Deliverer of ideas for a living. Believer in internet autonomy, dignity. I upkeep instances of FOSS platforms like this for the masses. Previously on Twitter under the same handle. I do software things, but also I don’t.
Well, not closed source anymore. Looks like, in an effort to align with ‘switch’ day that’s been happening on Mastodon, the source code is now open to the public as of an hour ago:
https://mastodon.social/@dansup/113932093747824896
May be a good opportunity for folks to support his efforts to craft stronger user experiences. I know, from dansup’s posting, that he is 100% on-board for others to help.
This is brilliant!
Wasn’t announced with fanfare, but a commit back in February enabled ad content filtering from easylist.to, and it can be toggled under Site Settings in Vanadium. It’s also noted now in their Vanadium features page, around bullet point 12:
High performance content filtering engine using EasyList + EasyPrivacy with per-site toggle via drop-down permission menu
The GOS recommended way still involves doing all this at the DNS level, as that is the most effective. I recall a recommendation to use RethinkDNS recently – the app has a built-in ad filtering ability. Still, this is nice from a cosmetic standpoint for day-to-day browsing.
Kudos to user ‘quh4gko8’ on Github for pushing the update (and any others not directly noted).
Fennec is likely the next best, although it lacks the Arkenfox hardening. Obtainium is a great app to get builds of Fennec directly.
If you’re on GrapheneOS, there’s Vanadium. Using a filtering VPN atop it can help reduce ads beyond what Vanadium can already block natively (the devs have integrated some lists that uBlock starts with, such as Easy List). This is the best option lieu of add-on like uBlock, which aren’t supported.
There’s an internal age we feel personally, there’s an external age we present as – and then there’s an age that can brought out of us, based solely on circumstances.
In the case of all three, for the sake of this idea gaining some traction with most folks reading, I might re-label ‘age’ as ‘identity’, or even some kind of part of ourselves, coming to the forefront out of necessity. This idea comes from Internal Family Systems Theory.
When we are faced with circumstances that invite us to ‘act our age,’ such as knowing we need to get good rest for the next day, that’s the part of us that comes to the forefront to help because we have the experience to know so. That part of us is there to protect us from experiences we’ve had in the past that may have sucked, such as having to go into work after a late night of Mountain Dew and gaming. That part’s job might even be as a ‘protector,’ who supports us in taking responsibility seriously, practicing readiness, having some forethought.
Likewise, when we are faced with circumstances that invite us to entertain children, such as playing pretend or being silly, that’s the part of us that we had at the forefront of that age, and we can call it up in a kind of way that doesn’t feel like ‘faking’ it. That part of us is there to continue a sort of ‘zone of play’ we all liked, where it was fun and easy to ‘yes and’ other kids into a made-up game with made-up rules, or do something goofy because we all felt goofy. That part’s job might be as a ‘joy-bringer,’ who supports us in exercising freedom, living out radical invitation, being creative. Simple, dumb joy.
All parts are necessary, and the parts are neither good or bad. Just parts.
Nothing ever disappears, either – nor should it disappear, regardless of whichever part of us is so drastically at the forefront as to convince all the other parts that they aren’t important to function in this life – even at 40.
Hell, especially at 40.
There’s a handful of approaches that may be helpful for this. I don’t want to make any assumptions on what you’ve tried, yet, though. Would you mind clarifying what you’ve given a go at, so that we don’t offer something that doesn’t do what you’re looking for?
Currently, I prefer the Kagi model as my daily driver – pay a small fee each month and not worry about having your search data, in all its forms, sold instead. They have some neat features, as well, like AI summaries and the ability to ask questions about pages. It’s those two features I have used to determine what kind of content, even musical, may be on the page for me without having to go to the page, itself, first. I can reduce page-load-waiting on my end, in other words, because I am able to make better judgement calls beyond any provided preview text / provided metadata.
There is also SearXNG, which is an open source, privacy-respecting, hackable metasearch engine. It can be self-hosted and also has a number of instances you can access.
GrapheneOS user here – for many years and several devices. Also had many devices, prior to that, running LineageOS.
GrapheneOS
First thing to weigh, between your two options, is that GrapheneOS is considered its own mobile operating system at this point, and the development of this mobile operating system is driven chiefly by privacy and security. While founded on AOSP, GrapheneOS gets such benefits as – but not limited to – more frequently updated kernel patches, code removal or alteration to abate zero-day vulnerabilities normally addressed more slowly (or not at all) in vanilla Android, the security of a re-locked bootloader (only available on Pixel devices), an isolated and sandboxed Google Play to access normal apps (microG and other replacements are considered, in GrapheneOS circles, less secure), isolated user profiles for different sets of apps that have the ability to push notifications to each other, hardened memory allocation, and so much more.
Pixel hardware is a great fit for GrapheneOS due to the kind of security chipsets they employ, too. By selecting a device that allows users to re-lock the bootloader (other devices do not afford this), as well as leverage Pixel-specific hardware-level security features, there’s a measure of consistency for overall security provided to GrapheneOS users and developers, alike. The devs don’t have to provide workarounds, for example, in the same way other ROM makers do, such as for LineageOS. There can be focus. And that benefits everyone who is primarily interested in privacy and security in a phone OS.
LineageOS
Second thing to weigh, between your two options, is the intent behind LineageOS: it’s an open source variation of AOSP, and is considered both an excellent extension mechanism for aging Android devices and an open source alternative to vendor-created – and often vendor-locked – ROMs that come, by default, on a variety of devices. LineageOS has been focused on being one of the most consistent, open source ROMs around. This means the consistency in UX, features, and flexibility of LineageOS can translate between many targeted devices. Over 20 vendors of devices benefit from the hard work of LineageOS.
Like GrapheneOS is focused on privacy and security for their users, LineageOS is focused on being a solid, consistent ROM for their users.
Further Consideration
I can go into the weeds of both, but at some point I made a decision to buy into the Pixel ecosystem – and subsequently learned about GrapheneOS as an option. I value what they offer, and I understand their stricter alignment with their approach to developing an OS.
While I choose to lock myself into the Pixel lineup of phones, I would also consider LineageOS – modified to my own specs – if I had to shift to another device. Each have their strengths. Each have their focuses.
Features like this exist for putting the phone back at rest when there hasn’t been a successful unlocking for X hours – GrapheneOS, an Android OS, has a similar feature. The objective is to limit the window of time an attacker has to try to exploit anything the phone may have in operation during a not-at-rest state (when the user is still ‘logged in’ to the phone, certain background services / features may be available to exploit).
Rebooting automatically, especially if the phone not has not been successfully unlocked recently, may place the phone in a less exploitable state, as those services / features might not be available without logging in first.
TrailSense, an easy to use, comprehensive wilderness tool.
The goals of the developer are fun to consider:
Goals
Trail Sense must not use the Internet in any way, as I want the entire app usable when there is no Internet connection
Features must provide some benefits to people using the app while hiking, in a survival situation, etc.
Features should make use of the sensors on a phone rather than relying on stored information such as guides
Features must be based on peer-reviewed science or be verified against real world data
Likewise, the features being developed under those goals are great for getting outside:
Features
Ooh, neat! This feels like Folding@Home for AI tasks.