Sidephone Master thread

Phones
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Hello everyone! I am at CES checking out some devices and got to play around with the Sidephone. I know that a completely different color would have to be achieved to start the conversation on Koshering the Sidephone. But, how feasible is it to get the filtering done on the device and maybe hack it for Android Auto and other purposes?

I chatted with Chris, the founder, and he seems very open to allow this to be a good device for different communities. Anyone that would be interested in taking this project on? You can see a preview of how the device looks here: https://youtube.com/shorts/pJSlLUtOEDQ?feature=share

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He said that it wont come with google play services, as they can not be certified due to their screen size but he wouldnt mind if the community would come up with a solution.

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I’d assume pretty simple.

I (and probably most of us here) can probably filter it in a few minutes using a MDM.

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C’mon chatzie… We will have some fun with it…

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Looks quite similar to the Keyphone

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How come that Keyphone got Google certified with almost the same screen size?

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I hear
Same for Megalife
it is possible to change the dimensions in build.prop but not everyone wants that
you can see more here

”Have a physical diagonal screen size in the range of 3.3 inches (or 2.5 inches for devices which launched on an API level earlier than Android 11) to 8 inches.”

Feature Phone
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For me, a huge caveat is this:

  • For example, Sidephone does not work on Verizon or Verizon MVNOs

Before I knew that I was ready to pre-order it and everything…

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Nothing works with verizon nowadays…

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Fig, Wonder, Keyphone, Lightphone, Mind,

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Those phones are made by yiddisha companys (except Lightphone), most yidden use verizon or verizon mvnos so unless they want less people to buy their phones they need to make sure its gonna work on verizon

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Was just looking that over, I have no idea how Keyphone got certified, it makes no sense.

MUST include a standalone Browser application for general user web browsing.

[C-0-1] MUST be capable of installing and running Android “.apk” files as generated by the “aapt” tool included in the official Android SDK.

[C-0-1] MUST support the Android Developer Tools provided in the Android SDK

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Maybe the version submitted to them had that

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Effectively contradicting your earlier statement…

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I wasn’t really including built kosher phones, and they just did some modifying to get it to work, not officially supposed to work

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Which phones don’t work on Verizon besides the Cat S22?

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Sonim XP3plus 5G and XP5plus. TCL Flip 4 (until the verizon version is released). CAT flip phones (potentially the new one too). Summit Flip. Cingular Flip and so on

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They did not present the phone’s current layout to Google. Instead, they presented it using the original AOSP ROM, before installing their own custom launcher, MDM, which blocks APK installation and the browser, and of course, the phone has its own dedicated web browser.

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Arguably some of the most niche “truly awful” phones. (quoting from the first google result for some of these). Fair enough. So in reality, I would say this: a garbage random phone coming out, not supporting Verizon- no surprise. A niche startup type of company trying to appeal to the most customers they can, not working on one of the nations largest 5g networks (their words not mine), I find that pretty surprising..

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Well you asked which phones don’t work on verizon so I gave you a good few