I have been an Android user for 13 years now. After using almost every Google service possible I am going down the privacy rabbit hole lately. Gmail -> Proton Mail, Chrome -> Firefox, Keep -> Notesnook, Google Search -> Kagi, …

I am currently using a Galaxy S23 with as few Google apps as possible (and focussing mainly on open-source apps). I am familiar with rooting (I was a CyanogenMod user back in the days), but today I want to use the phone without tinkering and problem solving. I also like to use a smartwatch and banking apps, so GrapheneOS is a no-go unfortunately.

So it is “Stock” Android (or Samsung’s Android ) vs. iOS for me. Is it better (in terms of privacy) to use an iPhone or stick with an Android phone with an system wide ad-/tracking Blocker (I use Adguard)? It seems there are more privacy-friendly/open-source apps on Android.

      • jacktherippah@lemdro.idEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        LineageOS doesn’t claim to be Degoogled, and it isn’t so I think it would be an improvement, but a small one. It would remove the trackers your OEM has built into stock but that’s about it. It’s still phoning home to Google.

  • glacier@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    1·
    1 year ago

    iPhone has the better reputation for privacy/security, however it is proprietary software and so no one can really tell for sure what kind of data that Apple might collect on you.

    • bzz@sh.itjust.works
      01·
      1 year ago

      Generally Apple apps e2e encrypt your data and can not be read/mined by them. There are caveats such as Siri (anonymized voice clips uploaded for example) or (iirc) Apple News. Things like notes, fitness/health, or iMessage are your data.

        • bzz@sh.itjust.works
          0·
          1 year ago

          It is a business risk for Apple to mine data on data they have explicitly confirmed in this ToS to be e2e encrypted and private.

          If we’re going that far, none of the Broadcom/Qualcomm/Exynos/Snapdragon chips have open source firmware. Additionally google services are all closed source and proprietary.

          Backdoors exist but all phones have backdoors in them and should be assumed they are exploited by state actors.

          From a privacy standpoint, on stock mobile OS, Apple is the lead. I certainly won’t disagree that there are custom roms without google services that are superior though.

  • moddy@feddit.de
    0·
    1 year ago

    Was in the same Situation. Tried calyxos and lineage os with microg but there were always issues. I wanted a phone that works, so I bought an iPhone. I know that is not at all the best way to have privacy, but it works. I try to use as much open source and selfhosting as possible to minimize the data Apple gets. https://github.com/dkhamsing/open-source-ios-apps