• Other
  • New FIG Kosher Phone

Flippy so you think that they did create it from scratch and now the manufacturer is selling it separately?

also i just saw earlier that there was a question of whether they created it from scratch or not and i was just trying to show that they didn't. im pretty well versed in the manufacturing and backend of creating phones. i learned a lot when i worked with OnePlus.

    • FlippyLevel 6 - Platinum Elite Member

      Amped I actually think they did not, just trying to say that even if they did, its possible for it to show up later because thats just what the factories do. If they did it from scratch it would look a bit better hopefully, and not like another chinese knockoff.

      Amped i learned a lot when i worked with OnePlus.

      Thats interesting, what did you do for OnePlus?

        Flippy its possible for it to show up later because thats just what the factories do

        this is precisely what happened to fig many times as I know personally, many mock ups that they designed from scratch have surfaced on the market, these Chinese factories have no concept of contract and private client dealings.

        Flippy I beta tested phones for them under NDA before they were publicly released

        6 days later

        actually I went digging around a bit and came across those same phones on alibaba and struck up a chat with the manufacturer, Shenzhen Qimei Electronic co ltd, and I got into a chat with an employee named Jianfeng Li("Jeff Li"), and asked a few questions.

        One of those were of I can receive a sample of the Alibaba 70$ phone with a higher resolution. He says sure and sends me this picture . I notice that his thumb and index fingers are covering something, namely the fig logo. But he gave it away by not covering the app that says FIG messenger. I tell him that this looked like a product ordered by FIG. He replys yes and quickly deletes the picture,but I already got a screenshot in. He asked my how I knew and I told him from the FIG messenger app. He then says that they (the company) are developing the 2nd gen of fig devices.

        I proned for more details, asked if I could buy a sample, and he said that the "shape mold and pcba are all customized by FIG so they cannot sell them to other customers", even though he told me before that they designed alot of shapes and FIG chose one of them. Anyway, I digress.

        He then posted a few images of a few colors that I could order.Some of them have some sort of blur applied in certain parts, probably to cover the FIG logo, lol. Although none of the prototypes have a back camera, they all resemble the fig phone, even the middle button under the center button (unlike the photo he shared which actually was prototype, or final,not sure).

        I got a little friendly with him, and he asked if I was Jewish, and I said yes, and he shared some more info. He told me that the Hebrew keyboard input was difficult to implement, and he also told me that their company developed the custom android os on the phone and disabled app installation, and fig supplied the apk which I'm assuming he meant the fig messaging app, and they integrated it into the system.

          • FlippyLevel 6 - Platinum Elite Member

            lgexalter1 "Born kosher" is pretty misleading, however it happened. Its android with a block. Anything running android is "born android", and then locked up.

            lgexalter1 I guess born kosher would mean that the company designed the aosp build themselves and installed it on the phone m'tchilah. Here FIG did not - they just told the company what to do (block the browser,block installation of apps) like what you could do with ADB yourself.

            Regardless I don't think it's that important(or interesting) to fight over the definition of "born kosher". All I intended to do was post what I found. I also wanted to dispel the notion that this was anything different manufacturing-wise from the previous fig flip.

            • FlippyLevel 6 - Platinum Elite Member

              lgexalter1 All good points and truthfully, everything is a grey area now, including what is 'kosher' (no browser? filtered broweser? no apps?....), what is a smartphone, and more. It's a confusing matter. It's not one size fits all and that's what makes the Yetzer Hora be able to gain a foothold here. Technology is complicated.

              lgexalter1 I'll ask the manufacturer tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it's removed. If i'm not mistaken usually when you factory reset a phone, it loads the "backup" of the os stored on a partition of the storage, and this "backup factory os" contains the default apps and configurations which in stock android usually includes a browser app. So the manufacturer probably removed it from the os and the "backup factory os". Same thing regarding app installation. Again, I'll ask the manufacturer tmrw.

                Helix_X_Dome Congratulations, u found the factory FIG is working with. The new edition of the fig flip has been built and molded in a custom way, as I know from seeing the many different samples they received, officially the terms in which this design would be offered and sold to other people would be illegal on the manufacturers part.

                The definition of "born kosher" should not be the investigation, as it is a simple slogan that FIG chose, although I'm sure they didn't realize at first that it sounds like something its not, making ppl think its some sort of new OS. If it makes anyone feel better, the newer models will not have that slogan on it anymore as they understand that it is misleading to the investigators lol.

                But the fact is, the idea that until you build your own OS independent of android, you cannot be called "Born Kosher" is foolish. The phone has the security of a OS that they would have created themselves, thanks to the hard work of the android developers that are involved. And there's a future for this company, so if they make it big, maybe they can embark on the journey of coding a totally custom OS, but lets be honest that is a very far fetched dream, I cannot begin to imagine the money and recourses this would require. But for now the product is a custom built phone with a secure modified android OS, no browser, no email, no entertainment, no package installer.

                I mentioned this before on this thread, that I'm not advertising for this company at all, I don't make a penny from them either, I just am affiliated to the people that created it and I am a beta tester for them. So I'm just here to give the info that keeps the oilam informed.

