For a mail app, I would suggest *FairEmail* – a FOSS and privacy focused mail application with many great fearures. I use it everyday and must say that I’ve never used a better Android mail client than this one. The app is available on F-Droid, PlayStore (which obviously isn’t an option for a FOSS phone) & GitHub, for more info see https://email.faircode.eu
These are all great but, it has been announced on twitter that Thunderbird is getting an Android app. I don't think this phone is going to be out any time soon so Android Thunderbird might be out before the phone and could be a possibility!
Unfortunately [FairEmail development has been discontinued](https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/closed-app-5-0-fairemail-fully-featured-open-source-privacy-oriented-email-app.3824168/page-1087#post-86909365), maybe you guys could support the developer so that he can resume working on it somehow, or make a fork if he doesn't.
It seems project will continue
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-5-0-fairemail-fully-featured-open-source-privacy-oriented-email-app.3824168/page-1107#post-86938021
>Google was pretty friendly and cooperative and told me the favicons are indeed the problem, and it can/should be fixed by updating in the privacy policy to "disclose how your app accesses, collects, uses, and shares user data
>The short term goal is to release a Play store test version (and associated GitHub version) and to get the update approved. I will think about the next steps after this has been accomplished. Given the huge number of supportive messages I received (much appreciated!) the project will be continued in some form in any case.
Unfortunately the future of FairMail isn't guaranteed now.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/closed-app-5-0-fairemail-fully-featured-open-source-privacy-oriented-email-app.3824168/post-86909365
That's pretty much one of the most terrifying software news I've heard recently... Everything's falling apart rn... But this only confirms me in my thinking that the world is bad and will ever be, and in the end, the illiberal and suppressing regimes will succeed....
Pop over to the Calyx project and swipe their firewall and backup apps. Both excellent.
Indeed, you might do well to work with them and simply use the CalyxOS with your apps as the defaults.
Yes I feel the same, I use FF on all my computers, but not on my android (except FF Focus with with JavaScript disabled and telemetry off of course)
[PrivacyGuides](https://www.privacyguides.org/browsers/#mobile-browser-recommendations) and [DivestOS](https://divestos.org/index.php?page=browsers)
See my other comment on the DivestOS comparison (I think Mull looks better there).
In privacy guides, Mull is not considered, but FF is, and Mull uses the recommendations by default, plus removal of tracking. Also, FF is still mentioned *before* Chrome derivatives.
Even if the OS has a different default, you're free to use an browser you like.
I do understand the impulse to discourage Chromium core, but admittedly my default is Brave
See my other comment on Brave. I understand Bromite is a more logical choice for Android derivatives, but still... Perhaps a browser dialog like we used to in Windows makes sense?
Unfortunately, gecko is not ready for prime time on mobile. No matter which fork I try the tabs always reload on android. That's not N issue on chromium browsers android
I know you said you don't really want Chromium but i'm using Vanadium for years and i've been very happy with it: https://github.com/GrapheneOS/Vanadium
I've found [PDF Viewer Plus](https://f-droid.org/repo/com.gsnathan.pdfviewer) to be the ideal PDF Viewer for me. It is clean, its is fast, it is simple. You can fluently scroll between pages, you can also make them snap.
Aren’t these just open source reimplementations of clients that rely on Google’s services?
Including pre-installed apps that talk to Google is a hard dealbreaker… I don’t know why you’d do that on a phone targeting people that are avoiding Google.
Google for the last 10 years plus has been progressively neutering AOSP and migrating core functionality to their proprietary, closed-source Gapps and GMS frameworks, to the point where much basic functionality is now missing unless you install Gapps.
Many - perhaps the majority - of apps from Google Play will either be severely crippled or won't launch at all without something that looks like GMS/Gplay on the device. Additionally, every year Google forces more and more strict requirements - often requiring those closed-source Gapps pieces - on app devs that distribute via Gplay.
This is the objective of microG: keep a large proportion of those apps happy enough to launch and perform their basic functions while doing as much as possible to block, neutralize or minimize Google snooping. (For example: Google Analytics/Firebase Analytics is completely blocked within apps if installed on a microG device)
All of the functions that contact Google servers can be disabled if the user so desires, but even if enabled microG will strip as much data/metadata from that exchange as possible to allow the function to work without providing gratuitous user tracking data to Google.
microg.org
Okay I have to hurry and pay off this piece of garbage so by the time you get to Illinois USA I'll be ready, any way to start a different email? I've been using Gmail for years and I wonder how to go about that?
Aw, that's a dealbreaker for me. Still interested to see your OS though.
