I’m thinking of migrating to grapheneos from ios, what are some things that I should be aware of? Keep in mind, I haven’t used android in about 3 or 4 years and have basically been using an iPhone since the 3GS. Any heads up or tips would be helpful. I’m just really tired of apples new business model and current executives, and am trying to move to all free software. Thanks in advanced.
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I’m currently running GrapheneOS on my Pixel 3XL, have been for about a year. Overall the experience has been solid, a few bugs here and there but it’s hard to say if they’ve been GrapheneOS issues or Android issues.
One heads up is that GrapheneOS only officially supports a modern subsection of Pixel phones, so if you intend to keep yours for ages (or to buy second hand) it may have some rough edges in a few years.
In my experience moving to Graphene OS on its own was easy. The UI was refreshingly simple with no bloat at all, and I got used to it quickly.
Entirely ditching Google services is a different matter that I found much more difficult. I ended up installing Google Play Store/Services since some of my apps relied on it to work properly (usually because they rely on Google’s Notification service). Depending on what apps you use this might be easier or harder. There are good open-source alternatives for many things in F-Droid, and its possible to get everything else via the Aurora Store without using your Google credentials. You could also set up a separate profile for apps that require Google services so they’re in their own sandbox.
In the end I did none of that, and just logged into the Play Store with my Google credentials on my main profile. Everything just worked with little effort, and if I’m ever feeling particularly paranoid at least I have the option to revoke permissions and/or uninstall, Google services.
TLDR: Moving to GrapheneOS = Easy. Going full FOSS with no Google = hard (at least for me).
Not exactly OS related, but the Pixel bootloader unlocking process is fantastic.
For proprietary apps, I’d recommend using Shelter.
It creates a different profile (user, exactly like on Linux) that accessible from the main profile.
For reg. apps, F-Droid store with the Guardian Project repo and IzzyOnDroid repo (open those with the F-Droid app).
I’ve found Obtainium very useful too. You can download with it other apps directly from GitHub, and other sources.
Another useful app is KDE Connect. The app helps you to control your Android device/PC with the other device. It’s available on F-Droid, for Linux (for other distros Google your distro name and ‘how to install kde connect’), and for Windows.
For Google Store apps there’s app called Aurora Store, but looks like Google breaking it on-purpose for the last weeks.
I’m leaving it here, for the unlikely situation that they’ll stop, and for the more likely situation, that Aurora devs will find a way to fix it.
E: spelling
Whatever you do, don’t use the search of the fdroid app. Find apps either via recommendation or by searching something like “calculator site:f-droid.org”. Some things aren’t as integrated as on iOS or Androids from Manufacturers. For example the camera app has no qr code scanner built in. Also the share menu often doesn’t behave like you would expect it. If you share a Wikipedia link with the Wikipedia app it doesn’t open the article but instead puts the URL in the search bar and doesn’t find the article.
Apps I can recommend: Thunder (Lemmy) Calculator++ Organic Maps Trail Sense (Outdoor stuff) Antennapod (Podcasts) NewPipe (YouTube) Aegis (2FA) OpenCamera ClipboardCleaner Personaldnsfilter (System wide Adblock)
Games: Feudal Tactics, Unciv, Lemuroid, Open Golf
Open camera over Graphene’s?
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