Yeah, my Pyra will be my new phone due to privacy. . .

[second exodous]

After reading this I give up. I have read so much BS like this I'm dumping android and apple. Maybe getting a Garmin to replace google maps, I don't know, maps is the only thing I miss that can't be done on the Pyra.

Is anyone else thinking of dumping their smart phone and using the Pyra as a phone or some other device because of crap like this?

Maybe this should be off topic, not sure, I'm using the Pyra as a phone as soon as it has that capability so I put it here.

 

[edgex004]

Why can't maps be done on Pyra?

 

[Alperoot]

Using a mini computer for smartphone needs seem inefficient imo. I rarely shut down my phone completely, whereas I almost always shut down my laptop if I'm not using it. Also, isn't Pyra a bit oversized to be at your pockets all the time?

 

[second exodous]

Why can't maps be done on Pyra?

Oh, well, I guess for me I'm a bicyclist and have a waterproof phone for navigation. I guess when I'm not on my bicycle I'll use the Pyra. does maps work through a browser? With GPS I mean.
[doublepost=1514569934,1514569740][/doublepost]

Using a mini computer for smartphone needs seem inefficient imo. I rarely shut down my phone completely, whereas I almost always shut down my laptop if I'm not using it. Also, isn't Pyra a bit oversized to be at your pockets all the time?

When optimised it should have pretty good battery life. I'm sure if people are working on the phone side some sort of sleep can be implemented that allows for calls and texts. like I said I'll wait until it is ready to be used as a phone.

Also I'll just wear cargo pants/shorts.

 

[Grench]

https://www.linuxlinks.com/Navit/

Someone with a Pyra want to give it a try?

 

[sebt3]

Marble do support GPS tracking so does navit and a few other toys
Navit and marble are both available in the armhf debian repo.

EDIT: to give it a try I need a mobile edition of the mainboard

 

[dracmas]

I went back to the note 8 on android because I didn't know the iPhone was shop locked down. Now it feels like android is slowly headed the same way.

It'll be nice using whatever software I like on the pyra, as well as customising the layout however I want. Just hoping someone gets texting and telephony programs working on it.

 

[Grench]

I went back to the note 8 on android because I didn't know the iPhone was shop locked down. Now it feels like android is slowly headed the same way.

It'll be nice using whatever software I like on the pyra, as well as customising the layout however I want. Just hoping someone gets texting and telephony programs working on it.

As long as the Pyra dev team gets the physical hardware working right - the rest will likely be up to the time and inclination of the community.

 

[edgex004]

Oh, well, I guess for me I'm a bicyclist and have a waterproof phone for navigation. I guess when I'm not on my bicycle I'll use the Pyra. does maps work through a browser? With GPS I mean.

I'm a bicyclist as well, so a waterproof phone might be a good idea for me, but I've never really gone farther than dropping a phone inside a ziplock bag. I have a few waterproof backpacks and hip bags that I keep all my stuff in. I tend to just leave my phone in there and not have it out while riding.

 

[Grench]

I'm a bicyclist as well, so a waterproof phone might be a good idea for me, but I've never really gone farther than dropping a phone inside a ziplock bag. I have a few waterproof backpacks and hip bags that I keep all my stuff in. I tend to just leave my phone in there and not have it out while riding.

I use a 1 quart ZipLock freezer bag on my phone while camping. Works fine.

The catch to using these types of solutions for the Pyra is that it will be a bit awkward to have it open, in a bag, in a clamp mount, and angled so the screen is visible all at the same time.

 

[second exodous]

Yeah, I don't see how I can use my Pyra as navigation on my bike. Maybe there is a external touch screen that is waterproof, hook up the Pyra to it and drop it in the front panniers? That would be cool.

 

[Kev2442]

Meh. Nobody listens anyway. Is it right to cry wolf when you know there is a wolf nearby ? They're all waiting until it's eating their legs
I'm not saying I'm a model, I'm running Win10. But I turn down most data collecting features. And I'm less worried about a computer than a phone.

My old Wave II is holding up until the Pyra can replace it. I know Bada is closed-source and everything, but I don't think many hackers/governments are interested in it any further than the backdoors Samsung already put in there.
Somehow I'm glad I ain't interested much in mobile games. I see no point in having an Android phone except for Maps, like many of us here. But with the Mobile Edition having a full-fledged GPS, it's a moot point.

