fossGadgets — julian

My Freedom Phone Cover Design

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 12:00:00 +0000

I designed a back cover to show people mine is no ordinary phone, it's a Freedom Phone.

Share and re-use the design if you like. Replace my face and website with your own.

Fits a OnePlus-6 phone, when printed at 76 x 152 mm. (This phone model can run a wide range of freedom software.)

Paired with the lock screen I designed last year...


Lock Screen	Back Cover

Concept Development

Began as a paper sketch, 2024-09-15.


1	2	3	4	5	to share

Finished in time for Software Freedom Day 2024-09-21.

Licence and Credits

The final design to share:

Download: freedom-phone-back-cover-julian-foad-2024-v5.0.svg
SVG format (Inkscape flavour)
Excludes my face and website
Licensed as Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 “share-alike” with attribution required
Copyright © Julian Foad 2024

Created using Inkscape (freedom software)

Attributions for art work used:

“Ada and Zangemann” by David Revoy, 2023, based on “Ada & Zangemann” written by Matthias Kirschner and illustrated by Sandra Brandstätter − CC-BY-SA 4.0
rainbow umbrella shared by Lisa Cornell, 2011 − public domain
bitten apple shared by Dan Gerhards, 2011 − public domain
type fonts: Liberation Sans, cmmi10
image of my own face, shown in derivative examples here, © Julian Foad, 2016

#fossGadgets #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Follow/Feedback/Contact: RSS feed · Fedi follow this blog: @julian@wrily.foad.me.uk · matrix me · Fedi follow me · email me · julian.foad.me.uk Donate: via Liberapay All posts © Julian Foad and licensed CC-BY-ND except quotes, translations, or where stated otherwise

Odin and Heimdall: Free Your Samsung Android

Fri, 24 May 2024 15:00:00 +0000

This article is about one particular step of the procedure for “flashing” a new android-compatible operating system onto a Samsung device to create a Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone or Tablet.

(For the rest of the procedure, see for example the instructions to install e-OS or install LineageOS .)

Main article: Degoogling a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (2020)

Tools for Flashing Samsung: Odin and Heimdall

Samsung Android devices are tightly locked down. My impression is they perhaps allow re-flashing only to fulfil some legal concession. It does not seem to be an option that they want us to use. Nevertheless, it is possible. At least on some models. (I read that some models sold in the USA are completely locked; maybe there is no legal concession to allow changing the software there.)

Samsung do not seem to make available the tools needed to “flash” the software. The instructions I find all reference either “Odin” or “Heimdall”.

Odin is apparently a Samsung internal tool that has been leaked, many years ago, as a Windows-only executable with no source code. This, widely referenced as the way to go, is useless for non-customers of Microsoft-Windows. In 2022 a leaked Odin v4 for Linux was reported, also executable only. Without source code, nobody (outside Samsung) can reasonably make improvements or adaptations. (Also, many instructions including LineageOS's say to download the Odin executable from some unattested third-party web site, not even giving a checksum to verify. This is dangerous.)

Heimdall is a cross-platform open source tool developed independently. Heimdall can replace Odin, but many instructions either do not mention it at all, or point to an out-of-date version such as v1.4.2 that lacks important updates and bug fixes.

Both Odin and Heimdall work with Samsung's “download” mode, and are needed to get an alternative (freedom) operating system onto the device.

Heimdall, Open Source Samsung Flashing Tool (Odin Alternative)

An open-source flashing tool for Samsung devices, called Heimdall, was developed by Benjamin Dobell (https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/) around 2010 to 2017. That version is most commonly referenced.

Some bug fixes and updates have been made by other people since then, but not merged back to that version. Some of these can be found inside Microsoft's GitHub, but the best version is not there: it rightly lives on a Freedom software forge called Source Hut.

Heimdall up to v1.4.2, the latest “original” version (from Benjamin Dobell or “glassechidna”) at the time of this writing, did not work for me. See Troubleshooting: Heimdall Fails at Initialising Protocol.

Henrik Grimler now maintains a version of Heimdall at https://git.sr.ht/~grimler/Heimdall .

I recommend using Grimler's version. It has fixes and updates needed for more recent devices.

It is available as source code. You could ask around for someone to provide a build, or build it yourself following the included instructions.

Building Heimdall

Referring to Appendix B at the bottom of the instructions page for Linux, on Ubuntu 22.04, on which I already had most of the dependencies installed, I built Heimdall like this:

$ sudo apt install libusb-1.0-0-dev  # you may need more: see below
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DDISABLE_FRONTEND=ON ..
$ make
$ # The executable is then found at `./bin/heimdall`
$ ./bin/heimdall version
v2.0.2

Required dependency packages are listed in the doc linked above, and also machine-readably in the source tree in the files .builds/{alpine.yml,archlinux.yml,ubuntu.yml}.

I used 'DISABLE_FRONTEND' because I was not interested in building a GUI, and could omit installing 'qtbase5-dev' and its several sub-dependencies.

Using Heimdall in place of Odin

To flash a recovery image, Odin wants to be given a “tar” file (a similar concept to a zip file) with the image file inside it. For example, we have to create recovery.tar which contains recovery.img. By contrast, Heimdall takes the image file directly, e.g. recovery.img.

