GrapheneOS, I just can't quit you 🫶
It all comes down to software. I think the hardware on the Fairphone 6 is pretty great. However I just couldn't find the right rom and software balance for my needs.
Here's a quick rundown on why I'm back.
- The ability to run completely without google services
- Intense attention to privacy
- Easy app to app network blocking. This is a must for apps like google photos, which I only use for the pixel camera. Neither get network access
- The recent confirmed partnership with Motorola: https://motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions-at-mwc-2026/
- The impressive amount of features they continue to add
I'm back to google hardware, which I'm less than thrilled about, but the GrapheneOS X Motorola partnership might finally be my exit from Pixel devices! Can't wait to see what they do with this.
https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/os/releases/-/releases/v3.5-s & https://e.foundation/e-os/ for more info
Getting used to the default bliss launcher is honestly the biggest hurtle for me. Of course I could change it, but like to get the default experience. I’m going to be honest, its growing on me.
The 3.5 update brought a lot of stability to the Fairphone 6, and it really shows. The Fairphone camera app being default is great. Full support for Fairphone Moments via the hardware switch is also a game changer.
Had a lot of fun with this one during dessert. It's Bingo, but in Spanish. Great artwork.
Ran up on a random mural while we were down in Tennessee today.
This is a 1965 Ford Galaxie. My old man and me collect these generation galaxies. Exact year that my 4 door is: https://lucasfreeman.com/tag/aleanor
I’ve been on a journey to completely decouple from big tech for a while now.
It’s been fairly successful from a combo of self hosting via unraid, exploring alternatives like Proton, and running my blog via Pika.
One thing that bugged me was continuing to use Google’s hardware via a Pixel phone. While I’ve been running GrapheneOS for well over a year now, it still felt icky.
After a lot of studying, I’ve jumped head first into a Fairphone 6. The problem though is they don’t directly support the US market. However, you can buy the same device for a premium with e /os/ installed here.
I bit the bullet, and snagged the phone and several accessories.
For Valentine's day, I snagged Meg and I VIP tickets to Drew and Ellie Holcomb.
I've lost track of how many times we've seen them play, but it's one of our favorite folks to see live so I couldn't pass up the chance to see them at The New Barn.
We dropped the littles at the grand parents and headed up this morning.
Snagged lunch in Somerset
I'm not a big fan of data collection and connection just for the sake of it.
When I learned that remote start was paywall’d behind a subscription, both with the fob and the mobile app, it pushed me over the edge to find out how to dumb my 2021 Toyota Tundra.
This led me to the DCM module. You can learn more about this here. The long and short of it is constant data collection with data brokering to insurance companies on the side. No thank you. Toyota will tell you that you can completely opt out and disable all this via a software toggle on their end. Since these claims consistently are debunked, I wanted to go the for sure route. For sure after seeing this little nugget:
Unhooking the fuse to the DCM will throw errors, unplugging it will do the same while also disabling the trucks built in mic. I'm sure this was just a oversight, not just a way to demotivate folks from unplugging them. 😉
A bit more digging led me to other privacy minded folks. One person also made block off harnesses to disable the DCM while not losing unexpected functionality. Big shout out to this thread here.
Taking the dash and glove box apart wasn't too bad, for sure easier with my assistant.
