Smartphones have become a big part of our daily lives for almost everything we do. This has created a new concern about how much of our private data may be exposed to outside threats or large corporations. Whether scrolling through social media, browsing the internet, or chatting with family and friends, these actions could give a glimpse into your personal life and on-device data. Pair one of the best Google Pixel smartphones with GrapheneOS to minimize these potential threats for maximum security.
150 sats \ 1 reply \ @nullama 21 Jan
I've switched to GrapheneOS a few years ago and I haven't looked back.
It's such a great experience to have all your phone running open source apps, with no spyware and ads everywhere like what you get with the standard Android OS these days.
Highly recommended to try it out, it will take some time to switch your apps with an open source version of them, but it's life changing.
Here is a list of great apps that you can run on GrapheneOS to get you started:
Curated list of useful Open Source applications for GrapheneOS
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
Can you please confirm for others whether the info on my reply is correct?
reply
550 sats \ 4 replies \ @phatom 21 Jan
It's about time we time moving to GrapheneOS usage for more security
reply
21 sats \ 3 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
Unfortunately, GrapheneOS currently has some limitations like the usage of the NFC chip for payment as well as some apps (very small amount to my knowledge) which can't be run on it but I think it's about time for GrapheneOS devs to figure out a fix.
reply
21 sats \ 1 reply \ @final 22 Jan
This isn't really something we can fix reliably right now. The Play Integrity library is hardware-backed verification. It will block anything that isn't stock. In practice we could spoof apps to pretend they are an older device that passes play integrity but Google fights against that and will kill support for said device if they know it's being used for spoofing.
We don't want to deliver something that could in practice stop working later.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 22 Jan
It's very weird move of them or at least I don't understand it.
Isn't this the idea of "OAM unlock" and why do you allow it if you're going to block partial functionalities on a hardware level...
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nullama 21 Jan
I don't use payments on my phone, so not sure.
Best way to check is their official discussion board
reply
0 sats \ 4 replies \ @freetx 21 Jan
I bought a pixel 6a and have grapheneOS installed. In general I'm very pleased. What my current confusion is; how to reliably download apps?
Some have said use F-Droid - others say no and they offered some other "app store" which downloads APK direct from github somehow (I forget that name).
Can anyone offer insight?
reply
4 sats \ 0 replies \ @nullama 21 Jan
I use a combination of f-droid and direct apk downloads from the github repos.
reply
2 sats \ 1 reply \ @drlh 21 Jan
obtainium?
Personally i use lineage os without play store (MUCH better than shitty miui). I download apps from fdroid with some more repositories (guardian project and izzyondroid), aurora store for apps from play store and that's it.
Damn i remember how i used for a month ubuntu touch, and changed to lineage os because of absence of apps (waydroid wasn't working).
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @freetx 21 Jan
yes obtainium it was. I will check out aurora!
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
The short answer is - it depends.
Usually, everyone should follow the best practices of getting apps described in GrapheneOS website
reply
0 sats \ 6 replies \ @turker 21 Jan
I love the idea of GrapheneOS but it is for Pixel devices. Pixel model devices are not sold in my country. Even if I want to buy it from abroad, I have to pay a tax that worths 2x of Pixel device price. So, it will cost me 3x Pixel device price. Even privacy is for rich people huh? 🥲
reply
0 sats \ 5 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
Sad to hear that 😢
What country do you live in and if someone sends you a Pixel device so that it's not considered as a purchase would they charge you three taxes you're referring to?
reply
0 sats \ 4 replies \ @turker 21 Jan
Yeap, if you won't pay that tax, you can't use the phone. At least, the SIM card will not work and operators will ban your phone to use service.
reply
0 sats \ 3 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
What country do you live in since I'm not aware of such where mobile operators are nationalized or state owned (maybe one of the totalitarian - China, NK etc.)
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @turker 21 Jan
Turkey ofc. Operators are not state owned. Basically, if your devices IMEI number is not registered in countries records, operators are banning it after some period. If you want to register your IMEI, you have to pay that tax.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
Merhaba komşu, greetings from Bulgaria.
That's very vile of them 😡
I can't think of how tourists or immigrants use their phones if that's the case...
reply
22 sats \ 0 replies \ @turker 21 Jan
If you are a tourist, you won't have a problem. I guess you can use your phone without registering it for 120 days or so. 99% of the tourists are leaving before 120 days. This is not affecting them.
Sana da merhaba komşu, greetings from Turkey. 😄🙋🏻
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @faithandcredit 21 Jan
I have galaxy phone, a53, it has so many apps that cant be uninstalled, and some of them don't even work because samsung no longer maintains them. But they can't be uninstslled. Am i being wrong for not liking that and wanting a phone with grapheneOS instead?
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ch0k1 OP 21 Jan
No, you're completely right!
If you can live with the limitations of GrapheneOS, get your Pixel device and go for it.
reply