why the fuck it isn't working.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

helps if you specifically get a phone model that isn't absolute bullshit, pixels generally don't actively fight you, which is extremely ironic since they're google's flagship.

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[–] fum 33 points 2 weeks ago

This, except install LineageOS and don't bother with removing google/Samsung stuff. And skip whatsapp as my older contacts email me and younger ones have moved to Signal

[–] aeronmelon 32 points 2 weeks ago
  • There was a problem initializing your phone, contact customer service.
  • Customer service flash restores everything back to the way it was in the box.
[–] psycho_driver 31 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Find out too late that this exact sequence of events identifies you as Hamas to Mossad and your phone explodes.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Sadly, if i flash my phone, i can't use certain critical services, such as banking. Since my bank has only two locations--total--and is only open when i'm at work, that's a problem.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Does your bank have a web version? If not, it's better to have a second phone with the official ROM.

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[–] A_Union_of_Kobolds 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Bank app is one thing holding me off from de-Googling. Can you use their browser site instead? In my case it's got pretty much everything I could do on the app, just a little slower.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago (30 children)

Install WhatsApp

That's when you lost me. Either teach your boomer relatives to use Signal, Matrix, or, at the very least, Telegram. Otherwise, let them reach to you via Facebook which you open only in web browser in containerized tab.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago

Otherwise, let them reach to you via Facebook which you open only in web browser in containerized tab.

I just hire a rando guy from a different country to become me on Facebook. Then I have them email screenshots to a different email. A separate person gets those emails and prints them out. They mail it to a PO box, which gets picked up by a whole different person. The handoff happens at 615pm at the subway on Broadway Ave.

I open the handoff. It's pictures of my niece celebrating her 6th birthday. I give the guy a thumbs up. He takes that thumbs up, translates it back to paper and reverses the whole process.

It takes 6 weeks for me to respond. But that's the price of security.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

This post makes me want to check out graphene OS when I get my new phone.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

Whatsapp now refuses to work if your phone js rooted or you don't have Gapps.

[–] homesweethomeMrL 14 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Why would you use whatsapp? If you'e going to all this trouble to get Zuck and the Googleplex out of your phone, why go right back to them?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago

Humans are social creatures, and sometimes the other creatures are idiots

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