Now known as "Murena"
https://gael-duval.medium.com/murena-smartphones-and-cloud-will-protect-our-privacy-357788a1e585
Speculation: I think /e/ is getting ready to find an OEM for it's EU/UK phones. It's done well there with new Fairphones and refurbished Samsungs as proof of concept, but they seem to be getting ready to up the game to faster phones, plus they need to move into 5G.
Do these work on Verizon?
Quote from: rcjordan on October 20, 2021, 12:38:50 PM
Do these work on Verizon?
Not yet, I don't think.
I've heard Verizon is phasing out its CDMA network and going with GSM but I don't know if that is true and how far along they are. So, for right now it's only on ATT and T-Mobile GSM networks (plus some of the discount GSM networks.)
Europe is all GSM, which makes it really easy 1. for consumers to switch carriers, 2. makes it much easier for an outfit like /e/ to get established. America is much harder with only 3 major carriers having a stranglehold over access.
On may 31st 2022 /e/ foundation aka Murena.com did a thing.
1. They hard launched the "Murena" smartphones brand. Previously they had soft launched the name.
2. They launched their first own branded phone model the Murena One in EU, UK, US and Canada. Previous phones have been co-branded Fairphones and Teracube which are still available.
3. They launched the post beta ver. 1.0 of the eOS operating system which is all polished up and ready for prime time.
4. They launched Advanced Privacy app which is built into the operation system and allows you to block trackers across the phone, hide your IP, spoof your location and act as a VPN for free.
They started working on all this in 2017 and 5 some years later they have come this far. Remember Ubuntu Phone failed largely because no OEM would make a phone for their OS AND they had no apps. Methodically, /e/ foundation learned from Ubuntu's mistakes and has built a proven user base by giving the eOS away for free to self install, selling and ever increasing number of refurbished phones with the OS preinstalled, cobranding with eco friendly niche phone makers and now launching their own branded phone. Also forking Android and then de-Googling it gave them apps, a user familiar UI, and the right privacy marketing tool at the right time.
Pretty slick.
https://murena.com
https://e.foundation
>Also forking Android and then de-Googling it gave them apps, a user familiar UI, and the right privacy marketing tool at the right time.
So can you sideload standard android apks?
Also, who provides maps and other major apps if not G?
> So can you sideload standard android apks?
I'm not sure I know enough about side loading to answer that. I think you can but don't accept that as the final word.
1. You can install F-Droid repository just like any other app.
2. You can also install Aurora Store if you want.
3. eOS comes with their own App Lounge installed by default. eOS uses "microG" (I think that is what it's called) to spoof your identity so that commercial Android apps that require Google Services think they are using Google Services when really they are using microG. (I hope I explained that right.) It works for the majority of free Android apps. App Lounge gives each app a rating for privacy on a 0-10 scale. Since a lot of tracking comes from commercial apps they leave it up to you the user to judge the risk involeved in downloading each app.
If you really need a paid app or some special app you can login to Google Store and download it but it won't be private. I've never done this, I just sign in to the App Lounge anonymously.
Sorry that took so long to explain, but Google has worked their tendrils deep into Android so there is no quick soundbite way of explaining it.
>maps
eOS comes with a maps app. It uses Open street maps and is functional but the app is from a third party provider that I cannot remember the name for. Privacy is pretty good. There was a big debate about the maps app way back when, the FOSS maps apps just were not up to the task so they found this app which is a compromise between absolute privacy and actually being functional. It does work but I've only used it once. The truth is it's never going to be as good as Google, Apple or Bing Maps.
And you don't have to use it. You can download a FOSS map app or some proprietary map app like Waze if you must have.
> other major apps if not G?
This was a major part in the development of eOS. They forked the best FOSS Android apps they could find to replace the Google services apps one by one. So the email app is a fork of K-9 email. Why fork? They have been working on providing all these core apps that come with the phone with a common user interface like a real operating system to make it consistent for Joe Average user.
Like Android you can always change the Launcher if you don't like the stock UI.
What /e/ foundation is doing is coming up with a user friendly mainstream product that Joe Average people like me can use daily, without it reporting everything you do to either Google or third parties. It does that out of the box. It lets you add apps that might not be privacy friendly but it at least warns you so informed consent. You have to take responsibility for apps you add later.
/e/ does not insert advertising. They make money two ways 1. by selling phones, and 2. via subscriptions to their own cloud sync svc.
Launch event video:
https://vimeo.com/714553759
I found this. They tell it all better than I did.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/murena-the-privacy-first-android-smartphone-arrives/
Thanks for the info, Brad. This looks like a really great option.
"...Duval started with LineageOS -- an Android-based operating system, which is descended from the failed CyanogenMod Android fork."
Very cool. I forget which device I used CM as that was many years ago (tablet maybe?), but that was a great experience.
I must admit that G really has its hooks into me lately. I've fully bought into Android Auto on my new (to me) truck and man what a great experience that is working out to be. If they can duplicate that ease of use with their assistant when they get it finalized, I'm in.
Also noted that I can install /e/ on my old S8+ which is currently a backup phone and mostly used at the office for texting clients. Maybe I can find the time to have a play with it there. Full list of compatible devices here:
https://doc.e.foundation/devices