/e/ OS 3.0: Slightly less clunky, slightly more private

Murena's /e/ OS is arguably the most mainstream de-Googled Android OS, and the new version catches up with important features.

It is nearly 40 years since the Dead Kennedys flipped Patrick Henry's 1775 speech and suggested the deal to which most mobile device users basically agree: Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death. If you don't accept that proposition, then there aren't all that many options available to you - and /e/ OS is one of the more polished ones.

The /e/ Foundation takes Android and strips out all of Google's tracking, replacing chunks of the OS with FOSS replacements, to create /e/ OS. Commercial sponsor Murena sells fondleslabs with it pre-installed - including refurbished devices. In 2022, we looked at the Murena One, one of its relatively early phone models. More recently, the company loaned us a de-Googled Pixel tablet with /e/ OS 2.7.

Now /e/ OS 3.0 is available followed by version 3.0.1, which fixed a crash for users who selected both the always-on VPN and the option to hide the device's IP address.

Version 3 is a feature release rather than a major change in the underlying technology. It brings some welcome new features, but folks used to normal pocket data siphons might be surprised that they are novelties. For instance, it has parental controls, with five different age brackets from toddler to teen, and the ability to demand a passcode before app installation. If that doesn't sound important, The Reg FOSS desk's offspring is bilingual but still too young to read fluently yet - but is perfectly able to unlock and operate their parents' phones, even managing to install new apps.

/e/ OS 3 also has built-in privacy reports, so you can see which apps are spying on you. The top offenders are listed on a Wall of Shame. On this lightly used tablet, we had five entrants with 256 leaks between them.

The bundled Browser app has been updated to version 135 and now defaults to Murena's own privacy-centric search engine, Murena Find, powered by Qwant. There's a Find My Device feature, accessed even without data by sending an SMS - so long as the device has an active SIM or eSIM.

Murena's Workspace offering is back after the prolonged outage The Register covered in February, and now includes an encrypted file storage area called Murena Vault. A modest basic account is free, with a gigabyte of file storage. Premium accounts start at €1.99 a month. As well as additional storage, this includes extra features such as hands-free speech-to-text support.

The features are good, but far from state of the art. Same with the software underneath. /e/ OS is based on Lineage OS, specifically version 21. This was released in February 2024, although this version includes the May Android security update.

But the point here is not to be state of the art. The point is to control and manage the appalling privacy features of most contemporary pocket spying gadgets - both to neutralize the built-in features that track and monitor you, and to help you limit the behavior of apps you add. To this vulture, that's especially appealing after the recent revelation of Facebook's Android tracking tech. We are well aware, though, that we're outliers here. We continue to be horrified and baffled by friends installing spy microphones throughout their home, which is apparently preferable to suffering the agony of operating light switches, or pressing buttons on the remote control of a stereo.

There are other alternatives out there. You could buy something even more locked-down, such as Punkt's MC02. You could buy the highly repairable Fairphone, which is available preloaded with /e/ OS (Fairphone 6 is said to be launching later this month). For a similar price, if you're happy to drive GNOME, you could buy a Linux phone.

If, like this vulture, you are a cheapskate prefer to use viable older hardware, then you could take one of the devices supported by Android-free replacement postmarketOS - we're currently testing such a device and will report back soon.

However, /e/ OS is a little easier and more straightforward. At the time of writing, the list of supported smartphones has 221 models going back to gadgets from 2016.

Using a de-Googled Android device is a little bit like using desktop Linux. It is unavoidably a little clunky in places, and some things that are easy on commercial offerings either don't work or require more effort to set up. But, just like Ubuntu, it looks pretty, it works, and it does the job. In fact, a comparison with Linux Mint may be more apt. It not only does the job, but it also does the job and in a more familiar way. ®