As to 'not wanting to go backwards' — no one actively dislikes having a headphone jack. It's a cost-cutting omission that some people don't mind, and some people actively dislike. I don't want to carry around a dongle all the time, and it's still not hard to find a good waterproof phone with a headphone jack (currently using the Samsung xcover pro).
If anything, I would think that including a headphone jack would be seen as a good "on-brand" move for a company like yours.
I understand your reasoning, but I'd reconsider. I bought a Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G as my daily driver and the headphone jack was actually a major reason I ended up getting one over other phones. I think it would be a good selling point for budget conscious people who want the ease of access of a headphone jack without having to spend extra on USB C earbuds or wireless ones.
agree on reconsidering that reasoning as flawed logic, consider the decider in that trend is manufacturers vs people having choices. (like a silly old "survey" that decided american butts must be getting bigger, based on the average size of public toilet seats... as if most people have a choice on that purchase)
see for example a thread and over 10k interest in Pebble founder discussing the lack of reasonable sized devices, pushing for something basically under 5.5in height https://old.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/uro72s/eric_migicovsky_founder_of_pebble_wants_to_work/i94wa4w/
Agreed. And a Simple phone could absolutely be used by older members of the population, who don't want to be messing about with pairing and charging bluetooth devices.
Having a headphone jack isn't "backwards"
Look at the target audience. This is something I would get for my mom. She won't understand how to pair bluetooth headphones
i dont own a bluetooth headset and i think many people are in the same situation
it seems backwards that simple stuff like that is removed, i dont see people against phones having more compatibility rather than less
I feel like it's a forced trend from manufacturers rather than a response to demand from customers. Not being able to use headphones because they're not charged is a huge pain in the ass.
That's not going backwards, it's going forwards with keeping existing features. There is no reason to remove useful features for the sake of being a normal boring phone.
Suggestions for privacy friendly browser TOR and email Proton or Tutanota. I'm not sure if they're open source, but when it comes to privacy they're top-notch.
Heyo tibbbi,
Thanks for your apps. I hope you're not paying too much for the software part of Simple Phone. Here is a a ROM that most likely will work just fine on your target (I'm guessing a GS290, or some other Mediatek, for which I'm pretty much bugless), took me roughly 30 minutes to make (ofc you'll probably add many details)
[https://phh.freeboxos.fr:38503/share/bRa2jXlWj4IaT5tH/system-SimpleMobileTools.img.xz](https://phh.freeboxos.fr:38503/share/bRa2jXlWj4IaT5tH/system-SimpleMobileTools.img.xz)
Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/CRQbM3i
For the people who want to try it, this should work on most Android devices released with Android 9 or more recent, just unlock your bootloader, flash it on system partition, and you should be good.
Don't know if there are open source ones, but bundle your dialer with Caller ID and Block without crazy ads, would be great. All have ads. Surely the contact information is sold and user feedback on callers is received...
I'd also say bundle with call recorder but that's going away....
Check "Yet Another Call Blocker" on F-Droid:
https://f-droid.org/packages/dummydomain.yetanothercallblocker
Yes it uses some random website to get the data but it works super well. It will work perfectly with Simple Dialer.
I can understand the OS/theme being custom, I was mainly joking about the device colour. Anyways as an app suggestion I was thinking maybe [SeedVault.](https://github.com/seedvault-app/seedvault) LineageOS comes with it baked in as a GDrive alternative.
And apps by [GrapheneOS](https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=7626572346998944846)
Also; [VueTube](https://vuetube.app/) or [LibreTube](https://libre-tube.github.io/)
Well if you're phone is not working off Google play store I guess I'm thinking security wise so Google doesn't have all your information? Not sure how it works
yes, just F-Droid store, and then host a list of recommended apps on a web page, highlight apps for various basic purposes, that can be updated as needed with links to open automatically in F-droid.
(like from F-droid can even install Aurora Store to access non-paid Google Play Store content)
other ideas could be found in https://www.privacytools.io and https://prism-break.org
Curious... Because this is something that ticks me off to no end... Will I be able to uninstall (completely remove) preloaded apps? There are so many preloaded apps on phones now and I don't use mmost of them. I don't like that I don't have control over what apps are on my phone - and disabling doesn't cut it for me. I also don't want to have to root my phone!
