We used to sell phones running CalyxOS. Great privacy OS. Built-in VPN. Clean interface. No google tracking. A great operating system that we used on our personal phones.
Then the updates stopped coming. The lead developer for CalyxOS resigned, and now the head of the Calyx Foundation has also left. They say it will be 4-6 months before any new updates are released.
CalyxOS development has basically flatlined. Security patches are months behind. New device support disappeared. The project isn’t dead, but it’s not exactly alive either.
I couldn’t keep selling phones that wouldn’t get security updates. Privacy means nothing if your phone is vulnerable to every new exploit.
Why CalyxOS Faded
Small development team. Limited funding. The usual open-source project problems.
CalyxOS was always more of a passion project than a sustainable business. When key developers moved on, the whole thing slowed to a crawl. Updates that should take weeks started taking months.
Meanwhile, GrapheneOS kept pushing Pixel-only elitism. LineageOS stayed half-compromised with Google services.
I needed something that actually got maintained.
Enter iodéOS
iodéOS has active development. Regular updates. A sustainable funding model. The team actually responds when you report bugs.
More importantly, it works on way more devices than CalyxOS ever did. Samsung phones. OnePlus. Xiaomi. Fairphone. If LineageOS supports it, iodéOS probably does too.
The privacy features are just as good as CalyxOS was. Better in some ways.
iodéOS vs LineageOS: The Real Difference
LineageOS is solid. Stable. Well-maintained. But it’s privacy theater.
Sure, you can install microG manually. You can add F-Droid. You can pretend you’re private while some of google’s code still runs in the background.
LineageOS removes the obvious google apps but leaves the a bit of the surveillance infrastructure intact. Location services still ping google. The captive portal detection still hits google servers. SafetyNet still phones home.
It’s like removing facebook’s app but keeping facebook’s tracking pixels on every website.
iodéOS actually rips out the surveillance. System-level ad blocking. Real tracker protection. A firewall that shows you what’s trying to escape your phone.
What You Actually Get
LineageOS with privacy that actually works.
The interface looks identical. App compatibility is the same. But now the OS isn’t talking to google’s servers behind your back.
The built-in ad blocker alone makes web browsing tolerable again. No more waiting for banner ads to load. No more video ads eating your data plan.
Battery life improves because apps can’t constantly ping tracking servers. Performance gets better because the OS isn’t running background surveillance.
Why We Made The Switch
CalyxOS taught us that privacy OSes need sustainable development. Good intentions aren’t enough if security patches stop coming.
iodéOS has momentum. Active development. Growing device support. The kind of project that won’t disappear when one developer gets burned out.
Don’t get me wrong, LineageOS works fine if you enjoy manually patching privacy holes and want control over every aspect of your phone. Most people want their phone to be private out of the box, and easy to use without thinking about it.
I’m talking about privacy that actually works, not privacy that requires a computer science degree to maintain.
The Bottom Line
iodéOS gives you LineageOS reliability with privacy that’s actually private. All the benefits of custom Android without the surveillance baggage. We still sell phones with LineageOS, because we’re a firm believer in giving people choices. But if you want easy privacy, iodéOS looks like a solid replacement for CalyxOS.