One of the few manufacturers that have the 3.5mm jack and SD card. The only other one I can think of now is Motorola.

For me, it’s the ability to add multiple apps to folders with a checklist.

I believe so.

Yeah, this is definitely it. This article is from 2019, so it has probably evolved a lot since then.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html

In addition to the profits from earphones, this is probably another reason for the removal of the headphone jack.

Check another reply. They may still allow it.

That looks hopeful. Thanks for the update. Maybe I can keep them as an option after all.

Sorry, I can’t find any original sources, but here is a Reddit post:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/18ni90y/its_the_sad_end_of_custom_roms_on_xiaomi_devices/

I’ve seen it posted in several places. It isn’t impossible, you just have to go gain and level on their forums and, in and cases, write an essay, in order to unlock your phone. Really idiotic.

Xiaomi is making it almost impossible to install ROMs on your phone. They also have had ads shown through their OS (I don’t know how prevalent it is). I love my Xiaomi hardware with another OS, but won’t buy any more since the software is so bad.

I’ll probably look at Motorola next.

Google phones supposedly take good photos, but don’t have an SD card or 3.5mm jack if those are important to you.

Sorry I don’t have any better advice. I thought I saw a Xiaomi account posting on an Android community. You might ask them about ads on the OS and your ability to change the software if you don’t like it.

Edit: sorry, it wasn’t a Xiaomi account, but a community: https://lemdro.id/c/xiaomi

Motorola was likely going to be my next phone because it had the SD card, 3.5mm jack and ability to flash roms.

Finding phones is just getting frustrating.

Yeah, that was my case, I was happily oblivious to how shitty Google TV was until I bought a new one. Be careful if you need to buy another TV.

Yeah, it was much better, but still had ads showing everytime I turned on the TV. The only real fix was the pi-hole blocking the domains I posted on another comment.

If you have a pi-hole or other way to block access to your network, I’ve found these useful to block:

androidtvwatsonfe-pa.googleapis.com

androidtvchannels-pa.googleapis.com

androidtvlauncherxfe-pa.googleapis.com

I’ve had an Android TV for about five years. I recently bought a TV with Google TV. I don’t know if this is how Google TV has always been, but it wasn’t that way in Android TV.

Seeing the home screen on the Google TV made me immediately regret the purchase. Unfortunately, the model I bought disabled the ability to make alternate launchers default. I was able to put it in app mode, but it was still plastering ads everytime you turned on the TV or hit the home button. Absolutely disgusting.

The home screen is so bad I finally set up pi-hole on my network. Now there is just a blank area where the ads used to be with a notification saying I’m not connected to the internet, although my services are fine.

I’ll never by a Google TV again unless I can make alternative launchers default. I’m really glad I installed pi-hole, those TV send so much info back to Google. I recommend it to anyone.

There’s a 5G version as well

These aren’t necessarily top end phones, but not bad once you get a new ROM for it.

Unfortunately, not on all Xiaomi phones.

There are settings to ensure that apps, especially Google apps, respect your default browser. I think you have to go into each of the apps settings to make sure it uses the default browser.

Depending on your device, you may also be able to install a different Rom on the device. Check out XDA forums. You’ll have to unlock the bootloader first. You’ll need to download software from Xiaomi to do that.

A different Rom will make the device significantly better.

With the exception of the chipset, my Redmi Note 11 has those. I’m even running a nice Rom that let me escape the original garbage OS on it. I’ve heard Xiaomi will stop unlocking the devices, so I think my only other option will be Motorola in the future.

Redmi Note phones are great if you can install another Rom on it. They are mediocre/annoying if you can’t. Xiaomi software is full of bloat and has some buggy ram/battery optimization features that will screw with apps. The hardware is pretty nice though.

Check XDA Developer forums to see if there is active development for the phone you’re interested in. You have to be careful because Xiaomi’s naming schemes are horrible, there are so many different versions with similar names. There really isn’t any meaning to it.

I’m using Hyperion now. I don’t know if it’s any better in terms of privacy. I would love to hear people’s thoughts.

Okay, that makes much more sense if it’s the kid’s initiative.

Sorry, this won’t answer your question, but I would just let them use what they want. Unless they were interested in it originally, they will just resent you if anything goes wrong or if they have any trouble.