Hi,

A friend wants to degoogle his phone, so I suggested the OS I’m currently using. The one we can’t talk about… He wants a small/compact phone, so I suggested pixel 4a (not buying second hand though), but I’m afraid that planned obsolescence may kill the phone rather soon. What’s your opinion?

Cheers and thank you for your help,

  • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
    72·
    5 months ago

    Depends on your friends threat model, lineage will work on it.

    No security updates makes the Pixel 4a a bold choice for your main phone. I don’t recommend it

    I would follow the graphene OS recommended phone guide, that gives you maximum flexibility to put any operating system you want on the phone.

    • delirious_owl
      68·
      5 months ago

      Phones are insecure devices, by design. Should be OK.

      Just don’t do anything on a phone that falls under “sensitive” on your threat model. Use a proper computer with a proper password for that.

          • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
            3·
            5 months ago

            You can use two factor, fingerprint plus pin and have the pin layout randomize each time.

                • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
                  1·
                  5 months ago

                  I think phones are the MOST secure devices most people have. They are locked down, they run software in very restricted containers, they have more restrictive feature allowance. for 99% of the people the phone is the most secure device, full stop.

                  Can you do better on a computer? Sure, but it takes a bunch of work and isn’t the out of box experience

                • delirious_owl
                  12·
                  5 months ago

                  So you’re saying that, in order for me to steal everything on your phone, all I have to do is stand behind you in a supermarket and film you unlock your screen once. Then, on the way to your car, I quickly pull a knife on you and force you to tap your finger on your phone, then I hop on a motorbike and ride away.

                  Hope you didn’t have any banking apps or crypto on your phone, because now that’s gone.

                  QubesOS on a laptop is much much safer.

                  • zephyr@lemmy.today
                    2·
                    5 months ago

                    If you have GrapheneOS, I’m pretty sure you can randomize the numbers on the pin. You can also set a password instead of a pin and disable biometrics if you use stock Android. All the more difficult to obtain access.

                    For banking/crypto, I assume a wallet app would allow you to set an app password/pin.