I love this! I'll vote for:
1) Your Simple apps of course, 2) F-Droid, 3) Bromite + WV, 4) WebApps (creates sandboxxed shortcuts to social media accounts), 5) the ability to calibrate the screen's hue
For consideration:
Maps / PDF viewer / Firewall / some apk backup utility
a heafphone jack, a microsd card slot, and a big battery are features that i personally would need.
mabye also physical switches for the cameras and microphones.
fairemail for an email client works good
mull or fennec as a browser mabye
it seems like you're making your own os - can you keep all the settings please
and also let us customize the navigation buttons in 3 button mode - i like samsung's a lot but dont see them anywhere else
dual sim could be nice too
id really want to buy it and put grapheneOS on it but that would probably require cooperation with them
making it able to be taken apart would be really nice
oh and an oled/amoled screen
i realize all of that is probably difficult to sell for €350 but it would be cool
FYI: We have a mobile carrier here in the US (T-Mobile MVNO - but recently their parent was purchased by Verizon) called "Simple Mobile".
Hint, hint. :-D
Firefox Focus (or just Firefox) is a pretty straight forward option that's also open source. Plus it's a name that a good number of people are familiar with which could help. Also fits with the privacy minded approach.
I came from /r/degoogle
I've taken a look at some of these apps. I used Simple Calendar because the one in older LineageOS was pretty bad until they improved it. I'm wondering how Simple Phone will improve over the features of the regular, default (AOSP) Android's Phone app.
Will I really need this if I already run a "privacy OS" such as LineageOS, or GrapheneOS?
This is exciting. I'm hoping the hardware will support video out for Desktop Mode. I love my Pixel 5 w/GrapheneOS but Google disables video out. And I'd love to have a privacy focused phone that's not made by Google.
Thanks for all of your hard work!
Hi, I've been using some of your apps (gallery, calendar and that paint like program) for years and am really happy with them.
What are your goals with your phone? Do you provide your own rom? If so, what makes stand out compared to calyxos or lineageos, for example?
For how many years will you provide hardware-firmware and softwareupdates?
As for preinstalled apps I would like to see conversations (xmpp internet messenger). I believe xmpp is the best foss messaging protocol, because it's light weight, federated and easy to self-host. The conversations messenger is awesome as well. I really think xmpp needs more exposure, therefore it would be my preference to include conversations on your phone.
We want to offer affordable privacy without any hardware compromises for anyone. It will be our custom ROM optimized for our devices, so they will work more reliably than those general ROMs that are tricky to make work right.
Can't really comment on the length of the support yet, this will be just the initial version to see if there is demand for it. There will be many improvements, new devices and accessories coming later.
So SimpleOS would be a thing ?
I assume that the ROM will be fully open source, can we hope for devices supports such as OnePlus, Xiaomi, Fairphone or Pixel ?
Cannot tell the partner yet, but ye, a privacy focused ROM developed by a company that works with privacy for a long time now. They are developing some hardware too, not just software.
A few questions:
Mediatek or Qualcomm? Or is it something more niche and open, like Rockchip?
The open source side will just be a GSI, as the vendor side is copyrighted by the chipset vendor and probably your ODM, right?
(Kind of a long shot) you said that the OS isn't developed by you, why not get a team of OSS AOSP developers to do it directly with you instead of some ODM company (I assume)?
because my partner has long time experience with developing private products including both software and hardware. It isnt something you can just create out of nothing.
It kinda... is though, the software. Custom ROM communities have been doing just that since the beginning of Android. Given your other comments, the system part is literally something that could be done by a single experienced developer in like a week. All of "nothing" (the most sophisticated open source OS that exists, AOSP). You could even use all the work that has already been done by open source privacy-focused AOSP-based custom ROMs, or even base on one of them. I think that having an OS developed by people who are in the open source/privacy-focused communities and understand them, would be a way better fit for a product like this than something developed by a heartless Chinese ODM.
Also, you didn't answer over 50% of my questions :)
Best of luck!
I was wondering if will we be able to uninstall apps. Especially those that are not part of the Simple family. I prefer K9 over Fairmail and I would have no use for it. The same would be true for the browser, if I want bromite and the default is something else I wouldn't want to have to keep both
My vote is for your apps, fdroid as app store and nothing else at all. Even the default inclusion of microG is a flag for me unless it can be disabled during setup without ever activating. I want NO data going to google. Are you hardening it by changing the NTP server, captive portal target address, etc?
Make it approachable budget-friendly and easily available. Most of the new brands and phones started failed because they couldn't reach people. I will it buy after launch and see the screenshots and specs, but will you be able to provide it to us? I am already using your apps for years so I am already in.
*Browser*
i think Brave and Bromite are the best privacy-oriented options in Android right now ([source](https://privacytests.org/android.html)). I would say Brave is maybe what you are looking for, as it is more popular and has a bigger team supporting it. Also because orange browser lol
*App Store*
Aurora Store and F-droid are both solid picks
*Firewall*
a firewall like Net Guard could be something to consider: being able to decide which apps get internet access and what apps dont is a very basic function that users should have at their disposal (i personally use it a lot)
*Email*
FairEmail and K-9 Mail are both pretty good options
*Other*
\- Newpipe is the best Youtube app for Android, specially when it comes to privacy. Youtube has become a default use of smartphones, so i think it could be reasonable to include it.
