I think the reaction to government requests makes them trustworthy. There was virtually no useful data to hand out on their users.
However, I personally don't like Signal, because to me, the UI / UX is bad. I use Telegram, which is not a messenger for privacy-minded individuals and I know that. But the UI / UX is just so much better and most of my friends and family are on there, so yeah...
Wow, that's really crazy. You're gonna have a stalker now, I guess. First question that arose in my head, though: Why didn't you block them?
While that's true, I'm often torn when it gets to removing comments, posts or even people. I'm a free speech advocate. That doesn't mean that I think offending someone is free speach or being a bigot, racist, *-phobe, etc. is free speech. But I grew up in Germany and one of my parents is Japanese. Both countries had their fair share of... let's say "issues with free speech" in history. That's why I usually stick with the stance that a community will mostly moderate itself through downvotes and reports.
With FOSS for Android or FOSS in general, we face the issue that sometimes, there are no viable alternatives for people in the FOSS space, so they'll have to turn to closed source alternatives. That's why I usually let the comments up. But this thread was all closed source recommendations, so I removed them. I did so reluctantly, because I honor that people take their time to comment. They probably just didn't look at the community they were posting in.
Sorry for the long comment, I usually tend to explain myself thoroughly.
I went from GApps to MicroG a couple years ago. Noticed that I don't really need it. Went from MicroG to nothing and here I am.
Don't worry about it. ❤️ This is the Fediverse, not Reddit. I hate powermods, but a thread should at least stay somewhat on topic.
As a daddy of 2, can confirm.
Hey, thanks for your list! Very interesting. I used to use ACCA, too. But due to me not using that many apps (especially only very few closed source apps) and therefore not having many background processes, my batteries are always very healthy. My phones usually last around 4 years and never once has a battery failed on me, despite me regularly charging and discharging my phones almost completely every 1 1/2-2 days. ACCA is a good piece of software, but I feel that I don't need it. Funny enough, my old phone (Xiaomi Mi MIX 2) still works the whole day when charging it during the night, but what made me ultimately get a new phone is that the screen had burn in issues and the volume and power buttons acted up from me using it so much.
I also used to use GadgetBride for my Mi Band, but after some weeks, I usually take my band off and then it collects dust for months. Don't know why that is, though.
I wish I could use OpenBoard or any other keyboard. I need Japanese input and I want to have it in one single application. Right now, only Microsoft SwiftKey is able to do that for me in a convenient way, which means, I have it installed and completely cut off from the internet, due to it being closed source. Another thing is that I use Insular for closed source apps in a work profile and a second installation of SwiftKey there has native support for syncing settings and dictionaries with the one on mainland.
I personally don't care for Signal at all. I know, Telegram isn't private, but I'm making a compromise here. I really like the UI / UX of Telegram. Something where Signal lacks. It's all a matter of taste, but I just don't like it. Also, all my friends and family are either on Telegram or on WhatsApp.
Regarding me using no Google Services Framework or MicroG at all: I don't need them. No truly FOSS app will utilize that. They all handle notifications on their own. The few closed source apps I use (including banking, etc.) are on my Insular space and they don't need GSF also. If I try to use a closed source app that straight out requires it or crashes when no GSF is present, I uninstall it immediately. Simple as that.
You... are shocked about that? Really?
wtf did I just read, lol.
Username checks out.
They'd be jeopardizing everything if they lied in such a situation.
There are still a few companies out there who truly stand for one's freedom and privacy. Look at what happened to Mullvad VPN, for example. They were raided and there was nothing to be found, because their no-logs policy was actually true.