Not trying to be dense, but what is the point of Graphene OS? I’ve seen it mentioned in circles of de-googling and privacy but I’m not exactly sure what the differences are between it and regular Android. Will my day to day experience be very different? Or is it mostly the same but has privacy/security stuff working in the background?
I have a Pixel 6 Pro I bought used, and would be interested in something like this if it means distancing my data away from Google.
generally, it separates core functions of your phone from google, and lets you decide how much data to share with google via permissions (can be none, can be like stock android), just like any other app.
they also put lots of work into hardening the os against attacks such as the ones used by police and spyware companies to unlock phones, and are basically the only phone configuration consistently safe against those companies.
the day to day experience is pretty much the same as stock android, as long as you install google services. main issues with it (I have heard, I haven’t ran into these on my install) are some banking apps, and google pay doesn’t work.
Does Revolut work on it again?
I’m about to install Graphene on my LG v60 as I accidentally bricked my old one while degoogling.
Always back up your files, kids.
GrapheneOS will not work on LG but you might be able to get Lineage on it.
I want to try it on my pixel 6A but I’ve never done anything like that, so I’m hesitant…
Seeing the positive reviews on this post gives me a little more confidence though!
I just did this, and it’s so easy to install. It took me a minute to figure out apps I want to use because I grew up with Google technologically speaking. https://grapheneos.org/install/
I still have the Google store for some stuff (Google Fi) but use aurora first. A lot of the apps I chose to use keep data on my phone and do not require internet access. Notes:quill pad Bank: web (haven’t tried the apps) Mail: web (I don’t use it a lot anyway) Signal and Google messages Food tracking: energize Period: drip Contacts: idk, but it’s offline and not Google. Maps: organic maps Calendar: fossify calendar (the fossify stuff is nice) Readera: epub Voice: audiobooks Antennapod: podcasts RSS: capyreader Browser: vanadium (comes with it in gos) Pear launcher: I used this when I was on stock to change the home search bar to Firefox. I didn’t even question if I needed it, but I suppose the stock GOS search is vanadium not chrome, so I could drop this one. Mullvad Syncthing to help make sure I have backups of my subscription files for my offline stuff.
Did you install on the phone you use daily? Did you need to backup anything besides photos and contacts, and what did you do for backup?
I’m still a little intimidated by the whole transfer process
Yep. It’s on my phone I use daily. I still have my photos on Google photos, but I plan to do takeout and store them on my computer.
Backup: Ive been thinking about what I really want to keep, and it’s not much. Basically photos. I don’t have a good solution that is nearly as robust as google drive, but I have old pictures I’ve managed to keep safe on hard drives/computers over the years. I’m just going back to that for now.
I tried a self hosting Google photos clone that looked really great, but I couldn’t figure it out with vpns installed, and I don’t really think my risk profile warrants it. Also, I have gone through several life scenarios where I have lost most artifacts from before, and I’m ok with that.
Ok, coupe of things:
I did copy over the export files for a few apps: Energize RSS Antennapod
For contacts, I can’t remember exactly the process, but I essentially exported them. I used my computer to do the transfer. I did have some fiddling to get them organized. Google gave me a bunch of contacts that didn’t usually show up in my phone address book because they were email only, so I had a fair amount of cleaning to do.
I did the switch on a weekend, and made sure to give myself plenty of time to get things situated. Probably took a few hours for me to feel everything was workable. Another day before it felt like normal. If you remember what it was like switching phones a long while back – you can imagine it was like that.
I have an old Google Pixel 3 laying around and I think I also wanna try and see how it goes
Just installed GrapheneOS on a used Pixel 8A this week. Started using it full time yesterday! If anyone has any questions about the install or use, let me know! I’m new to Lemmy so I’m not sure how (or if) notifications work, but I’ll try my best.
Nothing makes me chuckle more than blocking the complaint notifications from Google that it needs to be let out of its sandbox.
Im from apple and bought a used pixel 7 to play with.
What google apps did you install. I only have maps installed and I don’t receive sandbox notifications.
Have you tried to load a credit card onto it.Enjoy! I’ve had graphene os for years now on multiple pixel A phones. I couldn’t live without it at this point. It is such a great thing to have when all other OSs are doing everything they can to slurp up your data.
Same with OpenBSD!
I didn’t know that before! That’s so cool.
They’re Canadian just like Arch Linux!
Arch is Canadian?!? That’s so cool. I’ll be thinking of it next time I’m building my computer.
They’re Canadian just like Arch Linux!
I knew there was an intangible quality about Arch I liked.
Huh arch is Canadian. Hmm might have to move from fedora. I have never liked how much control red hat has over it.
I want to try graphene on my pixel 8 but since it’s my only phone and I unfortunately still need to rely on some Google products I can’t risk it
GrapheneOS is made for people who still need some Google products. You can run everything full Google mode, with Playstore, GCam, etc… But better and privacy-respecting.
Of course not installing anything Google would be even better. But that’s it: with GrapheneOS you have a choice.
Been running it for years and I’m still using Gmail and Maps. No issues. There’s lots of info surrounding the topic of using Play Services etc on GrapheneOS.
Yeah, but you have to buy a Google Pixel phone to use it.
Buy a used one
Been thinking about it but it means ditching my S21 Ultra which I’ve used forever so I’m trying to modify my phone enough that it’s basically useless to them, rooting, revanced, uninstalling their services when I can, using alternate emails that are bot linked to any google account for their apps, disabling all the tracking etc etc.
The day something like Graphene gets built for Samsung phones, I will make the switch instantly.
Hell, if I can I’ll get it on linux phones and use that instead…
It would be awesome if FairPhone supported Graphene OS
I got my phone free from a screw up at Amazon.
I want to get into grapheneOS, but am not ready to buy a >$500 Pixel phone to try it atm.
i got a pixel 8a used for cheap. installing grapheneOS was a breeze and took less than 10 minutes following their guide (i watched a youtube video in advance as well, but did not factor in the time.)
installed f-droid and aurora and have access to all apps i need, avoiding what i need to avoid :)
i still have my one plus with google services and apps like whatsapp that i will slowly transition away from. my biggest problem is that i can easily switch to communication apps like threema and signal (and have years ago) - but the sad truth is that many of my contacts are still on whatsapp
I have a very similar story about moving from a OnePlus to a Pixel 8A. I am using fenced google play for now, ill check out f-droid and aurora.
To the OP of this comment thread, I got the phone for $450 (open box, new) from a Canadian company (Swiftronics).
I’ve been using Graphene for 2 years on a (at the time) $400 Pixel 6 Pro - I’m sure you can find a cheap Pixel 6, 6a, or even 6 Pro, to try it out. The 7 might also be in that ballpark now?
I was mostly looking to get one of the 7, 8, or 9 models, since grapheneOS plans to support those for the next 7 years
It’s actually starting with the 8 unfortunately. If you’re willing to go used you can probably get an 8a for ~$400.
A quick local search shows quite a few sub-$300 used Pixel 7, youmight be able to find something in that range?
I ran e/OS on an old OnePlus for a year, quite close to GrapheneOS and mostly just as free of Google. There are plenty of options out there to run a degoogled Android these days.
But yes, running GrapheneOS on a brand new Pixel Pro right now, couldn’t be happier.
Good news! Some pixels are available for less than that.
The pixel tablet is ~$300 and also runs GOS
I want to see someone chime here in using their Lemmy.ca account on connect on Graphene OS.
I did not get around to installing it, was pretty wiped after work, I’ll try again tomorrow
Hello! 👋
I’ve got a pixel pro i can install it on after work today
I am not using connect, but eternity on my pixel 7a with GOS.