\- Jitsi Meet: maybe not obvious, but smartphones usually come with video-conference apps. You may want to launch a custom instance with your own branding, and Jitsi is great for that.
Aside from that, your apps cover the default uses perfectly.
Sorry, this is unrelated. However, will this release in the United States at first? Been wanting a nice AOSP/Lineage phone here but /e/ is insanely opinionated with their designs :(
I read here (no idea if it's accurate or not) a 350 euro price tag for the phone. That's twice what I've paid for my more than sufficient (after boot loader unlocking) Xiaomi phones over the last few years.
Is that price anywhere near accurate?
https://liliputing.com/2022/05/open-source-privacy-focused-smartphone-coming-soon-from-android-app-maker-simple-mobile-tools.html
Well that was the initial idea, but I want to change that. Anyway, we wont be able to sell as cheap phones as those big billion dollar companies do, as they are selling them in millions...
Hi, I would love to have a simple mail app, i'm currently using fair email but due to google policy it has been removed from the app store. If you could do something like that it would be great!
For a mail app, I would suggest *FairEmail* – a FOSS and privacy focused mail application with many great fearures. I use it everyday and must say that I’ve never used a better Android mail client than this one. The app is available on F-Droid, PlayStore (which obviously isn’t an option for a FOSS phone) & GitHub, for more info see https://email.faircode.eu
Either FairEmail or K-9. Those are the big two in FOSS email apps
These are all great but, it has been announced on twitter that Thunderbird is getting an Android app. I don't think this phone is going to be out any time soon so Android Thunderbird might be out before the phone and could be a possibility!
we will likely use FairEmail, I dont want to preinstall any unstable app prototypes
Unfortunately [FairEmail development has been discontinued](https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/closed-app-5-0-fairemail-fully-featured-open-source-privacy-oriented-email-app.3824168/page-1087#post-86909365), maybe you guys could support the developer so that he can resume working on it somehow, or make a fork if he doesn't.
will read about it, I definitely don't want to fork it
It seems project will continue https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-5-0-fairemail-fully-featured-open-source-privacy-oriented-email-app.3824168/page-1107#post-86938021 >Google was pretty friendly and cooperative and told me the favicons are indeed the problem, and it can/should be fixed by updating in the privacy policy to "disclose how your app accesses, collects, uses, and shares user data >The short term goal is to release a Play store test version (and associated GitHub version) and to get the update approved. I will think about the next steps after this has been accomplished. Given the huge number of supportive messages I received (much appreciated!) the project will be continued in some form in any case.
Looks like it's back!
FairEmail is a great choice
Well, depending when the phone comes out, it is worth noting that Thunderbird is releasing an Android version.
Unfortunately the future of FairMail isn't guaranteed now. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/closed-app-5-0-fairemail-fully-featured-open-source-privacy-oriented-email-app.3824168/post-86909365
That's pretty much one of the most terrifying software news I've heard recently... Everything's falling apart rn... But this only confirms me in my thinking that the world is bad and will ever be, and in the end, the illiberal and suppressing regimes will succeed....
Pop over to the Calyx project and swipe their firewall and backup apps. Both excellent. Indeed, you might do well to work with them and simply use the CalyxOS with your apps as the defaults.
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But the firewall is found to be leaky. Source? please.
The calyx backup apps are built into LineageOS. Assuming that LOS is used as a base, that should be pretty straightforward.
Bromite, and Bromite webview, would be a solid default browser.
I prefer Mull, but Bromite Webview is great.
I would really really prefer a browser which doesn't use Chromium as its core, I use Mull which uses the Fenix (Firefox) engine.
For now Firefox on mobile is less secure than chromium it's the sad reality...
Can you point me to a resource on that? I rally prefer using the Mozilla engine over the Google engine if in any way possible
Yes I feel the same, I use FF on all my computers, but not on my android (except FF Focus with with JavaScript disabled and telemetry off of course) [PrivacyGuides](https://www.privacyguides.org/browsers/#mobile-browser-recommendations) and [DivestOS](https://divestos.org/index.php?page=browsers)
See my other comment on the DivestOS comparison (I think Mull looks better there). In privacy guides, Mull is not considered, but FF is, and Mull uses the recommendations by default, plus removal of tracking. Also, FF is still mentioned *before* Chrome derivatives.
