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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 frojack on Wednesday April 20 2016, @05:41PM
1) Do not buy any phone from any carrier. Just buy direct or make sure it is an international version, unlocked.
2) Run Cyanogenmod. (Their fine grained permissions are NOT substantially better than those in Android Marshmallow, but at least you know that most of the spyware will be missing. But bear in mind that Microsoft is a big investor on Cynao these days. You will have problems installing apps [stackexchange.com] unless you relent and allow the Google Play store be installed on your phone. Or you can use third party play stores, one or two of which have good reputations, the rest have high rates of compromised apps.
3) If you want to pay by phone with NFC, remember that several such solutions may not work on Cyanogenmod.
There becomes a point where its not all that worth while to go all heroic trying to avoid Google from knowing anything at all about you. Don't use their email (you just about have to have a gmail account to run android, but you don't have to use it) and turn off tracking (which they seem to honor) and you've done most of what you can do without sacrificing the usefulness of the phone.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday April 20 2016, @08:39PM
A thought about number 1: If getting an international phone, you need to make sure that it supports the fastest radio bands for the region you're primarily using it in.
I bought the international Nexus 5 when the phone first came out and couldn't get it onto an LTE network. Exchange it and got the US version, worked immediately.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday April 20 2016, @08:52PM
True, a little shopping is in order when you are buying something that costs $500.
However, the last three phones I got were ordered from the Manufacturer (usually when on sale), and they
have the ALL the LTE radio bands you will need for your country, the US and the EU.
They've finally got the radio chip prices down so that they can include all pertainant bands.
If in doubt, check out the specs at http://www.gsmarena.com/ [gsmarena.com]
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Speaking of Costs...Motorola is running a 50% off sale till monday.
http://www.motorola.com/us/products/motomaker/FLEXR6? [motorola.com]
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.from my spam bin direct to you. My wife has that phone and loves it.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 21 2016, @02:30AM
Where are you seeing a 50% off on Motorola phones? I see $50 off. 50% off and I would've grabbed one immediately, as I really need to get away from my Lumia 635.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday April 21 2016, @03:29AM
I miss read it.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday April 21 2016, @12:35AM
I use android. I use google's services, including google plus. I do not have a gmail account. My identity for all this is via my email account on my own server, which is in my basement.
-- hendrik
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday April 21 2016, @01:59AM
...Don't use their email (you just about have to have a gmail account to run android, but you don't have to use it)...
Whenever I've bought (outright or on a plan) a smartphone (both times) I've started a gmail account just for the phone, checked if a file manager had to be downloaded from the company^w android store and then nuked the gmail account. Any further apps I get from F-Droid and sideload.
I'd probably be inclined to consider Google Play if they made it easy to sort by licence. But they don't so I'm not.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.