Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless you disable Chrome

Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by brnt on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @08:53AM (#30684611)

Then you'd need to first pay for a phone that isn't bootlocked to a certain OS. Not many phones are.

Once your Android phone is boot-unlocked, it's actually pretty straightforward to flash a LineageOS rom. It could be streamlined, sure, but since the hard part is unlocking and tends to require some tech skills, not many need the flashing to be any simpler than it is.

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by authorityofnil on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @09:53AM (#30685262)

This is highly dependent on where you live. For example there are pretty much no bootlocked phones in Finland

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by brnt on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @10:03AM (#30685410)

Are you sure you're not referring to simlock? If not, is that mandated by law in Finland?

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by stragies on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @11:10AM (#30686290)

Are there actually (current, available, lineage-supported(1)) COTS phones, where you can add your own signing keys, and then re-lock the boot-loader? With mainline/non_ancient Linux kernel?

Because without that, aren't all (modded to unlocked_boot-loader) Android devices susceptible to an Evil-Maid attack? Even if the device/user uses FDE, the evil maid could just spoof the key-entry frontend, no?

(1) or whatever other ALT-Android/Linux FW.

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by jdiez17 on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @11:33AM (#30686571)

> Are there actually (current, available, lineage-supported(1)) COTS phones, where you can add your own signing keys, and then re-lock the boot-loader? With mainline/non_ancient Linux kernel?

You may want to check out https://grapheneos.org/

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by stragies on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @11:45AM (#30686760)

Only supports the Pixel devices, no?

`fastboot flashing lock` is available on some phones, but is there a comprehensive list somewhere of devices, where you can freely/add remove signing keys?

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by hef19898 on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @11:09AM (#30686282)

Google Pixel line is, funny enough, not boot-locked. And it offers quite decent hardware. Being build for Googles non-bloatware versions of Android the Pixel phones also offer a high degree of compatibility with de-googled versions of Android out there.

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by brnt on Tuesday March 15, 2022 @04:00PM (#30690713)

Hmm, I surely had to unlock my Pixels; get a nice big fat warning on every boot too. Don't remember how exactly though.

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Re:Android 12 forces you to choose a default browser unless ... by fomine3 on Wednesday March 16, 2022 @01:57AM (#30695781)

Because it's also for developers.

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