- cross-posted to:
- grapheneos@lemmy.ml
- degoogle@lemmy.ml
After using LineageOS for long time, I have finally moved to GrapheneOS. I use a lot of banking and financial apps which I never felt comfortable using on LineageOS due to lack of proper sandboxing, unlocked bootloader etc.
GrapheneOS works flawlessly just like Android. You don’t even notice there’s hardening underneath. Also it protects from Google’s evil location tracking using WiFi/Bluetooth or even when the Location is turned off. I don’t understand how people in general are comfortable with Google tracking all the time. You can use Google Play and Play Services in a sandbox that works just like regular installation, but without deep tracking.
If you haven’t tried GrapheneOS, try it. You won’t go back to regular Android.
- theskyisfalling ( @theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 68•1 month ago
For people looking to change and are worried about banks bullshit here is a link to a list of currently supported bank apps.
- node_user ( @node_user@feddit.uk ) 5•1 month ago
Literal gold
- madeindjs ( @madeindjs@programming.dev ) English2•1 month ago
Really helpful, thanks. Just curios, does this list apply also for LineageOS + MicroG ?
- theskyisfalling ( @theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 2•1 month ago
I couldn’t tell you. The page / list was made for graphene and I don’t know the technical differences between running that and lineage + micro g so not sure if the same list could apply. Sorry.
- Einar ( @original_reader@lemm.ee ) 48•1 month ago
If they can get it to work on non-Google devices, I will consider it. Right now Graphene compatibility is extremely limited. Besides, I basically have to give Google money to avoid Google.
🤪
- iheartneopets ( @iheartneopets@lemm.ee ) 33•1 month ago
Have people forgotten about the used market? Buying things second hand is the way.
- Einar ( @original_reader@lemm.ee ) 22•1 month ago
Doesn’t change that this only runs on Pixel devices. I simply don’t want a Pixel device for various reasons. Used or not, Graphene won’t run officially on a Sony, a Fairphone, etc.
- Imprint9816 ( @Imprint9816@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English25•1 month ago
If the security benefits of a pixel is less important then the fact Google made it then GOS is simply not meant for you.
Its silly people complain about it being only compatible for pixels but never seem to blame other android brands for making significantly less secure phones. The responsibility should be put on phone makers to create secure phones that meet GOS requirements, not to expect GOS to make a less secure OS.
The whole AOSP environment is very Google centric so its pretty weird to think because your not buying a pixel that you are somehow avoiding Google.
- Einar ( @original_reader@lemm.ee ) 15•1 month ago
I have more considerations than security, like a headphone jack and other details. But you have my upvote anyways, because you make a lot of sense. I agree with you. 🏅
- iheartneopets ( @iheartneopets@lemm.ee ) 10•1 month ago
I do agree that the lack of a headphone jack absolutely kills me. It’s a reason I haven’t pulled the trigger either way on a new phone yet. On the one hand, I want a secure degoogled phone that maintains a lot of functionality with GOS. On the other, I want a modern phone with a headphone jack a la Sony. I go back and forth constantly.
- EddoWagt ( @EddoWagt@feddit.nl ) 3•1 month ago
For what its worth, my Sony Xperia 1 VI didn’t come with a lot of google apps and it was easy enough to get rid of those. Obviously play services and some other stuff remain, so it’s not a degoogled phone, but it’s alright. Sony asks for some analytics stuff, but that’s all very easy to deny.
Sony also makes it very easy to root, unlock and flash your phone, with an official guide on how to do that. It’s not as easy as installing graphene OS, but I’m sure somebody will built lineage or something for it at some point
Edit: Here are links to the official documentation, Sony makes it pretty easy to built and flash AOSP
- iheartneopets ( @iheartneopets@lemm.ee ) 1•1 month ago
This is great info, thank you so much! That definitely gives me more things to consider
- Imprint9816 ( @Imprint9816@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English3•1 month ago
That’s fair, and the reasons why someone buys a phone is a personal choice.
I would suggest with things like a headphone jack that, while its annoying to buy an adapter (usb-c to headphone) it may be worth the cost vs sacrificing something like hardware security.
Sadly a lot of the time consumers are forced to choose between security and privacy or convenience.
- umbrella ( @umbrella@lemmy.ml ) 10•1 month ago
still pricey as fuck in my country. barely any pixels here.
