So, surprise surprise, that phone i bought is causing me problems.

I decided to look into phones that are privacy and security focused. And the result is the Silent Circle Blackphone 2.

https://www.silentcircle...-solutions/blackphone2/

"Silent OS is Android-based and engineered for optimal privacy, Silent OS puts powerful privacy at your fingertips. Free of bloatware, hooks to carriers, and leaky data, Silent OS puts privacy in the hands of you and your enterprise, without compromising productivity."

Haven't tried it yet, but it is definitely on my radar.

Still no smartphone here

Ooh that's quite interesting, the blackphone2, but the fact they don't have pricing tells me that they might manufacture small batches, and therefore the device will probably be very expensive.

There are a few other phones out there that I've considered tinkering with, such as pinephone, but there's a tradeoff between what I'm taking on for myself and the time it takes to configure and test out things to my satisfaction.

For now, I'm happy with my current smartphone situation, but it's fun to consider security-hardened alternatives.