Where instructions for Odin say to select the “AP” (Android Partition) button and choose the recovery.tar file, the Heimdall translation is to run heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img . For flashing a different kind of image such as “vbmeta”, we write heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img. We can give more than one pair of command-line arguments to flash more than one image.

Referring to this XDA post, the command needed for this device is:

$ heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img --RECOVERY recovery.img

Or, if we prefer not to reboot immediately (equivalent of disabling Odin's “Auto-Reboot” option), add the '—no-reboot' flag:

$ heimdall flash --VBMETA vbmeta.img --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Troubleshooting: Heimdall Fails at Initialising Protocol

Fri, 24 May 2024 14:00:00 +0000

This is about flashing a custom operating system ROM in a Samsung Android device using the tool named Heimdall.

We may encounter a failure mode in which heimdall detect succeeds but heimdall flash and heimdall print-pit both fail, printing this:

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
ERROR: Failed to send handshake!ERROR: Protocol initialisation failed!

Releasing device interface...

Additional diagnostics if we give the --verbose option:

"ERROR: libusb error -7 whilst sending bulk transfer"

(This message is repeated several times, before the final failure.)

Errors like this have been reported many times: e.g. here and duplicates, here, here

Here are two scenarios in which this error can occur.

Scenario 1: Only The First Heimdall (Flash, Print-Pit) Command Works

Some people report that some Samsung devices only accept one Heimdall command in the bootloader mode. Further attempts fail. Rebooting is required before another command can succeed.

This may be a bootloader limitation in certain devices. (I have not yet seen a report with enough detail to satisfy me it is definitely the case.) In other cases, using Heimdall's options “—no-reboot” (on each command) and “—resume” (on subsequent commands, since v1.4.0) may overcome this.

(In this description, “heimdall flash” and “heimdall print-pit” count towards the limit of one command, while “heimdall detect” doesn't count towards the limit and can be used freely.)

Scenario 2: Every Heimdall (Flash, Print-Pit) Command Fails

This happens only when running Heimdall on certain linux distributions, notably Ubuntu.

Some people fixed this in their forks of Heimdall, e.g. Jesse Chan's fix is in Grimler's version of Heimdall and in several other forks. (This fix works by resetting the USB device on the Linux end. The main work in developing the fix seems to be recorded in PR #478 .)

My suggestion: build and use Grimler's Heimdall. I explain a bit about Heimdall and how to build and use it in my article Odin and Heimdall: Free Your Samsung Android .

Scenario 3: Heimdall With Resume Option Fails First Time

If the first Heimdall command after booting into download mode is given the '—resume' option, Heimdall fails for me (on Ubuntu 22.04) like this, even when using a version with the Scenario 2 bug fixed:

$ heimdall print-pit --resume --no-reboot --verbose
...
Beginning session...
ERROR: libusb error -7 whilst sending bulk transfer. Retrying...
...
ERROR: Failed to begin session!
Releasing device interface...

From what I can tell, this seems to be expected, and so a usage error. The '—resume' option should not be used on the first command.

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Freedom-Respecting Gadget: Degoogling a Samsung Tablet

Mon, 20 May 2024 19:00:00 +0000

This is about buying a Samsung Android tablet and replacing the privacy-invading proprietary Google and Samsung software with privacy-respecting Freedom Software: “degoogling” for short.

Why? In “The Problem” section below, we take a look back at how much we're giving up when we accept Google's and Samsung's terms.

I would like ordinary people, with a little technical skill, to be able to do this. The process unfortunately is currently far too difficult, especially so on Samsung devices.

My goals:

Install a privacy-preserving freedom-software operating system on my tablet
Make it easier for others to do the same

The tablet I bought:

Name: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (Wi-Fi)
Model: SM-T500
Device code: gta4lwifi

Yes, it's a few years old already. One of the benefits of Freedom Software is the community at large has the option to maintain up-to-date software on older devices, for as long as anyone considers it worth the effort. This is in contrast with the original maker's vested interest in stopping updates of their proprietary software after a small number of years. A nod to the right-to-repair and sustainability movements.

The Problem

Have you bought a tablet or phone recently? Perhaps even a Samsung?

IF We are buying a new or second-hand tablet,

THEN We might look at a Samsung Android device. They do make nice hardware!

BUT Oh! The set-up screens! — Screen after screen of, Yes, I agree to let Them scan my house for other devices and report back anything they find... Yes, I agree to let Them install or change or delete anything on “my” device... Yes, I agree to let Them scan all my contacts and data so they can make me feel happy by feeding it back to me in different ways, no, wait, they mean mining it for profit and trapping me in their systems. Yes, Agree To All because that's the easy option (and notice there's no “Agree to None” option).

Aaargh! No way, not me. Unfriendly system, Be Gone!

THEREFORE We want to turn it into a Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone or Tablet by “flashing” a Freedom Software operating system onto the device.

The New Software

I want to install an android-compatible, privacy-friendly, Freedom-Tech operating system. Nowadays I favour e-OS by Murena. e-OS is near main-stream user-friendly, with a nice blend of privacy by default along with a choice of optional (privacy-invading) google support for those that want it. e-OS is available on a wide range of phone hardware from cheap to premium, and you can either buy it or self-install it. If you're not wanting to develop tech skills in this area, buy it pre-installed.

