there are no good options to buy an “ethical” phone
Actually there are. Look up Fairphone and Shiftphone
As someone who recently tried the Fairphone 4 out to replace an absolutely dying OnePlus 5 I’ve had for years as well as the guy who uses open source everything/advocates for the same - It’s not a mainstream option at all yet. If they could decouple the software from the hardware better maybe people would be willing to deal with the bugs but eOS and Lineage, while awesome projects I support, don’t play with many “secure” apps at all due to how Google decided to lock them down and that alone is a deal breaker for anyone working where you need access to say…Outlook. Banking apps can have issues (depending on the bank) which while maybe easy to work around for you and I is a huge pain in the ass for most folks who just want their phone to work. Having to jump through hoops to get the Play store on there in the first place is not going to work for anyone who isn’t fully committed to the de-Googled experience. F-Droid is the first thing I install on a new phone but there’s no way it’s going to be my only portal to apps I need.
They are certainly meeting their own set goals, and the hardware while bulky doesn’t feel cheap or anything, so that’s great. I really love how easy it would be to replace most of the phone if/when broken, and the commitment to fair labor practices and control of the supply chain is tremendously commendable. But for a tool most humans rely on for day to day life, the honest truth is neither project is quite there yet to be adopted in the mainstream.
If it sounds like I’m shitting on either of these companies that isn’t my intent at all. I’m following the progress with FP5 and really look forward to seeing the ideas set here grow if they can.
That’s a bummer. Hope they manage to iron out those issues because I was planning on getting one when my Samsung dies.
If it sounds like I’m shitting on either of these companies
It does. The style of your argument makes the situation more complicated. No one said mainstream. From the sound of what you’re saying, monopolistic companies hindering compatibility will keep it that way. Apps will have bugs that need to be worked out, that’s just a given. Stating don’t get it because it’s not viable atm just makes this cyclical since there will be no consumer push to work the kinks out or let people learn about alternatives.
I never said don’t get it, I was replying about viable alternatives. It’s just not for the majority of the market right now. It sucks, and I’d buy some future Fairphone or equivalent in a heartbeat once I can actually use it as my daily driver phone and not need to carry a second one for business use.
