I was thinking about using graphene OS, but I’ve read some lemmy users dislike this OS due to perceived misleading advertising and the pixel 7a you’re supposed to install graphene on because it’s from google (an advertising company).
Another option would be lineage OS, but there is so much false information about this OS, namely compatible phones that simply don’t work with this OS and no support.
what works for you? I want a phone with no google, that doesn’t force me to use the manufacturer’s ecosystem and that won’t show the apps I don’t want or need (on an asus I own you cannot neither get rid nor hide bloatware)
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GrapheneOS is probably the best option out there.
As you said, it’s only for Pixels currently, because
- They are more secure than most other phones. They have some kind of chip built in that makes them superior. I don’t know the specifics, but other commentators might add some information if needed. Something with encryption if I remember correctly. The GrapheneOS team is a bit …picky… when it comes to security, and most other phones don’t reach their requirements for a secure device.
- Google is one major contributor to Android, and their phones are fine tuned to work perfectly with it. Other manufacturers’ phones feel less polished.
- It’s easier to maintain one line of devices that are very similar, instead of keeping hundred phones up to date and secure. Pixels are similar to iPhones, they get updated almost simultaneously and are similar. If you now add a phone from a different line, e.g. a Fairphone or Nothing Phone, things get more complicated. If you look at Calyx (more onto that later), the FP4 caused quite some headaches for the dev team.
Pixels are cheap(ish) for what you get, and I believe Google makes them so cheap because 99% of users don’t care which ROM/OS is installed. Those are the advertisment-cows that will get milked. If you buy a Pixel and install a custom ROM on it, they will loose money.
My experience with GrapheneOS has been great. My Pixel 5 hit EOL a while ago and still gets maintenance updates almost weekly.
Many security additions are overkill for me, but quite some make a lot of sense.I used CalyxOS for a year too, but now that I don’t get full updates anymore, I don’t feel safe anymore with it.
I think GrapheneOS is technically superior to Calyx, especially due to the sandboxing they do. MicroG has full root privileges and can do with your phone what it wants, while also breaking some apps due to missing dependencies. If you choose to enable Play Services on GrapheneOS, they are user level and heavily restricted, and only you decide how much access you want to give them.
Regarding Calyx, since they don’t limit themselves as much in terms of security, they also offer a ROM for the Fairphone. Maybe check that out too.
DivestOS also seems to be a good option. AFAIK it’s based on LineageOS and supports a lot of devices, while being more secure than LOS.
Regarding Linux phones, I don’t have any experience with them. I tried Phosh (Mobile Gnome) on an exhibition a while ago, and it felt great and interesting, but from what I’ve heard, they are nowhere as good as Android.
My personal ranking:
- GrapheneOS on a Pixel. Get an used/ refurbished device if you don’t want to support Google. Best price-performance ratio, great OS, and very good hardware (battery life, camera, etc.)
- CalyxOS on a Fairphobe. Modular device with good repairability. Nowhere near as good in terms of what you’ll get for your money. Better security than 95% of other phone ROMs, oh, and you can just swap your battery in seconds if you want that :D
- DivestOS on a random supported phone, e.g. a China device. Nowhere near as sustainable (short lived update support, no spare parts, etc.)
- Linux phone. Only a good option for a tinkering device right now imo.
Great synopsis!
The cool thing about GrapheneOS: It provides basically all the comforts and usability as any Android (stock) ROM minus some compatibility issues with a portion of Google Apps and services (Google Pay doesn’t and probably will never work, for example) while providing state-of-the-art security and privacy if you choose to utilize those features. A modern Pixel with up-to-date GrapheneOS, configured the right way, is literally the most secure and private smartphone you can get today.
Same here, I have an old Pixel 4a that still gets security updates from GrapheneOS. Banking apps and Amazon don’t seem to like it, but I don’t mind just doing those on my laptop anyway.
