Use the Aurora Store!

I wish Google would implement what Apple does, when you click the lock button five times to dial emergency services it will also disable biometrics. I don’t think doing that disabled biometrics, only calls emergency services on Android. Even better, install “Duress” from F-Droid and you can set a decoy pin that resets the phone (or just reboots it)

I will say, my used Pixel 6 (GrapheneOS) has worked beautifully so far, with no hardware defects. If I had to complain, the speakers aren’t particularly loud, but I’ve had no hardware issues with it. I agree with other people, it sounds like it could be a bad motherboard? It would be interesting if you could post a video of the issue

To be fair, you should always think twice about devices like that. At the very least, put them on their own VLAN, or at least have Pi-Hole running

I would also suggest looking into GrapheneOS if you’re looking for something new. I’ve been running it for 6 months on my pixel 6, and I have really enjoyed it. Apps just work, you can still use Google Play services in a sandbox, it’s smooth and gets good battery life. The only downside that I have run across is the lack of Android auto support, but everything else just works

I’m pretty sure he stepped down right after the controversy, but I’m too lazy to look it up to confirm

I’m pretty sure he stepped down right after the controversy, but I’m too lazy to look it up to confirm

GrapheneOS is also another good option - I’ve been running it for 6+ months so far and I’m loving it! The only downside I can think of is the lack of Android Auto support, although that’s never been a thing that I’ve used

I’ve actually been thinking about doing this, though I think it would be even better if there was a smart USB socket that could adjust the power output on the fly. For example, you could program a custom charging curve to have full speed charging until 50%, 10 Watts until your desired battery level. For now I guess the smart switch idea is better than nothing

Almost every other app has those features, absolutely. And that wouldn’t be a problem if Apple didn’t prevent them from feeling like first-class apps, or they adopted RCS

I agree completely. Like I said, it’s a problem that Apple has manufactured. But I blame Apple for making third party message clients into second class citizens, I don’t blame the users

I don’t actually agree, it’s less about the color of the chat bubble obviously, and more about the experience. iMessage is front and center, baked in, allows for full quality images and videos, typing indicators, reactions, replies, red receipts. You don’t get any of that with SMS. This is still absolutely an Apple problem through and through, preventing other chat apps from feeling native. That being said it does explain why people care so much about iMessage

Nope, I’m running it now! You unlock the bootloader, flash the ROM, then lock it back up. As long as you don’t mind the lack of Android Auto, it is basically a completely flawless experience and I have loved almost every moment of it. Especially if you host your own services like nextcloud and jellyfin, everything works seamlessly!

Same here, especially with picture in picture for video playback. It just gets in the way and I hate it

Thankfully that guy stepped down (or is stepping down)

Get a pixel and install GrapheneOS. Using a pixel and Linux machines, you can use KDE Connect to get basically every integration you get with iOS and macOS. Admittedly not everything is quite so seamless like Apple’s products, but it’s quite nice. Plus, no Google snooping on your stuff (unless you choose to install Google services, which you can do with one tap)

Goldberg Steam Emulator helps a bit (not sure if it’s only for ARM Linux devices though). Hit replicates the functionality that scheme client provides, so even if steam itself should disappear you still have that. That doesn’t really help with third-party DRM, but it’s at least something that could help in such an event