Get a dumb phone if you're that concerned. For real.
If you want to get half way there, use Degoogled Android (ASOP). It'll be a lot harder to use without Google Play Services (GPS), but it's doable. You can get apps from F-Droid or something. Just know that the more apps you get, your attack vector goes up.
Personally, I use Android with GPS. As does my wife. And we use Google Maps. There's just nothing better for navigation and such.
As far as videos out there about them always tracking... they did it wrong. AP mode doesn't exactly turn everything off. Nor does turning off location. A lot of the things that remain on are for other services. YOU CAN turn them all off tho. Just be careful with FUD. It's everywhere about literally everything.
GPS tracking is going to be within feet or yards. Triangulation via radio path to the SIM card is going to depend on location, but worst case is probably a couple miles. Best case can be pretty accurate, just not quite as good as GPS.
Indoor tracking via high frequency (4G or 5G) could be a seat location in a stadium if properly implemented.
Also you can use Google Maps without Google Play Services. Just can't sign in.
It will only use GPS though (unless you have MicroG with a different wireless location provider enabled) which just means it will take longer for the route to get mapped like an old school gps.
Turning of GPS doesn't exactly make you hidden location wise anyway, all it takes is 3 cell towers and the exact time it takes packets from each of them to get to and back to them from your phone and a simple piece of software to run those packet times through and they have your location to within a few feet...
if you want to hide, physically turn of your phone and put in a faraday cage/bag(leaving it on will drain your battery in no time through the phone constantly trying to connect to a network it can't get to), hell a few wraps of alu-foil or rolling it up in an empty chips-bag(mylar with metalized inside) would give near 100% guaranteed signal blockage, a metal can with a metal lid with a good seal(overlap joint rather than a typical paint-can seal)would also be likely to work.
There's tracking on literally anything that can communicate wirelessly. And probably even a few things that "can't" (think I've ready about wirelessly injecting stuff into a computer very close by; but not sure about going the other way).
If you want ASOP, probably the best way is to get a developer phone or a Google Pixel, which is by Google, but will work with ASOP (bootloader locked). With anything related to ASOP, you'll need to know at least a little using terminal commands.
You can find other devices.
As with anything, hardware can be hacked too. And if you go down that rabbit hole, you probably wouldn't want to have a single tech device in your home. 🙃
so keep your current phone (disconnected) for just your work apps if you can't live without them, and use a burner for your actual phone calls and text messages, and a real camera for pictures.
Exactly.
Get a dumb phone if you're that concerned. For real.
If you want to get half way there, use Degoogled Android (ASOP). It'll be a lot harder to use without Google Play Services (GPS), but it's doable. You can get apps from F-Droid or something. Just know that the more apps you get, your attack vector goes up.
Personally, I use Android with GPS. As does my wife. And we use Google Maps. There's just nothing better for navigation and such.
As far as videos out there about them always tracking... they did it wrong. AP mode doesn't exactly turn everything off. Nor does turning off location. A lot of the things that remain on are for other services. YOU CAN turn them all off tho. Just be careful with FUD. It's everywhere about literally everything.
https://microg.org/
https://calyxos.org/
GrapheneOS is also working on a sandbox for Google Play Services: https://grapheneos.org/usage#sandboxed-play-services
I don’t trust GrapheneOS. Too close to the graphene oxide in the vaccines
That's kinda stupid honestly. It's just a name and it came out long before 2020. Before that the guy worked on "CopperheadOS".
It's improved security over regular AOSP. It's extra strong. That's the point.
graphene is a critical technology that's going to revolutionize a few things. don't hate on it. just don't inject it
Also fairly easy to make yourself and quite a few DIY'able applications...
Im pretty sure tracking is via SIM, regardless of android or apple or what phone and so yeah AP and Loc off wont matter
GPS tracking is going to be within feet or yards. Triangulation via radio path to the SIM card is going to depend on location, but worst case is probably a couple miles. Best case can be pretty accurate, just not quite as good as GPS.
Indoor tracking via high frequency (4G or 5G) could be a seat location in a stadium if properly implemented.
Also you can use Google Maps without Google Play Services. Just can't sign in.
It will only use GPS though (unless you have MicroG with a different wireless location provider enabled) which just means it will take longer for the route to get mapped like an old school gps.
Turning of GPS doesn't exactly make you hidden location wise anyway, all it takes is 3 cell towers and the exact time it takes packets from each of them to get to and back to them from your phone and a simple piece of software to run those packet times through and they have your location to within a few feet...
if you want to hide, physically turn of your phone and put in a faraday cage/bag(leaving it on will drain your battery in no time through the phone constantly trying to connect to a network it can't get to), hell a few wraps of alu-foil or rolling it up in an empty chips-bag(mylar with metalized inside) would give near 100% guaranteed signal blockage, a metal can with a metal lid with a good seal(overlap joint rather than a typical paint-can seal)would also be likely to work.
Very true.
There's tracking on literally anything that can communicate wirelessly. And probably even a few things that "can't" (think I've ready about wirelessly injecting stuff into a computer very close by; but not sure about going the other way).
If you want ASOP, probably the best way is to get a developer phone or a Google Pixel, which is by Google, but will work with ASOP (bootloader locked). With anything related to ASOP, you'll need to know at least a little using terminal commands.
You can find other devices.
As with anything, hardware can be hacked too. And if you go down that rabbit hole, you probably wouldn't want to have a single tech device in your home. 🙃
so keep your current phone (disconnected) for just your work apps if you can't live without them, and use a burner for your actual phone calls and text messages, and a real camera for pictures.