There’s a certain “people’s republic” where they introduced a new government signature on all android apps. For “safety”, as they “check” the apps for you 😉
For now it can be bypassed after three pages of scary warnings but in the future?
Maybe it could be a big reason of why they’re liking harmony os that much, you don’t need to manually approve android apps if android apps are completely unsupported
That’s only on their local android varieties though. That looks like a Xiaomi/Redmi phone? In that case head over to xiaomi.eu, download the EU version of the ROM, and flash it following the instructions there, it’s very straightforward.
With Oppo and OnePlus phones it’s equally simple, there are a ton of how-to’s over on https://forum.xda-developers.com/ for all models. If you stay in China, best get their Indian ROMs, the EU ones have some mobile bands inactive that are not in use there, but are in Asia.
For other phone manufacturers, it’s anywhere between trivial and impossible (Huawei for example). Xda-dev is your best source of info usually.
More recent Xiaomi phones for the Chinese market have locked bootloaders. Their European counterparts can still be unlocked, but they have tightened that as well, supposedly because the CCP told them to.
Typing this on a Poco F6.
Crap. I got OnePlus 7 pro and 10 pro in China and could still unlock them easily, haven’t checked since.
Global users can unlock Xiaomi phones, but have to jump through more hoops and deal with restrictions. For example, there now seems to be a daily limit on how many devices their server accepts to unlock. Took me three tries to be successful in the “first come, first serve” line.
Afaik, Chinese users are now dependent on paid services to unlock their phonew for them. How they get around the official restrictions? I don’t know.
I mean, there are sellers on Taobao and such that sell imported versions from HK and Japan, but I doubt that’s what the majority does. Most locals probably never get tempted to install some Western apps that won’t work without a VPN anyway, and if they have the knowledge and skills to install and use one, they know what to look for.
Fucking Smart Phones, how do they work?
I’ve got your ICP registration info right here baby WOOP WOOP
Why have we given juggalos so much power?
Because there’s magic everywhere in this bitch
Hot lava, snow, rain, and fog. Long-neck giraffes and pet cats and dogs.
B A R S
It was always going to end this way.
ICP - The Loons
It must run on magnets.
Can you install a jailbreak OS, or is that not allowed for “safety”?
In this specific case can do it but the bootloader unlock request must come from a Chinese ip address, from a verified Chinese number (get otp code via SMS) and wait like one month
And I bet this process is going to add you to some list of people to keep an eye on.
Since when do they have those rules? A year ago I unlocked my Xiaomi phone. Outside China. Did not have a Chinese phone number. It took less than an hour.
But it’s global version or China version?
China version ROM is like this since the mi 6, the excuse was “limiting grey market sales”
Also the ROM now uses a different signature so from mi 5 onwards, flashing global ROM on china version, doesn’t allow to lock the bootloader again (you can send the command to lock it, but then you get a softbrick)
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Yeaah… im starting to really dislike phones tbh… i might start sticking to my laptop from now on, infinitely less restrictive
That’s a perfectly acceptable plan, were it not that a laptop is much less handy. It’s cumbersome to use a laptop while standing in a crowded bus, for instance, that’s what a phone is good for.
And also there’s a million things that are app-only. You can use an emulator, I guess, and I suppose on a newer laptop than mine it might even run smoothly.
You’ll be treated as a freak if you can’t produce a smartphone in certain situations, though, and the impact of that is underrated.
I did exactly that many years ago. Ditched my phone and went with x86 UMPC with builtin 3G modem, the name of which I don’t remember because it was some random Chinese no-name. Unfortunately that experiment coincided with the era of “fuck websites, we’re going app-only because we’re so hip”. I was in a world of pain right off the bat when I got a carrier plan, specifically marketed for usage on PC’s, and it did not work. I called them and they said to me:
- Do you have Android or iOS?
- I only have Windows
- Windows phone?