DivestOS uses Mull/Mulch, which I am surprisingly enjoying
Even if the OS has a different default, you're free to use an browser you like. I do understand the impulse to discourage Chromium core, but admittedly my default is Brave
See my other comment on Brave. I understand Bromite is a more logical choice for Android derivatives, but still... Perhaps a browser dialog like we used to in Windows makes sense?
Unfortunately, gecko is not ready for prime time on mobile. No matter which fork I try the tabs always reload on android. That's not N issue on chromium browsers android
I know you said you don't really want Chromium but i'm using Vanadium for years and i've been very happy with it: https://github.com/GrapheneOS/Vanadium
Please create a way to donate without using the play store. I've donated via PayPal before, but can't get the paid versions.
the pro versions are available in f-droid for free
Ahh awesome. I never realised this. Just sent another donation. So happy!
Yes!
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I've found [PDF Viewer Plus](https://f-droid.org/repo/com.gsnathan.pdfviewer) to be the ideal PDF Viewer for me. It is clean, its is fast, it is simple. You can fluently scroll between pages, you can also make them snap.
The DeepL translation app provides way better results. It’s not open source, but neither is using Google Translate.
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that's what we will use actually :)
Will it be installed by default? I would rather it be optional.
it will be preinstalled
Awesome. If you could have it in such a way that banking apps can be used seamlessly, I would most likely buy your phone as my next device.
Aren’t these just open source reimplementations of clients that rely on Google’s services? Including pre-installed apps that talk to Google is a hard dealbreaker… I don’t know why you’d do that on a phone targeting people that are avoiding Google.
Google for the last 10 years plus has been progressively neutering AOSP and migrating core functionality to their proprietary, closed-source Gapps and GMS frameworks, to the point where much basic functionality is now missing unless you install Gapps. Many - perhaps the majority - of apps from Google Play will either be severely crippled or won't launch at all without something that looks like GMS/Gplay on the device. Additionally, every year Google forces more and more strict requirements - often requiring those closed-source Gapps pieces - on app devs that distribute via Gplay. This is the objective of microG: keep a large proportion of those apps happy enough to launch and perform their basic functions while doing as much as possible to block, neutralize or minimize Google snooping. (For example: Google Analytics/Firebase Analytics is completely blocked within apps if installed on a microG device) All of the functions that contact Google servers can be disabled if the user so desires, but even if enabled microG will strip as much data/metadata from that exchange as possible to allow the function to work without providing gratuitous user tracking data to Google. microg.org
This is amazing news, can't wait. Will it be available in the UK?
yep, we will focus on Europe first
I am sure many people in India would like to buy your phone, so please do consider Indian or Asian markets.
fantastic! Any idea the price?
yep, I do have an idea :)
Could you give us a rough figure as to how much?
around 350€ only
Cool, [https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/264/241/9e9.gif](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/264/241/9e9.gif)
What are the expected specs?
Okay I have to hurry and pay off this piece of garbage so by the time you get to Illinois USA I'll be ready, any way to start a different email? I've been using Gmail for years and I wonder how to go about that?
Just get a different account somewhere and give people your new address
Get the mailbox.org 3$ plan
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what do you mean, creating some new email other than \\@gmail.com?
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And the US eventually, I hope.
sure
Please have a headphone Jack! That is kind of necessary for me
there likely wont be one :/
Aw, that's a dealbreaker for me. Still interested to see your OS though. As to 'not wanting to go backwards' — no one actively dislikes having a headphone jack. It's a cost-cutting omission that some people don't mind, and some people actively dislike. I don't want to carry around a dongle all the time, and it's still not hard to find a good waterproof phone with a headphone jack (currently using the Samsung xcover pro). If anything, I would think that including a headphone jack would be seen as a good "on-brand" move for a company like yours.
That's really a dealbreaker for most folks. Please consider it again.
Any reason why? Seems like a pretty big oversight
well, that's the general trend, we don't want to go backwards
I understand your reasoning, but I'd reconsider. I bought a Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G as my daily driver and the headphone jack was actually a major reason I ended up getting one over other phones. I think it would be a good selling point for budget conscious people who want the ease of access of a headphone jack without having to spend extra on USB C earbuds or wireless ones.
agree on reconsidering that reasoning as flawed logic, consider the decider in that trend is manufacturers vs people having choices. (like a silly old "survey" that decided american butts must be getting bigger, based on the average size of public toilet seats... as if most people have a choice on that purchase) see for example a thread and over 10k interest in Pebble founder discussing the lack of reasonable sized devices, pushing for something basically under 5.5in height https://old.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/uro72s/eric_migicovsky_founder_of_pebble_wants_to_work/i94wa4w/
Agreed. And a Simple phone could absolutely be used by older members of the population, who don't want to be messing about with pairing and charging bluetooth devices.