Android-compatible Freedom Tech Operating Systems

Android as most people know it is a proprietary product, which contains inside it some open-source software (including some of Linux), leading to eternal confusion about whether “it” itself is open-source. No. Only the people who go looking for it get an open-source system built around the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). (That's us, yay!) Everyone who buys an Android device from the usual sort of phone maker is getting a heavily proprietary product that spies on them.

For this reason I often use long-winded descriptions like “android-compatible freedom-tech operating systems” to clearly differentiate these from proprietary Android.

Murena's “e-OS” is built around AOSP, using Freedom Tech to replace all the proprietary Google pieces, in a similar way to other android-compatibles such as LineageOS (a minimal android-compatible base OS) and LineageOS-for-MicroG (LineageOS plus F-Droid and some optional google support).

See my Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone post for other Freedom Tech alternatives you might consider.

Choosing a Well Supported Tablet

I bought this tablet after checking it was supported by e-OS and by LineageOS (and therefore also by LineageOS-for-MicroG).

What I didn't realise until too late is the installation instructions say I should download and run this, that and the other from various “random” (unofficial/unverified) sources — and it turns out those instructions are intended for running on MS Windows. Ugh.

There is a Freedom software alternative for this step: Heimdall. See Odin and Heimdall: Free Your Samsung Android.

I found this part of the procedure to be a deep rabbit-hole and spent a long time getting through it, reading a lot of dead-ends along the way.

For this reason I want to document what works, and also make it easier for others to do it, by attempting to automate this procedure in the Open Android Installer.

As the procedure is similar for many devices so working on the solution for my device should, I hope, also help others.

On Choosing a Well Supported Tablet, if you have limited time and experience for working through a complex installation procedure, then I would advise only choosing a Samsung phone or tablet in the following cases:

if the Open Android Installer or e-OS Easy Installer supports it, or
if you can get one that is already running a Freedom Software OS.

(Once it is running a Freedom Software OS, it is easier to upgrade or change it from that point.)

Installing

Installing is a challenge. The procedure is fraught with difficulties. Some people report that they “simply” followed the instructions and succeeded within an hour, while many others apparently spent days, encountered problems or gave up.

The starting point is the semi-official instructions published by the likes of LineageOS and e-OS. Note that these are basically the best efforts so far of volunteer groups, and are not necessarily accurate or complete, and far from foolproof.

See:

e-OS install guide and e-OS forum thread
LineageOS install guide and XDA forum thread (also relevant for LOS-for-microG)

After many hours of trial and research I got LineageOS installed, and some notes taken, several improvements implemented in my local copy of Open Android Installer, and a first couple of blog posts posted about parts of the procedure.

After reaching that stage, it was relatively easy to replace plain LineageOS with LineageOS-for-MicroG (both at version 21).

I also tried replacing it with e-OS (version T equivalent to 20) but that failed:

Installing update...
Comparing TZ version XF.5.1-01015-1 to XF.5.1-638149-3
ERROR: This package requires firmware from an Android 12 based stock ROM build. Please upgrade firmware and retry!
ERROR:   recovery: Error in /sideload/package.zip (status 1)

The tablet was running Samsung Android version 12 before I started. Never mind that for now. I'll come back to e-OS later.

So, I can claim success on one score: my tablet is now running LineageOS-for-microG.

Oh! You wanted all the details of how I did it and what went wrong? I'm not planning to write that up in that form (it was messy), but rather to work out improvements and write them up. I'll post them here once I've got something.

Making it easier for others to do the same

Taking hours to achieve this feat just for myself does not make me feel good.

I want to make it feasible for people with just a little technical skill to install an alternative operating system. It really should not and need not be so hard.

I can:

improve the installer apps (Open Android Installer, e-OS Easy Installer)
improve the installation instructions

In particular I want to do things that help whole classes of problems, across multiple devices and multiple operating systems, such as making the installers and instructions more automatic, more consistent, more foolproof, easier to diagnose.

To these ends, I have been keeping notes on what's missing, and have started making improvements to Open Android Installer.

#fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

Fun with PineTime Smart Watch

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 15:38:48 +0000

As I wrote before, My smart watch is open source. Awesome!

Let's make this fun — for children in particular — and show how we can bend the device to our will because FOSS means it's truly ours, fully under our control.

This article started from my musing about this topic in the PineTime matrix discussion room.

I'm interested in teaching children about “free software” and having full control of one's own devices. Seems like programming your own digital watch would be an excellent way to make this topic “touchable”. This is an encouragement to any makers and experimenters to do more fun stuff, and get this into the hands of children and technology teachers.

As a programmer I can imagine all sports of technical ways to do so, and I've read about the current state of development (how things like downloadable modules would help) — that side I understand quite well. Where I'm lacking is the social kinds of ideas — what's been tried, who's set up a “watch makers kids club”, etc. Anyone heard of anyone using PineTime or similar projects with children?

What's on my mind is, I am wearing this watch because I want to show people how great is free software and owning control of one's devices. But when they (kids or adults) look, all they see is another watch, they can't see it's programmable and Open. So how can I show them? I half seriously want it to be a bright colour and to flash out the words “MY OWNER PROGRAMMED ME” when I wave my arm around. Or something :–)

I want my PineTime to boldly proclaim “I'm Freedom Software in Freedom Hardware”.

