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Graphene OS Situation (sh.itjust.works)

I know the generall guidance for private phones was Pixel with graphene OS. I was financially planing on buying a 10th gen pixel when they come out later this year to only put gos on it. However with the recent news, I am wondering if this is still the recommended best practice from this community.

I am worried that if the gos team needs to spend tonnes of ressources on maintaining basic drivers and stuff then they won't have any time to work on the privacy and security features they are best known for.

What is your oppinion?

Also does anyone have a way to dpam feedback to google? I couldn't finf a generall feedback form, but if they know that people aren't buying their hardware because of this decision, they might back down. (I really fell in love with gos researching it lately so I would hate to have to switch to something like /e/ os or calyx or something)

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[-] irotsoma@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 7 hours ago

I've decided not to invest in any more Pixels, personally. Even if they reverse the decision this time, it just means it will happen later, so then future versions of the OS will be out of reach or at least not as good as they could have been. I probably will keep my Pixel 7 Pro with Graphene until the battery is too bad for daily use.

[-] AnnaFrankfurter@lemmy.ml 9 points 17 hours ago

OK First thing GOS team is currently assuming that Pixel 10+ won't meet their requirements. But for older Pixels it's tough. Google just stopped sharing vendor blob, device tree, and instead of openly developing AOSP now it is fully behind close doors only releasing source later with full update. But I have hope. I've been daily driving custom ROMs for 10+ years and before I could afford Pixel I had cheap phones which also didn't share any of these things but custom ROMs were very much thriving and they will always. Yes there may be a little more delay for new devices. All the new features may take longer but GOS already has a lot of security and privacy stuff figured out.

I think we should all support however we can to not just GOS but also other Custom ROMs. Because there will always be those who'll stop society from progressing and all we can do is fight back with donations, our time, and resources.

[-] bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net 6 points 22 hours ago

I wouldn't worry about it in the near term. The longterm concern would be security updates for drivers, but if you're waiting for them to find an OEM and design a phone, you will be waiting for years best case.

Also, how many in the wild exploits specifically attack hardware drivers on specific models? Seems like a bad effort per user tradeoff unless you're a state actor doing a targeted attack, in which case they'll just get in through your cell modem directly off the cell network anyway. If you use cell networks, every state actor willing to pay a million bucks to the Israelis can get in until your next reboot no matter what you're using.

[-] sunth1ef@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 day ago

Just bought a 9 for Graphene. Up and running - works like a charm. Devs are not announcing end of the line for Graphene development- they are making daily updates on their way to bringing out Android 16. At this point I'd grab a 9 rather than wait for the 10. Get yourself up and running before Google tries to lock us out of more apps - right now everything I need runs fine without any play services whatsoever. The OS is solid, Vanadium is really good - I could go on and on. If you are onboard and interested in the project its 100% worth it from where I sit.

Nothing is ever perfectly future proof

[-] blackbrook@mander.xyz 4 points 23 hours ago

I'm using 7 pro right now and there is absolutely nothing making me think about upgrading. So I support the idea that you're fine with a 9.

[-] featured@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 1 day ago

In the GrapheneOS development room there’s a lot of talk about finding an OEM to get security partner status from and/or to design a grapheneos specific device. I saw they were tentatively chatting to the CEO of Mecha (currently crowdfunding for a Linux handheld called the comet) as well as another anonymous Android OEM lead. So I’d say be patient, wait and see. I’m confident the project will continue, hopefully with full support for pixels via a partnership but potentially on their own hardware.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 36 points 1 day ago

Only time will tell. But you may get better info from their own forum: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/23080-aosp-and-pixel-device-support

[-] monovergent@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago

Wondering the same. I've been hoping to hold off on a new Pixel until the new EU battery laws take effect (also, where the hell is concept art for a new generation of user-serviceable batteries?).

You know those factories that pump out iPhone clones? Honestly, I'd love to get whoever runs one of those hooked on GrapheneOS. It's damn impressive how they can set up the tooling, clone the iOS UI, and sell it all for cheap within a couple of months. And without the kickback Google gives for pre-installing Google Play or whatever. Imagine that effort being put towards a phone just for GrapheneOS.

Admittedly, someone who makes iPhone clones is probably not someone who thinks about security much, but my point is, I really wish someone stepped up to produce phones with first-class support for GrapheneOS.

More realistically, I'm banking on the passion of the folks at GrapheneOS. Should Google pull the plug one day, I'm hopeful the GOS team can recommend a plan of action until a more GOS-friendly device shows up. Worst case scenario, I'll keep my Pixel with GOS kicking around and have a separate device with regular Android. It'll be just for the apps that demand spying, shut off at night, and I'll minimize travelling with it.

