For the desire to emancipate yourself from the GAFAM and refusal to track their privacy, users have chosen to do without Android (Google version) and iOS (Apple version) on their smartphones.Their operating systems are called /, graphen or wireness.Bones with free code, which limit data sharing with web giants and defuse the obsolescence of old models.

Farewell Android.Dominique left the Google version of the small green robot on February 11, 2021.This social worker in the Paris region set her sights on /E /, a free operating system for smartphone.For the young woman, her motivation is obvious: "I didn't feel like I was controlling my own data.If we want to install an application, we are forced to give access to our directories, our photos, our calendars ... Now it belongs to me.I don't want my data to end up on Google's servers. »

Master your data, emancipate yourself from the grip of GAFAMs, refuse the tracing of your privacy.This triptych puts the base of transitions to alternative bones.The appeal for free software on which these operating systems are based also encourages the step."Free tends to make manic.As long as we adhere to philosophy and take advantage of our interests, you become a picky. On veut du libre partout !»» renchérit Ayman, menuisier dans le Gard.He himself had the smartphones of his family transit: "I have been using a smartphone under lineage since early 2017, but previously, I used Cyanogenmod since 2010, although it was more seated.My companion has used one since 2018 and two daughters since the beginning of 2020 under /E /, which allows you to use GooglePlay's dependent applications more easily.»»

Qtopia Phone Deforaos, Plumeos ... Since the 2000s, many free operating systems for mobile phone have emerged, with more or less success.Their latest versions are called Lineage, /E /, Grathen, or Calyx.A survey carried out in March 2021 on the Linuxfr forum.org recensait 410 usagers de Lineage, 144 de /e/, 67 de Sailfish, et 65 « [d’]autres OS»»… Contre 1429 usagers d’Android.But from year to year, the quality of the offers offered is refined, their ease of access is accentuated, attracting a growing portion of digital non-specialists.

Faster bones and thwarting software obsolescence

For Skie899, Internet user of the Linuxfr forum.org qui dit travailler dans l’informatique, la transition vers LineageOS s’est faite avant tout pour des raisons techniques, et lui permettre « de disposer d’une ROM android [le système d’exploitation ndlr] plus récente, de me détacher de la ROM constructeur et toutes les inutilités qu’elle contient»».In short, to take advantage of the latest Android features, deleting all the default preinstalled applications.In fact, alternative ROMs are lighter, rapid and reactive than the original system.

Cherry on the smartphone, these operating systems allow you to extend the life of phones.Today, their average duration of use is 32 months according to ARCEP.It is shortened by the safety updates of manufacturers, which do not cover the oldest models, and make technically functional phones unusable for another 5 to 10 years according to the gendarme of Telecom.

"Let us not forget that 99 % of the mobile phones of the major manufacturers have type" Services "apps that depend on the online infrastructure of the latter, Pointes Skie899.Take the test, take a 2015 Samsung or a Huawei of the same year, backup services no longer work.This is another reason for the change of Rom, why get down with unusable components?It’s a frustration.»»

A Samsung smartphone released in 2015.

Change bone: a way of the cross

Several solutions are available to those who wish to install a free operating system on their smartphone.The simplest is to choose a model that already has a pre-installed bone./ E/ offers different phones with your homemade bone. Il est également possible d’installer soi-même un système d’exploitation alternatif, en « flashant»» son smartphone, c’est-à-dire en copiant l’OS dans la partition système de la mémoire flash du téléphone.But this maneuver can come under the way of the cross.

First pitfall: there is no universal installer.Each phone has a specific integrated card, with its own owner libraries to operate its devices: camera, bluetooth, Wi-Fi chip, graphic chip ... Free bone maneuvering teams therefore develop specific ROMs on each phone.Nevertheless the most common models, such as the Samsung Galaxy, are available.

Once the adequate rom has been downloaded to his computer, the user must connect his phone via USB-C, to communicate the two systems.It remains to follow the directives of the guides specific to each phone to unlock the bootloader - or priming charger - which will allow the new operating system to be loaded.This operation deletes all the data on the phone, so it is preferable to save them upstream.

Passing this technical threshold can be trying. Certains craignent de « briquer»» leur téléphone, de le rendre inutilisable.The multitude of guides and documentary resources can also erode the motivation of volunteers.The only solution for SKIE899: refine your technical know-how."Look for mass info and do research for hours.There is no secret, it's like learning a new language.»»

F-Droid and Aurora Store: alternative application catalogs

Release your phone requires sacrifices.It is sometimes difficult to cut bridges with services as practical as Google Maps.Everyone to find their balance between popular applications and protection of their data. Propriétaire d’un Pixel 4a passé sous CalyxOS, Etienne est ingénieur à Lyon : « J’ai réussi à remplacer toute la gamme d’application de Google par des alternatives libres : Magic Earth pour les cartes, OpenWeatherMap pour la météo, même mon application ‘note’ qui auparavant appartenait à Google ! Et pourtant, j’ai du mal à décrocher de Twitter et d’Instagram où j’ai toujours mes profils, et donc mes données qui sont captées…»»

Alternative application catalogs, such as F-Droid, allow you to choose from a range of open source applications.Users who wish to use proprietary applications can orient themselves towards Aurora Store, a customer for the Google PlayStore.It allows you to download applications without Google account, with the exception of paid applications.The catalog of / E / gives it a note to each application, assessing the quality they grant to privacy with regard to the number of trackers that will collect user data.

« Le problème, ce sont les applis bancaires, et surtout les conseillers des banques qui ignorent tout de ce domaine»», soupire Isabelle, formatrice en techniques de rédaction et en bureautique à Paris.The criticism is recurrent on the librist forums.Many testify to difficulties in validating online purchases.Depending on the models, operating systems and banks, users are differently impacted.As for banks, they do not seem enclosed to invest the field of free software operating systems.CLIENTE AU CIC, Dominique was offered a housing at 30 euros to connect to the application. « C’est de la discrimination numérique»», peste-t-elle.

Despite these difficulties, alternative bone users all experience a certain pride in having tamed their smartphones.Rather than confining themselves to a consumer role, they engage in the collaborative processes of their operating systems."On Google and Apple, the system is locked, you cannot touch it," observes Dominique.On the free, any developer can put their paw or modify a program.It's like a cooking recipe, the dish is only better if everyone brings it.On our forum there is an atmosphere that we do not find on those of Google and Apple.»»