To Q or not to Q?

I've been a big fan of Cyanogenmod and its spiritual successor LineageOS for many years.  I've been rocking LineageOS 16 (Pie) on my Essential PH-1 for quite a while and it has been great.  Recently, LineageOS released 17.1 (Q) based on the Pixel 4 / 4 XL codebase.

Initially excited, I became worried when I read "removal of PrivacyGuard".  That one feature is the sole reason I've stayed with Cyanogenmod/LineageOS all these years.  It's a constant watchdog companion that helps me sleep better at night knowing app shenanigans are kept at bay.  So, how does the replacement Permission Hub compare?  Pretty good, actually.

For starters, "Google did not release Permissions Hub with Android 10, but the code for it still exists within AOSP. So, the Lineage team forked it and now presents that as the solution as it is claimed to be almost equivalent in features".  The fact that Google dropped it from commercial release is actually a huge indicator that it works.  The same thing happened with App Ops, which PrivacyGuard built on top of.

In addition, Permissions Hub allows you to restrict certain permissions like location only while the app is in use.  This is a great compromise for situations when an app refuses to work if certain questionable permissions aren't granted.

And finally, Q / Lineage 17.1 seem to do everything right:

• Partial screenshot capability
• Magisk is now the defacto superuser app
• Native system-wide dark theme without needing Substratum, even for apps that don't natively support a dark theme with a Developer option called "override force-dark"
• Native files app lets you filter by images, documents, audio, video, etc. when browsing directories.
• A new "sensors off" Quick Settings tile that disables all sensors, radios and turns on airplane mode.  This handy tin foil hat option allows you to disable all sensors on the device that can’t normally be turned off (accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.)
• A new "SmartLock only extends unlock" permission lets a trusted device keep your smartphone awake for longer, but doesn’t allow it to unlock the device once it has been locked.  This is a great security feature that allows devices to remain awake as desired, but only on your terms and no fear of "Wake on LAN"-style nefariousness.
• Blocks app access to clipboard (iOS 14 followed suit)
• Includes a security patch for StrandHogg 2.0

If you own a PH-1, check out the manual upgrade process here.