Probably already exists.
I hate the constant updates. I hate the end-of-life OS forks. I hate the limited programming languages. I hate that there's this complicated gatekeeping, where you have to jump through a bunch of extra hoops to install a program if it hasn't been blessed by some specific official organization. And I hate that all the mobile phones come locked up (if not to a mobile carrier, then to an operating system, only able to be maintained by a specific 3rd party, and the device becomes a useless brick once that specific 3rd party stops supporting that specific operating system on that specific device).
Regular computers work much better. A common architecture. Run any OS built for that common architecture. Run any program that has executable machine code for that common architecture. You can install a different OS when the old one is unsupported. You can keep using the hardware until the hardware dies, not just until the company who made it drops that hardware's support. Common hardware components so every OS doesn't have to support every different individual model of computer. No gatekeeping of the programs you can install. No extra hoops. Just a machine that can run whatever you want it to.
I just want a computer in my pocket. I don't want all the extra bullshit.
The desktop has some mitigations against this. PWNing your mobile device could completely wreck you in a lot of ways.
I switched from android to iphone because someone 0-day'd me. I'm not saying it can't happen on iOS or something; just less likely - and mostly because of these restrictions.
I'm 28. I started using computers on a regular basis when I was ~9 years old, playing RuneScape. Since then, I've spend probably 10s of thousands of hours on the internet - downloading torrents, signing up for sketchy Russian websites, doing online banking, testing experimental software downloaded over HTTP from a .xyz domain. I graduated high school, went to a technical college for compsci, graduated, worked in helpdesk, desktop support, IT management, and more recently DevOps. I develop software using all sorts of package managers, and used hundreds of thousands of unvetted software packages that arrived as dependencies.
Not once have I, or anyone I've been responsible for, been hacked. No crypto, no viruses, nothing. What the heck are you guys doing getting your Android phones hacked???? Like I only use a modicum of common sense these days, but I guess I've just been lucky and have been the odd one out. I still enjoy reading HN arrivals about security though, so maybe I just have always been slightly more security conscience?
In any case, this is just a stream of consciousness / gut feeling comment. Don't put too much weight into it, I haven't.
On the other hand, it's true that some people find out their credit score is trash right before buying a house, or that their name is involved in terrorism when applying for a visa, etc.
Isn't that more than a typical sandbox what you're asking for?
The GrapheneOS developers said they're working on a feature where every app could be run in its own VM, like on ChromeOS: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/20647
> some folders, no camera or mic etc. I understand that app permissions do the same
The "some folders" part is already true for Android. Apps can't blanket access files/folders of other apps (save for ones stored in "external storage", which has also been scoped down in the recent releases: https://source.android.com/docs/core/storage/scoped).
> more convenient than having to define granular permissions each time you install an app
It isn't Android that makes this inconvenient. It is the app developers that cause "prompt fatigue" (by showing permission requests repeatedly) or "blackmail" by refusing to work until permissions are granted. A new sandbox mechanism is unlikely to change much.
That's why spoofing should be an option. You want GPS? Timbuktu. You want my camera? Here's a close up video of a saggy scrotum. You need access to my contacts? Here's an address book with the contact details for all the funeral services within a 50 mile radius.
You can do that. Pretty easily. Having to manually update software is pretty annoying though, so why not automate it?
Did we all forget Bonzai Buddy?
That model doesn’t work for most people. Most people want the latest version at all times, and don’t want to have to sysadmin their phone.
pretty sure you can do that, just use non android/ios mobile os
kali linux,ubuntu mobile os is up there, no one force you to use android/ios system
> "Just let me download and run an application"
You can download an ".apk" file and just install + run it, like an ".exe" or ".msi"
We all put far too much faith in the github.com TLS cert.
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