[tor-talk] All I Want For X-mas: TorPhone

[spencerone at openmailbox.org]

Hello everybody,

With all of the great development happening around the Tor network this 
holiday season, it seems fitting to ask for something that would help me 
out tremendously: TorPhone.

We have a great back-end network, a sweet browser for most platforms 
[f/iOS & WP], and a kick-ass portable OS, just to name a few.  However, 
these do not necessarily meet my needs, and I presume the needs of many 
others, when on the road, which I am always on.

I propose, and please point me in the correct direction if I am 
overlooking something that already exists, a bare-bones WiFi-only mobile 
device.

Ideally it would run an open OS tied to an open organization and come 
with nothing installed on it except for a mobile version of TorBrowser. 
The best example I can think of now is a forked version of Android with 
Orweb/bot installed.  Other applications could be installed at the 
discretion of the human, like F-Droid and whatnot, presuming they meet 
the security ethics of the network.

I could take most any Android device and only use WiFi but most 
offerings are through a cellular service provider on a WiFi-only SIM.  I 
could also just avoid using a cellular SIM altogether but the devices 
still come preloaded with all kinds of stuff that do things I don't want 
them to, like tracking and reporting, most of which can only be 
disabled, not uninstalled, at least not by me.  I could also throw an 
Android alternative on it but in most cases that requires entering into 
a contract with the manufacturer regarding the now unlocked bootloader, 
let alone the learning curve of actually doing so.  And I could get a 
device that comes without a locked bootloader like a Jolla running 
Sailfish or a OnePlus running CyanogenMod, though they are also quite 
tied to either a manufacturer or a provider, or both.  If Android isn't 
the best option, what is?

Knowing very little about compiling or securing software, like most 
people, this out of the box experience seems quite valuable.

If this is a reasonable request, and if this is the right place to make 
such a request, I am all aboard with assisting development in anyway 
that I can; form development, mechanical engineering, interface, 
experience, packaging, whatever...I just want to see a truly usable 
mobile device in my hand, and the hands of others.

Any thoughts?



Happy Holidays!

Awesome,
SpencerOne