SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Phones can only last so long and my admittedly ancient BlackBerry Curve took one-too-many tumbles and now needs to be replaced. Thanks to recent changes in the cell-phone market, I'm looking to purchase a phone, outright, and get a month-to-month plan for it.
I am very privacy conscious and have, so far, avoided Apple (walled garden - blegh) or Android (tell Google everything). I suspect there are fellow Soylentils who hold a similar perspective. (My current cell provider is US Cellular. I'm open to change, but would like to avoid AT&T and Verizon --- have heard too many horror stories.)
Background: I've been programming computers since the 1970s. I've tried using Apple products, but it seems they are user-friendly to the extent that you want to do what they have already decided is okay. They seem to expose a bare minimum of controls to allow customization. That would frustrate me to no end.
So, that leaves me with Android as the other major alternative. I am leery about giving any more info to Google than necessary -- given a choice, I regularly choose an alternative over a Google product (i.e. DuckDuckGo for search, openstreetmap, etc.)
My thoughts, at the moment, are to get a phone and load cyanogenmod on it. I've read good things about the privacy capabilities it provides; especially fine-grained allow/deny access permissions. Added bonus is ability to apply updates more frequently than a telco-branded phone would provide. I have no experience with rooting/flashing a phone, so I need this process to be as idiot-proof as possible. Also, I'm leery of getting a phone only to see support for it dropped shortly thereafter.
[Continues...]
Must-have: SOLID cellular reception (my apartment seems to have plaster walls - the BB still got great reception), removable battery, removable storage (micro-SD card), WiFi, LTE (USA), good camera, and fine-grained permissions control.
Nice-to-have: hardware keyboard, tethering (i.e. use my phone to get an internet connection that I'd share with my laptop), FM Radio.
REALLY nice to have: Ability to bring up a terminal window and have full CLI ability (e.g. bash) where I could edit/run custom scripts/programs.
Size/specs: I do not want or need a phablet or the latest/greatest processors. I'm reminded of the adage to buy last-year's top-of-the-line model. For some degree of future-proofing, would like to be able to view 1080p content on it.
Other: What did I forget? What things do you wish you knew that you only found out after you got your phone?
My main system runs Win 7 Pro but I could also run a live CD with some Linux distro.
What have your experiences been? Both positive and negative? Please save me from making a mistake that you have already learned from!
I'm looking to replace my phone within the next day or so. I've been impressed with the shared knowledge of this community -- please help!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hojo on Wednesday April 20 2016, @02:49PM
I've run only Cyanogenmod (CM) for several years now. It allows outstanding control and excellent updating, way better than any carrier, including Google itself.
For example, my old Galaxy Nexus was abandoned by Google for updates, but due to the support of CM guys, I'm running it to this day in a limited capacity on my scooter and motorcycle and using Android 6.0.1 (the very latest OS, in other words). Works fine.
Same for my old Galaxy S3 (used by my kids, running 6.0.1, runs perfectly).
Same for my current Galaxy S4 (still used by me, recently got the latest 6.0.1 also). The S3 and S4 are very nice in that I can hop them up with giant SD cards and enormous batteries. The S4 is 1920x1080 for display while the S3 is 720p. An S4 looks like it's around $180-200 on ebay right now.
If buying a new phone, you might wait a while and get the new HTC 10, which is promising that it will play nicely with an unlockable bootloader. I won't swap out from my S4 until I find another phone that has SD capability and good CM support. Seriously, there is nothing like having a smooth, crapware free phone that just works. I can block ads, run any damn thing I want, swap out recovery software, anything. I would never go to a walled garden as the newer Samsung or Apple phones require a user to submit to.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by richtopia on Wednesday April 20 2016, @03:08PM
My plan is to purchase a used Nexus 5 and run Cyanogenmod. I have very similar considerations to the OP, but I do use Google Voice for call forwarding so Cyanogenmod is the best compromise I can find. The Nexus 5 has one of the most active developer communities and solid hardware specs; I expect it to continue to provide functionality for a while.
If you want a more modern phone for Cyanogenmod, the One Plus One guys https://oneplus.net/ [oneplus.net] have a solid headset and decent track record for the OS. Not exactly Cyanogenmod (split from community), but a decent compromise for the latest hardware.