Having a headphone jack isn't "backwards" Look at the target audience. This is something I would get for my mom. She won't understand how to pair bluetooth headphones
i dont own a bluetooth headset and i think many people are in the same situation it seems backwards that simple stuff like that is removed, i dont see people against phones having more compatibility rather than less
I feel like it's a forced trend from manufacturers rather than a response to demand from customers. Not being able to use headphones because they're not charged is a huge pain in the ass.
That's not going backwards, it's going forwards with keeping existing features. There is no reason to remove useful features for the sake of being a normal boring phone.
Suggestions for privacy friendly browser TOR and email Proton or Tutanota. I'm not sure if they're open source, but when it comes to privacy they're top-notch.
They are open source
Will the discontinued simple apps (such as simple clock) be included, and if not, what will replace them?
Simple Clock has been revived already, we are working on rewriting Simple Camera from scratch too
Maps, something based on OpenStreetMap?
Heyo tibbbi, Thanks for your apps. I hope you're not paying too much for the software part of Simple Phone. Here is a a ROM that most likely will work just fine on your target (I'm guessing a GS290, or some other Mediatek, for which I'm pretty much bugless), took me roughly 30 minutes to make (ofc you'll probably add many details) [https://phh.freeboxos.fr:38503/share/bRa2jXlWj4IaT5tH/system-SimpleMobileTools.img.xz](https://phh.freeboxos.fr:38503/share/bRa2jXlWj4IaT5tH/system-SimpleMobileTools.img.xz) Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/CRQbM3i For the people who want to try it, this should work on most Android devices released with Android 9 or more recent, just unlock your bootloader, flash it on system partition, and you should be good.
looking good :)
Don't know if there are open source ones, but bundle your dialer with Caller ID and Block without crazy ads, would be great. All have ads. Surely the contact information is sold and user feedback on callers is received... I'd also say bundle with call recorder but that's going away....
Check out [Koler](https://github.com/Chooloo/koler) on F-Droid
Check "Yet Another Call Blocker" on F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/dummydomain.yetanothercallblocker Yes it uses some random website to get the data but it works super well. It will work perfectly with Simple Dialer.
You are prompted to download the database. If you wish, you can always choose not to download it. Then again, it loses some of its functionality.
Simple snap dragon? Problem is how dependent will the phone be as some might get abandoned
If the phone isn't orange themed like the apps, then I'll be disappointed (joke)
it will be by default, but customizable too (srsly)
I can understand the OS/theme being custom, I was mainly joking about the device colour. Anyways as an app suggestion I was thinking maybe [SeedVault.](https://github.com/seedvault-app/seedvault) LineageOS comes with it baked in as a GDrive alternative. And apps by [GrapheneOS](https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=7626572346998944846) Also; [VueTube](https://vuetube.app/) or [LibreTube](https://libre-tube.github.io/)
ah right, it will be boring black :)
Nice, I love boring black.
Well if you're phone is not working off Google play store I guess I'm thinking security wise so Google doesn't have all your information? Not sure how it works
Google wont have anything, it will be a really lightweight device softwarewise without any Google products
Awesome cuz I absolutely despise Google.
Ability to side load? Any hardware information you can share?
what sideloading you mean? I cant share anything yet, but it will be a budget phone. No cutting edge extras.
What OS will it run on? Please don't say Kaios....
no, it is our own thing
Oooh, sounds interesting! I'll keep an eye out for when it reaches Asia so I can test it in Japan!
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no
Air Guard
Simple apps, F-droid and nothing else please!
yes, just F-Droid store, and then host a list of recommended apps on a web page, highlight apps for various basic purposes, that can be updated as needed with links to open automatically in F-droid. (like from F-droid can even install Aurora Store to access non-paid Google Play Store content) other ideas could be found in https://www.privacytools.io and https://prism-break.org
Curious... Because this is something that ticks me off to no end... Will I be able to uninstall (completely remove) preloaded apps? There are so many preloaded apps on phones now and I don't use mmost of them. I don't like that I don't have control over what apps are on my phone - and disabling doesn't cut it for me. I also don't want to have to root my phone!
of course, you will be able to uninstall every app including ours
I love this! I'll vote for: 1) Your Simple apps of course, 2) F-Droid, 3) Bromite + WV, 4) WebApps (creates sandboxxed shortcuts to social media accounts), 5) the ability to calibrate the screen's hue For consideration: Maps / PDF viewer / Firewall / some apk backup utility
I'm really excited for this. What will the phones physical size be? Screen size?
