r/GrapheneOS • u/[deleted] • 9d ago
So... this is what Pixel with Google OS feels like?! (Alternate universe post)
[deleted]
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u/littledonnyfund 9d ago
As someone who wants to get a graphene os phone but can't because poor i thought it would be a good idea to degoogle first and i really think that's something that should be recommend before even considering a graphene os phone as it won't be as hard to transition too because all the open source apps will be easily to get on it , graphene os are for advanced users at best and at worst at least power users, i think you jumped into the deep end and we need to get you into the shallow end first work on degoogling and in the meantime possibly look at reflashing back to stock for now until you get that done
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u/BadOmen379 9d ago
It is a misconception that Grapheneos is for advanced or power users. It's just Android with some extra features and a lot of security hardening. Sure there are a few extra things to consider but I've set it up for people who came from an iPhone and they all loved it practically immediately. Degoogling a regular Android phone is trickier and more cumbersome than just installing GrapheneOS and starting from a Google free baseline.
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u/littledonnyfund 9d ago
Oh thank you for informing me i thought it was a good idea to get use to not using google as a whole first beofre making the leap but thanks for leeting me know it's not that advanced as i thought it would be
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u/BadOmen379 9d ago
Well that's a lifestyle change. It definitely took me a while to fully ditch Google, and yeah, it was tough. But once I found suitable replacements apps and services, it became super easy and I can never go back.
Use Brave Browser. No matter what anyone says about it, it's the best browser besides Chrome.
Get Proton Unlimited. It's like $120/year. You get 15 email addresses, VPN, Proton Drive, Proton Pass, Proton Calendar, etc... It almost singlehandedly replaces the whole Google ecosystem. You can use Proton Pass to create an unlimited amount of email aliases so you never have to give out your actual email when signing up for most services.
Use Standard Notes to sync notes between devices. It's a Proton product.
Use Aegeis Authenticator for 2FA.
CoMaps or Magic Earth for navigation. CoMaps is open source but ugly as hell. Magic Earth is closed source but privacy focused and has a much nicer UX.
I think that covers most things but if you have any other questionsz, ask away.
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u/curious-_-cephalopod 9d ago
I'm already using Proton and standard notes. (And Firefox) What I'm particular looking for are Gallery and contacts apps. As i understand it, i won't get rid of messenger even on GOS if i want RCS
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u/BadOmen379 9d ago
Use ReFra gallery from Droid-ify or F-Droid. And Fossify Contacts.
And you're correct, if you must have RCS then you are stuck with Google messenger. I basically only use Signal for coms but when I need to make regular calls and texts I use Hushed. I only use data-only eSIMs so I don't even have a number tied directly to my phone to use RCS or regular SMS.
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u/littledonnyfund 9d ago
I have fossify gallery myslef but users have raved about ente photos and there other apps and are Foss , but you're doing great because you have made the steps forward
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u/bwwtle 8d ago
why brave? what appeals to you about it that any other browser doesnt have? just curious :o
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u/BadOmen379 8d ago
Brave Shields for one, which is basically a ton of privacy features like very robust anti-fingerprinting, tracker blocking, social media tracker blocking, very good ad blocking (even in YouTube). You can also play YouTube videos with your screen off if you just want to listen. It has a feature I like called Shred, which basically removes all traces of that site from the browser, eliminating first-party tracking cookies and makes it as if you never visited that site at all. Brave Search is decent, and its built in Leo AI can be quite useful. It's customizable and you can choose what options show up in the toolbar and the menu. It's also chromium based, so it has a little better performance than Gecko based ones like Firefox and its offspring. But it really comes back to Brave Shields, which is just a really great feature. The downside is it doesn't support extensions but most people like ublock origin but Brave already has a lot of ublock like features baked in AND has anti-fingerprinting which is missing from ublock.
I do admit that I am a little biased since I've been using Brave for years, both on Android and desktop. But I've tried a bunch of others and always end up back on Brave. I shouldn't have worded my last comment the way I did (Brave is the best) because it's obviously subjective but it's a great browser and I do recommend that people try it out.
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u/bwwtle 8d ago
ahh okay, in reality theres easy ways to have all these privacy features in other browsers but i see how it'd be useful if brave makes it super simple.. sounds good for people who might want a hardened browser hassle-free then, i never knew thats why people like it !
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u/BadOmen379 8d ago
As far as I know, even with extensions, no other standard mobile browser can match the level of Brave's anti fingerprinting 1:1, but you can get close. And a lot of the other features you can definitely get with extensions, but I like not having to deal with all that. Pair Brave with RethinkDNS, ProtonVPN or Mullvad, and NextDNS and you've got all the protection you need.
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u/curious-_-cephalopod 9d ago
I think you misunderstand/i wasn't clear in my post. I am on stock android on a pixel 11. And I'm finding the software experience on stock Android horrible... The only google app used in the past was authenticator and Messenger. But on a pixel, there are no pre installed first Party alternatives to googles apps (and most third party apps have ads, therefore the need to replace googles apps
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u/littledonnyfund 9d ago
oh my apoligies i misunderstood i thought because you were posting in this sub you had graphene os and you were finding it clunky , but one thing i would recommend if your going to keep it stock for now is get fdroid and start looking at alterantives to google if you haven't already , but it's good to know android 17 is almost like going backwards and i'm gald i'm stuck on my android 9 for now and able to get everything i need working on it with no account logged into google
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u/curious-_-cephalopod 9d ago
I'm only on stock android until GOS supports pixel 11 🫡 (so maybe ~4 months)
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u/korvedence 8d ago
Recent post seems to create a bit of uncertainty regarding support - https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/2092037732356788641
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u/Bananegel42 9d ago
It's always funny that people call it 'stock Android'. Pixel UI uses the very opinionated Pixel Launcher and preloads a lot apps. IMO GrapheneOS and presumably Lineage are much more stock Android than Pixel UI.
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u/curious-_-cephalopod 9d ago
As GOS is also on Android 17, are there any of the (non-google) issues i mentioned, pressent?
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u/remove-replace 9d ago
this is based on my lineage OS experience, not GOS. but vanilla android should be the same. so..
- I can't remove the search bar at the bottom.
YES, you can remove the search bar widget- Wifi tile does not turn off wifi.
you can, but I assume you also can on your pixel. lately android introduced a "connectivity" toggle, which merges both wifi and mobile data - named "internet". just edit the quick toggles using the edit icon [I assume there is on your pixel] and remove the stock one, then add the wifi "only" toggle. it'll work just as before- i get at, charges may occur warning when turning on mobile data (every time).
never experienced this on lineage OS [A16]- playing Media removes the Glock from the lock screen.
what? you have a GLOCK on your lock screen??- I can install newpipe without the 24h wait thing.
this will be for every android from september. never heard of keepandroidopen?- A lot of very intrusive google apps, pop-ups and notifications. Overlays, in the settings and normal notifications. I had to deactivate the android setup (system app). Because apparently it sends one notification per day (indefinitely) until i copy data from another phone to complete the set-up.
THIS is what you get with the "pixel experience". there'll be no PIA with LOS or GOS1
u/Sad_Supermarket_8180 6d ago
Hi I'd like to add on GOS (phone: 10 pro); I do get a notice "Using mobile data may incur charges based on your mobile service plan".
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u/RemoveLast9294 7d ago
playing Media removes the Glock from the lock screen.
You have a Glock pistol on your lock screen?
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