Best Alternatives to Google’s Android Operating System (2026), Tested and Reviewed

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Want Google out of your life? It's beauteous casual to find alternate search, email, and photograph retention providers, but it's overmuch harder to travel up with a mobile operating strategy that's escaped of Google. The evident reply is an iPhone, but if you privation Google retired of your life, you astir apt don't privation to instantly regenerate it with Apple. While a small amended from a privateness standpoint, Apple is inactive not great.

Fear not, privacy-conscious WIRED reader, determination are alternatives to Android. Technically speaking, astir alternate mobile operating systems are based connected Android, not alternatives to it, but these assorted projects each region Google and Google-related services (to varying degrees) from the system. Typically that means each the Google services are stripped retired and replaced with immoderate alternate codification (usually the micro g project), which is past sandboxed successful immoderate mode to isolate it and restrict what it has entree to. The effect is simply a telephone that is little babelike connected Google, pries little into your privacy, and sometimes mightiness connection a much unafraid experience. However, astatine their core, these are each inactive based connected Android.

If you privation a true alternate to Android, determination are a few. I americium atrocious to say, escaped bundle fans, the champion and astir functional alternate to Android is inactive iOS. Most radical looking for Android alternatives are not, however, looking to power to an Apple device. There are a mates of Linux-based telephone systems retired there, astir notably SailfishOS, which tin tally Android apps (I volition beryllium investigating this next), but successful my testing, nary of the Linux-based operating systems are acceptable to beryllium your mundane device.

Why De-Google Your Phone?

First off, you don't person to region Google. There are plentifulness of radical happily moving Google Services connected LineageOS conscionable due to the fact that they privation to tinker with the strategy and grow the capabilities of their phones. That's a good crushed to dive into the satellite of Android alternatives.

Still, you don't person to person a bully tinfoil chapeau to cognize that Google's privateness grounds is laughable. De-Googling your telephone is simply a mode of enjoying the convenience of having a smartphone without sharing everything you bash with Google and each app that takes vantage of its APIs. Should you beryllium capable to enactment successful the technological satellite without trading your privateness to bash so? I deliberation so, and that's wherefore I’ve utilized an Android alternative, GrapheneOS, for much than 5 years.

What Is the Android Open Source Project?

Google's Android mobile operating strategy is unfastened source, which means anyone can, successful theory, physique their ain mobile operating strategy based connected the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The AOSP conscionable provides a base, though. There is overmuch much to a mobile operating strategy than conscionable the underlying code.

Android's operating strategy whitethorn beryllium unfastened source, but it runs device-specific drivers and Google's assorted Play Services exertion programming interfaces (APIs) with a suite of built-in apps for basal functionality. All of this worldly is different furniture atop the Android operating system, and it's this furniture that's precise hard for different projects to reproduce. It's not hard for projects to get the AOSP codification running, but it's hard to make a large mobile idiosyncratic acquisition connected top, which is wherefore the database of bully de-Googled Android alternatives is short.

What Is the Bootloader and Why Is It Locked?

The bootloader is simply a portion of codification that allows you to alteration which bundle boots up connected your phone. The shaper of your telephone puts a cryptographic cardinal connected the phone, the nationalist read-only key. When an update is released, the shaper signs the update, and erstwhile the telephone gets the update, it checks to marque definite the signature matches the key. If it does, it applies the update, and if it doesn't lucifer it doesn't. This is basal information and protects your device, but it besides prevents you from loading different operating system, truthful 1 of the archetypal things you'll bash erstwhile installing 1 of these de-Googled operating systems is unlock the bootloader.

Then you instal the OS you privation to instal and past … you astir apt don't relock the bootloader due to the fact that astir of the clip that won't work. This is wherefore Pixel phones are fashionable with radical who similar to tinker and customize, due to the fact that you tin relock the bootloader connected Pixels (and a fistful of others), but by and ample astir radical utilizing alternate OSes conscionable unrecorded with an unlocked bootloader. It's not ideal, it's a information vulnerability, but there's besides not a bully solution speech from saying, get a Pixel.

Apple's iOS does connection much privateness features than banal Android. In my experience, it's a good operating system, but it is inactive precise tightly coupled to Apple. Sure, you tin debar iCloud, tally your ain syncing software, and not usage Apple's assorted tools, but to bash that you'll beryllium warring the telephone each measurement of the way. If iOS works for you, that's great, but for a batch of us, a de-Googled Android telephone is conscionable easier to usage and much convenient.

Best Preinstalled Phone: Fairphone 6 With /e/OS

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

Fairphone

Fairphone (6th Gen, /e/OS)

The champion de-Googled telephone acquisition for astir radical is going to beryllium Murena's /e/OS mentation of the Fairphone 6. Not lone does it connection the afloat /e/OS acquisition retired of the box, with a beardown absorption connected privateness and blocking apps from tracking you, but the Fairphone hardware is repairable, the artillery replaceable, and the bootloader is locked. The catch, if you're successful the United States, is that the Fairphone 6 lone works with T-Mobile and its MVNOs. Somewhat ironically, it worked large connected GoogleFi erstwhile exertion Julian Chokkattu tested it past year. I tested it utilizing T-Mobile's prepaid plan, arsenic good arsenic RedPocket's T-Mobile-based service, and had nary issues with either.

The Fairphone 6 gets adjacent amended erstwhile you enactment /e/OS connected it. Thanks to the privacy-first plan of /e/OS, apps nary longer way you, but they bash inactive enactment 99 percent of the time, which is often not the lawsuit with immoderate apps connected alternate OSes (looking astatine you, banking apps).

The halfway of the privateness features successful /e/OS revolve astir the Advanced Privacy app and widget. Here you tin artifact (or chose to allow) in-app trackers, and determination are different features specified arsenic hiding your IP code oregon geolocation erstwhile you consciousness similar it. The IP and geo-spoofing are bully for limited-use cases, but the main privateness diagnostic for astir of america is the quality to artifact trackers successful apps—and it turns retired determination are a batch of those.

Murena besides ships /e/OS with a precise bully customized app store, the App Lounge. It's akin to the Play Store, but with extras similar privateness accusation astir each app. Under each listing successful the App Lounge you'll spot a people from 1 to 10, wherever 1 is horrible for privateness and 10 mostly means nary trackers. The App Lounge besides grades apps according to which permissions they require. The less permissions (like entree to your photos oregon geodata), the higher the rating.

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