Just got a fairphone 4. It feels so much more solid than my old pixel 6a. Its battery lasts for almost 2 days. Same performance that I can see. Spare parts for cheapish on the site.
Anyways just wanted to share.
Just got a fairphone 4. It feels so much more solid than my old pixel 6a. Its battery lasts for almost 2 days. Same performance that I can see. Spare parts for cheapish on the site.
Anyways just wanted to share.
Is it a good daily driver for normies? Can you run banking apps, for example?
If you get it direct from the distributor then it just runs basic Android so there’s no reason it shouldn’t.
Oh, I thought it was a Linux phone for some reason.
That’s the best part, it can run Linux
It does run Linux in all cases
Technically correct is the best correct :D
It runs standard android (Fairphone OS), /e/OS with open source implementation of Google services, LineageOS completely without Google products, Linux and probably more.
Maybe you were thinking about pipephone?
I read that as “can you run baking apps” and was very confused why you shouldn’t be able to look at recipes 😅
As weird as it is, one of the better recipe books I’ve tried was a usermanual for a cheap ass bread machine. Just ignore the machine instructions and instead knead it by hand, rise for at least 4 hours, and bake it until some parts of the crust start to darken (about 25 minutes at 425F or 35 or more minutes at 350, or for sweets 290 for 50 minutes but every oven is a little different so aim low).
LINK HERE
Fairphone with normal Android is just like any other android phone. The only difference for a normy would be the transparent back that you can pop open.
Yeah, though I’m using LineageOS instead of /e/, my bank apps work.
It worked. I only use it from time to time. But 90% of the time its online rather than mobile.
I don’t want to mess with big $$ on my phone. Seems like a recipe for disaster.
Doesnt everybody Need a banking app?💀
No. Most banks have websites, and most of them do most of the the things most people do with their bank. The only thing I think my bank’s app does that the website doesn’t is deposit a check by taking a picture of it. I use that feature about once a year.
I’m sure some people need banking apps, but I would bet it’s fewer than think they need banking apps.
My bank mandates a mobile app for 2FA. I can’t do anything without my smartphone, sadly.
What do they do if you don’t have a smartphone? Or was this an account that you could only open in-app?
I believe it’s possible to buy a physical device that uses your debit card and a PIN to generate your TANs. The process is cumbersome though. I’d rather use their app (which works without Google services, thankfully).
Oh the card readers? I’ve got about 5 of them, every bank used to give you one when you opened an account. Supposedly they’re pretty secure, too.
They are very secure because they cant connect to the internet and you need your physical card and PIN. But I want to be able to perform transactions when im not at home while not carrying my card and reader everywhere.
My bank refuses to play ball with Graphene, so I have to use the website. Which is ok, but I have to put in a 2fa code sent via SMS every. damn. time.
I have to put in TWO passwords, then still have to authenticate with that code. I’m convinced it’s because they want me to use the app.
In most of Western Europe (where Fairphone’s target audience lives) - banking apps are a necessity. You’d find it very difficult to bank without these apps. Not impossible, but still a big hassle.
a big hassle, like using the web browser? is that what you mean? oh, not the browser, not again! I need my banks app!
Depending on location, you need the app for QR-pay services. Very handy if it’s available.
there’s the confusion. nobody needs it. it’s not a necessity. it’s a convenience.
By that logic, nobody needs banking websites either.
Depending on location, you need the app for QR-pay services. Very handy if it’s available.
I never use a banking app. I just go to the website if I need to do something.
I doubt the banks in the UK have decent or even functional websites for mobile screens. I couldn’t really deal with the frustration of using a half-baked website for banking, given that most of the apps themselves are half-baked too.
Convenience wins for me, I’m afraid.
To each their own. My only point was to count that who i replied to who implied everyone has to use a banking app.
I personally refuse to use apps and if I can ONLY use a service via a smartphone app then I will simply not use the service.
Most of them are OK, I’ve not encountered any that are unusable though
Off the top of my head I can name one banking institution that solely exists through a mobile application and more and more banks are moving in the same direction, making their conventional websites less functional.
I don’t know any bank that actually enforces stock firmware although it’s common in the ToS.
Most are ok, but you can check for specific ones
https://github.com/PrivSec-dev/privsec.dev/blob/main/content/posts/android/Banking Applications compatibility with GrapheneOS.md
I don’t do anything important through the app, but it’s convenient for
My bank’s web interface does both of those things.
You joke but being unable to deposit checks without going to a branch can be a dealbreaker.
Checks? Do they still exist?
Americans skipped adoption of Chip and PIN, and they were like a decade late with contactless payments. Their payment systems are laughably outdated.
Ah, that’s likely why there are lots of comments about using the website. I pretty much only use the banking apps for cash transfer and contactless payments. Handier to verify by fingerprint than transcribe SMS or other authentication in a browser. I wish it wasn’t and websites could be just as handy and I could remove apps. I also wish PayPass wasn’t tied to google.
They can be pretty handy. I’ve paid for a parking ticket with one (skipping a credit card transaction fee), got paid for a car I sold with one, and paid for a scooter with one. Aside from paying rent with checks.
I’m glad it works for you, but it seems not very handy of you have to carry them to use them and from memory, they expire. So I’d imagine if you don’t use often, when you go to use them, you’d need to reorder a new check book.
Generally here, it’s no cost to pay by bpay, a bank transfer system. And for paying people, transfer between digital accounts is instant.
Of someone wanted to pay for a car/scooter by check, they’re not getting the car from me until the money has clear which would be days later.
I suppose it’s handier than carrying large amounts of cash but there are much more convenient methods nowadays.
in America
I’ve been running Lineage OS for quite a while now. No issues with my banking app, and it just took Magisk for the Wallet to work.
Same with e/OS on Fairphone 4. My banking app is working just fine for years now.
Do you have wallet working now? Mine was fine until about a month ago when Google messed with it and now keeps complaining about security requirements.
Yeah, it stopped working for me a little while ago, then I clicked some more stuff and it worked. I’m running Lineage OS release
22.2-20250808. In Magisk I haveMagiskHide Props Config,MysticBlaze347 Presents:Xposed-HiddenCore, andPlay Integrity Fix. I don’t know that all of those are needed, but it’s what I run. Under Settings->Configure DenyList, I have both Google Play… and Google Wallet checked. When it wasn’t working, I clicked on both of those and just made sure the sub-check settings were clicked as well. There are only like 2-3. After that it worked like it used to.Thanks, I’ve got PIF but it seems like that’s abandoned and the replacements don’t seem to work.
Nice to know it’s still possible though, I’ll have to keep poking it.
Why do you feel the need to have a banking app? They tend to be super invasive and can’t do much you can’t do online.
Paying friends, verifying online payments.
Eh, when people say they’re ‘super invasive’ what they usually mean is that they can’t run it on their rooted android phone running LineageOS or have to go through various hoops to get it to work. Turns out, banking is pretty important to keep secure so yeah these apps will have checks in place to make sure you aren’t faking your location or using a modified APK that they can’t detect. I’m pretty happy with that restriction given the convenience of being able to manage payments etc in a decent-enough native app. 🤷🏻♂️
Whatever man. I read the TOS.
In my experience they half-arse it though. For example on GrapheneOS (which is considered significantly more secure than default Android) several banking apps block access because they use some questionable Google Play API which doesn’t recognise GrapheneOS.