Same for my phone: I want people to see it's different from mainstream and ask me why. I've actually had a go at designing a sticker for my phone. Haven't got it sticky-back printed but have put its image on my lock screen. Hmm, I should print that as a T-shirt :–)

The older I get, the more it bothers me that no-one's aware of the existence of tech where users are in control (~FOSS). The more I feel the need to shout it out... in a shy person's way. Glad to see PineTime got to FOSDEM this year. I wasn't there. I'll watch the recording some time soon. (on FOSDEM.org | on my Trax PeerTube)

What Could Children Do With It?

For the youngest, say 4yo, it could be drawing your own watch background picture (on any sketching app on a laptop) and get it installed on the watch. Then, if there's any way to cross-compile from a beginner language like Scratch then program or reprogram a simple app like alarm/timer, with plenty of flashing the screen and buzzing.

Then for 8 yo and up, program in some accessible textual language (e.g. Hedy/Python if cross-compilation is possible; I haven't enquired how feasible that is).

'neroburner' says: “There is a micro python based firmware for the PineTime. That could be a great starting point for teaching and trying out stuff.” Thank you for that hint. That's Wasp-OS and has more apps than Infinitime and is easier to customise: https://wasp-os.readthedocs.io/en/latest/apps.html

In fact, for any age, getting a bold visual customisation like watch face would probably be the best starting point. (I have read the existing issues about how people would like to make that easier to do technically. That's good stuff but not a precondition: we can work around that by scripting the whole build process.)

But like I said, we can have all these cool ideas software-wise of how we could enable kids to participate, but it's not really going to happen unless we link up with some group of people who do stuff like this. Coding-for-kids clubs, or maker-spaces (hack spaces), or something. (“We” = whoever's interested. I'm not saying any of the existing pine time community should necessarily be interested in this direction, though some might. I'm just asking around to discover what might be out there.)

Customisation

First kinds of customisation, for someone new to it:

graphical — add a “splash screen”, as a personal image and/or a slogan to remind us and our friends this is FOSS; add a background image under the watch face; tweak UI colours, layout, style
watch faces — start with choosing from existing watch faces; then make one for learning to tell the time, perhaps having all the hours clearly numbered; make one as a bitmap image, another by programming vector graphics; make a quick switch button on the watch screen that cycles between the owner's favourite watch faces
apps — customise the list of apps (easy but unexciting); edit an existing app to make a new app (much harder until we make an easy framework for it)

In principle it's possible to customise at a deeper level, such as making different Bluetooth connections (to use an external keyboard, talk directly to another PineTime, ...) but that needs an expert.

App Ideas

Remote control / Ping

button to ping the host phone — Wasp-OS Phone Finder app
button to ping a predefined other phone (via host phone and SMS/KDEConnect/FMD?) — 'page big sister'
button to turn on the light/kettle/etc. (via Android device controls, Home Assistant, etc.)

Messages

Sending messages to one another is great fun! Local first: never mind global tech companies, let's message directly.

phone-to-watch messages (Gadgetbridge has this as a 'debug' function)
on-screen keyboard (9-key multi-tap?) — there is add note taking app with t9 keyboard #1466 — wow! I hadn't guessed predictive text might be possible. This is interesting as a base for any text typing/sending app.
bluetooth keyboard (note: someone said the hardware can make 2 connections (e.g. to host phone and keyboard) but firmware for that hasn't been written)
watch-to-phone message
2-way bluetooth texting between 2 PineTimes

Watch/Clock

Fun with the watch/clock function.

I watched a child play with the alarm setting screen, adjusting the hours and minutes to match the real clock on the wall. The child described it as a digital watch that doesn't tell the time automatically but has to be set manually, like a baby's toy clock. They thought it was fun. So let's make it more fun...

a manually adjustable clock (like setting the alarm)
display analogue & digital together
speed control: fast, slow, stop, backwards
MineTest sync: 20x speed, sync with MineTest game time, animated day/night graphics

For inspiration look at J. Barrett's Clock Demonstrator

These modes are all meant to be temporary: you can always switch back to the real time.

Colour Images

We have a fairly hi-res colour screen, yet I haven't seen any demo of showing a photo or colour graphic background or anything. (Even the “paint” program seems to only paint white on black. Am I missing something? EDIT: A long-press changes colour.)

Photo notifications from a messaging app.
Photo snap from phone camera, straight to watch screen, “save” it there, just the most recent one. Companion app could help crop to a small square and maybe enhance contrast and colour etc for a more “fun” display. On the watch, display just a static fixed resolution image, no zoom etc.
Mini gallery. There is obviously not enough memory for much of a photo gallery, but a few could fit in the 4MB storage. There is Wasp-OS Gallery app and Infinitime Gallery app #1384.
Phone gallery viewer. As we swipe left and right, a module in Gadgetbridge transcodes our phone gallery's images to PT optimised format and sends them down the BT link, on demand. Radio bandwidth might limit phone-connected gallery browsing, but I don't know, it might be enough.

Calculator

I remember spending hours just tapping away on my calculator-watch with its sixteen tiny mechanical buttons when I was young... and it wasn't even programmable, it just had calculator and timer and a tiny game and that's about it. Oh, but if it had been programmable...!

There are two calculator apps proposed for Infinitime: Calculator App #375, and Simple calculator #1483, and Wasp-OS includes a simple calculator app.

