I have been using my Volla Phone for two years now, which I bought deliberately back then.
Initially, I ordered it with the mobile version of Ubuntu, that is, Ubuntu Touch. However, I quickly realized that mobile Linux systems differ significantly from their desktop counterparts. Much of what is known and expected from a classic Linux on a computer cannot be easily transferred to a smartphone.
Fortunately, there is a way back to Android with the Volla Phone. Because Volla offers not only Linux variants but also its own Volla OS – that is, a largely Google-free Android.
Why a Google-free smartphone at all?
Yes, why did I decide to distance myself from Google as much as possible back then? The reason is quite simple for me: I wanted less surveillance and less dependency.
Google – and also other major platforms – does not need to know when I am calling whom, which apps I am using, with whom I am writing, or where I regularly am. Exactly these data make smartphones problematic today. Because they are not only practical everyday devices but also tools through which a lot of information about us is collected.
Fact is: smartphones produce a huge amount of data. Part of it is generated by the installed operating system, another part by manufacturer services, and another by the apps we use daily. Especially when Google is deeply embedded in the system, not only search queries or app installations are recorded, but under certain circumstances also location data, usage behavior, device information, and other metadata from which very detailed profiles can be created.
How much can be derived from such digital traces is shown, among other things, by the project Made to Measure – A Digital Trace Search. This data experiment by the group Laokoon makes it clear how easily one’s life can be reconstructed solely based on personal online data. The basis was a dataset from a participant’s Google account that had grown over the years. From this, a digital double was developed that was performed by an actress. The project impressively shows how deep digital traces can provide insights into daily life, interests, habits, and personality traits – even if one does not personally know the affected person.
My last two years
The switch to a Google-free Android was initially quite discouraging. On the Volla Phone, F-Droid is already pre-installed, an alternative app store from which many free apps can be obtained. So this was not entirely new to me, as I had already used F-Droid on my old smartphone.
However, completely without Google was another kind of transition. And because I did not want to do half-measures, I made the step consistently:
- no Facebook anymore on the smartphone
- no WhatsApp anymore
- no other apps that suck up data and pass it on in some form
Of course, this also brought some limitations with it.
There are certain things one cannot completely do away with in daily life. There are the one or other app that I am absolutely dependent on. Which exactly these are and why, I would like to not go into detail here, because that also concerns our family’s safety.
But it quickly became clear that I would have needed the Google Play Store for some things.
However, Volla OS also offers an alternative: the Aurora Store.
Through the Aurora Store, many well-known Android apps can be installed without needing the Google Play Store in its usual form or an individual Google account directly on the device. For example, one can use an anonymous account so that it is not immediately clear who is downloading and installing which app.
Those who already have a Google account can also set it up there. Then there is again access to many apps that one already used or downloaded on the old smartphone.
And yes: Even today, one cannot completely do without WhatsApp in many places, although most people should already know that the service is at least critically viewed from a data protection perspective.
As mentioned, I had to make do with that. Going back to my old smartphone was not an option because the screen had cracked. I could not get rid of WhatsApp back then either, even though I no longer have a WhatsApp account, since Meta had blocked and deleted my account. Instead, I ended up with Signal.
But back then, Element or Matrix came into play first. Through that, I could link my still functioning WhatsApp account and continue using it. Although again with limitations, it worked at least.
These were actually my main problems. As for banking, I can’t say anything, since I have never used banking apps on my smartphone. As far as I know, that should work with one or another app, though.
Otherwise, I personally notice hardly any limitations. The F-Droid Store offers here and there also a game or two, which are not really interesting for me on the smartphone. More important for me are things like music streaming via NewPipe or a weather app. Otherwise, it is for me primarily a phone with which I make calls, and not a device on which I have to do everything possible.
For that, I have my Linux PC or laptop. But on the smartphone? I again a Google-fied one? No, not really. I’ll wait and see what comes out of Motorola and GrapheneOS.
