Yeah, absolutely agree that the two browsers’ actions don’t even compare. But I wouldn’t be defending FF either - for example, to my understanding, the PPA did make it into an actual update, and telemetry is not even all turned off by the basic toggles in the settings, with more being in about:config (part of the reason why hardening user.js exist).

Which would be absolutely disgusting given that Signal’s official app lacks some basic functionality!

Those third-party clients have some essential, basic functionality that the official ones for some reason lack. Signal-cli allows registering from desktop without any smartphone, Molly allows an arbitrary Socks proxy instead of being limited to just Signal’s own proxy solution, tying a desktop client with a link instead of scanning a QR code (thus allowing easy registration from an Android VM), and maybe most importantly for some - Notifications not relying on Google (Molly-Socket allows it to use UnifiedPush).

It has done some hostile things, such as having quite a bit of telemetry in it before hardening, or silently adding an ad attribution system. That’s why I would rather use a fork for a primary browser. What Brave has done is still more intrusive, though.

The issue with this is that it’s a part of an overall picture - that Brave sees nothing wrong with violating users’ boundaries. Brave 100% needs forks that would disable or remove weird non-consensual things added silently in updates, like what Librewolf is to Firefox, except Brave imo pushes the boundaries even more.

alchemy

Even before I cared about privacy, I think Apple would’ve been unacceptable to me due to how tightly locked down it is. Like… I’d have to go through hoops and pay some money for a cert (not much if you know where to look, but still) to get something as basic as an adless Youtube client.

Reddit is the ONLY website I use that outright denies me entry from my VPS (unless you count the “sorry we’re not available in Europe because we’d have to abide by GDPR”). Even Youtube lifts the ban after waiting for a while!

In my experience, most sites are broken not by Tor, but rather by Javascript turned off. But I do it in my normal browser as well, and it breaks just as much, with the exception that there I whitelist a lot.

Yeah. All the issues, even small and quickly-resolved ones, paint a picture - that they are eager to disrespect users’ consent.

Iceberg explanations are a whole Youtube genre, though - it’s such a convenient narrative structure.

I am now paranoid about someone getting in and deleting my gibus

IDK how it is where you are, but I don’t ever give my address to stores. Even when buying online, I pick up my orders in the stores’ physical offices (the delivery to your door always costs extra anyway, unlike this). Yeah, that does limit my choice, but I kinda never think about that, just go with the stores that do have offices. Unless we’re talking about the biggest universal marketplaces that are pretty much our Amazon, they usually take cash. Recently, I’ve been ordering there without even creating an account on the websites - just asking an employee to make an order for me to later pick up at the same place.

I just wish they replaced the AI image right at the top, that’s just disgusting and has no excuse for staying up this long. Also seen quite a lot of listings with AI images (and AI-related listings in general), which is gross, wish you could toggle that.

Interestingly enough, Reddit - the only website I use that denied me entry from my VPS - doesn’t block Tor at all.

What’s uG? MicroG?

I’ve only taken a glimpse at this myself, have not even started setting it up) I’m looking at Owntracks, for example.

I guess the other option would be Linux like PostmarketOS, but it’s not yet ready to be a botherless daily-driver for a non-enthusiasts, from what I’ve read.

and a very significant portion of the Android ecosystem requires GPS to function

Which ones? Not encountered that except for maps.

Auto updates, built-in Android security features

At least Graphene does auto-updates of the system and basic apps just fine, and when it comes to installed apps - you can use F-Droid, Obtainium and other methods that can do it as well.

a significant portion of secure apps like banking and financial service applications

Yeah, those are often blocked off indeed. Although this depends too - for example, in my country all the major banks aside from one don’t require Google services, primarily to accommodate Huawei and other Chinaphones that come without Google services. Find My Phone - indeed, although there might still be workarounds, just not looked at that.

And it’s funny because each one of these removed features are generally replaced with a third party alternative, which means you’re still trusting a third party with your data…

Thing is - you have CHOICE in what third party to trust. And a lot of such choices are indeed more trustworthy than Google judging by prior history. You can eliminate middlemen, such as getting apps directly from the devs’ repos rather than from F-Droid. Oftentimes you can avoid a third-party entirely, as a lot of things are selfhostable.

You may be completely happy with Graphene, but the overwhelming vast majority of people won’t be because it removes the specific advantages of using Android as an ecosystem.

That’s not the same argument as you made previously - “De-googled projects get none of the benefit of being android, while all of the downfall of being android”. Removing Google does still leave a convenient daily driver - whether it’s suitable universally is another question.

Funny thing is that the more you block, the less these bans matter. Every time a big social media gets blocked, a few more unaware people install a VPN (even if a sketchy one, but that’s a completely different story). So pretty much everyone around me uses at least one banned service, which in turn makes all the other bans not matter. The only instance when it does is when they block the previously-working means of ban evasion (like when they blocked Wireguard/Openvpn last year) and people have to find a new one.