I'm not one of those people who can just buy a phone and use it. I have to unlock it, flash it, de-google it and customize it before first use. I don't changes phones often, but my 2019 phone is slowly dying.

Here's my whole new setup with a Sony Xperia 1 V:

https://battlepenguin.com/tech/...

I still own Samsung Galaxy S III.

Apart from having to purchase a new battery roughly every 1.5 year due to bloating, the phone works just fine.

@Demolishun You can use Lineage+microG (or any other ROM that supports microG) and Google Maps will work.

I just use Google Maps in Mull (Firefox mobile fork) when I need it. Maps will even prompt you to add a shortcut to your homescreen to open the web version. It works well enough for me, but your mileage may vary.

HERE maps and OSMAnd~ do work without Google services.

@D-4got10-01 oh man, I had a Samsung Galaxy S I used for a while. It's in my big list of every phone I've ever had:

https://battlepenguin.com/tech/...

@djsumdog Damn.

A piece of history right there.

I think I might've had access to the phone at work ages ago.

The humble beginnings of the Android phones.

They've come a long way.

I’m a Apple fanboy 🤡

The problem is it's no longer an option not to use the fuckin spyware apps like linkedin, google and facebook crap because you need what'sapp to chat and google maps is still the best maps software.

I use youtube vanced to say goodbye to ads and all sponsorhship poopoo and custom ROMs more of a way to extend my phone's lifecycle.

last time i've unlocked bootloader for Xperia, it deleted the DRM keys for photo processing bcs i was too inexperienced to do a DRM backup first :X

also "adb shell pm uninstall --user 0" ftw. makes a living with stock bearable as you can disable most of the bloat