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installing LineageOS is easy, actually
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this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2025
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Doesn't matter how easy it is when step zero is "spend $500+ on a new phone because you're currently using a Samsung or other device with a locked bootloader"
Remember, even cheaper phones (that actually work with your carrier) get marked up. Taxes, shipping, accessories like a case. Being able to afford a new device is nice and Lineage/Graphene make a good case for which new device you should buy, but someone's five year old phone still works.
I had a Samsung and wanted to switch to Lineage. My "new" phone was 70€ and still works very well
Yep, I saw a comment once like "GrapheneOS saves lives in countries under heavy censorship" as a tool for activists and such... but, really, do you know how accessible a phone that supports GrapheneOS is in such countries? I'm from Brazil, and among third world countries we are one of the most developed, but it's about 8x as hard for us to get a Pixel phone compared to the USA (about double the price and about four times lower wages), and for really censored places it would be even harder!
I never found one to buy, it seems I would need to sell my kidney to buy one second hand.
My phone has an unlocked bootloader and I still can't install LineageOS because they don't have an image for it.
What about GSI roms? Like this or from Andy Yan?
There are a lot of GSI roms out there, one could fit your needs.
ah shite! =(
I got my refurbished Pixel 7a and a rugged case for $190 in total and installed Graphene on it. I'm planning to use it for at least 10 years.
Installing Graphene was so easy, it was done by clicking on a web page few times.
Xiaomi smartphones are cheap, but the waiting period is horrible (two weeks now), saying this from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 9s on LineageOS with microg. (I'm actually on my computer right now)
No if you care about custom ROM you should avoid xiaomi phones like a plague, unlocking bootloader should be as simple as enable USB debugging and OEM unlock with adb flashing unlock command not with their bullshit unlocking request and dogshit "Community app"
Were you able to unlock It? It seems it's getting more and more complicated (I own a Xiaomi phone, too, a Poco F6)
Yeah, it needs an xiaomi account with unlocking privileges (I have one from 2018, so this step was already done) and a Windows partition with the xiaomi bootloader unlocker (the official one, updated to the last version), then putting a SIM card into the phone, putting the same account on the phone, going to the bootloader unlocker, checking all the boxes and then just waiting for the time it says on the unlocker to unlock the phone, with the SIM card and not changing the account on the phone.
I just added a Windows 10 IoT LTSC partition to do that :/, then deleted it afterwards.
That's true if the only reason to buy a new phone is to use Lineage. That gets mitigated if you take into account installing one of these operating systems as one of the requirements to choose a phone next time you buy a new one.
people keep bringing up buying a new phone for thousands of non-dollar currencies. . .
consider this: pick a trashed phone out of the literal trash and 2nd hands around high-income households, look at 'teardown' videos like me, use a screwdriver to unscrew fromtcamera & whichever other component (Bluetooth, GSM, GPS, gyroscope, ...) & install LineageOS.
Second-hand phones.
A second hand carrier unlocked pixel 7 cost me CAD 200 on eBay. It's not super cheap, but also not flagship phone level.
Misleading statement: OnePlus Nord N30 5G (a.k.a. Nord CE 3 Lite 5G) costs 300$ in OnePlus' official store, and supports Lineage. And the price gets lower when buying second-hand phones (e.g. Pixel 6/7 series, Motorolas, Nothing Phone 1, older OnePlus)
Having to fiddle with carriers is an US-exclusive problem, so I can't voice an opinion.
Someone's five year old phone should work with, maybe not Lineage, but maybe another custom ROM. Most of them are based of Lineage, anyway.
$300 plus shipping and taxes. In your region. And a whole lot more than $0, which is the cost of staying on someone's old phone. when someone's buying a new phone already, considering its compatibility with Lineage or Graphene is something that should be on more people's radar, I agree. But switching from googled vendor'd Android to fully open Android isn't a pure skill issue like switching from Chrome to Firefox (/Waterfox/librewolf) or Windows to Linux is. "I'd switch but it's too hard" is a much smaller reason than "I'd switch but it's too expensive" is.
Someone's five year old phone is just as likely to be a five year old Samsung/etc with a locked bootloader.
I found Samsung's struggled after 1.5 years. I'm 3 years in on Pixel 6a. Less bloat really seems to help.
What phone would you recommend privacy wise?
If you're buying a new one, whatever fits your budget and is compatible with Lineage/Graphene.
The only times I've personally been forced off of a Samsung phone (though I've mostly had flagships) wasn't due to any day-to-day degradation in user experience. It was stuff like switching USA carriers or my carrier blacklisting devices with 3g. My current S22 Ultra is three years old, going on four, and aside from needing to use adb and shizuku to have a semblance of control I once had with root there's nothing wrong with it. My previous phone was only replaced because it became incompatible with my ATT phone service in the US. The Note 9, which was four years-ish old when ATT decided 3g+4g wasn't good enough and deactivated any SIM i put in the thing. If not for that arbitrary carrier-made decision, I can't think of many things that 9 couldn't do that the S22U can.
My next phone won't be a purchase I make until I absolutely need to make it, and at that point it'll exclusively be a pick from degooglable unlockable models. I'll probably choose based on hardware like an SD slot, removable battery, and stylus if any of those are available. Or maybe linux phones will be a thing at that point and I'll be looking at those.
It's the manufacturer's fault, not graphene kr lineageos's.
Of course it is. But that doesn't change that for very many users, the difficulty of the install process isn't anywhere close to a limiting factor.
idk thats fallacious assumption of knowledge and generalizing i feel uneasy to let go unchecked.
most people talk to are intimidated and confused about mobile operating systems. by your assuredness i assume you use Linux and are cynically pragmatic about "non-tech savvy users who are fucked anyway" /my bias speaking
imho a video of a phone teardown to physically remove front camera & microphones & what else the person don't feel a want or need for together with the overview that shows the beginning-to-end of the brief process assures people they can take the plunge into governing their own digital tools.
you're not the state, just a person online, so not aimed at you, but i find others deserving of positive encouragement. leaving the door open and lights on to people wondering if GrapheneOS & a Pixelphone is the silverbullet or if stock android is as good as LineageOS (edit: yes, even on the phone held in their hand right now, or found about to be sold for 20$.)
"it's easier than you think" is one thing that's very helpful to show to people that don't already know about using free software without tracking and such, but when it's "it's easier than you think, just spend hundreds of dollars and replace your device" I'd say the barrier to entry is the cost more than the skill.
Aren't there phones like the Nothing that already have fully FOSS android implementations pre-installed? That's the peak "easy" - just buy a new product! So saying installing Lineage is "easy" to someone who very likely can only do so after buying a new product is burying the lede.
i don't share the assumption that LineageOS doesn't run on any phone, welp
last i checked it runs on phones from every brand ever