Tech

Murena One, Can you create an Android mobile without Google?

Murena One is a unique smart phone. It has been developed by the company of the creator of Mandrake Linux and stands out for the commitment to data privacy and the replacement of Google services and applications by the open source operating system /e/ that it includes.

You already know how the smartphone industry is. Either you bet on Android (and Google) or on iOS (and Apple). And little else once Microsoft buried the Windows Phone. Unfortunately, the promising “Linux Mobile” that pointed out as an alternative a few years ago (Firefox OS, Tizen OS, Ubuntu, Sailfish, webOS…), have also fallen by the wayside.

Enthusiasts looking for other things install Android ROMs to get out of Google’s “control”, hack iPhones with Jailbreak to get out of Apple’s “prison” or wait for the rebirth of Ubuntu Touch or that GNOME 40 progresses in mobiles and that a big company bet on them. Beyond that, the general public has no alternatives.

Murena One

Murena founder Gael Duval, then the creator of Mandrake Linux, was tired of the mobile duopoly and also the massive data collection. Together with other developers he created the open source operating system /e/ and now comes a terminal where he shows the fruits of it.

Murena One

It has to be said that if you only look for hardware you can forget about it of this terminal because there are better features/price. It has a 6.5-inch LCD screen, an octa-core MediaTek processor, 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage expandable with microSD cards.

The cameras are not bad, with a triple sensor in the main one (5, 8 and 48 MP) and a 25 megapixel front for selfies. The terminal also includes a dual SIM slot to use two telephone lines and is compatible with all European and most American operators. Does not support 5G, only 4G LTE.

Software, its great value

The true value of the Morena One lies in the software. It must be said that /e/ does not attempt to reinvent gunpowder and is a android fork which replaces Google services and applications with others. It combines features from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) source code trees as well as others from LienageOS.

On /e/OS, most (not all) Google services are removed and replaced with MicroG services and open source implementations without links to Google services. This includes libraries and apps that provide Google Play, Maps, Geolocation, and Messaging services for Android apps.

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/e/OS does its best to free yourself from top-level Google services. For example, Google’s default search engine has been replaced by Murena’s own metasearch engine. Other Internet-based services, such as Domain Name Server (DNS) and Network Time Protocol (NTP), use non-Google servers.

The map app is based on the Mozilla Location Service and OpenStreetMap and the developers are working on their own personal voice control assistant. It has some progressive web apps and el Application installer is based on third party repository cleanapk.org.

Of course, you can also install most Google apps and the thousands of existing ones for Android with the App Lounge feature. As a gateway to the Play Store it relies on Google account logins, which can be annoying for anyone wanting to cut all ties with the internet giant. Simply, not possible yet replace Google’s e-commerce and software store system.

Murena One

/e/OS does not capture any user logs, use of applications or track the location of the user. Also, since most applications depend on backends in the cloud, Murena offers its own Cloud (1 GB free) and cheap plans that include email and an online office suite based on OnlyOffice.

Murena One will be available in June in Europe, the United States and Canada for a price of $369. If you don’t want the terminal, you can install and test the /e/ system on more than 200 models from Google, HTC, Motorola, OnePlus, Samsung and Xiaomi that are supported. You have the download and more information on their website.

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