Banking apps and Amazon don’t seem to like it
Try going into the app’s settings and toggle Exploit protection compatibility mode. That let me use my banking apps that didn’t work before.
That worked for banking, thanks!
- Linux phone. Only a goof option for a tinkering device right now imo.
Honestly not sure if you mean “good” or actually meant “goof” there lol
Typo, sorry. Corrected. Thanks for letting me know.
DivestOS also has longer somewhat-support for Pixels. But GrapheneOS still ships some updates to my 4a so not sure about that
I use LineageOS because my phone is not a Pixel and it works fine for me. If you don’t want to pay Google for a Pixel, buy a used one. Other than that LOS is fine. It doesn’t have anonymization features like /e/OS or something like that but it doesn’t force nor promote any apps or ecosystems (except for Seedvault but it’s not a big deal) and it is FOSS
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Unfortunately 90% of privacy-conscious people can’t live without Google services because Google Meet, banking apps and other Play Integrity needing stuff
I’m using /e/ os for more than 3 years on different devices (with some customizations) and it works like a charm. An important aspect is that you can install e on any phone that has the bootloader unlock and supports GSIs - theoreticaly any device that runs Android > 9
/e/ has a gsi image which is neat!
I don’t use nor promote any banking apps or other G**gle/proprietary dependendent apps.
Why nobody talks more about e.foundation /e/ OS?
Enlighten me please 🙂
+1 for /e/OS! Brilliant combo of user friendliness with open source and privacy
why do you mention banking apps ? are they particularly difficult to run ?
So long as the browser login still works 🤷♂️
my online payments need to go through the Banxo app unfortunately
yes, most will not work as they relay on G**gle ecosystem…
I had no idea !
I would love to try /e/, but for some reason there is no support for the Sony Xperia 1 iii.
In fact, LineageOS is my only option, and after a bunch of time spent learning how to set it up and tweaking it to meet my needs, it’s mostly fantastic. My biggest complaints are missing camera features and no easy way to do OS updates while maintaining root.
If anyone knows of a way to automate the process of regaining root after updates, please tell me!
Any chance to use Whatsapp on /e/ ?
You can, but the question is why would you contribute to their data collection? Try: signal.org
I use Signal, but I’m unable to force everybody to do the same.
Not need to force anyone to use anything mate!
Here is my personal example: I made my choices a long time ago…
I ditched ANY:
- M$ related product/service;
- ALL Meta (as in Wazaaap);
- closed source apps;
- i have 0 IoTs around my ass, but a nice computer infrastructure built in more than a few decades;
- no friends around with i Phones …
AND still I need to do so much about privacy and my life in general and I continue to learn & apply as much as I can…
Also, I kindly invited and explained others why I choose to ditch products/software/companies/people that do not respect Humans in general and consider all of as as being just dumb “assets”…
Indeed it feels lonely sometimes, but i prefer the silence rather than noise/propaganda/parotting/or really any kind of bullshit.
Peace!
I’ve been using Graphene since the pixel 4a, have never considered going back. It works wonderfully.
Calyxos user here. I like it so far. Half a year into it. I can live with microg instead of gms. And it also works on moto g32, 42 and 52 so you don’t need Google hardware.
I use Calyx on a Fairphone 4. It’s not totally degooglified, since it comes with MicroG which is used to connect to Google services. I use Aurora Store and a couple of original Google Apps like Gboard too (none of my Google apps can access the internet, since they’re behind the built-in firewall). It works well except call functionality which can be wonky and there’s the issue that a lot of apps from Play don’t work well with MicroG. I only use a small selection of Play apps though, so it doesn’t bother me too much.
What about banking appss?
I was about to answer this, but decided I didn’t want that information in public.
However, the bank I use, which is a largish one, has an app that I’ve installed with the aurora store without microg or google play services on divestos and it complains that it won’t work without gsf, but it works fine after clicking ok.
Depends on the bank’s app. I have CRDroid (LineageOS fork I think) and my local bank apps have either full support or no support for biometrics (everything else works).
