cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/49144491

Google is quietly rolling out its Gemini AI tool as the default assistant on Android, even on devices where users never explicitly enabled it. In many cases, Gemini replaces Google Assistant by default, making it increasingly challenging to disable fully.

This deep integration means Gemini can still be active in the background, accessing your apps, system features, and personal info.

Here's what Gemini can access:

Gmail 
Google Calendar 
Google Drive & Docs 
Maps, Keep, Tasks
Messages, Phone, and even WhatsApp

Even more concerning:

Your data is used to train Google’s AI.
Human reviewers may see your chats.
Data can be shared with 3rd parties.
As of July 2025, Gemini stays connected to apps even when activity tracking is turned off.

🛑 You can’t fully disable Gemini, but you can limit it:

How to limit Gemini on Android:

Turn off activity tracking
Revoke permissions
Uninstall it (if possible)

Further options, if you’re privacy-conscious:

Reduce your reliance on Google services or fully de-Google
Consider a privacy-first OS like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS

⚠️ Google is making Gemini the default assistant for all Android devices by the end of 2025.

Choose privacy over AI surveillance.

If you want tools that respect your data, ensure you use encrypted email, a private calendar, and a secure cloud, with no AI training or human review.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/49140008

IronFox is Firefox ESR-based, completely de-Googled, has zero telemetry, and comes pre-hardened for privacy.

IronFox is a fork of Divested Computing Group's Mull Browser, based on Mozilla Firefox. Our goal is to continue the legacy of Mull by providing a free and open source, privacy and security-oriented web browser for daily use.

Version IronFox v140.0.4 released, .apk available for download here.

More discussion about the browser here.

Unfortunately, not available in FDroid yet.

qr code is the squares code that, if used with a qr code scanner redirects me automatically to a website or to download a pkpass file, right?

after downloading said pkpass file to my android, any wallet application like fosswallet should recognize it and add it to the local library (on my android device), right?

what other formats do transportation authorities use?

To those residing in Germany, is pkpass use widespread there? What are common formats used there?

I now reside in Germany and my current employer pays 50% of this so called Deutschland-Job-Ticket. There is no physical card but travel information you download to an android wallet, but apparently google wallet is the only available option. See the picture:

Google is a company I don’t trust with my data, neither do I expect your regular public transportation authority employee to care about his privacy (he looked at me as I was asking if 2 + 2 equal 4). I am not aware of non google based wallets where I can download the travel information.

I tried some f-droid and droidify options but it turns out they’re pure crap.

The site: https://abo.ride-ticketing.de/app/ I log in with my username and password, get my travel information and on the bottom the picture I uploaded.

Any workarounds?

This being Germany, shouldn’t there be an alternative to those who refuse google? Don’t I have that right as a consumer?

Another question: I screenshot my logged in session on the link I provided where you see my qr code and my billing data. The public transportation employee told me that’s not allowed (wtf?). Can anyone here provide a rationale?

(Sure would be nice if I could post this on GrapheneOS's unofficial sublem, but anyway . . . )

Using Graphene, I made a local Seedvault backup on my phone that I would like to upload to the cloud, specifically with/to Filen, but I can't seem to do this, and I'm not aware of any of my other files having this issue. Is this a permissions issue with Seedvault, or is there something else going on?

Currently using htop on termux but would ideally like something similar to the system monitor on KDE, that can show a graph of individual core usage as well as memory usage. Does anything like that exist that's open source?

Need Android Launcher Recommendation

Is there a Android Launcher that supports

• organize app icons in bulk
• automatically add newly installed app icon to homescreen
• an option to add all already installed app that aren't on home screen to home screen
• easy to organize app icon on home screen into folders
• easy to organize app icon on app drawer into folders (may not be necessary)

appreciate any helP

I use basic Google Pixel Camera app that forces me to have Google Photos installed so I can view my photos. My workaround is just going to the gallery directly. I don't use GrapheneOS's camera as I've seen worse quality when comparing two. I heard of modded Google Camera's for specific devices. Any suggestions?

The storage and processing power of modern smartphones are touted to rival those of a typical laptop. Yet, my trash-picked testing system from over a decade ago with a bottom-of-the-barrel SATA SSD can still boot to the Linux desktop faster than all but one of my Android devices.

Understandably, this isn't a huge priority since very few people are cold booting their phones every morning. But is it just plain unoptimized? How hard would it be to optimize? Do security features and checks bog it down? Is it that there's many tiny files to load when booting? What gives?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31019668

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31019036

Every month l download my income expense statement from my wallet app, which l read using my Google Drive PDF Viewer. However, this time no matter which PDF Viewer l use, the result is the same : the file is corrupted or in an unsuitable format.

