I agree, and I believe too many geeks who are now parents (including the author of the blog post) do not realize that the computers they grew up with, and in particular the Internet they grew up with, is nothing like computers (phones) and the Internet kids have access today.
The Grimm fairy tales (1819) are full of graphical violence, child abuse, anti-semitism, and incest. They are much more harmful than anything that I've encountered on the Internet. So why are we discussing internet harms instead of book harms? Because people are fucking stupid.
And why are we getting concerned about "sharing private information with random web sites" when that's not the solution being discussed. The solution is a simple handshake:
service: Is the person assigned this device old enough to use this service?
Honestly I'm tired with every app trying to become the everything app.
Now TikTok wants to be a messaging app. Snapchat has a short video feed just like TikTok. WhatsApp only has a text feed, how long until they also add a video feed?
Not sure how well that works in China, but I like that when I travel I can have a similar schedule compared to home.
I wouldn't want to have to learn a different schedule such as getting up at midnight, having lunch at 04:00 then going to bed at 15:00. That would also make jet lag much worse because you wouldn't be able to rely on your watch to know what activity you're supposed to be doing at the time.
It also improves the rush hours by enlarging the time range. Most jobs start at 9am or later, so if kids also started at 9am or later the morning rush hour (for traffic but also public transportation) would be even worse.
At least GrapheneOS is releasing up to date OS versions and patches very quickly, quicker than all the vendors except Google.
And in terms of the security, they release binary patches for the exploits under embargo until...... mid-2026. Remember November 2025 security bulletin? Multiple RCEs, media wrote articles about that.... Meanwhile GOS was long patched.
What is the most recent version? 3.5. What Android revision is it based on? Lineage 22.2, which is Android 15.
It also claims that it includes "all Android security patches available as of February, 2nd 2026" .....but not all patches get back ported, meaning they miss many fixes and improvements.
And that's just the start.
Tbh I'd rather run Lineage Os on the older phone that this.
The discussion really depends on which country we're talking about, but basically speed bikes are not illegal. They're just considered as moped, meaning a 50cc motorbike and have to respect all the rules mopeds are subject to, such as:
- Having a license plate and back mirror
- Be insured
- Wear a helmet (not a bike helmet, a moped/motorcycle helmet)
- Drive on the road, not on bike lanes
Nobody is arguing they're equivalent to a 300cc motorbike.
They don't have license plates, they have mandatory registration stickers. You can't read it unless you look closely at the sticker while the bike is stopped. It's to identify owners of stolen bikes, not identifying running bikes.
To be clear, when the OP wrote "Japan has bicycles with license plates", it is important to clarify the term "bicycle". It would more accurate to say "motorized bicycle". If you ride something that looks like a bicycle where you can power it only with a throttle button (no pedalling required), then it requires a license plate, at least in Tokyo. Explanation here: https://www.city.inagi.tokyo.jp/en/kurashi/zeikin/1002693/10...
Also, you can ask Google AI for more sources and info using this prompt:
> I used an e-bike (without a licence plate) last week in Tokyo.
Did you (1) need to pedal to get assistance, or (2) could you get power with a throttle button only? If #2, then you were breaking the law. It seems like police are not yet enforcing. In neighborhoods with a lot of "night life", I see this often with host-looking dudes. I expect 6-12 months after the law is activated, police will begin to crack down. (This is a pretty normal pattern when introducing new traffics laws in Japan.)
...and then you look into what devices they are using and what they are ignoring that could have been resolved by tinkering.
My father-in-law has just had an issue where Xiaomi's camera app took up 95GB of space on his phone. Not the photos - just the camera app. Uninstalling updates for the app resolved the issue, all the space was magically back.
HN is mostly US and apparently in US even geeks have given up on Android.
Anyway, here is my experience when I upgraded from a Pixel 8 to Pixel 10 Pro: login to my Google account, let the backup restore happen then my new phone was identical to the old one.
I only had to do the login process to a few messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp, and my home settings on Smart Launcher had to be manually imported but that's pretty much it.
Basically, a lot of what OP lists as "bare minimum requirements" are just preferences. If he used his Android phone like an iPhone, and like most people use it (with minimal tinkering) then the migration would have been just as smooth.
Yeah, and it's been like that for years - the past decade, at least.
I've had a couple of Nexuses, a few of the Pixels, with a Nokia in the mix too. Never any problem - just log in, wait a few mins for the apps to automatically install and the data to backup/restore (which, iirc, happens over local wifi rather than going through the cloud). The last upgrade included a separate work profile managed by MS Intune, and that was also smoothly handled by the upgrade process.
Yes, Whatsapp chat history has to be handled separately (as others have mentioned) because of the e2e encryption. The only other thing that needs doing is confirming that I want Firefox as my default browser when I first run it. Otherwise, it's all completely hands-off.
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