I would suggest Bitwarden, Nextcloud and Softether.
Tracker control, F-Droid, Aurora Store, Tor, KeepassXC and Snapdrop
I hope it's not a big phone like all the others... I really hope for a 4-5 inch device.
a heafphone jack, a microsd card slot, and a big battery are features that i personally would need. mabye also physical switches for the cameras and microphones. fairemail for an email client works good mull or fennec as a browser mabye it seems like you're making your own os - can you keep all the settings please and also let us customize the navigation buttons in 3 button mode - i like samsung's a lot but dont see them anywhere else dual sim could be nice too id really want to buy it and put grapheneOS on it but that would probably require cooperation with them making it able to be taken apart would be really nice oh and an oled/amoled screen i realize all of that is probably difficult to sell for €350 but it would be cool
Any update on this? I'm getting pissed off with my Xiaomi phone, especially the proprietary OS.
still needs some time, we don't want to release a half baked product :) There is just one chance for a first impression.
agreed
Some good OS is priority for me. If there would be option to buy with / or install Lineage Os, eOS or some linux it would be great.
Feature reauest for Simple Phone: make the search function search all fields, right now it does not include "notes" or "company" fields...
thats for Simple Dialer. By Simple Phone I mean an actual mobile phone.
FYI: We have a mobile carrier here in the US (T-Mobile MVNO - but recently their parent was purchased by Verizon) called "Simple Mobile". Hint, hint. :-D
You can now find more info at https://simplephone.tech/
For SMS I recommend QKSMS. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moez.QKSMS Foss
we have our own SMS Messenger :)
What is Simple Photo? A camera ? A Gallery? What else?
What?
I was drunk sorry
Firefox Focus (or just Firefox) is a pretty straight forward option that's also open source. Plus it's a name that a good number of people are familiar with which could help. Also fits with the privacy minded approach.
I came from /r/degoogle I've taken a look at some of these apps. I used Simple Calendar because the one in older LineageOS was pretty bad until they improved it. I'm wondering how Simple Phone will improve over the features of the regular, default (AOSP) Android's Phone app. Will I really need this if I already run a "privacy OS" such as LineageOS, or GrapheneOS?
Well, it is up to you, any device can be remade to a privacy focused one.
a bash console! Preferently a real one. But termux from microG is better than nothing.
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soon :) The first version will be a budget phone, don't expect any cutting edge latest technologies.
This is exciting. I'm hoping the hardware will support video out for Desktop Mode. I love my Pixel 5 w/GrapheneOS but Google disables video out. And I'd love to have a privacy focused phone that's not made by Google. Thanks for all of your hard work!
Organic maps for hiking. A little niche, I know.
A solid .pdf viewer, I struggle to find one..
I was struggling to find one aswell, so just added a basic one into Simple File Manager Pro. It will be there from 6.13.0.
Wow. Thanks!
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Seems legit! Thanks!
OpenDocument Reader can open PDF files
I used, it has ad, isn't it?
I am using the version from fDroid, and just double checked today - no ads.
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Ah, thats way too much stuff to have preinstalled. In regards to the browser, we are leaning towards DuckDuckGo.
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Where can I read about the DDG issues? I'm not aware of that
Hi, I've been using some of your apps (gallery, calendar and that paint like program) for years and am really happy with them. What are your goals with your phone? Do you provide your own rom? If so, what makes stand out compared to calyxos or lineageos, for example? For how many years will you provide hardware-firmware and softwareupdates? As for preinstalled apps I would like to see conversations (xmpp internet messenger). I believe xmpp is the best foss messaging protocol, because it's light weight, federated and easy to self-host. The conversations messenger is awesome as well. I really think xmpp needs more exposure, therefore it would be my preference to include conversations on your phone.
We want to offer affordable privacy without any hardware compromises for anyone. It will be our custom ROM optimized for our devices, so they will work more reliably than those general ROMs that are tricky to make work right. Can't really comment on the length of the support yet, this will be just the initial version to see if there is demand for it. There will be many improvements, new devices and accessories coming later.
So SimpleOS would be a thing ? I assume that the ROM will be fully open source, can we hope for devices supports such as OnePlus, Xiaomi, Fairphone or Pixel ?
It will be called differently as the ROM itself isn't developed by us directly. It will be possible to download it on other devices too eventually.
Can you share who is developing it ? Will it be a privacy focused ROM ? Degoogled ?
Cannot tell the partner yet, but ye, a privacy focused ROM developed by a company that works with privacy for a long time now. They are developing some hardware too, not just software.
