This looks like an AI generated ad disguised as a discussion…

Best way is to not include it in the first place by using another ROM. If that’s not an option, you can always remove it via root. It may also be possible to use ADB/Shizuku to get rid of it, but Google could add checks to prevent ADB from removing it. Then again apps installed via ADB aren’t subject to verification.

I’ve been using a Vero V from the OSMC project. It runs Kodi and comes with a remote that’s simple enough for my family to use. Kodi has been around for ages and is great for both local library content as well as add-on based content. The OS is based on Debian so you could run some other services on it. The SoC has support for AV1 hardware decoding (as well as all the older codecs) and can play 4K HDR10+ content to my TV without issues. There’s also Dolby Vision support if your TV supports that. It’s probably not the cheapest option but I wanted a small form factor and good UI that my family could use without having to be tech wizards.

Maybe it’s the endpoint Syncthing uses for NAT traversal or fetching the relay list. Other than that I’m not sure but you could ask the developer, they respond to questions quickly.

I know I’m not directly answering your question but I switched from Catfriend’s last build to BasicSync. Sure, it doesn’t have the same bells and whistles as Syncthing Fork but importing worked fine and it’s been rock solid since. If you’ve ever used the Syncthing web UI on desktop you’ll be fine. Plus the developer is well known in the Android development circle.

This is it, what they’ve been wanting all along. You will no longer be able to access vast swathes of the internet unless you have a Google approved device, that is a Google-certified Android device with Google Play Services (aka Google Play Spyware) or an app on iOS. Use GrapheneOS or a Linux phone? No internet for you.

What I’d like to know is, what if you’re already accessing a site from your phone? And what if you genuinely don’t have another device? I’m assuming the answer to the second is you’re SOL.

Finally, repository specific access tokens were added! I was missing this feature from GitHub (fine-grained access tokens) and had resorted to making service accounts that had access to a single repo. Time to clean that up :)

Ultimately that is your choice. I personally will not use researchxxl’s version considering they appeared out of nowhere and there was 0 communication about the transition. For now I will continue to use Catfriend’s version and perhaps switch to nel0x’s in the future.

No, the maintainer of syncthing fork deleted their account and the repos out of the blue. There’s a lengthy forum post about it here.

You don’t have to compile GrapheneOS from source thanks to avbroot which can take a release zip, patch it with root and sign it using a custom avb key. This lets you root while keeping the bootloader locked.

The rooted-graphene project automates this completely using GitHub actions. It even lets you do OTA updates like normal GrapheneOS.

I am able to access the data folder which is located in Internal storage/Android/media/com.whatsapp. This is without root using the AOSP files app, not sure if that’s what you meant.

For a second I thought this was The Onion. This is so dark and invasive but I can’t stop myself from laughing. It’s like they don’t even care to pretend anymore.

Rooting devices breaks the principle of sandboxing: one app shouldn’t be able to access or modify another app or its data, or system files. If you give an app root, it can do whatever it wants to the system. It could install a keylogger to steal credentials, extract login tokens from another app’s storage or just nuke system files to make your device unbootable.

Let’s say you don’t give any apps root. Even having a rooting platform on the phone (e.g. Magisk) is still a vulnerability. Most rooting platforms will ask the user whether an app should get root when the app requests it. But there could be code execution vulnerabilities (e.g. buffer overflows) in the rooting platform that let you add an app to the list of apps allowed to use root without user confirmation.

TLDR: Root gives an app full access to the device, it could do anything with that. Even if you’re careful with what you give root to, it still adds a lot of attack surface that could be exploited.

I use GrapheneOS without play services on my daily driver because I despise Google’s forcing play services down Android’s throat. The irony isn’t lost on me that Graphene only works on Google devices, that will hopefully change soon as Graphene works with an OEM to build their own devices. I don’t bother with banking or government apps as they aren’t mandatory where I live, at least not yet. I try to stick to FOSS (or at least source available) apps where possible.

On a secondary device I also run a rooted version of GrapheneOS just for fun. Yes I know it might be viewed as terribly insecure but it’s just a secondary device that I like to play around with, it doesn’t have any important data on it. I find it quite interesting to learn how rooting methods work to bypass the normal security measures in place.

Absolutely. The general population is braindead when it comes to privacy and digital rights and it gets worse with newer generations as 24/7 connectivity and everything being online is the norm for them. As long as they can watch some social media slop they are satisfied. I believe the proliferation of AI will accelerate this as people delegate their critical thinking faculties to machines and accept big tech’s propaganda as gospel. Chatgippity knows best, right?

I really hate this timeline. 99% of companies pushing users into walled gardens. Governments and banks forcing people to use invasive apps that only work in those walled gardens. Slowly our control is eroded, yet your average user couldn’t care less as long as they get to watch their TikTok slop for a few hours a day.

Until a Linux phone becomes viable I’ll be using a rooted custom ROM and avoiding banking/government apps like the plague.

It can be implemented well but often isn’t. Likely eID will force you to use an mobile app (no website or Linux app, yay) that is only available on Apple’s app store or GPlay. And if you want to run a degoogled android ROM good luck with that when they force Play Integrity. Basically shoving everyone into either the Apple or Google walled garden along with the complementary spyware of both gardens and also screwing anyone who uses a non-smart phone either out of choice or circumstance.

A big ol’ steaming turd

Cool project! Does it support 2FA? I’d like to use a password and then either TOTP or FIDO, like Authelia does.

Perhaps worse than the 9 when it comes to wifi which has been downgraded from 7 to 6e. Will most users care? Maybe not, but I do.