Option 1: leave everything enabled, & everything works with full spyware enablement too
Option 2: disable everything, but forget basics like mail notifications, yet still resign yourself to invasion from irrevocably disabled services
Option 3: the middle ground. Just kidding, disabling only what you truly don’t need is wildly opaque, and painfully slow: options are split and hidden wherever possible. Forget any “apply to all” graces being given by King Google. Disable the wrong thing, and break a seemingly enabled feature.
Also love how some options are given during setup, while others are only informational: “visit settings later to change this thing - hope you forget!”
So, what’s left: Option 4, root your phone and hope Magisk will work when you need to use your bank app?
I just want my cell provider to spy on me because physics. (Govt banning sale/sharing of that data would be epic, maybe some day in the far future.) Extra spying in the shadiest ways is bad and Google should feel bad.
Review of Android 12
It’s not a google thing specifically to be honest. Tapping into phones happened way before android was a thing.
Smartphones, both android and iOS, just make it easier for them to tap.
That’s why GrapheneOS exists.
Yeah, I only buy phones with good Custom ROM support and then I flash them without Google Apps. I don’t think banking apps would be happy about that, though.
Many banking apps work on GrapheneOS: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
Yeah, if you’re going as far as rooting and Magisk, go the extra half step and install App Manager (io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager). With profiles and 1-Click ops, you can disable trackers, freeze apps, revoke permissions. It’s like a 1000 pound scalpel.
It’s on the F-droid repos.
Fantastic suggestion - love it, thanks!
App Manager FTW