The best way to install them is through the F-Droid store, which is a catalogue of FOSS software for Android. It’s installable by downloading the .apk file linked on the front page of the F-Droid projec’ts website. The mentioned apps from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology can then be found by searching for “SECUSO”, which is the name of the research project behind them all.
Alternatively, you can also get them through the Google Play Store under this link or again by searching for “SECUSO”.
In particular, I recommend getting the QR code reader, because many of the free-to-use scanners route everything you scan through their servers, so they’re obviously collecting your data.
There’s a lot of good stuff on F-Droid, and it’s nice to see a university doing a project like this.
I’m still waiting on a solid, consistent alternative to Android. It seems we might be getting there with tiny steps.
Yeah, the Android alternatives I have in mind are LineageOS, GrapheneOS and /e/OS, but I’m not sure on how good their privacy is. Most importantly though, they’re often not available for older/non-mainstream smartphones.
So policy-wise, a useful step could be to get wider standardization of smartphone hardware, to reduce the efforts needed to port alternative OSs there.
Not to be too pedantic but those aren’t alternatives to Android; they’re simply custom Android ROMs as alternatives to stock ROMs.
GrapheneOS is available for the older pixels. If you can get a Pixel 7 or 8 series phone at a good deal then there’s no better Android than GrapheneOS. They take security seriously. I equate GrapheneOS to be the Qubes of the Android world
There’s Sailfish but I think it still has the same limited handset problems that most of the others have
I bought a used Pixel 8 pro off swappa specifically to run Graphene OS.
Honestly, Sailfish is only worth it if you have a license, as there are very few native apps and the android compatibility layer is the only way to have a proper daily driver phone. I did try it with the Sony Xperia X II a 1-2 years ago, and honestly, it was still very buggy.
Yeah, I have an older Motorola phone that I’ve used to try and get Android alternatives, and none of those three systems will work on my phone. It doesn’t look like any of them will work on my new phone either, but that might just mean I have to try it.
Google/Android also seems to make it as difficult as possible to install any alternative system. The easiest I saw was /e/OS because it was all automated, but after about 10 minutes it informed me that my Motorola phone just wasn’t supported.
There’s such a long ways to go with this sort of thing, but I think it’s pretty clear that the world desperately needs a user-friendly, non-corporate alternative to Android/iOS.
It’s really a bummer that we’re all carrying around powerful little computers with us but the corporate operating systems for them use much of that processing power for their own data collection/profits/purposes and tries to prevent us, those of us who own the phones, from using that power for our own purposes.
Generally, GrapheneOS ia pretty much the best privacy-focused android version you can have, as it will strip away anything that’s related to google while focusing on a small amount of supported devices to ensure that not many vulnerabilities are possible on the devices.
LimeageOS are less focused on privacy and more about availability. /e/OS is pretty much a downstream of LineageOS focused on Fairphones. Generally a good choice if you want android without google services.
I’ve been on lineage for ages and recently tried out /e/, was pleasantly surprised. Reminded me of a reskinned lineage with some FOSS/F-droid apps integrated into the system and some extra privacy stuff.
I particularly like the fake location and app tracker features.
When it comes to standardisation, there’s a minimum defaults-based system called GSI where the same distribution works across a lot of devices. But minimum defaults leaves a lot of devices specific features dead in the water. It’s more for development than distribution.
