(06-24-2021, 02:28 PM)Zebulon Walton Wrote: Today I received a free 4G replacement flip phone from AT&T due to 3G service being phased out in February 2022. I did not ask for the phone, they just went ahead and sent it, and as expected it is a stripped-down Android phone filled with Google spyware. Trouble is I thought I had until February to switch over but the paperwork with the new phone said if I don't activate it myself it will automatically be activated in 30 days. (It has a new SIM and my old one will be deactivated.) I called AT&T support with my concerns, and my preference that my current SIM stay activated to install a phone of my own choosing (Pinephone). Needless to say there was nothing they could do to stop the automatic activation.
I really don't even want to turn this thing on but it looks like I'll have to let the spyware phone activate the new SIM and hopefully it will work in the Pinephone like the old one does. So it looks like assuming it works I'll be going with the Pinephone as my daily driver six or seven months faster than I thought. Since calling has been working well it shouldn't be a problem. If it doesn't work I'll be looking for another provider, as I will if AT&T cuts off the Pinephone for not being on their whitelist.
As an AT&T customer you're going to have a problem, I think. They appear to be using their 2G/3G network deactivation as an excuse to institute a whitelist, severely curtail BYOD (and boost device sales), and force as many users as possible onto android devices to be able to monitor and monitize their activities. T-mobile has thus far been better and as of now has no plans to institute a whitelist.
You might want to consider a Nokia 225
https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_us/nokia-225-4g
You may have to port your number to another carrier.
I understand the frustration; I had been using a Sailfish phone for the past three years but with the mandatory switch to VoLTE and Jolla's refusal to implement it thus far I had to make a change.