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Me Buying A Phone From Google Solely Because I Can Put GrapheneOS On It
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this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2026
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Privacy
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The only reason I don't use GrapheneOS is because of thte tight coupling they have with Google's hardware.
Motorola announces partnership with GrapheneOS.
https://motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions-at-mwc-2026/
They've got SD cards and headphone jacks too.
That's pretty bloody awesome!
It's not that they have a deal with Google, it's that Google's hardware security is best bar none except maybe iPhone. And Graphene is the best way to degoogle, as counter intuitive as it may seem. They are working with other manufacturers to get these security requirements for new phones so Graphene can be put on them.
They are currently in talks to use Verizon phones.
Edit: whoops that was Motorola, my bad.
Why, because you can't afford it (reasonable), because you think it helps Google (unreasonable), because you think it's a privacy risk (unreasonable), or because it feels icky (unreasonable)?
The profits from Pixel hardware sales are a drop in the bucket for Google. I'm pretty sure the only reason it exists is so they can have insight and control over the hardware ecosystem, as without it they'd be driven by whatever Samsung wants to do.
The walled Android ecosystem is where they make the bulk of their money, and Graphene actively pulls people away from that and to something objectively better. Graphene is fully de-Googled and safe from their spyware, and exists outside of their business model. Using and promoting Graphene actively hurts Google, even if you have them $1k for a phone.
Also, there are plenty of cheap second hand pixels on ebay, and Google doesn't see a penny from those sales. Recycling is good for the planet anyways.
I personally think this can be reasonable if you're the type to talk all about your hardware with people. You might not like promoting Google, so you choose a different device with a different privacy OS because you would rather talk about that to people.
For me, I don't talk about my phone much to people - so I just bought a second hand Pixel 8, put Graphene on it, and popped a sticker over the Google logo. Using a case that's not clear does just as good of a job. I will probably replace it with a Motorola eventually when they start releasing phones with GrapheneOS on it.