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by kolla8 hours ago |
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upvoteby hbn8 hours ago|
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Just off the dome:

- Suddenly being without a phone while you're travelling or dealing with something important is generally not fun

- Anything stored locally that isn't backed up is gone

- You can't transfer over your eSIM yourself

- Probably going to be a pain in the ass to get into accounts where the now brick was set up for 2FA

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upvoteby __MatrixMan__7 hours ago|
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If you're worried about things like this you should probably switch to a physical sim and just earmark some money so you can buy a new phone when it happens and transfer the sim. Maybe get some yubikeys while you're at it.

Anything complex enough to get over the air updates could lose its trustworthiness at any time. If a device is going to contain your digital soul, it should be simple and pluggable.

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upvoteby epihelix6 hours ago|
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I use an eSim adaptor in my physical sim slot. You can then transfer eSims effortlessly between phones. This seems the obvious solution to get the best of both worlds - all the good things about eSims, none of the bad.
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upvoteby hbn7 hours ago|
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I do still use a physical SIM but I'm sure we're all on borrowed time. The last 3 generations of iPhones don't have a SIM tray at all in the US.
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upvoteby drnick16 hours ago|
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> The last 3 generations of iPhones don't have a SIM tray at all in the US.

Another good reason not to buy an iPhone. As if there weren't enough good reasons already.

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upvoteby hbn6 hours ago|
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Yeah I'm sure Android manufacturers aren't gonna follow suit, just like how they all have headphone jacks still right?
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upvoteby bigyabai4 hours ago|
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Many of them do have a headphone jack, still. If you're the sort of person that wants hardware options, Android has 'em.
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upvoteby hbn2 hours ago|
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If you want options, you go Android

If you want something good and reliable, you go iPhone

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upvoteby drnick12 hours ago|
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> If you want something good and reliable, you go iPhone

Unless by "good" you mean being able to install software without Apple's blessing. Or send files to and from the device without iTunes or other similar monstrosity.

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upvoteby shermantanktop7 hours ago|
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All the same applies if your phone is stolen…or lost…or seized at the airport.

Devices need to be considered disposable. Expensive but disposable.

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upvoteby hbn7 hours ago|
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Okay but I try to prevent any of those things from happening, unlike the suggestion to use your phone with a high rate of failure until it dies.
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upvoteby SoftTalker7 hours ago|
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All of those things are possibilities with any phone. If you're not prepared for the loss/damage/failure of your phone that's on you.
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upvoteby grahamburger6 hours ago|
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Definitely a good idea to plan on this at all times. In my case this looks like:

* All photos auto upload to Google photos

* All other important files are in a syncthing folder with at least two other devices (laptop+desktop)

* 2fa in Authy with cloud-sync

* Passwords on Firefox sync

* Google Fi is my carrier, and pulls eSIM when I log in to the app even without my old phone

* Google voice number is my main phone number. I don't lose access to incoming or outgoing sms or voice calls if I lose my phone.

In a pinch, I can buy a cheap prepaid phone and sim while traveling and be fully functional and reachable. I've had to do this before, and while I probably wouldn't go to the trouble for work, I feel compelled to be at least reachable for family.

I've thought about de-googling this further; photos could go straight into syncthing and I could port my # to a generic SIP provider that offers SMS. So far neither have seemed quite worth the trouble.

I've always felt very uncomfortable treating my phone as anything other than a rather overpowered thin-client.

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upvoteby pimeys1 hours ago|
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Yubikeys can store 2fa codes. You just install their app from F-Droid and show the NFC key to get the codes.

Now the codes are with you and not in your phone or in the cloud.

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upvoteby SoftTalker6 hours ago|
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One flaw in that is that Google Voice or other VOIP provider numbers are often rejected for 2FA or account validation.
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upvoteby grahamburger6 hours ago|
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Sometimes, yes, but not that often IME. Maybe 10-15% of the time.
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upvoteby mattwad6 hours ago|
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I recommend you get off Authy - they don't have a browser extension or a desktop client, and surprise they don't have a way to export your codes either. I had to send them a GDPR data request, and then Claude decrypted the csv file they sent. I now use Ente and it's so nice having 2fa inside a browser extension. I can also export the secrets at will.
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upvoteby __aru2 hours ago|
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Keepass is also a good alternative to Authy, caveat being you need some way to sync the db file between devices.

I personally use Keepass for 2FA, Bitwarden for passwords. It's worked great for me so far, and I expect to stay with this setup for the foreseeable future.

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upvoteby hbn7 hours ago|
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Yes but I don't want my phone to be lost or destroyed or stolen. So using a phone that will likely fail until it does so is not taking preventative measures.
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upvoteby someonebaggy7 hours ago|
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They are stronger possibilities once you know they are going to happen eventually, not just that they could theoretically happen.
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