The Play Integrity API is less about security and more about Google asserting their monopoly.
They do not want truly open source Android platforms to gain popularity, because there would be a high chance people would want ad blocking, which is a direct threat to their profit margins.
I hope EU takes regulative action to force Google to allow GrapheneOS, LineageOS etc. to be able to run the same apps without issues.
And GrapheneOS has call recording btw
Thank you for the information. Unfortunately it does not seem to have automatic call recording yet:
https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/2083
Which apps do you mean?
You answered this already: apps that use the Play Integrity API. Includes some local banking apps, some random ones and Google Wallet. I wish app developers didn’t use those APIs, but they are probably not aware of the implications or don’t care.
I’m looking to upgrade my phone as well. One important thing I want is call recording, and that really narrows the options.
Samsung phones can record calls, but you need to use SamFW to change the CSC. LineageOS does not support recent models.
OnePlus phones have better hardware specs, but I think nowadays you have to root with Magisk and use BCR for recording. That breaks banking apps. LineageOS supports some OnePlus models, but not 12.
Pixels don’t have native call recording? But GrapheneOS works on them. Again, many apps are broken.
Fairphone might be interesting, I should look into that.
I have now tested CSC changing with SamFW, and changing to SEK (Ukraine) enabled native call recording in a Samsung Galaxy device. The change persists even after inserting SIM card.
You can automatically record calls. No audible notifications to the other end. Files are saved to /storage/emulated/0/Recordings/Call/
, so you can use other apps to copy them elsewhere.
I continued Witcher 3 after a long time. Trying to stop thinking of it as a chore to complete, and instead live it like an adventure where I can go and do something funny for a while without worrying if I get any progress.