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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: 2) by cmn32480 on Wednesday April 20 2016, @05:04PM
Use this to download your apps from the play store (no login required):
http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/ [evozi.com]
Tether with PDANet+ from June Fabrics (currently on sale for $7.95, normally $14.95). Purchase through the Play Store is not available, it has to be bought through their site.:
http://www.junefabrics.com [junefabrics.com]
Converting your contacts from Blackberry to Android:
https://www.recovery-android.com/transfer-blackberry-contacts-to-android.html [recovery-android.com]
A few notes:
The APK downloader will allow you to side load anything you can get from the play store, but there are other repositories (FDroid comes to mind).
I've been using PDANet+ for about 7 years when I travel for work (which is a lot). I've never had an issue, but make sure you keep your license key in a safe place as the free version has some limitations. It allows not only USB tethering, but BT and Wifi as well. The Wifi uses FoxFi, which is included in your purchase price.
I have never tried the BB to Android Contact converter, but my Google-Fu is strong today.
"It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson