if he's such a boogle fan, why even did he have a phone with LOS?
this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2025
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Privacy
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My uncle has worked many years in IT and sometimes lectures me on digital privacy and security. But I got a glimpse of his phones and computers, it was disappointing. Bogus security apps and optimizations and a refusal to update Windows. Probably different situation with OP's father, but quite emphasizes the importance of continuing education.
digital privacy and security
I bet there is an amalgamation going on there.
People who wants to maximum amount of security might not care as much about privacy, thinking relying on a famous actor which spends a ton on security (and runs ads to say so) give them privacy, typically Google or Meta, while ignoring their interests in using private data for profit.
The other way around some people claim they cherish privacy, which sounds like your uncle, yet can not realistically achieve it by using outdated systems leading to poor security and thus potentially bad privacy.
The 2 go hand in hand yet are different.
LOS can also be a good way to get updates way longer than what the phone's manufacturer will provide them for.
Lol, idk. The phone probably wasn't used in more than 10 years π
Your pop has a lot to learn. Freakin hilarious.
LineageOS and asked if I could use it [...] He went to the Google Play Store and installed Files by Google after logging into my account.
Ugh... sorry to say but if your goal is "what a phone without Google services" then your father did not understand that. He might be able to help you but he might not. The point though is that have to clarify with him WHY you want to try that. Only then can he help with the how.
Anyway for music I recommend VLC, it even has an option to become a Web server to receive file. If you do exchange files often with your Linux desktop I also recommend KDE Connect which helps for SMSes too and more, you can even define custom commands. I recommend removing the PlayStore entirely and relying solely on F-Droid and on a case by case basis potentially on .apk from sources you trust, e.g. Signal Website.
KDE Connect seems to send identifying broadcast packets constantly (just like gapps), not the best for privacy on public bing chilling router WiFi. Android itself technically does too, but you can just change your device name to " " (space).
AFAIK the packets are for discovery of other devices relying on mDNS / DNS-SD which is used by plenty of other services.
More importantly though, does it matter? What are you actually broadcasting while doing so? That you are using KDE Connect? Also the typical use case for it are on trusted networked, e.g. home WiFi but if it's problematic on public networks then do not use KDE Connect on other networks?
Edit: what alternative solution could be used by KDE Connect to make it more private on untrusted ntetworks?
What are you actually broadcasting while doing so? That you are using KDE Connect?
That + device name which is probably pretty unique. Chinese routers scrape all of that. IIRC mDNS is actually disabled on Linux for now because it was conflicting with Avahi which broke some more stuff.
do not use KDE Connect on other networks
Last time I used it, I don't recall a toggle for that in either the Linux or the Android clients.
Edit: what alternative device discovery solution could be used by KDE Connect to make it more private on untrusted ntetworks?
Exactly as it is right now but on a whitelist.
Offtopic but I am really annoyed by how many custom ROMs (especially LineageOS) disable MAC randomization at build time and make zero mention of it on the wiki/forum/whatever page. That's just as important.
Cool, I'll try VLC
And me over here wanting to use parental controls to protect my elders haha
A win for you getting parental controls lifted, hopefully you can eventually prove to them that the phone is just fine (or even better) with your apps of choice.
reinstall lineageos, if it has gapps i consider it compromised
Well it sounds like you have things back in control with the parental controls gone, so if you havenβt already I would uninstall the play store, and Files by google. You can check out a file manager such as Fossify File Manager as a replacement.
The last part does sound a bit concerning though, you arenβt running an actual FTP server from your phone are you? I would recommend not doing that if you are, as FTP famously doesnβt encrypt traffic. If you need to move files between your phone and a computer, I would recommend using sftp instead and having the sftp server run on your PC.
You can use something termux on android to connect to your pc over ssh, as well as sftp.
Well, it was from a phone to another phone. I know that FTP servers aren't the most secure things in the world but I needed something fast, and at the end of the day my threat model isn't even against people.
Isn't Google Files the same thing as AOSP Files?
I think it has drive integration but haven't used it.