Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but has anyone used lineage OS, and is this a good Rom in order to prevent google data mining and tracking?
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This is a really interesting guide so far. I’m reading through it now. So from what I’m understanding I can pretty thoroughly stop data mining with just stock android just by using certain apps and not signing in?
What @[email protected] said. I have used Lineage on a few devices, in fact just switched my Moto Z3 Play to it this past weekend. The switch of the ROM, for me, is to keep my device more up to date with Android security releases now that it’s out of the manufacturer security release cycle.
The hardening guide I will be looking to do more of, to try and make my device a little more private.
I have for the past three phones. My setup is usually LineageOS without gapps and F-Droid. My understanding is it’s not as private as say GrapheneOS or CalyxOS, but I’m happy with it.
calyx & graphene are great options. If you want some playstore functionality Calyx is the one to go with if you are fine without google services graphene is more secure but also only runs on a few phones. I have graphene on a pixel 4a – i use the aurora store to grab apks that aren’t on f-droid; they have some nice functionality where you can filter for apps that are in the store but don’t require google services – a lot more work without google than you would think. But, it really depends on how far you want to get away from google. I recommend checking graphene out if you have a device that supports it.
I kind of did when it was called CopperheadOS and yes, it was pretty slick. However, I am not a fan of Pixel phones and I don’t own a Xiaomi Mi A2, so neither Calyx nor Graphene are really options for me.
Used to be known as Cyanogenmod and was THE go to room once upon a time. Great os.
LineageOS may be the most polished “Custom ROM” out there. I’ve been using it for years (back then it was still called CyanogenMod) and specifically look for devices supporting it when I buy a new one. Currently using a Mi Mix 2S.
I’m currently running ArrowOS which is similar to LineageOS by being a minimally feature-enhanced fork of AOSP. I get most my Apps from F-Droid and the few proprietary Apps I can’t do without I get from Aurora Store. Instead of installing GApps I use microG - a “free software clone of Google’s proprietary core libraries and applications” - for the few apps that need its notification or location services.
Now before anyone gets all riled up, I know this is far from ideal, but I’ve found it to be the best compromise between honoring my privacy ideals and providing a usable device that doesn’t leave me tearing my hair out. YMMV and that’s perfectly fine.
I use lineage, and I stopped using google play store and google play services. I use fdroid as my app store, if there’s an app i really need that’s not on fdroid I just download the APK and install manually.
Couple of apps I use:
- protonmail instead of gmail
- aegis instead of google authenticator (available on fdroid)
- signal (download the apk)
- telegram (available on fdroid)
- redmoon (available on fdroid)
- VLC (available on fdroid)
- pdf viewer plus (available on fdroid)
- newpipe instead of youtube (need to add the newpipe repo to fdroid)
LineageOS is terrific, and gives you the option to kick Google’s services off your device, entirely.
I think the reason we tend to see GrapheneOS recommended here often, is that it’s an easier transition - since GrapheneOS has special support for running Goggles services inside a privacy friendly sandbox.
I also prefer GrapheneOS where I can use it because of the dedicated quick toggles for camera, microphone, etc.
That said, I love LineageOS, and since most devices can’t run GrapheneOS, LineageOS is often the best option.
I’m now comfortable enough without Google services that I haven’t installed them on my last several LineageOS devices. With Google services not installed, I consider LineageOS a strong contender with GrapheneOS for building a reasonably private device. I consider Google the biggest (of many) threats to my privacy.
I do like to nuke and pave new devices by installing LineageOS without the GApps package (Google Apps). If the bootloader can be unlocked on your device and LineageOS supports the device, then that’s usually the easiest and cleanest way to get to a largely Google-free experience.
LineageOS isn’t really built with privacy as a goal, so it’s not going to be perfect. For example, DNS requests will still by default go to Google and the LineageOS browser is also basically just an improved version of Chromium.
But yeah, it’s better than 99% of the default ROMs that are out there, because those aren’t built with privacy in mind either and have the Google Apps on top.I’ve used it for quite a while now and I love it
I tried it on an old phone that I had, worked pretty decent. Had some issues here and there, but nothing major.
I’ve really wanted to, but neither of my devices are on the supported devices list. Nexus 6 is there, but LineageOS didn’t actually install on it unlike other ROMs.
