/e/OS (Murena) and Fairphone

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Should /e/OS and the Fairphone be added to Privacy Guides? Since it is now available in USA too: Fairphone's repairable smartphone goes on sale in US for the first time -- in a 'deGoogled' Murena e/OS variant | TechCrunch

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No:

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I could say it’s still better than most stock androids, but perhaps not with the potential mitigation and modifications one could do to harden those in terms of security and privacy limitation/sandboxing.
I appreciate the attempt from /e/ but PrivacyGuides prefer recommending quality recommendations instead of just “slightly better than x”.

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The other problem with these devices is that they still use Qualcomm SoCs and have limited firmware support in line with what that vendor offers. We consider it deceptive to claim extensive support periods when the firmware clearly is not included. We discuss that on this page:

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Bummer, since it is one of the few devices that comes degoogled by default

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@Nostradamus

it literally phones home to Google immediately out of the box, downloads & executes proprietary Google code for Safetynet, and contains Google Widevine for DRM…
that is the opposite of “degoogled”.

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Source? And if that is the case it is strange that it is not talked more often…

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@Nostradamus

My first link…

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Even advertises Netflix on the website, see the third carousel image in the third phone mockup down

That one says nothing, Netflix can work on microG and without DRM although with limited resolution.

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Neither Netflix or Widevine depend on Play Services/microG.

There is some content in some regions that Netflix may playback without DRM available on host, but it really wants Widevine in the majority.

And again, the point here as literally linked the source code is that /e/OS contains proprietary Google blobs right out of the box despite claiming to be “degoogled”.

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Netflix doesn’t run on a Android TV without MicroG/Google Services so it uses it to some extent, although I haven’t test on a phone so you may be right if the implementation is different. In the end, my point was that it being in the homepage tells the user less than you are wanting to imply.

Noted

Not really a big deal since it was
a. A Test
b. Lets be practical here, what are the other options? If you want to get your product to be know you are going use a Google product to promote it on what way or another.

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Enables user to use all their apps is not a bad thing :thinking:

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@JustDucky

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Quite rather GrapheneOS focused

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because it is the best mobile OS in regards to privacy and security

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For “regular users” the most sensible way to use this comparison website is to compare the OS you’re looking at to the stock Android column all the way on the right, not just going and looking at whichever OS is “most green,” because stock Android is probably the one you’re switching from.

Unfortunately, if you do this when it comes to /e/ (and LineageOS) you will still note a number of deficiencies even compared to stock Android that make it probably best to avoid.

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:frowning:

Yes for some factors LineageOS and /e/ will both be better than stock, but these 4 I’ve highlighted in particular are highly critical considerations that we put a lot of weight on in our criteria.

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/e/OS makes it more user-friendly. Privacy only works when users can use it :wink:

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/e/OS is stock on my phone. I bought Murena Fairphone 4 from them :thinking:

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Never had to deal with problems with the GOS phone I got for my mother but ymmv :man_shrugging:t3:

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I don’t see how /e/OS is more user-friendly than other options?

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