We’ve talked about the Fairphone 2 before. It’s probably the most ethical smartphone you can buy off the market – built from “conflict-free” minerals and raw materials, and designed with ecological balance in mind. Now the developers are looking into making even the software monopoly-free and open source, of course. They have just released their own version of Android, one that is free from Google services.
There is a portion of the Android-using world that is more and more against Google and the way their services attach to Android as essential. These users are the ones concerned about the way the search giant uses their personal usage information to generate ads and profits, and they are pushing for more developers to produce versions of Android free from Google services. This is the direction Fairphone is going with its Fairphone Open Source OS.
The developers of the Fairphone 2 are now making their version of Android available – based on Android 5.1 Lollipop – and without Google Mobile Services. This means that users will have to find their own apps for email, maps, and a browser, but in exchange they get more control over their software. The open source OS will also have easy toggling of root access, whenever you need it.
Fairphone realizes that most people would choose to live with Google services – this is why the Fairphone 2 ships with Android 5.1 with Google services embedded. But if you want to shift to a non-Google Android version, you have to install the open source OS via the Fairphone’s unlocked bootloader. Check out the source link below to see how you can download this version.
SOURCE: Fairphone
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