android experience in 2026:
just 5 hours ago i got angry at android because it doesn’t allow me to disable Direct Share
the “direct share” is when it sends a message directly to a user, instead of click app -> select user.
the reason why i want to disable it is because i’m constantly afraid that i will send the wrong stuff to the wrong person. and they will get angry at me.
so i want to have it at least a 2-click step to send stuff to people.
it was possible to disable up to android 9 or so (required root) but nowadays it basically can only be disable on a per app basis (if the app allows you to, which most don’t)
worked around with a custom app for replacing the sharing menu (which can no longer be set to be the default since i don’t remember which android version, and sharing support with it can vary on a per app basis)
or globally by using a device which allows disabling it because of OEM customizations (i’m only aware of Samsung generally doing this, probably because iOS has a setting for disabling their direct share equivalent, and the sharing menu on my boox palma 2 pro doesn’t have it at all atm)
it’s really baffling how there’s no default google-implemented way on android to either disable it outright or manually delete outdated contacts from it
Then the follow up will be: “I’m altering the deal again! Pray I do not keep altering it!”
Android is a bad joke that is only “open,” insofar as Google allows/has failed to prevent. The AOSP effectively is Google, to access the source you have to bind yourself to, you guessed it, Google. All Android phones require you to agree to Google’s terms regardless of if you sign up for an account or ever link one to your device. OEMs, even ones out of the Mainstream, lie in bed with Google and speak it as a positive that they maintain compliance to Google’s demands.
That said, the power-grab, while unsurprising and not unprecedented, makes the veneer of openness and the practical greater access control afforded to users compared to iOS underground at best, which is problematic. Android at least does have greater freedom compared to iOS, with very practical utilities that rely on the ability for indies to come into the scene and do so. But to kneecap the ones that keep their ecosystem afloat, Google is playing quite an interesting game.
The best solution is to leave Google and Apple entirely, but that is easier said than done for most.
yeah, to add:
Android is not open source. “Android Open Source Project (AOSP)” is open source, but that only makes about 90% of Android. The other 10% are where google shoves its proprietary crapware in. Spyware, adware, bloatware.
Aside from specifically the GMS suite, which you can compile AOSP without, Google has contributed much of its own into the AOSP. I will concede that I do not know how much is GMS and how much is not, but even something as basic as push notifications requires Google or a workaround that has been made(MicroG) which effectively intercepts the calls.
What choices remain? Fairphone or similar?
Pretty much, I’ve been watching Linux phones and will get one of those next.
Jolla, pinephone,
fairphone. There are a few promising options.Also FuriLabs. If their FLX1s phone didn’t just have a 1600x720 screen I would’ve already bought one, but that’s a dealbreaker for me. Still a good phone though it seems.
While Fairphone likes to pretend to be “different,” to iPhone and Android in their marketing, they are just another Android phone manufacturer and proudly show off Google, the Play Store, etc. in their advertising material. Jolla is only in the European market so is not an option for the Americans, to my remembrance.
They don’t have a Linux phone? Ah sad, thought they did. :(
You might have confused it with their partnership with Murena/E-Foundation(which is also a Custom ROM group). Very unfortunate though, indeed.
I can use Linux on my [unspecified aforementioned smartphone]‽ This requires further investigation :3
As another commenter said, if it’s fairphone maybe not. The other two were specifically Linux phones.
For just generic android phones, not that I know of.
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve been putting off moving, but it’s only getting clearer that staying on Google products is really not an option
It is unfortunate the AOSP had to go down the road it has, but well, Google sent a message with the removal of “Don’t be evil.”
That FuriPhone seems promising for those wanting to stay in the Smartphone Rat Race, I would not recommend any other player in the market currently other than possibly PinePhone(though another commenter flagged it as obsolete now).
For those who can, leaving the smartphone rat race entirely.
For those who cannot, Linux Phones need more good players in the scene(most are European, rip the American Market), but the fundamentals are there. There are options, but the only one that is Global far as I know that is not utter garbage(seems to be received positively) is Pine64’s Pinephone(which they charge an absurd amount for so-called “remote areas,” above shipper-priced dues when it comes to).
The Pinephone is utterly, utterly underpowered. It already was when it released, at this point it’s just obsolete.
The only ready-to-go Linux phone with reasonably modern hardware I know of is this one.
I think I had heard of furilabs before but had thought the project had idled, did not know it was an in-stock option, appreciate the heads up so I can direct people!
CalyxOS works owo
Custom ROMs, such as CalyxOS, are based on AOSP. Per their own website(which lambasts Google and highlights Samsung for some reason):
“Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is the core backbone for all Android phones that manufacturers such as Samsung build upon. Maintained by Google, AOSP receives contributions from developers around the world.”
By using a Custom ROM, and from developers contributing to the AOSP, they are supporting Google, agreeing to Google, and helping Google further their ends. Yes, your experience may differ from stockdroid, but if you think you are away from Google, Calyx admits in that one line that despite their platitudes, they are still beholden to Google. If Google restricts access to AOSP, which they can as they are who grants access in the first place, congrats, it becomes the high waters or a dead project.
uhh no, that’s technically not correct. google can not “restrict access to AOSP”. nobody can “restrict access” to an open source project. (at least not read/use access, if that’s what you’re talking about. they can exclude you from contributing your own code changes; for which case forks are the way to go)
They can restrict access to the current form of the Source as they are the Arbiters of who can obtain the Source. When I went to try to get the most recent AOSP some time ago, one of the requirements was agreeing to Google. All projects that stem out of the AOSP agreed to the terms Google laid out for the access to the AOSP. It is only “open source,” insofar as Google allowing one to access it. It is akin to a park that is free to access, so long as you pay the toll booth at the authorized road to get there.