This is what stops me from leaping to phone Foss.
My banking apps work fine on Calyx.
Banking apps normally check for rooted phones as the thing they don’t like. Because pixels come with an unlocked bootloader, you don’t need to root the phone to install a custom ROM, and so banking apps are still okay.
Calyx comes with microg right?
Yes
I never bothered with banking apps. (Outside of the virtual debit card app from my bank. That one did install successfully. However, I never got try out in store because it deleted my virtual card after a few days and I didn’t care enough to set it up again.)
Can you elaborate on being misled there?
As for google devices - yes, there’s irony in the notion that the most de-googleable phones are theirs, sure. They’re often sold at a loss around the holiday season, though.
I’ve read some lemmy users dislike this OS due to perceived misleading advertising and the pixel 7a you’re supposed to install graphene on because it’s from google
There is no misleading advertisement. Go with Graphene if you own a Pixel (from Pixel 5 up) or you can find a cheap second-hand one.
there is so much false information about this OS, namely compatible phones that simply don’t work
Care to share which devices are you talking about? If a device is officially supported by the latest LineageOS version, it works.
grapheneos on a secondhand pixel 5 which was about 280$AUD. though i probably should have gotten a newer model considering the 5 is nearing end of life for GOS
Same mistake I made. But I’ll probably keep using it until the battery is completely dead.
Not sure why GrapheneOS is getting down voted so much here, did I miss something recent that happened?
I’ve been using GrapheneOS on my Pixel 6a for around 2 years and really like it.
If I couldn’t use GOS though, I would probably go with DivestOS. I haven’t looked deep into other alternative Android ROMs.
I use phones that are at least 5 year old and cost 100€ max. Graphene supports only new pixel phones, so I never got to use it. I put LineageOS with MicroG on every phone and I’m super happy with it.
Fair point, Pixels aren’t flagship expensive, but they definitely aren’t cheap either.
Ι use Murena’s e/OS, I like the iphone-likeness of it. It works.
I like grapheneos, very close to stock android without google shit
- you got bonus settings like the sensors toggle
Lineage is kinda bad privacy and security wise, from the little I know its not fully degoogled
Not in my ideal spot but tolerating Android via LineageOS for microG on a Sony Xperia 5 III as their ROMs make microG painless & hardware-wise I get a fast-enough CPU, OLED, a headphone jack, & microSD.
I wish the modern xperia phones were more popular and got more love. Hardware-wise they are amazing, i just wish they had easily-replaceable batteries.
I just replaced the battery in mine. I had to get a heat gun to take off the back plate, as well as a new seal for the back plate. I’m not 100% convinced it is still water resistant, and I don’t plan on finding out.
The hardware is good & you can get phones under 6".
They have 2 big flaws: price & years of continued support. The catch 22 is you can get a good price on them after the support window (2 years, but looks like 5 will be going forward). Luckily LineageOS always picks up after the support window if willing to take on possible firmware vulnerabilities knowing software will continue to be updated—but the camera requires the proprietary apps/libs or it looks low-end.
GrapheneOS on a Pixel 8 Pro. I’ve been super happy with it since I switched from iOS.
Graphene on Pixel 8 here, also pretty happy with it. Previously had a Pixel 3a with Graphene.
Graphene OS users, what options are available for backing up your phone? I tried looking for an answer but wasn’t able to find anything recent on this topic.
I want to try it but this is the one thing holding me back.
I just use nextcloud as a target for backups (Aegis, Signal, QkSMS). Apps such as KeePassDX I have load the file via nextcloud. My contacts and calendar go through it as well, photos are just set to auto upload along with a few other directories.
As for the home screen layouts, I just take screenshots once I have it how I like and try to remember to take them again if I change stuff.
It’s not a full backup but I’m back up and running fairly quickly (Pixel 5A died on me 3 times in under a one year lifespan per device).
