ÖSession: A phone without Apple or Google? It's possible!
https://conference.publicspaces.net/en/session/telefoon-zonder-google-of-appleNaam/name Notulist: Mirjam StreefkerkDatum/date: 27-06-2023 14:00Sprekersnamen/speaker names:
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Please use full sentences and write in the spoken language of the session / Graag volledige zinnen gebruiken en de taal aanhouden van de sessieIt seems like the most normal thing in the world these days: you buy a phone, and you have to choose between Apple or Google. In this session, we learned about Ubuntu Touch and Murena, which showed us that a phone without the ubiquitous Silicon Valley duopoly can be a great alternative.Raoul Kramer talked us through Ubuntu Touch, an operating system built by a community of volunteers and five paid developers. "We can be the future if people are willing to say goodbye to their Android and iOS systems", he said. "These giants use your data, but we want to make sure that you're in control of your data."
Ubuntu Touch is not just a concept; it's a free, usable operating system with an app store. It works with around 70 phones, including Volla, Fairphone, and Pine64. "We are part of the Linux family, so we're not operating in a niche. You can use components from other operating systems to run on ours."
Limitations Of course, there are limitations. "You cannot run WhatsApp on our system because of its closed source. Banking apps depend on the App Store and Play Store, but you can run Android apps on Ubuntu Touch. There are apps for navigation, mail clients, Telegram, and Signal. And we are working on many more exciting things."
Someone in the audience asked Raoul about the banking app. "For me, not being able to use those on your system was the main reason I got an iPhone again. It's a hard fight. What do you think?" "It is," Raoul said. "But should we then drop the axe and not do anything anymore? Or should we do something and speak out? It's weird that banks are not open, that you have to buy certain brands to use your bank."
Murena Another brand trying to weaken the power of the Silicon Valley duopoly is Murena. Murena is mobile phone software based on Android, as explained by Rick Viergever. "Google and Apple collect your location more than 300 times per day. Their monopoly gives them the power to take 30 percent of what is sold in their app stores. They help the Chinese government in suppressing human rights. We want to provide mainstream mobile phone users with mobile software that is 100% open source, 100% privacy-safe, and fully deGoogled", he said. "It's auditable privacy since our code is on the web."
Murena combines their operating system, /e/OS, with a lot of open-source apps for SMS, calling, calendar, and free cloud space. "All regular Android apps work, although we don't encourage you to use them all. You can also access all data from your PC."
The social company also sells its own hardware, but the operating system can be downloaded on more than 240 phones and tablets. "Our phones are easy to repair, and we offer up to ten years of support, which adds to sustainability too," Rick said. "Of course, we are not yet where Fairphone is, but we are trying."