- curry ( @curry@programming.dev ) 7•1 month ago
My country’s second hand market sucks donkey balls. Import fees are crazy if you even dare to use Amazon instead of cheap Chinese shop. I just wanna scream.
- iheartneopets ( @iheartneopets@lemm.ee ) 4•1 month ago
Damn, that really sucks, I’m sorry :(
- exploder ( @exploder@sopuli.xyz ) 22•1 month ago
Yeah, it’s kind of wild and ironic that one of the most private OSes requires a Google phone.
- cryptix ( @cryptix@discuss.tchncs.de ) 13•1 month ago
- ExcessShiv ( @ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 10•1 month ago
People contemplating moving to graphene, do be aware that banking etc. absolutely can be a major PITA on graphene as well. Several official apps used where i live cannot work in graphene, even with sandboxed play services installed, making day-to-day life functionally impossible with graphene. Luckily reverting to stock android is easy, although I probably wouldn’t have bought a pixel phone if I was planning on using stock OS.
- theskyisfalling ( @theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 16•1 month ago
“Making day to day life functionally impossible” is a bit drastic. I think that depends on each individual person, their needs both in terms of banking and privacy.
My banking app doesn’t work on Graphene but I also couldn’t care less. I can just as easily log in to my account via my browser on my phone if I need to do something and it isn’t exactly hard, it takes all of 30 seconds more than using an app.
I realise in some other countries you don’t have that option but were I in the same situation for me that would be enough to change banks, I don’t want to be forced to use an app for anything.
Everyone has different lengths they are willing to go to to protect their privacy and I’m willing to make my life slightly harder where as others may not but I think saying it makes life functionally impossible is a bit of an overstatement and it needs to be judged based on individual needs.
There is a list of what banking apps work and what don’t.I’ll post it in a top level comment for visibility.
- ExcessShiv ( @ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 6•1 month ago
The thing is, I’d need the government 2FA app (which doesn’t work in graphene) when logging in to my bank on a browser as well, so that doesn’t change anything.
And I can’t do anything, I can’t check my digital mailbox (not email, we have something specifically for official communication with bank, government etc.), I can’t log in to check messages from my kids school, I can’t order a doctors appointment…you get the picture.
- theskyisfalling ( @theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 5•1 month ago
Yeah i understand what you are saying and that is why everyone’s individual needs come into play.
I don’t know what country you are in and that can obviously affect things, my banks 2FA is an SMS. I have options in terms of the other things you mentioned, where as you may not have.
- PotatoesFall ( @PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de ) 5•1 month ago
Isn’t it only Google Wallet that doesn’t work? I actually cancelled a bank account I had because their app only worked with Google Wallet. Some banks roll their own NFC payment thing.
I’m on CalyxOS btw, not Graphene.
- ExcessShiv ( @ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 3•1 month ago
No that doesn’t work either, but we use a 2FA app to enable mobile banking access, SS access, school communications/message board etc., basically anything that requires you to prove your identity. That app doesn’t work in graphene at all, it flat out refuses and states the OS isn’t secure or the app isn’t installed from a valid source, so all things dependant on this doesn’t work on graphene.
Edit: a lot of other things also fail because graphene apparently doesn’t pass the google play safety check either.
- PotatoesFall ( @PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de ) 2•1 month ago
Ah interesting. All my 2FA things work on CalyxOS. But maybe that app is the problem
- Facebones ( @Facebones@reddthat.com ) 9•1 month ago
Woot! Welcome to the club! Fuck Google!
- atro_city ( @atro_city@fedia.io ) 9•1 month ago
I just looked it up and GrapheneOS only works on google hardware? So you had to give google some money first or did you get it to work on something else?
- Recant ( @Recant@beehaw.org ) 14•1 month ago
If you buy one used that is how you can get around giving Google money.
From a security standpoint it might give you a temporary benefit since all of Google’s tracking IDs will be associated with the original owner. On a new phone I figure it’s associated with you immediately.
- Undertaker ( @Undertaker@feddit.org ) 1•1 month ago
Not really. You carry arround a Google devices and people notice the brand and devices are more valuable when also desired second hand.
