LineageOS 20 on the Nokia 4.2. The only option for this phone besides LineageOS 19 and it’s one of these cases where the dev just stopped updating anything and deleted their XDA profile. Might go back to vanilla but the problem is that’s a downgrade in Android version too.

This whole phone is a regret. My previous phone had just died unexpectedly and it was a spur of the moment purchase with a low budget, based on nostalgia for a ‘Nokia’ that doesn’t actually exist anymore. Should’ve just gone for a cheap Samsung and I probably would’ve at least had more choice in custom firmwares.

About bloody time. Containers are fine for on the fly use - for checking what pages look like logged out, or visiting a link that you don’t want affecting algorithms etc. but for separating personal and work and whatever else, profiles are the way to go. It’s actually already pretty easy to add ‘about:profiles’ to the toolbar but the more accessible they make it, the better.

I look forward to profiles also making it to the Android app 5 to 10 years from now.

Going to be a bit negative but this is something that’s kinda annoyed me about Android in the last few years. BREAKING: new shortcut available! And then there’s the articles and breaking news for them doing shit like changing the design of the clock slightly every now and then.

What annoys me about all of this is that the very first Android phone that I had, the S4 Mini, that started out on Android 4.3, had custom firmwares around that allowed you to customise every shortcut with anything and choose from multiple styles of clock. Amongst other things.

Which tells me that the folks working on Android could easily make things more customisable but they choose not to so that we can get these articles going on about how awesome a new shortcut is and they get to look like they’re always working on these new ‘innovations’.

They’re running out of ways to add extra cameras, so now they’re acting like adding a new shortcut to a button that should’ve been more configurable in the first place is some sort of technological breakthrough.

For me personally, it’s something that I’m always activating in my pocket and have disabled now.

I want something between ‘feature phones’ and smartphones. A little bit like what Nokia had to offer with Symbian and Maemo but more modern. If you want a rectangle of glass that requires wireless proprietary everything and replacing every time the battery starts packing up, more power to you, I’m a fan of choice and options.

But I want to be able to buy a music phone with great speakers and toys like FM transmitters thrown in. Or a gaming phone with a d-pad, a, b, x, y and shoulder buttons. But like, with Firefox instead of Opera Mini. And social media apps and shit.

What an alpha.

Next step: political adverts that quiz you on what you’ve just heard and repeat each segment if you get the answer wrong.

Just kidding though (or am I). This is truly some dystopian shit. My first reaction was what the actual fuck. And I bet you that their numbers aren’t really going to hurt that much because of this. Mark my words.