You might like Fedora Xfce or the Cinnamon Spin

Congrats!

Using Signal with disappearing messages set to a really short time is probably the closest thing you can get. You can use a VOIP number from Cloaked behind a VPN to sign up anonymously.

Google is a shitty big tech corporation and wants everyone to use their garbage browser that collects and sells all of your data. Thankfully we have great solutions like Invidious and Piped that allow you to watch YouTube content without ever having to visit the ad-infested YouTube website. You can use these in combination with LibRedirect to automatically redirect all YouTube links, it’s awesome. No ads, no delay, no tracking. Just some free and open source software.

Yeah, that’s because your phone is rooted. By default you can’t get root on GrapheneOS so it should work there.

GrapheneOS is built to work with a locked bootloader, in fact, relocking the bootloader is a step in the installation guide. It’s not rooted by default and the GOS team highly recommends against rooting, all apps should work as long as they only require SafetyNet basic integrity. If they require full integrity, they won’t work on GrapheneOS because the OS has to be manually whitelisted by Google in order to pass the full integrity check. Most apps (including banking or government apps) only mandate basic integrity though, full integrity is rarely required. It should definitely work better than LineageOS.

For security reasons GrapheneOS doesn’t allow the modification of system files. You can achieve the same thing with DNS though. Either self-host a Pi-Hole or AdGuard Home, or use something like NextDNS.

GrapheneOS significantly increases security, rooting does the exact opposite

I wouldn’t recommend a Pixel older than the Pixel 6 as these will soon be EOL.

A Google Pixel running GrapheneOS is your best option. Graphene doesn’t have any Google services by default, no bloatware at all, maximum privacy and security. It’s super easy to install, you can check out this video guide or just read their official documentation.

Another video about GrapheneOS that I totally recommend: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yTeAFoQnQPo

I recommend this after the install: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BymH90zFe30

That probably won’t solve your issues, but I can tell you a little about my setup:

• I use Navidrome for local Music streaming, it supports the Subsonic API so you will find a compatible client for it on every platform
• I have an LG OLED “Smart” TV, but I never connect it to the network, instead I have an HTPC running Linux and Kodi that I use to access Jellyfin (that would solve your performance issue with the Jellyfin app on your “Smart” TV)

I really hope that your issues get solved soon, I wish you good guck

That’s great. It’s nice to see that there are other people who care about self-hosting. Any particular reason why you are still using Emby instead of Jellyfin?

Super pro tip: Do the same for any device that does not absolutely need internet access. Don’t buy IoT garbage that needs to connect to some cloud server. Use local solutions like Jellyfin for media streaming, Navidrome for music, Home Assistant for home automation, etc.

There are so many other things you can self host, Nextcloud for your files, calendars, notes and other stuff, Immich or PhotoPrism for your photos, FreshRSS for news articles and other sources that support RSS feeds, Pi-Hole or AdGuard Home for DNS. Definitely check out !selfhosted@lemmy.world.

Disconnect that piece of shit from the internet and use a streaming box/stick or an HTPC.

I really like their VPN, in fact, I put my entire home network behind Proton VPN. I also use Proton Calendar for shared calendars, for my personal stuff I use a self-hosted solution. Sometimes I upload something to Proton Drive. But probably the most useful Proton product (other than Mail) is SimpleLogin which you also get Premium access to when you subscribe to a paid Proton plan. It allows you to generate an unlimited amount of alias email addresses and all messages are forwarded to your inbox, it’s awesome, I love it.

I use Proton Mail and archive all of my emails, no issues. I’m very happy with Proton.

I agree

Nowadays privacytools.io has some really questionable recommendations. Check out Privacy Guides instead.

Don’t use Bromite, it’s unmaintained and insecure. If you like Bromite, use Cromite instead. IMO the best browser on Android is Mull. Also, Cromite is spelled without an ‘h’.

Dumb people will always exist

Damn. It’s always those stupid conservatives who ruin everything on this planet

Why is the UK turning into a fucking dictatorship

Pixel 6a

Graphene gang

The Signal servers don’t do the encryption, it’s done on your phone. That’s how end-to-end encryption works. Also, Signal’s Server code is FOSS: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Server

No. The F-Droid team just doesn’t want beef with the Signal guys.

AFAIK it’s entirely done in the client. The server doesn’t perform any encryption/decryption other than TLS.

The Signal protocol is built in a way where you don’t have to trust the server. The servers could be run by the NSA, it wouldn’t matter. Especially now that the Signal protocol uses post-quantum cryptography.

I try to always use servers in the European Union or in Switzerland. I avoid the US, UK, Canada and Australia as well as obviously Russia, China, Belarus, Ukraine, etc.

It was always free. The paid version is just a donation if you support the project and want to keep it going, but you can use it for free, look at the source code, modify it, redistribute it, you can do with it whatever you want. It’s under the MIT license.

I play most games on Linux, but for anti-cheat Games I have a hardened Windows virtual machine in KVM with GPU passthrough. It works surprisingly well.

BreachForums

From their website:

Snowflake is a system that allows people from all over the world to access censored websites and applications. Similar to how VPNs assist users in getting around Internet censorship, Snowflake helps you avoid being noticed by Internet censors by making your Internet activity appear as though you’re using the Internet for a regular video or voice call.

Did you know that Snowflake proxies are operated entirely by volunteers? In other words, a user gets matched with a random Snowflake volunteer proxy, which is run by a volunteer like you! So, if you want to help people bypass censorship, consider installing and running a Snowflake proxy. The only prerequisite is that the Internet in your country is not heavily censored already.

The classics: uBlock Origin to block those pesky ads and trackers as well as Dark Reader so I don’t get flashbanged everytime I visit a website that doesn’t have a dark theme

LibRedirect is awesome for avoiding tracking websites and replacing them with alternative FOSS frontends

Bitwarden to manage my passwords

Violentmonkey to load custom Userscripts

Snowflake to support the Tor network

Wow, I can’t believe our regulators put in such a dumb limit into this otherwise awesome regulation

Who doesn’t keep their credit card in a wallet???

there are many apps which use root access to increase privacy

If you mean apps that allow you to restrict permissions of other Apps, there’s App Ops, it works with Shizuku

customize the system

You can do some customization with adb/Shizuku but for some things you might need root. But I would definitely value security over customizability.

manage battery charging

The OS can do that pretty well

enforce firewall for apps and system

GrapheneOS has a built-in firewall that you can use to block network access to any app on the system.

block trackers

You can do that with DNS services like NextDNS

backup the system

GrapheneOS has a built-in backup solution

You mean 30%, right?

On average I get like an hour and a half of screen time per day. I use my phone to message people on Signal, I connect it to my bluetooth earbuds and listen to music or a podcast when I go for a run and I occasionally like to take photos. I don’t waste my time scrolling through TikTok for 8 hours like many other people unfortunately do. One week of battery life is pretty rare, but it has happened before. As I said, usually I get 2-3 days out of it when I it charge up to 80%. (charging up to 100% is bad for battery health, so I try to avoid it). I’m sure you will be fine. You can get a Pixel, install Graphene, try it out and give it back and receive a refund if you don’t like it. That’s the good thing about Pixels, installing a custom OS doesn’t void the warranty or anything like that. You can just revert back to the stock OS and everything will be fine.

Unlike LineageOS, it allows for bootloader relocking.

I’ve been using a Pixel 6a with GrapheneOS and the battery life is just fantastic. Sometimes I can go for a whole week without charging, but this is the exception. But under normal circumstances, I still get like 3 days of battery life. You don’t need to be worried about that at all, battery life is even improved on GrapheneOS compared to the Stock ROM.