Our team has just started upgrading iodéOS to version 5!
1 ) What is iodéOS 5?
As you may know by now, iodéOS is an open source mobile system based on Android, and more precisely based on LineageOS. iodéOS keeps the stability and security level of LineageOS and add its own modifications on top of it, such as:
- a privacy-friendly selection of preinstalled apps, a well-chosen mix between LineageOS apps and other open source ones. For your record, our preinstalled apps are uninstallable
- the microG services preinstalled, which replace the Google Play Services, and add the compatibility with the vast majority of Android apps in a more privacy-preserving way
- our own built-in adblocker (the iodé blocker)
- Google stripped off system settings in order to avoid any communication with Google by default.
Android 14 was released last October. And we are proud to announce that we very recently upgraded iodéOS to version 5, which is based on Android 14!
2 ) What changes does iodéOS 5 bring to iodéOS 4?
As usual, we will mainly focus here on privacy and security aspects brought by the upgrade instead of cosmetic changes. To name a few:
- Selected Photos Access.
This allows you to grant apps access to specific images and videos in your library, rather than granting access to all media of a given type. - Preventing installing too old apps.
Apps targetting older versions of Android (up to version 5.1) can’t be used anymore. This is a pretty big change because malware often targets older API levels in order to bypass security and privacy protections that have been introduced in newer Android versions. - Data Sharing Updates.
In Android 14, you will see a new section in the location runtime permission dialog that highlights when an app shares location data with third parties. This section of the dialog will include information, such as why the app may decide to share data with third parties, and links you to where you can get more information and control the app’s data access.
This is a new privacy-enhancing feature that helps you to understand how your location data is being used and to make informed decisions about which apps you grant access to your location.
You will find here a complete list of Android 14 changes.
On a side note, the iodéOS 5 upgrade may also bring changes to a number of preinstalled app. A poll is currently live in our forum.
3) How do I get iodéOS 5? Is my device supported?
Currently available as beta for the Fairphone 4, we are going to progressively roll iodéOS 5 out for more devices. Feel free to join our community channels (forum, Mastodon, Telegram beta group, etc.) to follow our progress!
4) Do I need to reset my data to upgrade to iodéOS 5?
No. All our updates and upgrades are done Over-The-Air and don’t need a reset of the phone, unless explicitally expressed such as in the past for the Samsung series 9 (encryption method change).