PineTime discussion room on Matrix: #pinetime:matrix.org

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #cloudFree #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #openHardware

You Too Can Have a Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone!

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:28:11 +0000

Are you asking yourself,

“What's it to be: Android or iPhone?”

Actually, NO! There is another way.

Time I Learned: there are freedom-respecting phones.

I'll tell you which one you need.

What's the problem?

What's so bad about choosing either Google or Apple?

It's about who controls our use of the device after we “bought” it. Do “they” remain in control of what we do, or are we in control?

It's not about the hardware. Well, there are certainly important issues about the hardware — and you might want to discover PinePhone and FairPhone. But I'm here to talk about our freedom in using the product.

Many of us today are increasingly concerned about the vendor lock-in, advertising and data mining perpetrated by Apple and Google. They are so pervasive that it's hard at first to see all the avenues of social human interaction and creativity in which we could be harnessing the power of our computers and our electronic connection to others, all these avenues from which Big Tech have cut us off, as they steer us through their own product pathways according to their own commercial objectives.

In short, we are carrying around general purpose computers but we are artificially locked in to using their power only within the vendor's own playground. Read: The General Purpose Computer in Your Pocket. Those mega-corporations ensure everything we do is steered toward making their advertisers and shareholders richer: attention grabbing, commercial subscriptions, ads and so on. Not towards what's best and nicest for us as people.

We've been subjected so completely to their way that it's hard to imagine any other way. Hard to see that the nuggets of convenience we'd have to give up would be as nothing compared to the adventures we'd gain by switching. We can't see the wood for the trees.

Yet, the alternatives are here. We don't have to accept it's a choice between a rock and a hard place.

What we can do instead is choose tech that unlocks the power of these personal computers we carry around, and lets us use them for purposes that make no profits but enhance our own social lives. Gentle technology. Small Tech as opposed to Big Tech.

Once we make the leap and begin exploring the previously untapped possibilities, we begin to appreciate what it feels like to be released from Big Tech's constraints. It's not a stretch to say those companies had pressed us into their servitude, and now we can be free. That's what I'm feeling, and I want us all to have that opportunity.

Which Freedom-respecting Phone?

The one that stands out to me as best suited for most people is built upon a degoogled operating system compatible with Android:

Murena /e/OS smartphones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- with deGoogled “cloud” suite: email, docs, storage, etc. (free or €2~20 /month)
- choice of phone models (€300~600) including Fairphone

Being freedom-software (open source), the maker guarantees your freedom to use the tools they provide or change to others. What does that mean in practice? For example, if you don't like the terms and conditions of the Murena cloud software suite, you can use a different one provided by someone else, be it an independent commercial provider, or run by your school or club, or at your best techie friend's home. And then you don't even need a Murena account.

How is this degree of freedom possible? First, with the slogan “my data is my data”, Murena is committed to these principles. It was founded by Gaël Duval, the creator of Mandrake Linux. Second, in contrast to Google's Android which merely contains some open-source software components, this technology stack is designed around open source principles. Their cloud service is not only based on Nextcloud, but is designed to be compatible and interoperable with similar services run by lots of other providers and individuals. Together, and in stark contrast to the Big G and the Big A, these mean there is neither a practical lock-in nor a legal lock-in.

How to get one?

The no-fuss solution: buy one
The techie friend option: ask the friend to set it for you on a second-hand phone.

“But I'm Not Average”: Other Freedom Phones

If you are not the average person, or if you want to learn more about the alternatives, read on.

I recommend Murena for the average person because their offering is so inclusive: the phone hardware, the cloud services, the freedom to take or leave parts of the system and adapt it to your needs, compatibility with most smart phone apps, and working in a way that is broadly familiar to a lot of people already. I hope we will soon see other providers like them offering a no-fuss all-included solution too.

These alternatives will appeal more to techies and to people with particular preferences or needs, and the ability to spend a bit more effort instead of buying an all-in package. With most of these, you or a techie friend will need to do one or more of: install the operating system software on a suitable phone, setting up any “cloud” services you want, or using apps that are currently less mainstream.

That said, these are quality and important alternatives.

Linux-based Phones

By Linux-based phones, I mean operating systems aligned with GNU/Linux rather than with Android. There are a few.

Purism in particular is an outstanding company dedicated to making freedom and privacy centred devices. If their Librem phone isn't for you, check out their laptop, server, security key.

Purism's Librem 5
- Linux-based phone OS
- convergence with Linux desktop: run desktop apps on the phone, or plug into a monitor and use as a desktop computer
- company dedicated to software and hardware freedom and privacy at all levels, and working with wider FOSS community
Jolla with its SailfishOS is the favourite of The Opt Out Project's Janet Vertesi.

Android-Compatibles

Android compatibles can be partially or completely degoogled, giving privacy from spying megacorps including not only the big G but others too. Most give you a choice of how far you want to distance yourself.

Shiftphones in Germany sells modular repairable phones (and laptops, headphones, etc.). While their current SHIFT6mq comes with a Google Android pre-installed, the interesting thing is they offer an easy and built-in way to install an “upgrade” to a degoogled android version. Much easier than degoogling any other phone.

Shiftphone SHIFT6mq detailed Review including thorough instructions on degoogling it, and suggestions for additional settings and apps.

Iodé is a small company in France selling phones pre-installed with deGoogled Android, with extra privacy features.

