hardware switch wishlist/discussion - switches on the outside?

[mypine]

To be honest, I was really expecting the hardware switches to be more accessible so I could control them easily throughout the day. It would be comforting to have switches immediately accessible so I could see them and be able to be switched on/off again throughout the day without taking off the back.

Did the team look into making the switches accessible from the outside?

Switching them requires some type of small device. I can't even access them with the corner of a fingernail. Is it possible that future models will have much more accessible hardware switches that can be switched with a finger or fingernail easily?

Are there limitations or problems with switching the various modules on/off many times throughout the day?

What, if any, are the foreseeable problems with making the switches more accessible, and on the outside of the phone?

[ksmithaz1]

I had to respond to this one.
I used a sewing needle.
This is a hacker toy. as such, I woud like a spare "back". I want to cut it so I can remove the battery, sim,sd, and flip the switches, and run a spin tab to hold the battery down. That way I can swap sd's and SIM's without A) leaving the back off and dinking with a tool to hit buttons, or constantly peeling the b*tch off and on.
Might be a bit pre-mature for a wish list, that hacks up the actual phone design. Let's see what stable working software these folks come up with, and I'm sure future designs will change to accomodate the inevitable oopsies. If these designs incrementally improve this could quickly become a defacto ARM hardware standard (thiink IBMpc). This is really slick stuff.

[mypine]

I had to respond to this one.
I used a sewing needle.
This is a hacker toy. as such, I woud like a spare "back". I want to cut it so I can remove the battery, sim,sd, and flip the switches, and run a spin tab to hold the battery down. That way I can swap sd's and SIM's without A) leaving the back off and dinking with a tool to hit buttons, or constantly peeling the b*tch off and on.
Might be a bit pre-mature for a wish list, that hacks up the actual phone design. Let's see what stable working software these folks come up with, and I'm sure future designs will change to accomodate the inevitable oopsies. If these designs incrementally improve this could quickly become a defacto ARM hardware standard (thiink IBMpc). This is really slick stuff.

A needle would be easier to carry around than the big (but pointy) tool I'm using now. If I had a case so I don't poke myself that is, lol. Thanks for the tip (I think there's a pun there )

[jarbas]

i think this is a very bad design decision, what is the use case of hardware switches?

The whole point for me was to have everything off except when i needed it, having to open the phone and use a tool for it defeats the purpose completely, i will just leave everything on all the time, might not have any switches for all i care, it's just a linux phone... not a privacy phone

Do i have some spyware using wifi? too bad, wifi is on, if it was off and i needed it i could not turn it on easily, a phone is to use on the move, not at home surrounded by tools, if i use my pinephone for a car dashboard or something i can set and forget, NOT the use case for a phone

[Boern]

Perhaps an alternative backplate with outer switcher reaching the inner ones could be a possibility. I don't think 3D printing is fine enough for this, though.

[InsideJob]

I'd be happy with just one easily accessible "privacy" switch that simultaneously turns the microphones and cameras on/off. It's not like I'm going to do any serious computing on a phone so I see no reason to turn off the modems. I'll just turn the whole thing off if I need that much privacy.

[BlueDeer]

Although this is my first post I do have an opinion on this as well. and I think it's perfectly fine. Switches on the outside? My first thought goes to rain. I text and walk rain or shine. Second thought is snagging. I work on a ton of different things some days I wear slacks others I wear tore up jeans and although the switches are tiny, I have had less catch on even less. I also would hate to have dirt and dust get into these small crevices and cause the switch to be either stuck open or stuck closed. The same goes for the battery. with as man y little magnetic components and batteries being able to discharge through the slightest short, yeah I'll opt for the cover that keeps out the voodoo. I plan on using the switches as safety precaution. and with the battery being removable, in a pinch I would pull it solely. Also as I wrote this I double checked the six switches: modem, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, microphone and cameras; I almost would rather it be one switch. If I'm going to turn off one, I'll probably turn them all off, they all are a compromise in some form.

Can't wait for the UBports edition to ship, I took to long to pull the trigger for the Braveheart model. As I've never rooted a phone, or flashed a rom, I felt that took some priority. Hopefully GrapheneOS will be compatible, haven't looked into it much yet. I would have probably purchased two but that wasn't an option. 

[wibble]

GraheneOS requires hardware like a keystore and verified boot that the PinePhone doesn't have.