[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Bought /e/OS running CMF https://murena.com/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-cmf-phone-1/ few months ago, no frill, no tinkering, just works. Daily driver since I received it.

I do have more... specific phones, e.g. PinePhone and PinePhone Pro, but I never managed to use they as daily drivers.

That said, I'm only sharing this because it is "good enough" for me but you probably have different concerns than me. I'm not a political dissident, not a journalist, not a security researcher, just a random dude living in Western Europe.

I tend to find that identifying precisely what your threat model is facilitate pinpointing pragmatic options.

[-] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 18 hours ago

How does it work to get banking apps and similar on /e/os? Do you have to sideload?

[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 hours ago

Ah, glad you asked because this is precisely what I highlighted to a friend yesterday : it works, even that!

I make online purchases, like train tickets here in Belgium on the go, with the phone, via the website of SNCB (the national railroad) or any most other commercial website basically. So yes at least some banking apps do work, as I can't obviously confirm for ALL of them.

In practice you get App Lounge in anonymous mode, letting you download and install apps from the (proxied AFAICT) Play Store. So you do not need to login to any store yet can install apps beyond solely F-Droid. That being said the vast majority of Apps I use come from F-Droid or directly install the .apk via adb.

[-] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 10 hours ago

Aha! Thank you :) My next phone will definitely be /e/os then. I can't really justify buying a new phone now when my old phone works, but maybe a refurbished one wouldn't add to e-waste I guess.

[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 hours ago

Please don't hesitate to ask questions as they come. I'm not /e/OS expert but this was the last piece in my transition from proprietary tech and walled gardens, so I admit very glad I tried and happy with the result!

PS: maybe /eOS work with a phone you or a friend has, see https://doc.e.foundation/devices

[-] pmk@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 9 hours ago

Thank you, it is for me too. I've been running linux and bsd for 15 years, and now I've realized that my phone and the services I use have been a blind spot. I have two phones that are supported to install but only through adb. What does os version S,T,U mean in the list?

[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 hours ago

been running linux and bsd for 15 years, and now I’ve realized that my phone and the services I use have been a blind spot.

Exactly! Few months ago a friend was home and I was proudly showcasing my HomeAssistant on RPi, all ZigBee, no non-standards IoT, no vendor lock-in, SteamDeck to play on Linux, streaming videos with VLC on my video projector via miniDLNA, etc. He was impressed... then asked "Right, and what's your phone?" to which I, quite ashamed, had to confess I was relying on an iPhone. It was secure, no Android, etc. On that day I thought "Ok... ok I got PinePhones, I got other gadgets but somehow this specific part of my digital life is wrong!" and thought I should try, even if it wouldn't work, something else. I also wanted, due to geopolitics (sadly), a non American solution so checked https://volla.online/ which looked wonderful but too expensive for a test. Noticed Murena, French based, refurbished or even new phones but much lower price but still paying for service and I hope for /e/OS maintenance and voila, found a compromise that works for me for now!

S,T,U are build versions, where S and T are official and U is community. You can see a discussion on https://community.e.foundation/t/difference-between-e-os-builds/60585/7

[-] mohab@piefed.social 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Looks like you'll to need to wait and see what the GrapheneOS team will recommend until they come out with their own phone. Maybe Pinephone for now? Or older Pixel, perhaps.

[-] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

See if the Graphene team supports the 10 when it comes out. If it does then get that and if they don't then get the Pixel 9 at a discounted cost and put on GOS. Then wait and see what happens with the situation.

Calyx is okay but MicroG doesn't work nearly as well as GOS sandboxed GPlay. eOS tends to be multiple Android versions outdated. I'd go with GOS, Calyx, Lineage, then eOS.

[-] utopiah@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago

multiple Android versions outdated.

What's the pragmatic consequence of that? Are the security risk actually that great because Android architecture isn't that secure or rather isn't there a smaller and smaller amount of hard to execute exploit anyway that yes being up to date is always more secure yet only marginally so?

I'm asking because I worry that always playing faster catch up with Google leave them in charge.

[-] mctoasterson@reddthat.com 11 points 1 day ago

Yeah I would also like a crystal ball here. I am somewhat interested in the 10 if I can run GrapheneOS. Otherwise I'm going to explore other custom ROMs with broader device support.

[-] tisktisk@piefed.social 5 points 1 day ago

My crystal ball just keeps saying 'try again'🤔

[-] pHr34kY@lemmy.world -5 points 1 day ago

The second best option is LineageOS, so purchasing a Pixel is still hedging that bet.

The refusal to release pixel-specific source code also affects every other alternate OS for pixels.

this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2025
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