Iodé's new or refurbished phones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- choice of phone models (€210~730) including Fairphone

For techies, there are more deGoogled Android distributions that you can download and install yourself on a suitable phone:

Many of the phone operating systems from the vendors mentioned, being based on freedom software, can be self-installed too:

How About an iOS-compatible Freedom Phone?

An iOS-compatible Freedom Phone? That's an oxymoron! Apple locks its users into its own walled garden completely. See The Neighborhood and The Nursing Home.

What Does Julian Use?

Personally, for myself and family I am currently using LineageOS-for-MicroG. I chose that option because I am a techie, experimenting with the various options on a budget, so I tended towards those I can install myself on a wide range of old and new phones. And because it is quite close to mainstream Android so a majority of mainstream apps run on it. And because my less techie family members needed the reassurance of being able to continue using their familiar Google apps to begin with, and only gradually migrating to freedom-software, one app at a time when they are ready, from Chrome to Firefox for example.

I have experimented with others. I really admire what Murena is doing, and have self-installed /e/OS on older and newer phones. I am considering switching over to it on my main phone, and to use it for family members, as it is more readily maintainable and more user-friendly, and supports the widest range of apps from proprietary locked-down banking apps through to fully open freedom software, all on a wonderfully freedom-valued platform.

I would want to use /e/OS with my own compatible cloud service rather than using Murena's cloud, because I will not compromise on using my own domain name as the key to my own data services. I believe Murena and other companies offering “your own data” services should for this reason always offer “bring your own domain”. For now, the situation is that Murena's service is open source with the source code repository ecloud-selfhosting in “beta” status. That means it is possible to set up one's own infrastructure, just not as easy as it really needs to be. (It is however to be congratulated that they host their software forge on their own domain rather than using the anti-freedom Microsoft-Github.)

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

Originally published as All I Want for Christmas is... a Smart Phone?, 2022-11-09. This revised version published December 2023.

More articles tagged... #fossGadgets #android #degoogled #lineageOS #eOS

A deGoogling Milestone

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 21:45:39 +0000

From: Google

“Your Google Account will soon be considered as inactive“

”... if you don't sign in soon”

“Is this a phishing scam?” was my first thought. But no, it's true! This officially confirms I am freed at last from Google's clutches on my data, on my digital life.

Hurray!

I once thought Google was my friend. The most convenient email, the most convenient search, a great phone, with a feeling of being quite open-source-y, not too locked-in. But of course their lock-in is immense, almost inescapable, just like all the other Big Tech silos. Once disillusionment set in, it was hard to leave that all behind. Took me five years.

Now, for months and months I haven't signed in to my gmail, to play store, to youtube, nothing.

And I feel great!

Want to know more?

How did I Leave Google?

Starting at the biggest and most important:

Registered my own DNS domain.
email: at my own domain, managed by Fastmail; used with K-9 & Mailspring apps
phone: my degoogled/indie phone

Once those key cornerstones are freed, all the other things fall into place more easily. personal photos, public videos, maps, files, messaging, video meetings, and all the rest.

My biggest regret: not starting sooner. In fact I got my own domain many years before, only because it came “for free” with an ISP account. Initially I regarded it as a play thing, a place to put a few photos and stories for friends to look at. Now I think of my domain as the key to my online identity.

From there I continue building up my Matrix, Android, Self-Hosting Skills.

#fossGadgets #degoogled #android #lineageOS #awesomeFOSS

Owning Our Own Data: Monitoring Our Smart Meters

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 22:36:35 +0000

We'll soon have smart electricity and gas meters. Let's monitor them locally through our home automation system, Home Assistant.

Why?

Warning: rant ahead.

I believe in “Own Our Own Data”. Or, as the maker of one smart phone that doesn't own you, Murena puts it, “My Data is My Data”.

What do I mean, why do I care?

Companies monitor and record and control all the data they can about us. They treat our data as if it's theirs. They prefer it this way round. I feel that's wrong, hurtful in the long term. I want to take a stand in owning my own data as a principle. I want to change the norm, do it the other way round. It's my data first, and I will share my data with any Company I deal with by negotiation, under my control.

The principle should be that, first and foremost, we record our own copy of our own data. From there, we should share it with each Company that has a legitimate interest in it. This sharing should be under our own terms and control. We should share the relevant parts of our data with each Company we deal with, as an obligation or a privilege to them depending on the relationship.

What data? All kinds of data related to me: the photos I take, the list of books I borrow from my local library, my instant messages with friends, my gas and electricity usage.

The companies I deal with are welcome to keep their own copy of data relevant to their service to me. What I do not accept is to be put in the position of Them holding the only copy of my data, and me having to beg them whenever I want to access my data.

Current laws deem that Companies must surrender our data to us if we reasonably ask for it. While that's the theory, however, in practice I have tried this a few times and the process ranges from the tedious to the impossible.

Protocol Theory: How Smart Meters Talk

Let's understand a bit about how smart meters talk... to each other, to the utility companies, and to our home automation system.

We're looking at SMETS2 meters, the current standard in the UK. These meters use two wireless interfaces, one within the home and another kind to communicate to the electricity companies. On the home area network (HAN) side, they use the Zigbee network protocol to connect the electricity meter with the battery powered gas meter and any in-home display units. Their wide area network (WAN) side connects to the UK's central smart metering hub, the “DCC”, and from there to the electricity and gas supply companies.