- No, Windows 8…
- Well, you’ll have to use the app to activate the SIM card…
Turns out, the usage on PC’s meant tethering…
Lots of online things, if they were even available as websites, were highly cut down versions of apps. And SMS 2FA, goddamn. I remember not being able to buy booze and shoes because, apparently, phone confirmations were required in those establishments. Good thing they’re fading out in favor of TOTP and passkeys. But, at a time, I had to swtich to a carrier that allowed me to use “corporate” features like SMS forwarding and SIP telephony. Also, fuck WhatsApp, that shit can burn in all fires of hell.
On the other hand, I really miss that time. It was liberating, just not having like, a few dozen malwares in my pocket tracking me down just to track someone’s dog, or a bus, or to spy on someone’s buying preferences or whatever. But things have gotten quite a bet better over the years, so I’m kind of inclined to repeat the experiment with my new-ish OM3S which I carry because I still cannot imagine going out without a proper PC on me (don’t buy it, though, it is severely underpowered, better get something GPD instead).
I don’t think much has changed since then. There are still many services around that require an app, because it’s cool
What about a mini laptop?
Or, alternatively, one might opt to look at the world around them whilst they are using public transportation, instead of solipsistic immersion into a screen.
I was led to understand that “terminally online” was an undesirable state to exist in.
“Terminally online” is, indeed, an undesirable state to exist in, but so is the urban hellscape in which public transportation operates. The screen is a far lesser evil.
“This app hasn’t been checked for third party spyware along with our official trusted spyware. Proceed with caution.”
Why did you even buy a phone meant for the Chinese market in the first place?
Could live in China.
Odd since he is on an Italian-speaking instance
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Plenty of foreigners live in China and sign up with smaller lemmy instances that aren’t blocked (yet). lemmy.world (and funny enough,.ml) are. I also chose mine because it wasn’t blocked, spent almost 7 years in China and only left in July.
Okay, then the question becomes “you moved to an oppressive authoritarian regime and are surprised they are oppressive and authoritarian?”.
Might want to get out of china.
China also ends in-a the vowel!
random arm flapping
Could be a descendant of Marco Polo.
Presumably because it’s much cheaper.
There are reasons why it’s cheaper, and none of them improve your life.
There are plent of cheap chinese phones supported by lineage os tho.
Eh BIOS level rootkits have been around for a while. If uncle sam wants to watch you, believe me they will, just the same way uncle china does.
Uncle Winnie
Well today it’s maybe a bad idea (I havent really digged through it all recently but it seems to be a not good idea), but back in the day Xiaomi was the beast phone for cheap, with all the bells & whistles like swappable battery, sd card, good CPU & RAM etc. for a fraction of the cost of an iPhone or Samsung.
So well, time changes!
My 5 year old Xiaomi I got for €350 has about the same specs as an iPhone 16, except for the much better chip in the iPhone.
It sucks!
Don’t buy Xiaomi.
I used MIUI.EU on Xiaomi phones for some years and it was pretty great (and inexpensive). But I wouldn’t suggest it in the USA because the carriers here don’t always play nice with them.
ICP?
I was unaware that Insane Clown Posse was approving Android apps nowadays.
Incredible Communist Party
That’s right; the Insane Clown Posse demands you register your apps with them for your saftey.
a permit issued by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to permit China-based websites to operate in China
sheepooh needs to sign off on the software you run… pathetic.
Oh it is just part of Chinese censorship
Yeah you know me
Every last homie?
Inmate Corrections Phallcility
Augh i hate xiaomi so much.
Businesses tend to follow local laws, even outside China.
I hate Xiaomi for other reasons aswell,
China, what a bastion of freedom.
There’s like 5 governments doing full dragnet surveillance in the world, wonder if one can send an interesting enough dickpic to warrant a UNSC joint session
At least your country is down with the clown.
Fucking phones, how do they work?
Whoop Whoop
Well you bought a Chinese phone. The Chinese government likes to restrict what its people see like all authoritarian governments.
Get something with stock Android or iOS. Better yet, go foss droid
pixel with a custom ROM for OG freedom lovers!
