Six years ago the entire Linux enthusiast space was super excited for the PinePhone, then everything fell apart. What went wrong? Was PINE64’s favoritism towards Manjaro the sole issue or were there other problems?
Six years ago the entire Linux enthusiast space was super excited for the PinePhone, then everything fell apart. What went wrong? Was PINE64’s favoritism towards Manjaro the sole issue or were there other problems?
I have both the PinePhone and the PinePhone Pro, IMHO :
Not implementedorNot working… so with all that very very few people used either as a daily driver and thus even less probably invested time to make it actually usable.
It’s amazing as a tinkering device with connectivity… but in practice I went instead to a deGoogle Android phone (with /e/OS by Murena). I still have other hardware by Pine, e.g. PineNote or PineTab2, so I do enjoy they provide a very valuable service to the community and I’ll keep on, probably, getting more from them but one has to be pragmatic about the software limitations coming from a company that basically does not provide software for the hardware they sell.
Regarding Android apps: I hope that https://gitlab.com/android_translation_layer/android_translation_layer will make a difference here going forward. A Wine-like approach is just so much less of a resource hog.
Regarding the Camera on the PinePhone Pro: It somewhat works by now, if not on every OS. Be it with libcamera or Megapixels 2, we’re getting there. I suppose it’s just that nobody told the Wiki.
Right or https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/09/valve-appear-to-be-testing-arm64-and-android-support-for-steam-on-linux/ is also pretty positive but until it’s actually done and does support banking apps (which might not be possible due to a lot of restrictions, e.g Google services, signed ROM only, etc) then everybody will remain on the fence.
Good to know for the PPPro. PmOS indicates the support as partial https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/PINE64_PinePhone_Pro_(pine64-pinephonepro) I should try again at some point.
Just 2ct’s on the banking thing (sorry if it sounds rude, but I just can’t hear it anymore):
Just forget banking apps of you don’t want to stay on iOS or proper Google Android forever and ever and ever, even AOSP-based OSes struggle with that (a lot).
Go to a bank that still has a proper website and allows some kind of hardware device for TAN (and tell them that this is why you are leaving/joining) - we need to show market demand for alternative solutions or else these will disappear completely over time.
We also need to make regulators/politicians understand, that taking part in life must be possible without owning a device blessed by Google or Apple. We really need laws here.
It’s not rude but it’s incorrect. I have a deGoogled phone and do mobile banking with it. I don’t know for how long though but just to say it’s possible today.
Yes though I do recommend relying on a bank that does not force its customers to use Apple or Google only. I hope they’d be a way to disclose that beside just name & shame.