Can anyone please help me fix this problem ?

Can someone help me find a custom ROM for the Galaxy S23 FE?

Google released a new version of its design system, a kind of extension kit, in alpha version: Material 3 Expressive, more energetic, positive and expressive.

#Android #androiddev #designsystem #material3

Android requires I have a dozen beta testers before I'm allowed to push my app, Blorp, out to the store. My app is FOSS, has matching web, iOS, and MacOS versions with more to launch (e.g. Linux). My goal is to ship one unified Lemmy experience for all Platforms.

I'm really hoping to launch Android in the next few weeks, but I need a few more testers. If this sounds like something you're interested in, DM me with the email associated with your Android account. Google requires I add people by email to complete the required closed testing.

Hope this is ok to post here. Genuinely I want to deliver the best Android experience possible.

Some helpful links:

• Source code
• Blorp's Matrix chat
• Blorp's Lemmy Community !blorp@lemmy.ml

Hi guys given google and samsung are now pushing for 7 year updates what are your thoughts on buying a new flag ship 1 year old.

Example buying Pixel 8 pro instead of Pixel 9 pro or S24 instead of S25 etc.

Assuming you buy new you wouldn't even really have to worry about battery degredation and processors these days are overspeced for normal day to day tasks.

Just curious is this the norm or is their a hidden catch buying a 1 year old flagship?

Yes you can monitor which app eats what, and probably circumvent this with a vpn layer, but sometimes I just wish I would be able to pause an app's access to the net

My phone screen is shattered, totally un-usable. When I plug it into my computer (Linux Mint) it is recognized but I can not enter pin to unlock the screen and also USB debugging is not enabled :(

Is there any way to get the fotos and stuff off the phone?

So, like it says on the tin: I want to try GrapheneOS on my next new-to-me phone, which practically limits me to the Pixel series. And my price point will likely limit me further.

Anybody got thoughts on the Pixel 6a vs Pixel 7, those exact models (e.g. not Pixel 7 Pro etc)?

I currently have an old phone with Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM which still performs well enough under LineageOS with microG to keep me happy.

Fears: that I'll miss the microSD slot; that the 6a's battery life might suck even on GrapheneOS; that the battery on a Pixel might be hard to replace.

Nice-to-haves: a camera that works well in low light.

Thoughts?

It doesn't do that by itself. Go on. Do it.

Edit:

What’s the Google Play System?

The Google Play System (also called Google System Updates) is a way for Android devices to receive updates to core components without requiring a full OS update. This includes security patches, bug fixes, and new features for things like the Play Store and Google Play Services. It was introduced with Android 10 and works on most modern Android devices, including phones, tablets, and wearables.

For those getting their panties in a knot:

• Not everyone has a de-Googled phone
• Some people need Google Play services for essential apps.
• MicroG and other alternatives don’t always work perfectly.
• Privacy ROMs aren’t easily accessible for everyone.
• Only a limited number of devices support them.

For the majority of Android users, Google Play System updates matter, and no, they don’t always install automatically.

Just stop.

There are lots of apps that can export messages to HTML and other formats, but after doing some searching I didn’t find any for markdown. I know SMS are mostly text but markdown is a plain text file format which support text formats like bullets, headings, and media (usually by referencing image, video, or audio files in the same folder or in a sub-folder). That would be nice for reading and searching through in apps like Obsidian.

Really only interested in something like Graphene, Lineage, or a Linux mobile tablet that can work with a typical Linux distro and display over USB-C. It is just a casual conversational ask. Maybe one of y'all has tried or knows the answer. I won't use anything that runs google stuff or is a pain to load a custom ROM.

Hello everyone

I have an old Xiaomi Mi A2 smartphone however that still works perfectly and I saw that it is compatible with Google's Project Treble

Would anyone be able to tell me if I can download the GSI from Android 15 or 16 and install it normally? I know there will be some minor bugs but having the basic functionality OK, no problem.

I don't use Google account on most of my devices. I have an older phone on LineageOS 22.1 that I use mainly to test apps. It has GApps installed but I never sign in. I have faced a couple apps that on startup are launching the PlayStore app and ask me to sign in, I guess for "security". Is there a way to bypass that ? I don't want to link my Google profile and would love to use this app offline like I should.

Is this something that could be done with LuckyPatcher ? Is there easier methods ?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/26048405

Because, we have here something called "Swiss Qr Bill" (standardized e-bill with Qr code) and some shops send you the bill via email. Would be nice, if i could just tap the qr-image and open with app.