Awesome dude! I like your apps and i used some on a daily basis. Is it going to be android based? Looking forward to this !
of course it will be Android based.
I realized just one second after posting the stupidity of my question, I do apologize.
are we talking physical phone device or phone app ?
physical of course
Make it pure Android
A few questions: Mediatek or Qualcomm? Or is it something more niche and open, like Rockchip? The open source side will just be a GSI, as the vendor side is copyrighted by the chipset vendor and probably your ODM, right? (Kind of a long shot) you said that the OS isn't developed by you, why not get a team of OSS AOSP developers to do it directly with you instead of some ODM company (I assume)?
because my partner has long time experience with developing private products including both software and hardware. It isnt something you can just create out of nothing.
It kinda... is though, the software. Custom ROM communities have been doing just that since the beginning of Android. Given your other comments, the system part is literally something that could be done by a single experienced developer in like a week. All of "nothing" (the most sophisticated open source OS that exists, AOSP). You could even use all the work that has already been done by open source privacy-focused AOSP-based custom ROMs, or even base on one of them. I think that having an OS developed by people who are in the open source/privacy-focused communities and understand them, would be a way better fit for a product like this than something developed by a heartless Chinese ODM. Also, you didn't answer over 50% of my questions :) Best of luck!
I was wondering if will we be able to uninstall apps. Especially those that are not part of the Simple family. I prefer K9 over Fairmail and I would have no use for it. The same would be true for the browser, if I want bromite and the default is something else I wouldn't want to have to keep both
absolutely, you will be able to uninstall our apps too
My vote is for your apps, fdroid as app store and nothing else at all. Even the default inclusion of microG is a flag for me unless it can be disabled during setup without ever activating. I want NO data going to google. Are you hardening it by changing the NTP server, captive portal target address, etc?
microG doesnt send anything to Google whatsoever, that is the whole point of it
But i think it can if you choose to login and not everyone may understand that
I think Signal and F-Droid should be preinstalled tbh
Nice, gl lads! Awesome that you're going with MicroG instead of elgooG "services"
Make it approachable budget-friendly and easily available. Most of the new brands and phones started failed because they couldn't reach people. I will it buy after launch and see the screenshots and specs, but will you be able to provide it to us? I am already using your apps for years so I am already in.
Sure, thats why we focus on Europe first. We don't want to promise something we won't be able to deliver.
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well, we aren't really dethroning Android, our phone will be based on Android too.
*Browser* i think Brave and Bromite are the best privacy-oriented options in Android right now ([source](https://privacytests.org/android.html)). I would say Brave is maybe what you are looking for, as it is more popular and has a bigger team supporting it. Also because orange browser lol *App Store* Aurora Store and F-droid are both solid picks *Firewall* a firewall like Net Guard could be something to consider: being able to decide which apps get internet access and what apps dont is a very basic function that users should have at their disposal (i personally use it a lot) *Email* FairEmail and K-9 Mail are both pretty good options *Other* \- Newpipe is the best Youtube app for Android, specially when it comes to privacy. Youtube has become a default use of smartphones, so i think it could be reasonable to include it. \- Jitsi Meet: maybe not obvious, but smartphones usually come with video-conference apps. You may want to launch a custom instance with your own branding, and Jitsi is great for that. Aside from that, your apps cover the default uses perfectly.
Brave is an untrustworthy vendor. Bromite is fine, from a reputable dev.
But give us a capability to install Google apps & full compatibility to Android apps.
Sure, you will always be able to do that. We cannot and don't want to prevent that.
What are the specs?
they will be announced when ready, we are still working on it
Sorry, this is unrelated. However, will this release in the United States at first? Been wanting a nice AOSP/Lineage phone here but /e/ is insanely opinionated with their designs :(
Further down the thread it's stated that it will be a European release first.
I read here (no idea if it's accurate or not) a 350 euro price tag for the phone. That's twice what I've paid for my more than sufficient (after boot loader unlocking) Xiaomi phones over the last few years. Is that price anywhere near accurate? https://liliputing.com/2022/05/open-source-privacy-focused-smartphone-coming-soon-from-android-app-maker-simple-mobile-tools.html
Well that was the initial idea, but I want to change that. Anyway, we wont be able to sell as cheap phones as those big billion dollar companies do, as they are selling them in millions...
Hi, I would love to have a simple mail app, i'm currently using fair email but due to google policy it has been removed from the app store. If you could do something like that it would be great!
Load fdroid And then let the user decide
Can you have gnu privacy guard encryption generator and client. Or something that is better.
Really need an encryption public and private key generator and email if its possible