                The newer phones will be much better than previous models, and the problems they had earlier are being dealt with now in a more easier fashion. I was told they might roll out a customer service by phone system, which would be great for customers. And also heard the new models have been submitted to Google for verification, which is a long process and will definitely be hard to keep to all their demand as to which their phones need to comply with. But if it could be verified, as we will see in the coming months, the phone should support android auto and the whole experience will be allot easier with google play services.

                Thank for reading till the end lol.

                  • MmkwLevel 1 - Junior Member

                    does anyone know the eta for deliveries,
                    also what's about ribis (ריבית) for the pre orders

                      • FlippyLevel 6 - Platinum Elite Member

                        Helix_X_Dome You are correct. The browser does not come back with a reset as that would be an obvious (and stupid) mistake on their part which thankfully they haven't made.

                        Just out of curiosity: Does anyone on this forum actually use this phone?

                          MXRJR

                          Congratulations, u found the factory FIG is working with.

                          What do I win?? Do I get a gold star??

                          Anyway thanks for confirming my findings. And I agree with your definition of born kosher, but like I said before, it's kicking a dead horse by now, nobody really cares about defining it, or at least I don't.

                          And also heard the new models have been submitted to Google for verification, which is a long process and will definitely be hard to keep to all their demand as to which their phones need to comply with.

                          About this, interestingly, I heard the opposite in the chat I had with the R&D guy earlier, he told me that Google Play Services are not supported and it won't be verified by Google since verification is pricey. I would send a screenshot of the chat but the forum doesn't support uploading pictures.

                          But if it could be verified, as we will see in the coming months, the phone should support android auto and the whole experience will be allot easier with google play services.

                          I'm not sure Google Play Services would matter for anything besides Android Auto or maybe Waze, since regardless you can't install apps, but I digress.

                            • FlippyLevel 6 - Platinum Elite Member

                              Helix_X_Dome Yes I have it also for my collection, what I mean was does anyone on this forum actually use it on a daily basis. Not use it for testing... or just to try it out...

                                Helix_X_Dome he told me that Google Play Services are not supported and it won't be verified by Google since verification is pricey

                                Pricey means that if you can pay, then u get what u need, if you cannot pay, then you don't. In the event that the verification goes through, we can safely assume that the price they paid was worthy of their verification. Something that's pricey doesn't stop you from getting there, you just need to pay the price. The guy ur talking to is prob Chinese and as I know from experience they can say things from very ungrounded standpoints, this being the perfect example, that they wont get verified cuz its pricey, well what if pricey doesn't matter? Anyway the verification is in the works, that is what I am being told.

                                Helix_X_Dome I'm not sure Google Play Services would matter for anything besides Android Auto

                                Well yes, this is the goal essentially to be able to continue to develop this phone with features that can be used being that it has been verified. I'm sure there are many backend things that will run much better if this can go through.

                                Flippy Just out of curiosity: Does anyone on this forum actually use this phone?

                                are you referring to the new version which is not publicly out yet (FIG FLIP II)?

                                  Flippy wait how did you get it? I thought it didnt release yet

                                    Hi Everyone. Fights are always fun, so now I get to give my 2 Cents 🙂.

                                    Helix_X_Dome LOL. Nice, great investigating. Cool Stuff you did. I honestly would have given up then and there, I wouldn't have had that creativity. I approve of it.

                                    @EVERYONE In terms of born kosher, it seems like people aren't arguing on "kosher", but they are arguing on "born".

                                    When the FIG company first receives the phone, I don't know what it looks like (well, I know a bit, but not sure I can share it here). Whether they get it with a browser or not, they aren't using that rom. They are building AOSP in a safe and kosher way (custom rom). That means they probably:

                                    • Not including partitions that allow device flashing (at least not without some sort of verification - i.e. firehose)
                                    • Not including a developer options activity in the settings app
                                    • Not including a usb deugging popup in the phone systemui app
                                    • Not including a functioning package installer
                                    • Very Likely, not including certain hardware parts which allow flashing.
                                    • have a Very safe and limited recovery
                                    • Don't support GSI Flashing or DSU Sideloading
                                    • Doesn't include apps with in-app browsers,etc.

                                    I would call this a custom OS (building LineagoOS is already called custom Rom, this is even more).

                                    Having said that:

                                    There are apps on there (e.g. waze) which by default have issues, and need to be filtered. There are many tools to do this in a strong manner., especially when building AOSP from scratch. They probably have many protections, so even if someone managed to get around some things, there would be other ways to block that. They probably also have some remote access to patch things if needed (does this phone get system updates by the way?)



                                    So, I guess this get into a very complicated Sugya of abortion. When is the phone considered born? Is it murdering the phone to put a custom build of AOSP if the chinese sent it with a browser 🙂? Do we say their phone their choice? What about by vaccines, do we say their phone their choice? But, point is, many politics involved.


                                    In terms of making a phone based off a fully new operating system, I agree with

                                    MXRJR lets be honest that is a very far fetched dream, I cannot begin to imagine the money and recourses this would require.

                                    That would be like building windows, building android, etc. And even Android is based off Linux. And KaiOS, which is custom for flips, is based off linux.

                                    Anyways, to quote:

                                    MXRJR Thank for reading till the end lol.