gogosempai

Rookie numbers. Between Reddit, Twitter and Lemmy, I'm at 50+ right now.

Context

Here's why I bought the Phone (2):

1. Didn't want to buy a Chinese smartphone because of privacy issues, shitty UI, bloatware, ads, update policies and the lack of any brand value really. I know Google isn't any better but tackling a single devil is easier than two. OnePlus, RealMe, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Motorola are out.

2. Pixel with GrapheneOS looks ideal but the G2 chip has some serious thermal efficiency issues leading to poorer battery life. I've seen my friend's phone stop video recording due to overheating lol. Heat aside, it isn't even powerful enough to beat the older 8+ Gen 1, let alone competing with Apple's A-series chips. Plus, no 120Hz or LTPO.

3. Around this budget, you'll get Samsung's A73 not their flagship S-series. Apart from the plasticky back, a snapdragon 788 processor?! No 4k 60 fps recording? Ads and bloatware?! Sorry.

4. Went with Nothing because it checked all the right boxes for me. Good software, good build, good hardware, good update support, some party tricks. Degoogled it the old fashioned way. It's something different and a head turner. They've really managed to create that brand value somehow in such a short time. I've had 3 people ask me to check my phone in just a week.

There's a fork of OpenBoard with gesture typing. Finally made me switch.

Until hardware manufacturers like Nvidia and Intel start getting thirsty and lock features behind a subscription :/ Only $10.99 a month to use those RTX cores, $7.99 for DLSS.

Check out Fluent Reader, it's the best looking and the most featureful RSS reader I know of on Linux. Does have a common view as well.

I was shocked when my friend from India told me that for 400 Mbps up and down, he pays only $14/month. Limit: 3.3 TB per month.

Indeed. Simple Dialer is I think the only FOSS dialer app that is actively maintained. And Simple Gallery Pro is fairly advanced for a FOSS app, even having a video editor!

I had recently gone to India and Magic Earth and Organic Maps both had pretty weak coverage. Outside major cities, even roads aren't mapped. Works better in Europe and US imo.

Getting a Pixel 7 and installing GrapheneOS on it was another option but I just don't like the low performant and inefficient Tensor G2 chip. 8+ Gen 1 is an excellent chip, both in terms of power and efficiency.

My experience: I got a Nothing Phone 2 recently and decided to degoogle it. Using ADB commands, I removed every google app from my phone, from the Dialer all the way up to the PlayStore, apart from just 2: Play Services and Maps. Both work fine without a Google account. I did take away all permissions of Play Services and it still works fine. Without this app, you will stop getting notifications from most of your apps so it is necessary.

Open source alternatives that I turned towards:

1. Google Dialer -> Simple Dialer
2. Google Contacts -> Simple Contacts
3. Google Photos -> Simple Gallery Pro
4. Google Play Store -> Aurora Store and Droid-ify
5. Google Messenger -> QKSMS
6. Google Calendar -> Proton Calendar
7. Google Drive -> Proton Drive
8. Google Chrome -> Mozilla Firefox
9. Youtube -> Youtube ReVanced (Not FOSS, I use a throwaway account here with Vanced Microg)
10. Google Translate -> Translate YOU
11. Google Files -> Material Files
12. Google Docs/Slides/Sheet -> Collabora Office
13. GMail -> Proton Mail
14. GBoard -> OpenBoard fork with glide typing

Everything works fine :)

Another fun episode. That shark with legs really made me chuckle. Also liked the dynamic between Akira and Shizuka, hope they team up soon.