The home owner is not usually allowed direct access to either of those two wireless network connections. It is my understanding that the energy supply company could give the home owner some sort of credentials (like a password) to access the meters over the Zigbee HAN, but that most companies won't.

How to Connect it, in Practice?

However, some companies have authority [1] to sell us an in-home-display (IHD) that connects to our HAN, and some of those devices, as well as being a display, are also a Consumer Access Device (CAD). The latter means they offer an additional method to connect our own equipment to access our data. So a third kind of network connection comes into the picture, from the CAD to our home automation system.

UK company Hildebrand Glow makes the Display and CAD shown above, and presents the technical aspect of connecting it to a home automation system through WiFi and another protocol called MQTT, here: Glow — Local MQTT

Hildebrand Glow is not the only company selling a Consumer Access Device, but I noticed they explicitly state a goal to support “data enthusiasts” [2] which I think aligns with Own-Our-Own-Data principles. That is a very strong signal to me that it is a company with which I share values, and which I would wish to support.

Careful when buying one: my understanding is Hildebrand sets up the device with the credentials to connect to your particular meters before selling it. They state that you have to link an account on their system, using their “Bright” app, before buying it. If you were to buy a second-hand device, I don't know if or how it could be reconfigured to connect to your meters.

So the system components in our home are:

Smart meters (from energy supply company)
Consumer Access Device (Hildebrand Glow)
Home automation server (Home Assistant)

For an introduction to Home Assistant, see my A Freedom-Respecting Smart Home.

The MQTT server we need can be installed within Home Assistant. Let's assume that for simplicity. (“Find Mosquitto Broker in the Add-on store, and install with default options” says Speak to the Geek in the same article as referenced below.)

The main step then is configuring the Home Assistant integration for Hildebrand Glow MQTT.

Home Assistant integration for Hildebrand Glow MQTT

There is not yet (December 2022) an “official” integration. There are some integration code repositories, some hints to be found in the Home Assistant forums, and some articles online.

The most promising looking solution I have found is Home Assistant integration for local MQTT Hildebrand Glow IHD from Python Awesome, using the megakid/ha_hildebrand_glow_ihd_mqtt integration code repository.

If we find any reason to look elsewhere, here are some alternatives. There is unlobito/ha-hildebrandglow (no longer maintained by its author) and some forks of it where others have made tweaks. “Speak to the Geek” wrote a detailed guide, Hildebrand Glow UPDATE! Local MQTT and Home Assistant. Matt Brunt blogged about his experience beginning with non-local access and then changing to local MQTT access, with low level code examples included, towards the end of his post Hildebrand Glow, Home Assistant and MQTT – Getting visibility into my energy data .

How Well Does it Work?

We'll have to wait and see! I have not set this up yet. I am still waiting for our smart meters to be installed. I am writing in December 2022. Installation is booked for January. I plan to revisit and update this article when I get there.

Further Information

Good practical and technical information on the Smart Meter Data page on “Smart Meters” web site https://www.smartme.co.uk/

Footnotes:

[1] “We are able to join your Display and CAD to your SMETS meters without your supplier's involvement because we are a SECAS (Smart Energy Code Administrator) approved DCC Other User” — the Glow product page [2] “Our goal for glowmarkt is to support communities of interest starting with data enthusiasts and heat pump adopters.” — the Glowmarkt About-Us page

#cloudFree #fossGadgets #smartHome

What to Give: Tech Gadgets that Respect Our Freedom

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 12:00:00 +0000

“All I Want for Christmas is...” a device working as a tool for me, not as an agent for its maker

We love a new tech gadget. What will it be? It's all about “smart” these days, but when they say “smart” they usually mean “we're still in control of it”.

Learn how you can have a freedom-respecting

smart watch (full article)
- ensuring You (and not They) are in control of your watch
smart phone (full article)
- ensuring You (and not They) are in control of your personal communications
smart home (full article)
- ensuring You (and not They) are in control of your IoT doorbell, lights, sockets, security cameras
or even a smart soldering iron (full article) or an open source hearing aid (like the Tympan)
- because you can!

What do You Mean, “Freedom-Respecting”?

Today there's a huge gulf between the Big Business approach and the freedom-respecting approach.

What do I mean by “freedom respecting” and why would I care this much? After all, we might ask,

“Dear Julian, we know you love Open Source, and we know those Big Tech prorietary vendors are out to get us with their vendor lock-in, their advertising, and their data collection. Yes it's annoying but it's how things are in today's world. We put up with it because we just want something that's easy, that does what we want. They make that stuff, and it works. Why are you still getting so upset about it?”

For insight, read or listen to The Future of Computing and Why You Should Care and The Neighborhood and The Nursing Home.

For some of my personal recommendations, read on. There is a longer article linked to each one.

Smart Watch

There's an open source smart watch → the PineTime (main | shop | wiki) from Pine64

Both its hardware and software are open source
A review | DDG search for “pinetime review”
Being created in order to inspire open development, Pine64 sell it directly for a very low price
There is working software so you can just use it. For developers, there is a development kit

→ Read the full article: PineTime Smart Watch — Awesome Open Source

Smart Phone

“What's it to be: Android or iPhone?”

