The Freedom Phone is unlike other smartphones and with units ready to ship next month, here's an overview of what to expect if buying one.
The Freedom Phone is a little different to other smartphones as it looks to place a greater focus on security, privacy and freedom of speech. Over the past year, criticisms have been leveled at a number of social media services and app platforms for their approach to content moderation and especially when it comes to deplatforming. In part, Freedom Phone is a response to those criticisms.
The issue of moderation on social media and elsewhere is not new. However, the topic did receive greater attention than usual in the wake of the U.S. Capitol events that took place on Jan. 6. Specifically, the move by Facebook and Twitter to ban Donald Trump and the move by Amazon Web Services, the App Store and Google Play to remove support for Parler.
Following these events, the Freedom Phone was teased as a way for consumers to buy a device that, according to those behind the phone, won’t silence the user. More recently, the Freedom Phone was officially announced by Erik Finman, the self-professed “youngest Bitcoin millionaire" that’s behind the project. While now announced, and available to order directly from the Freedom Phone website, units are not expected to start shipping until next month.
The Freedom Phone costs $499.99 to buy. For that price, buyers will get a device that promises to put privacy first by stopping users from being tracked and, at the same time, providing access to an app store that doesn’t censor or ban apps. The phone even comes pre-loaded with a number of apps that aren’t typically preinstalled on a new device, such as Parler, DuckDuckGo, Newsmax, among others. Running on FreedomOS and utilizing a “Trust” privacy guard feature, the device will look to alert the user to on-device security/privacy threats.
Whether a consumer should buy the Freedom Phone depends on their individual needs. The Freedom Phone makes a lot of promises and it remains to be seen if it can deliver on them. For example, while the phone itself looks to protect the user, how frequent or reliable security updates will be remains to be seen, and likely only something that will become evident over time. Not to mention, while the Freedom Phone looks to offer access to apps that have been banned or limited elsewhere, it may also limit access to other popular apps. Specifically, as this is a device that’s marketed as a phone free of ‘big tech’, it should be expected that access to Google’s suite of apps, and other big tech apps, won’t be included by default. There's also no guarantee that they will be available to download through the “PatriApp Store” either.
Overall, the Freedom Phone is not going to be the best solution for everyone. Those who want a typical and reliable experience will want to look to some of the usual phone-makers instead. However, for those that do see specific value in the Freedom phone, it might be a solution for gaining access to apps that have proven more difficult to download from elsewhere, even if it limits access to other apps in the process.
Source: Erik Finman/Twitter, Freedom Phone
