Puri.sm is starting a campaign to create a suite of online services and apps to help you regain some privacy. OMGUbuntu Article Here And the Librem One website here. No ads, no tracking. There is a small monthly fee, because free stuff online comes with tracking and ads.
Apps are available for Android, iOS and eventually for the Librem 5 privacy phone which is due out in the third quarter of 2019.
This is a smart move, because:
- It gives current Android and iOS users a suite of more private alternatives that they can use and get used to right now.
- It will make it easier for Android and iOS users to switch to a Librem 5 phone in the future and should make sales easier.
- It reassures Librem 5 buyers, that there will be a core suite of needed cloud services and apps for that device.
- It eliminates totally depending on the open source community to develop these critical apps for the Librem 5. I’m sure the open source community will develop similar apps, but this takes the guess work out of it.
Android users will get the most immediate if they adopt these Librem One apps and quit using the free apps from Google and others, that they replace. iOS has more privacy built in - Apple does some tracking they just don’t sell their tracking data to others. But still, if you are using third party apps on iOS they may be tracking you. Apple’s App Store privacy guidelines are tighter, but they are not 100%.
I like the fact that they have included a VPN app called “Tunnel” in with the price of the standard suite. That makes the US $7.99 monthly price seem much more reasonable.
I don’t see any mention of a calendar app in Librem One. I suspect this will be a freebie that will come with the Librem 5 phone.
Anyway, this is a good move and well worth looking into.
