Open Source Phone Recommendations

[aidentrance]

has anyone had any good experiences with alternative phones?

After dealing with Ipads, I definitely don't want to be stuck in Apple's ecosystem. Nor do I want to be aligned with Google's metadata factory. Been unhappy with the extortion and premature end of life from phones I liked in the past after dealing with Tmobile and Verizon.

Are any alternatives working for anyone? I just want a rugged phone that has a text keyboard and prepaid service. But since all that has been phased out in favor of smartphones with mandatory updating and tracking, what's the best, secure and most cost effective option now?

I've seen lots of reviews, but I want to hear from someone in my community that has direct experience with open source phones.

[BBadger]

I'd suggest that you just try installing the OSes on your existing phones and see if you like it.

I haven't used it, but LineageOS is supposed to be pretty good, especially for working on older phones that no longer have vendor support. It's based on Android, but also open source with some free, but not open source, components. There are other versions that are completely free and open source.

You can also try Ubuntu Touch, which is supposedly pretty polished for an alternative OS. Installation is easy and you could get rid of it if you don't like it. Try it on a cheap older phone like a Nexus 5 or something.