The best way to install them is through the F-Droid store, which is a catalogue of FOSS software for Android. It’s installable by downloading the .apk file linked on the front page of the F-Droid projec’ts website. The mentioned apps from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology can then be found by searching for “SECUSO”, which is the name of the research project behind them all.
Alternatively, you can also get them through the Google Play Store under this link or again by searching for “SECUSO”.
In particular, I recommend getting the QR code reader, because many of the free-to-use scanners route everything you scan through their servers, so they’re obviously collecting your data.
There’s a lot of good stuff on F-Droid, and it’s nice to see a university doing a project like this.
I’m still waiting on a solid, consistent alternative to Android. It seems we might be getting there with tiny steps.
Yeah, the Android alternatives I have in mind are LineageOS, GrapheneOS and /e/OS, but I’m not sure on how good their privacy is. Most importantly though, they’re often not available for older/non-mainstream smartphones.
So policy-wise, a useful step could be to get wider standardization of smartphone hardware, to reduce the efforts needed to port alternative OSs there.
I’ve been on lineage for ages and recently tried out /e/, was pleasantly surprised. Reminded me of a reskinned lineage with some FOSS/F-droid apps integrated into the system and some extra privacy stuff.
I particularly like the fake location and app tracker features.
When it comes to standardisation, there’s a minimum defaults-based system called GSI where the same distribution works across a lot of devices. But minimum defaults leaves a lot of devices specific features dead in the water. It’s more for development than distribution.
There’s Sailfish but I think it still has the same limited handset problems that most of the others have
I bought a used Pixel 8 pro off swappa specifically to run Graphene OS.
Not to be too pedantic but those aren’t alternatives to Android; they’re simply custom Android ROMs as alternatives to stock ROMs.
GrapheneOS is available for the older pixels. If you can get a Pixel 7 or 8 series phone at a good deal then there’s no better Android than GrapheneOS. They take security seriously. I equate GrapheneOS to be the Qubes of the Android world
Generally, GrapheneOS ia pretty much the best privacy-focused android version you can have, as it will strip away anything that’s related to google while focusing on a small amount of supported devices to ensure that not many vulnerabilities are possible on the devices.
LimeageOS are less focused on privacy and more about availability. /e/OS is pretty much a downstream of LineageOS focused on Fairphones. Generally a good choice if you want android without google services.
