I recently got an e-mail from Fairphone that they will be ending support for Fairphone 3(+) in a couple of months and I’m thinking about getting a replacement with /e/OS installed on it instead of Android.

All the independent information I can find seems to be from two or three years ago, so I was wondering if anyone with recent experience or knowledge has any thoughts about it?

I’m not interested in recommendations for other operating systems as I’m only considering switching from Android because there is an option for it to come pre-installed on the latest Fairphone with the bootloader locked, which may solve a few headaches. I’d just like to know if /e/OS has any gotchas to be aware of and if Ecorp/Esolutions/Murena are considered to be reputable (i.e. they’re not going to steal my data).

  • 7eter@feddit.org
    17·
    2 days ago

    Daily driving /e/ since 4 years. The only gotchas for me are:

    • no NFC-Payment possible
    • some apps might not work with microG instead of proper play services. (FindMy, gMaps, even some non Google Apps like the StreetMeasure Plugin for StreetComplete)
    • The App-Store for Play-Store access is a bit cluncky. I have to reset the App data sometimes to get it to download stuff from PlayStore. I get most apps through Obtainium or Fdroid though.

    For me those are fairly small gotchas in order to get a degoogled OS. Also you have easy control over which apps may use Google Push services and the possibility to turn on your Flashlight by long pressing the Power Button (Thanks to Lineage OS background) which is nice to have and not included in the Android Version of FP AFAIK.

    • hornedfiend@piefed.socialEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      worth adding:

      1. whatsapp no longer works and requires attestation
      2. Banking apps are a gamble
      3. Weird quirks like stuck UI until multitasking is used and others

      Look into iodé os also. e/os/ is way to iphone-esque,but iode is sticking to a cleaner approach and also allows bootloader locking, given you pay attention to the security patch versioning “security feature”.

      • skarn@discuss.tchncs.de
        2·
        2 days ago

        /e/OS on Fairphone allows locking the bootloader.

        I even installed it two years after purchase on my own phone, and relocked the bootloader, of course with the same caveat.

        • hornedfiend@piefed.socialEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          As I read, it’s a common occurance on multiple roms (including graphene) since around 2025 with a dreaded “application is not official” or something similar.

          I’ve experienced it on my fairphone 6 running iodé os and , unfortunately and because of nfc payments, I had to switch back to official rom and Whatsapp simply started working again with the same number.

          Mind you, it only happens with new registrations, even if using the same number.

          Edit: just search the vast internet for issues like “whatsapp not official error” or something.

      • CountVlad47@feddit.orgOP
        1·
        2 days ago

        Hmm… I might have to look into the WhatsApp issue as I still need it for work, friends and family (not my choice). Do you think it makes any difference if the bootloader is still locked? I think /e/OS devices from FP come locked.