Actually, NO! Apple and Google both press us into their servitude with their extreme vendor lock-in, advertising and data mining. We don't have to accept it, once we learn there's an alternative.

What to buy:

Murena /e/OS smartphones
- deGoogled, Android-compatible phone
- with deGoogled “cloud” suite: email, docs, storage, etc. (optional, free or €2~20 /month)
- choice of phone models (€300~600) including Fairphone

→ Read the full article: Freedom-Respecting Smart Phone

Smart Home Automation

Automating our lights, security cameras, all the Things? We'll be needing some IoT Gadgets and a home automation system.

Recommendation for home automation control centre:

Home Assistant controls and monitors everything

“Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first”

There are different ways to run Home Assistant. For ordinary people looking for the simplest and most reliable way, I would recommend buying a tiny stand-alone hardware device with the software pre-installed, such as the “Home Assistant Green”. Alternatively, because Home Assistant is freedom software, it's open source so your best techie friend can set it up for you on more or less any old computer you have, if you prefer.

For lots of information about using Home Assistant, listen to The Self-Hosted Show podcast.

For recommendations on security cameras, also consult The Self-Hosted Show.

For your smart switches, plugs, lights, temperature sensors etc.: mylocalbytes.com (UK) or cloudfree.shop (USA).

→ Read the full article: A Freedom-Respecting Smart Home

Smart Soldering Iron — The Pinecil

A smart soldering iron? An open-source-hardware soldering iron?

Yes! The Pinecil by Pine64.

→ Read the full article: Pinecil — Smart Soldering Iron — Awesome Open Hardware

I Love the Feeling of Freedom

I have each of these gadgets, or some variation of them.

What brings me the freedom is not the hardware of the gadgets themselves. It's the ability to run software that does its job privately, for me, without being actively controlled by the company that supplied it. For example, by running an open-source phone operating system I have no Apple and no Google controlling what I can do with it. By using the standard Matrix protocol for my messaging needs, I can choose matrix-compatible apps and services from any supplier, and you can choose different ones and we can still talk. By using Home Assistant for my home automation, I can connect my IoT devices privately under my sole control without any company mediating. This is the freedom in my use of technology, and this is how to get it.

I love this feeling of freedom.

#fossGadgets #openHardware #awesomeFOSS

PineTime Smart Watch -- Awesome Open Source

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 16:50:42 +0000

My smart watch is open source. Awesome!

PineTime from Pine64 (product | shop | wiki)

The PineTime is made of open-source hardware and open-source software.

Read a detailed review by It's MOSS.

Being created in order to inspire open development, Pine64 sell it directly for a very low price. It comes as a working product ready to use. For developers, the similarly priced development kit is recommended.

I haven't worn a watch for decades, but I am so happy this exists, I have ordered one.

Actually, to be candid, I ordered one because I want to be more intentional about promoting open source products. We can tell our friends we don't need Apple or Google owning us. But telling is weak. Showing is strong.

A few weeks later... here it is! Woohoo!

I installed GadgetBridge from F-Droid on my degoogled Android phone, and connected it. Upgrading the Infinitime firmware from version 1.6.0 as supplied, to the then current version 1.11.0, went smoothly.

What Does it Do?

It tells the time. It notifies me, with vibration and on-screen display, of notifications shown on my phone. It can control a music player on my phone, start/stop, track skip, and volume control. Those are the functions I find useful, at least initially.

There's an intriguing “navigation” screen, as in map directions. I have not been able to make it do anything, and on searching online found a note that it “only works with PureMaps/Sailfish OS”. That's a pity. I wonder if it can and will be made to work with the awesome open source Organic Maps.

Maybe you are more interested in the step counting and heart rate monitoring. There are also some little gadgets like timers, scribbling, metronome, and mini-games.

Where Next?

This is a hacker's watch, a hackable watch. Infinitime OS is not the only OS it can run. There is also Wasp-OS, and instructions on how to switch between Infinitime and Wasp-OS.

On either operating system, it's possible to add new functions. I would like to learn how to do so. For instance, I would like to monitor and control my smart home gadgets.

Some starting points: customising the PineTime watch faces:

InfiniSim
PineTime Custom Watchface Tutorial — pine64.org
Create Your Own PineTime Watch Face in Rust... And Publish on crates.io — Lup Yuen
Customizing My Pinetime — by JP/moddedBear

Alternatives

Other smart watches exist with open-source hardware and software designs. Some are hacker-only projects, which you can build yourself, such as Bellafaire's and more that we can find in round-ups such as this and this.

Here are the ones I know that are available to buy.

Bangle.js reviewed in MagPi magazine, Feb. 2022
Watchy by SQFMI

DecentNet has written an article with an overview of several Programmable watches .

And finally, I came across an interesting project by “dcz” who has begun making a bike “computer” based on Bangle.js watch hardware with custom software: Jazda.

PineTime discussion room on Matrix: #pinetime:matrix.org

This article is part of my Open Source Gadgets series.

#fossGadgets #cloudFree #degoogled #awesomeFOSS #openHardware

Comments

@julian:foad.me.uk on 2023-01-31:

Its battery does indeed last for a week, with light usage.

@julian:foad.me.uk on 2023-01-31:

When the android clock app rings an alarm, gadgetbridge seems to send a blank notification to the watch. It would be good if we could make the alarm show up with “Snooze” and “Dismiss” feedback buttons.