Mike's Meanderings

Mike Needs a New Phone

The Problem

My current phone is a Pixel 6. its getting close to its end of life. Recently, Google released that they are making their app ecosystem into a walled garden, similar to how iOS functions. Essentially, Google wants to "verify" every app. That means that as of September of 2026 (from keepandroidopen.org) all developers will be required to:

  • Paying a fee to Google
  • Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
  • Providing government identification
  • Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
  • Listing all current and future application identifiers

This is a problem. One of the reasons I've preferred Android over the years is its openness. And now that's going away. I've long used F-Droid. F-Droid is essentially an alternative app store for Android phones. The apps here are all free and open source (FOSS). The intention is that the development of these tools are transparent, and respect a users privacy. its where I install and use various synchronization apps, my authenticator app (Aegis), and more. Google's policy changes will destroy F-Droid, and that's not me being hyperbolic.

Why not iOS?

I've never been an Apple guy. I appreciate their tight controls and how easy their products/apps are to use. But there's a few reasons I'm not interested.

As I move to more tools/apps not built and controlled by big tech, I need access to apps outside of the big tech companies. Apple makes that hard.

What am I looking for?

I don't know if it exists, but here are features I'll be looking for in my next phone:

  • Bootloader Unlockability
  • Ability to use Progressive Web Apps
  • Camera
  • Ability to sideload
  • Removable battery
  • No carrier lock

What do I lose?

Without a doubt, I lose functionality and support by going this route. I'm fairly tech savvy, but there will be a time investment in choosing to forego the Apple and Google ecosystems.

  • Regular updates
  • Integration with other tools/apps/devices
  • Automatic backup
  • Mobile pay options

Here's some non-Google and non-Apple phones that exist

As a disclaimer, some of these do use Android, but de-googled versions.

#100DaysToOffload: 12