I agree. The system is screwed up, but that doesn’t mean the intention was bad. Having no patent rights just means that whoever has more money will win. Big corps have the resources in both money and infrastructure to bring anything anybody else invents to market faster.

So today, big corps win. If we do away with the system, then big corps win. The only solution is reform. Or consumer knowledge and the ability to resist buying something in protest (which has failed time and time again which is evident by the big corps existence).

I’ve been trying to work this out since the beginning of the year. This is anecdotally what I’ve done, what works and what doesn’t.

Most of my solution comes from JMP.chat for my phone number along with the cheogram app for functionality.

Basically I got a number for friends and family. I got a second number to give to businesses that don’t care about VoIP (my dentist etc). ($5 ea). Cons here are that SMS groups are limited to 10 recipients. This doesn’t work for my large family chats (I can get them but can’t respond). Another thing I dislike is since its XMPP based, all contacts are listed as their phone number if in a group, so it’s hard to tell who’s in it. (Solo texts show as names just fine). They have a premium tier that routes differently to allow more than 10 in a group text, but I’ve tried that twice now and the actual phone calling gets screwed up. So I’m still trying to get it all sorted out (and I’m not optimistic) It’s also a service only in USA and CAN.

My original number that I’ve had for 20 years and all big tech have assigned to me, I ported to google voice ($20 fee)

Since my original phone number was a carrier number it is already assigned to all the stringent companies like banks. They continue to use it without knowing its now a VoIP number. I have all SMS messages forwarded to my email so I don’t have to log into google ever. It works perfectly for 2FA. Shortcoming of this is that any group texts the email just says you got a group text, but a single source text the actual text is forwarded. I don’t use it for groups so its not a problem but just mentioning it as a potential con. Then of course, its legacy so opening new accounts won’t work the same way since its a VoIP number now.

I bought a hotspot from calyx. By far the most expensive part of my solution. But it gives me WiFi access without a standard carrier (it does use T-Mobile but calyx doesn’t track you like they do). Check them out to see if it fits your threat model. It works out to about $50/mo but the biggest issue is that its an annual lump sum.

Another option I’ve been trying is 4freedommobile. They have decent plans and are focused on privacy. Everything runs through their app for encryption. But I’ve found the app lacking both in UI and functionality. You can’t do group SMS (which is apparently coming very soon) but my biggest issue is they require google play services for notifications. They state they don’t, but they do. Hands down it just doesn’t work without it. So that’s a deal killer for me.

Honorable mention is the premium service Elfani. I haven’t used it but have considered it. Its very expensive at $99 a month but is secure. However I don’t see much on privacy so I’m not sure how different they really end up being from their base AT&T provider.

Yeah, that’s why I mentioned having a secondary profile. Some stuff like bank apps you just can’t get away from so a profile with play services running is a workable solution. If you have a pixel phone already, you can give it a shot. One very nice feature of GOS is that it’s super easy to install - and uninstall if it’s not for you.

Like you said, banking apps. The logic behind that is they use google to security check their apps. A random non-bank example would be the slick deals app. Without play services it would just open then crash.

Many apps use play services for their notification system. So for instance, proton mail works fine but notifications do not.

NFC is not supported, so anything that uses that won’t work.

Not an app, but I was surprised that widgets don’t work unless you’re in the primary profile. Technically they work on any profile, but they randomly get deleted, and frequently. It’s a known bug that probably will never get fixed because the source of it comes from stock android.

I will mention that you can have a profile running play services, which gives you access to many apps that wouldnt normally work. And it’s sandboxed so it has less impact on your information (I don’t know all the specifics but it does limit in some way how much it can snoop into the rest of the OS). Then you can also set up granular controls on your apps to limit them from snooping.

I don’t disagree. In fact I agree fully. But when the industry promotes early access games (digital only) and digital day 1 with physical to follow 3 or 6 months later, it is pushing consumers to digital. So its irrelevant if they do or do not have an optical drive on the console.

They talked about doing it this way at launch, which they should have. The drive is available as a peripheral, at the cost difference (actually cheaper) of the digital vs disc console. It simplifies manufacturing and distribution, which helps get more consoles on shelves. Now when it doesn’t matter as much, they implement it. Go figure.

As far as killing off physical media, yes it pushes further that way, but honestly the game industry has been not favorable to retail stores for some time. This is the least of the offenses.

Thanks for sharing. Great read and points.

use Netiquette

Wow, I haven’t heard that in long time.

Yeah, other than freezing credit, there’s not much you can do. It’s a toothpaste out of the tube scenario. It’s basically too late. The offerings always suck and are basically only there so they can say they’re doing something for you.

Other than that, harden your privacy in general. Yeah, it doesn’t help for breaches like this because you can’t hide from your doctors, but simple things like having an alternate email address makes it a tiny bit better.

Yeah, that’s the one that came up in my initial search. The recommended app Tuner is pretty damn good.

Thanks for the rec. I tried it last night and am very happy with it, better than what I expected.

I actually own a chromatic tuner, and it stays at home with my guitar. Sometimes I’m elsewhere and need a tuner. Which for the record the recommended Tuner app is phenomenal, and very accurate.

Thanks. I wholeheartedly agree. I was just looking for recommendations from the community based on experience.

Thank you. I’m going to check it out.

People like to ntpick and fight. GrapheneOS is one of the best options (realistically of just a few) out there, and it’s pretty damn good and simple to get into.

I’m an old fart that grew up on these games too. They were what I lived for. Kings Quest 1 blew me away. Then 2 had me hooked. 3 was another level and felt so big.

I collected their catalogs and dreamed f what would come next. There was a box art for KQ4 they showed in the catalog that didn’t make it to the actual box. It was amazing and I wished I had that.

I also played Space, Police, and Heros Quest, but Kings Quest was my jam.

I can’t comment on their privacy, but I thought of Nine when I read your post. I used it back before the Outlook app supported folders. I think it was a great alternative and worked better than anything out there… Mind you, it was years ago.

Also, have you thought about using a different user profile for just work? I know you’re asking about apps but you can gain some privacy from segregation too.

Have you read Means of Control (Byron Tau)? He tracks the evolution of all of this and how we got to where we are today. Yes, 9/11 fast-tracked it but there’s so much more to it. Highly recommended.

JMP is my recommendation too. I don’t think you can pause it, but the cost is so low it might not matter.

If you need more storage, the secondhand market is better for you anyway.

Though I just saw a 7 pro with 512GB on Woot for under $500. That’s a decent deal.

Regular Pixel 8s are going for 500 on a deal.