Now the real question is : would you give up on some private information if it meant ED could sell it to fund a cheaper and better Pyra ?

 

[edgex004]

Yeah, I don't see how I can use my Pyra as navigation on my bike. Maybe there is a external touch screen that is waterproof, hook up the Pyra to it and drop it in the front panniers? That would be cool.

My intention is to use a smartwatch synced with the Pyra as my external screen.

 

[levi]

FWIW, crap like this is why I'm not a member of the Android or Apple communities. But I don't believe for a second that a debian phone would be much better on this if sales were the size of those for either of those phone platforms. But default, most linux setups give the local user and any apps they're running full access to the network, and full access to the microphone. Your address book is usually just an XML file in your home directory (or at least is is for me using claws-mail).

The benefit open source OSes like linux have is usually you can read the source to see if it's spying on you and reporting to some random server overseas (although the question remains if anyone has ever reviewed the source against those constraints) - but the Pyra's dbp system somewhat eliminates that benefit, as it makes it easier to ship binary only apps. Now it is possible with defining suitable groups and defining multiple users in different combinations of groups, and running apps under those users only, so stop unexpected access to these services, but that's rarely set up for you by default, and is unlikely to be on the Pyra either. Maybe SELinux helps in setting that up, but it's not something I've played much with yet.

Meanwhile android at least has permissions to allow you to limit what apps can have access to. Only trouble is, with all of these things, if you remove one permission, the app is likely to just stop working and crash. And it's usually not clear how apps are using different permissions for different stuff - you could be using the internet to upload your c4a scores, or it could be tracking how much time you're wasting playing games and sending it back to the russians or something.

One good thing I've discovered on my laptop though it that it's very hard to work out what I'm watching on TV because of all the fan noise it picks up. And my server doesn't have a microphone plugged in ever. Pyra should be a lot quieter though, and with cellular models being potentially online pretty much 24x7 of the time they're on at all, that could be an issue.

 

[diligentcircle]

This is a story of mistreatment by proprietary software, not a problem with Android and iOS specifically. If you use Replicant, you won't have this problem, and even just not using Google Play and instead using F-Droid instead improves your chances quite a bit. (The latter is what I do since my phone can't run Replicant.)

The same thing would be true of the Pyra. Any proprietary program you install adds an additional incremental risk of being spied on (among other things). It's just that you're probably going to encounter much less proprietary software than on iOS or Android.

 

[ThinkPad]

Using Pyra as a phone will be pain in the ass.
just use a feature phone instead.

Librem 5 is the only close to reality phone so far and it will be avable in 2019.

Neo900 is FOREVER UNRELEASED with INSANE price tag and hardware that was outdated even 5 years ago.
GTA04 is in the same boat.

 

[rygD]

@OP Airplane mode? Or maybe turn off data.

I have been using plastic bags to keep things from getting wet much longer than I have had a smartphone. I guess I don't really get the problem since I don't use GPS for navigation, as I get the directions and follow those, or already know the route. For navigating in areas off-road (as in deep in the woods or other places in the middle of nowhere) I have always used paper maps, which conveniently work fine in plastic bags, although I know some people that laminate them. Actually, not always. Most of the time I just roam around exploring with nothing but my memory.

Until Pyra gets usable fone functionality, the cheap basic ones with weeks of battery life are a good option.

Using a mini computer for smartphone needs seem inefficient imo.

I agree, but probably for a different reason than you.

 

[kuru]

dreams: using maemo on galaxy note 3

 

[Askarus]

I'm happy with my Blackberry Priv.
I did deactivate all Google stuff and don't have games or anything that uses Ads installed.
As long as I don't have crap on my Phone I think it's fine.

 

[Kippykip]

I'm happy with my Blackberry Priv.
I did deactivate all Google stuff and don't have games or anything that uses Ads installed.
As long as I don't have crap on my Phone I think it's fine.

I downgraded from my cheapy fuel station android phone to a Blackberry Q10, it's actually not too bad at all to use right now but I fear in a couple years it'll be useless since almost everything made for it is discontinued.
And the Android APK support is a little buggy for mainstream apps.

I'd get a priv if it wasn't so expensive and big.