All of this supports Google
- The Cuuuuube ( @Cube6392@beehaw.org ) English6•1 month ago
Cover the G logo with a pop socket or some shit. No one will give enough of a shit to desire your phone. Buying used always denies OEMs sales so its always good to buy used
- DavidGarcia ( @DavidGarcia@feddit.nl ) 11•1 month ago
Yeah the fact that Pixel Phones are the defacto standard for privacy phones is absurd. It’s guaranteed chock full of hardware surveillance tools you can’t remove with custom roms or kernels.
Outside of the Pixel lineup, custom rom support is almost non-existant in 2024. it’s wild, you can get the same or better hardware for half the price.
- ivn ( @ivn@jlai.lu ) 6•1 month ago
My next phone is definitely going to be a Pixel for this reason. But my current one is not even 6 years old so I’ll wait a bit.
- rikonium ( @rikonium@discuss.tchncs.de ) English4•1 month ago
Does RCS work reliably on Graphene? I thought Google was fucking with RCS quietly for those on custom ROMs or other things.
- thayer ( @thayer@lemmy.ca ) English5•1 month ago
I don’t use RCS myself, but there are recent posts on the GOS forums and it appears to be working fine once all of the prerequisites are installed.
- PierreKanazawa ( @PierreKanazawa@fedia.io ) 3•1 month ago
Great!
I go back to regular degoogled Android btw. Not a fan of the new pixel design. May come back later
- Swamptin ( @swamptin@freeradical.zone ) 2•1 month ago
@PullPantsUnsworn
I’m honestly only afraid of bricking my primary phone. That’s the only reason I’m still on stock android. It’s the inconvenience of having to buy my way out of a brick.GrapheneOS is the easy to install OS among any mobile platform. Everything is through a web UI, so you are very unlikely to brick your phone. You don’t need to type a single command. Also even if you brick a Pixel phone, it’s very easy to install stock Android build through Google with a similar installation process.
- Swamptin ( @swamptin@freeradical.zone ) 2•1 month ago
@PullPantsUnsworn
Ah but I’m running a Fairphone 4, so I’m not sure how a restore would work. Although I know I won’t void the warranty by changing the OS. Maybe I’ll see what their policy is on repairing a buggered attempt at the OS change. They provide /e/os from the shop like.- TheBenCommandments ( @TheBenCommandments@infosec.pub ) 2•1 month ago
Ah well then you can’t have GrapheneOS anyway
- Robin Wilton ( @futureidentity@freeradical.zone ) 1•1 month ago
@swamptin @PullPantsUnsworn I’ve been using /e/os for a few months and like it. Good integration with Nextcloud.
- Swamptin ( @swamptin@freeradical.zone ) 1•1 month ago
@futureidentity
That’s cool! Any experience with banking apps? I expect to have to sandbox at least one, but Revolut might even have a native build?Edit: Forums indicate Revolut hasn’t worked naively since 2021
@PullPantsUnsworn- Robin Wilton ( @futureidentity@freeradical.zone ) 1•6 days ago
@swamptin @PullPantsUnsworn Sorry… I don’t use my phone for banking :^(
- Ilandar ( @Ilandar@aussie.zone ) 1•1 month ago
iodéOS is available on the Fairphone 4 and also has a very easy installation process. You just plug your phone in via USB, download the installer and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Swamptin ( @swamptin@freeradical.zone ) 0•1 month ago
@Ilandar
How is it for sandboxing banking apps? That’s my biggest worry about switching phone OS is losing access to my banking apps. I get I can use the browser, but sure we all know mobile browsing is made purposefully shit to drive up app installs anyway.- Ilandar ( @Ilandar@aussie.zone ) 1•1 month ago
I can’t definitively say, as that depends on your financial institution. There is a community list here with apps that have been confirmed as compatible or incompatible. You could also try searching the Plexus app, which is a larger community app compatibility project. My credit union’s app has worked on every deGoogled ROM I’ve used, including iodéOS, and I’ve never experienced the problems others mention.
- JCreazy ( @JCreazy@midwest.social ) English2•1 month ago
I’ve been running it a couple of months now. All my banking apps work but 1 and I use one of my other phones for that.
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English1•1 month ago
Graphene uses the same sandboxing as AOSP. If you are talking about Google services framework then that makes a little sense but by itself the apps are about the same in terms of security.
- ReakDuck ( @ReakDuck@lemmy.ml ) 3•1 month ago
Uh, u sure?
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English2•1 month ago
Yes