I'd been looking for something like this for a while now... but just like other e-ink phones the privacy policy is a bit chilling : they explicitly say they collect "everything" including precise location, messages, etc. I get that from a run-of-the-mill Android device, but it's very disappointing from a device supposedly focused on digital health...
Yes I don't understand why so few manufacturers wdo partnerships with projects such as lineageos or /e/os from the very start. It seems to me there is a large intersection of people who want an alternative device format AND degoogled phone.
I am very interested with this device but only if I can have a firmware without the usual google + manufacturer's crap.
> 2. Information We Collect When You Use Our Services
> Location Information: We may infer your general location information, such as your IP address. When using Minimal Phone, we collect and use precise geolocation data (e.g., GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth signals) to support the Services provided.
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> Photo, Video, Audio, and Communications Information: When you use Minimal Phone to create photos, videos, audio recordings, or communications, our Services collect this content, including associated metadata.
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This thing can run all the necessary app. You gotta hand it to Android: without it, we'd have a lot less innovative products (or they'd be dead in the water)
There were alternatives to Android. Without Android, we'd be running Windows CE, Windows 11, or WebOS. I suspect many of us here will have been running smartphones before they were called smartphones. When I was in high-school, my phones ran Windows. HTC Typhoon, HTC Magician (with UK operator "Orange" SPV branding). Then when I left for a job, I was on the HTC TyTN 2. They were Windows CE based "Windows Mobile".
Any details on how this screen and android even works? It takes a second and a bunch of flashing per screen change? so are they arbitrarily choosing when to update the screen? are their settings for this? Can any apps customize this in a better way somehow?
Super painful to come out with something like this just after we got news of the new faster eink screen, that this wont be using of course
Is there any projects yet that can somehow optimize and minimize down to a single android app? Like i want maximial battery life and minimal screen use for AntennaPod, but without any of the location tracking bullshit
Its like we need microkernels for phone hardware. Funny enough i was just reading VanillaOS documentation and they are working on support for waydroid. I wonder if this will ever work
I bought the Light Phone 2 back in 2019, and it was far from what they promised. Besides being visually disappointing compared to the renders, it lacked most of the software that was announced.
Eventually (2 or 3 years later) they added music, basic directions and notes. Yet it’s painful to use, doesn’t show images, has no support for messaging besides SMS, not even email. The cloud-only setup sucks. You can’t even copy music to it over USB. And battery life was pretty underwhelming for an e-ink device.
Maybe a ReMarkable phone would finally bring this concept to life.
