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Google’s Gemini team is apparently sending out emails about an upcoming change to how Gemini interacts with apps on Android devices. The email informs users that, come July 7, 2025, Gemini will be able to “help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” Naturally, this has raised some privacy concerns among those who’ve received the email and those using the AI assistant on their Android devices.

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[-] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 110 points 3 weeks ago

Linux has become good enough to replace desktop operating systems.

Now, we are back at square one. I’ll be the first to inaccurately declare, “This will be the year of the Linux phone.”

[-] pfr@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 3 weeks ago
[-] Squizzy@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

Looking at postmarketOS for my phone too, so sick of this shit

[-] xiwi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

PostmarketOS is cool, but as an actual phone replacement it is tough, at least last time I tried.

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I haven't tried, but I took a closer look at their wiki yesterday:

  • the Main (official) devices are QEMU, i.e. virtual
  • the list of Community devices is long, but whenever I clicked on something there were significant caveats

IMHO they should focus their efforts on getting at least one actual phone working fully.

I want this project to succeed, but until then I use Sailfish OS, btw.

[-] IndiBrony@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I'm looking at a Volla phone https://volla.online/en/

But I also have no experience of Linux in general yet so I have no idea if this is a good move.

I just really want to get away from android/apple/windows on all of my devices.

I want SteamOS for desktop, because quite frankly gaming is all I really use a desktop for anymore.

[-] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago

Maybe look into Bazzite if you get impatient waiting for SteamOS to become more widely available.

[-] xiwi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago

Didn't know volla. Looks cool but expensive.

I don't think steamos on desktop is a good idea, IIRC it targets specific hardware.

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

Volla also has a (reliable, judging from reports) community version of SFOS

[-] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

I'm going to second a recommendation for Bazzite. If you've used normal Linux before, it takes some getting used to the quirks of an atomic distro, but I've been using it for a month or two and love it!

[-] kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 weeks ago

Isn't Android using a Linux kernel already?

[-] loutr@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 weeks ago

Yes, but everything above it (including drivers) is custom-made and tightly controlled by Google.

[-] GreenMartian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 weeks ago

Yes. IIRC it's based on latest LTS kernel with Google patches. So it's been "year of the Linux phone" for a while now.

It's unfortunate that the slop they put on top of it is such a privacy nightmare. PostmarketOS is trying to change that and supports Plasma, Gnome, etc. But it's early days yet and still rough around the edges from what I've been reading.

[-] balder1991@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, but the kernel is a low-level module that handles hardware, memory, and processes—it’s not what users interact with directly, so sharing the same kernel doesn’t make it all that similar as you’d think.

What makes Linux feel like ‘Linux’ to users is the stuff on top: the userland—bash, coreutils, package managers, X11/Wayland, etc. Android replaces almost all of that, so even though it uses the Linux kernel, it doesn’t feel like Linux.

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 4 points 3 weeks ago

This is my fourth comment shilling SFOS here, but it just might be what you're looking for. It is my daily driver.

[-] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

That’s pretty cool, I’m working now, but I’m checking out its Android app compatibility.

If it can run my work stuff, I’ll be so happy.

[-] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

The forum has a thread specifically about banking apps.

[-] BotsRuinedEverything@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Android... is a Linux phone..?

[-] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago
[-] Tja@programming.dev -1 points 3 weeks ago

I use Linux since debian 3.0 and I don't think Linux is ready to replace desktop os yet. The universe has come up with bigger and more powerful idiots.

[-] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago

Linux had reached idiot parity with windows at least. Idiot proof OS is a fable that cannot be reached.

[-] Tja@programming.dev -1 points 3 weeks ago

Maybe in "appliances" like the steam deck. There are still driver and software support issues. There's a big "familiarity" gap. There's a lack of pre-installed systems. We are not at parity yet.

[-] JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

You think there aren't driver and software support issues in windows 11?

[-] Tja@programming.dev 1 points 3 weeks ago

Not what I said.

this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
390 points (99.5% liked)

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