On Tue, 3 Nov 2020 at 05:51, Russell Reiter <rreiter91@gmail.com> wrote:

I recently bought a used Pixel 3a for $200 just to try Graphene. This is part of a personal experiment to see how private I can get with a privacy-focused phone, no Google apps and a new Protonmail alter-ego email account just made.

Out of interest what android is your pixel built on Android 9 or 10. I figure about 4 to 6 more months before the battery starts to fade on my Nexus. I just checked Freedom's offerings and a budget 4a is not all that bad at $480 outright and less with a plan but this is is a new and interesting twist.

I actually don't recall what the Pixel 3a was running before I loaded Graphene because I wiped it almost immediately.

The GrapheneOS installed now is based on Android 11.

You have me window shopping now. Could you clarify ... when you say not checking email, do you mean not setup yet and not that the client app does not work?

I mean that I'm still searching for the right client.

I have installed K9 which I'm sure will work but haven't set it up. The ProtonMail app works fine but doesn't play nicely with other services.

I *could* install something that doesn't use Google Play Services and frankly many apps don't need it. However, an interesting thing about the Aurora app store is that it reports on how many trackers are embedded into each Android app, talking not just to GAFA but also to ad networks and others. So I'm trying to find apps that, if not FOSS themselves, minimize the embedded trackers.

Stuff like Waze installs but refuses to work and won't say what's missing that it's looking for. So there's a good front end for Open Street Maps.

The journey continues....

- Evan