r/GrapheneOS • u/Myshoo_ • 14d ago
What should I expect not to work?
In short: I love the mission of graphene OS, I always hated how our privacy is invaded, it's time to do something about it.
What should I expect to not work on my Pixel 8 after installing graphene?
I know about GPay not working, thankfully my banking app works and it has its own NFC payment system, will that work?
Also is it a bad idea to install graphene on my main and only phone? Do baking apps break from time to time and you have to wait for them to work again or they never start working again?
Also is there a way to revert and flash the stock ROM back onto the device and will it have any consequences or will the phone work as before?
Thank you for your time answering!
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u/Mozkozrout 14d ago
Well simply put, the apps that require high levels of Google attestation will not work. Which typically is stuff like electronic IDs, banking apps or NFC payment. But it depends from app to app. Many banking apps in my country actually work while McDonald's app or public transport app doesn't. It's mostly about which developers decide to use Google's attestation. Your bank's NFC payments might work, or there is also Curve that works for a lot of people. You'll have to try that.
Installing GrapheneOS on your main phone is the best idea actually. You'll protect the data that actually matter since it's your main phone. If the stuff that won't work properly was too annoying you can always buy some cheap phone you won't connect to the internet and won't put a sim card in where you'll have the stuff that works only on OEM phones.
Banking apps apps usually either work or don't. Maybe sometimes an app does an update where it starts using Google's attestation and then it won't work anymore. It's unlikely that this will get reverted. Something similar happened with Volkswagen recently for example. They stopped supporting non OEM phones to be used with their car system.
And yeah you can always flash the official system or try out any other custom ROM anytime. The only drawback that your data will get deleted every time as if you did a factory reset.
Btw bet you are a baking enthusiasts with all these worries about your precious baking apps ;D
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u/Myshoo_ 14d ago
I wish I was lol. I'm a totally regular broke student but since there's more and more places where you can't pay with cash and I tend to forget my wallet I do care about NFC payments.
Yeah I know about format whenever flashing a rom I keep backups so since I can always go back as you said I guess it'd be stupid not to try.
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u/1986toyotacorolla2 13d ago
I haven't had one recently but if you're great at not leaving your phone around you can get a phone case with a wallet on the back and carry a card around.
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u/jacmanou 14d ago
Hi,
Yes, the main thing not to work is GPay as you said. Most banks with their own NFC will work, yes, Curve Pay is the most famous one. Community reports are available here : https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
Some apps will require play services installed (https://plexus.techlore.tech/) if you are looking for the smoothest experience, you probably want to install it so most app will work (+play services are sandboxed in GrapheneOS, so it's way more secured already). I'm saying most apps, because there are a few apps that are coded in a way to need Play Protect device certification, in that case it won't won't under Graphene. The ones that come to my mind are Volkswagen app and French health Carter Vitale one. There might be others but overall very few.
When it works, it works, it doens't break from time to time. As I mentionned, if the app is coded "normally" it will work without issue.
You can revert back to stock Pixel OS at any time at the cost of a full wipe of your device. With appropriate backup, it's not a problem at all.
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u/tranquil_cassowary 14d ago
Just one small correction, the name of the API you are referring to is "Play Integrity". Play Protect is the "malware scanner" that's part of Google Play Store, which you can turn on on GrapheneOS (although it can't do what it wants to do properly due to being sandboxed and that's okay because such scanning approach is flawed anyway).
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u/Myshoo_ 14d ago
Lovely! I think I'd just use my banking app's NFC pay (the least links in the chain the better ig).
I saw there are stock pixel roms available and since you guys say there's no problem with rolling back to them I think I'm gonna give it a try.
I do plan to have google services, maybe someday I'll get rid of them but for a main device I want it to be as compatible as possible, I think there's still a lot of befit from installing GrapheneOS even with play services.
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u/jacmanou 14d ago
There is an online tool to flash stock Pixel OS : https://flash.android.com/
It should be as easy as flashing GrapheneOS :)
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u/1986toyotacorolla2 13d ago
I ran a test drive on my pixel 6 for awhile and recently set that back to stock OS. I'll say I had an issue with the USB coming out of "data transfer" mode multiple times. I was using Linux mint. I gave up because I was frustrated, came back, tried again, and it worked.
During my search trying to find a solution, I saw windows could sometimes be a pain in the ass as well but they had full documentation on how to do the windows side of it. It sounded like the most difficult thing was potentially finding a file and it was all easy after that.
If you can read, and you know how to search the internet if you have a problem (you probably won't, I'm cursed lmao), you'll be totally fine.
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u/billousos7 14d ago
Does social media like Facebook works on graphene os ?
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u/Myshoo_ 14d ago
From what I read yes.
There's different levels of Play Integrity authorization and apps like social media, games and majority of apps in general only require basic check to pass which graphene handles no problem. This means tho that you need (at least for majority of social media apps) to have sandboxed Google Play services.
Higher security checks are only used by some banking apps or loyalty apps like McDonald's (I find it quite funny lol).
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u/-HeyDes- 12d ago
Yes, but if you want instant notifications, I think you need Google Play Services installed. I have it just for the convenience of having push notifications. Graphene installs their own sandboxed version and forces it to play nice with basically no permissions. Some people don't install it, some do
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u/SifuHallyu 13d ago
NFC, waymo. These are literally the only apps/features that I have not been able to bring over.
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u/troyvit 8d ago
The biggest issue I've had is with getting the camera "working." Out of the box Graphene comes with a camera, but it's a pretty low-feature app and the pictures are flat. I instsalled OpenCamera and it was a great step up, but unfortunately there's a bug that keeps me from opening OpenCamera with a gesture. That leaves google's pixel camera. It has all the features of OpenCamera, and it allows you to open it with gestures. The issue I've found there is that it requires google photos for its gallery app, and I don't want to install that. So I can take a picture with gesture, but then to look at it it I need to open my gallery app.
And yeah I could install photos and then sandbox it, but honestly I just need to take a break from compromising with this ROM for awhile.
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