Thoughts on LineageOS?

[CoolCrescent186]

I wanted to get a feel for everyone's opinions about using a device (Motorola One 5G Ace with 128GB storage / 6GB RAM ticks most boxes for everyone; cheap, available worldwide, FM radio, expandable storage, reasonable camera, 3.5mm jack, etc etc) with LineageOS instead of a dumbphone. I've seen a lot of usecases where a smartphone is basically required. For example, I use GroupMe professionally, and a dumbphone simply won't do. Emails sometimes need to be answered in a relatively quick manner. My carrier simply won't allow dumbphones, and some people are unable to change. I can change, but if I do, people in my life will have to pay more due to group rates. LineageOS has enabled me to use a Moto G100 for only the very basics, even with Google Play Services installed, enabled, and running. I haven't seen this mentioned around very much, but for a comparison, I use my phone less than 4 hours a day on average WITH fudged (Sam's Club app, RoMote app, etc) SoT numbers, and my sibling is in excess of 6 on most days, 8 being not an unreasonable guess. So I wanted to know what everyone else here thought about it.

[Stefen_Maxwell]

I wanted to get a feel for everyone's opinions about using a device (Motorola One 5G Ace with 128GB storage / 6GB RAM ticks most boxes for everyone; cheap, available worldwide, FM radio, expandable storage, reasonable camera, 3.5mm jack, etc etc) with LineageOS instead of a dumbphone. I've seen a lot of usecases where a smartphone is basically required. For example, I use GroupMe professionally, and a dumbphone simply won't do. Emails sometimes need to be answered in a relatively quick manner. My carrier simply won't allow dumbphones, and some people are unable to change. I can change, but if I do, people in my life will have to pay more due to group rates. LineageOS has enabled me to use a Moto G100 for only the very basics, even with Google Play Services installed, enabled, and running. I haven't seen this mentioned around very much, but for a comparison, I use my phone less than 4 hours a day on average WITH fudged (Sam's Club app, RoMote app, etc) SoT numbers, and my sibling is in excess of 6 on most days, 8 being not an unreasonable guess. So I wanted to know what everyone else here thought about it.

I think it is a great idea for those who want to control their own devices. I am a huge fan of it. Personally, for me, I want something that is more locked down since my will power to not bypass my blocks is awful. However, most people are not me, so I think more people should do it. The amount of devices linage can easily install onto is a little small for my liking, though.

[kamp]

What are your thoughts on your device with LineageOS? It seems like you've put some use into it and might have more experience than any of us

[CoolCrescent186]

At this point, as I've been daily driving a custom ROM on my phone for over a year, it's normal to me. Every time I can, I remove another app. It's a mindset I really like. I personally have a Motorola Moto G100, and really like everything about it. Wildly good WiFi speeds, mobile data/telephone connectivity is rock-solid and snappy, battery life is easily two day, 90Hz feels great, charging speed is actually good enough for 99% of all use cases. Yes, it's 2 hours to full from flat, but you can get to 30% battery in less than half an hour, which is over an hour of usage. The device is relatively repairable, barring the fingerprint scanner, which is anything but. The phone is huge, though, which is it's one downside. By raw body measurements, it's the tallest phone on the market (in North America) at the moment. I have fallen in love with the notification LED, and the tall aspect ratio, and the PWM-free LCD. I've never owned a phone without the 3.5mm jack before, and this phone is no different, still having that crucial, premium feature. The only things about it that people may not like is garbage AT&T/Verizon coverage due to weird Motorola band selection problems, and a total lack of a FM Radio. The vibration motor stopped working on my specific unit recently, and I can't figure out why (I have replaced it already), but other than that and the DoA (used market) fingerprint scanner, there's no issues half a year in to dailying it. As far as removing tempting apps, I never had the issue before, as my phones all had 4GB RAM and couldn't remember any addictive apps I had, and I had to remove literally everything just to try to get a usable experience. The biggest excuses I hear when trying to switch to a less addictive phone are the camera quality drop, and the lack of specific applications- primarily banking. That's why I recommend a Motorola One 5G Ace with 128GB storage to anyone who wants a custom ROM'able device. It has enough of what you need, and the ability to be an attention draining device, but also has the latitude to be a very dumb device. They're cheap, available worldwide, easy and cheap to work on and repair. They also have passable cameras, with 4K30 recording, which isn't iPhone quality, but not shamefully bad either. The only thing that I think prevents people from trying this who are interested in an alternative is that it's not an off-the-shelf solution. Many of these devices can be found for a low price, but many will need repairs. Also, unlocking a Motorola bootloader can be a pain in the arse, especially for those who are used to Pixel unlock procedures. To conclude, I'd say for those who are interested, but are overwhelmed by the choices, this is a really solid 80/20 foundation, that can be edited to one's needs. I have enjoyed it immensely, and phones are WAY cheaper used a few years old compared to buying new, and for those who care, it does technically save the environment I suppose to prevent a used device from going to a landfill. I wanted to know what other people were thinking about this, as it seems like a good middle ground step to detox without losing the... heh... convenience of modern life. Music streaming, easy texting, startlingly good (for what it is) camera quality, form factor, availability, etc, without the infinite notifications of bloated modern phones.

[Tam]

I think It's a solid and reliable custom ROM that stood the test of time when traced back to CyanogenMod.
It's a bit barebones when it's just LineageOS.... but certainly better than bare AOSP lol
I used LineageOS on my Pixel 3 until I got a Moto Edge 50 Ultra and didn't bother to custom ROM it yet as the stock ROM is good as is at the moment honestly.

[JINSBEK]

I think it’s great that custom ROMs like LineageOS give people an option to extend the life of their older Android phones. I haven’t used it myself, but back when I was using my older Samsung Galaxy S4 (2013) heavily, I had been on CyanogenMod, the predecessor to LineageOS. If I were still using my Galaxy, I’d probably have moved on to LineageOS eventually.