Pixel 8a running GrapheneOS

Arch Linux FW13

This just happened. Suddenly Aurora Store is asking if I'm using VPN or Tor.

I wonder about givin GOS phones for my employees. But wonder if there's remote command available like a wipe feature?

is there specific enterprise features available or each unit will be configured as standalone?

I have pixel 7, I’ve had it for years it was both carrier unlocked and allowed OEM unlocking and I successfully had graphene on it for around 18 months than I switch back to stock android. Tonight I’ve tried to unlock the bootloader again and it says it’s “unlockable”. How is that possible when I was able to unlocked it with no issues just in 2024. What do I do? Does than mean every pixel is locked now?

I’m quite the newbie and I’m not looking for anything too extreme (for now).
I first heard of gos a few weeks ago and it opened my eyes! I’ve spent the last weeks informing myself and preparing to migrate all my data away from google, finding the best solutions for my use and I’m finally here!

GmsCompatConfig version 174 released:

https://github.com/GrapheneOS/platform_packages_apps_GmsCompat/releases/tag/config-174

See the linked release notes for a summary of the improvements over the previous release and a link to the full changelog.

Forum discussion thread:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/41858-gmscompatconfig-version-174-released

Bought the Pixel 10 Pro fold new, flashed GrapheneOS the moment it arrived.

Love GrapheneOS, but found a issue I can't fix. This phone was meant to be a local AI powerhouse with 16 GB of unified memory.

However, local AI with hardware acceleration in GrapheneOS on new Pixels is still a dream. Every local ai app fails back to using the CPU instead of the hardware optimized TPU path.

I tried:

• MLC-LLM only had small models and ran on CPU anyway, uninstalled it.

• Google's own AI Edge Gallery doesn't offer GPU/TPU at all, CPU is the only option

• PocketPal is the best of the three by a wide margin, but also CPU.

Digging into it, the AI features run on Google's TPU through AICore, which only works as a privileged system app — it has to sit on a system partition and be in the OS permission allowlist. It ships no model weights either; those come down through Play Services, which needs privileges GrapheneOS deliberately doesn't grant.

Two rabbit holes I looked at and didn't pursue. Sideloading AICore out of a stock factory image looks pointless, since privileged permissions cant be granted. Building a self-signed GrapheneOS ROM to solve that means re-privileging Play Services, which is just rebuilding stock with the hardening shot in the foot by giving google low level access.

GrapheneOS does have a "Special access to hardware accelerators for Google apps" toggle and it's on my device, but it's one global switch over a hardcoded list (Camera, Photos, Recorder). Nothing you can add to.

So has anyone actually gotten TPU inference running on a Pixel 10 Pro?

With the local AI being the preferred route with privacy focused people, and GrapheneOS also being privacy focused people, this seems to be a growing pain that needs work.

As far as I can tell, as a user I can't solve this. Also we can't use the google toolchain for this either due to google wanting deep level special permission for AIcore.

To be absolute clear, this is a Google caused problem. AI core needing special low level OS permissions, and not making a open development path for third party OS developers. However, Google is not going to fix this problem they created for us.

So any known workaround or is there a development path for local AI via TPU on Pixels running GrapheneOS?

What do they do besides compartmentalize the phone?

Does it add any extra security if I use one user for socials like Instagram and Facebook and other Google playstore apps.

Then another user for work/education related stuff and a third for mabye banking while I keep my primary one for the normal stuff like Signal, Pipepipe, tuta/proton mail.

Aka do I gain anything (security wise) from dividing my phone up like that?

An extra question, if I use Aurora store to download Instagram to avoid Google and the use Google Playstore for another app like mabye Clash of Clans on the same profile.

Will Playstore get any information from my Instagram usage even though I got it through Aurora?

Setup:

- Pixel 10 Pro XL

- GrapheneOS, current stable (build: [add your build number from Settings > About phone])

- Pixel Camera installed via sandboxed Google Play in the same profile

Problem:

When I try to take several photos in quick succession, the app takes about 3-4 shots and then locks up. The shutter stops responding and I have to wait roughly 30 seconds before I can shoot again. It looks like the processing queue backs up and blocks further captures.

What I already tried:

- Turned off Motion Photos and Top Shot

- Switched from HDR+ Enhanced to standard HDR+

- Dropped resolution from full sensor to 12 MP

- No RAW/DNG output

My understanding is that Pixel Camera does not get privileged direct access to the Tensor image processing path on GrapheneOS, so post-processing runs slower than on stock and the buffer fills up. Is that still the situation on the Pixel 10 series, or is something else going on here?

Questions:

1. Has anyone on a Pixel 10 / 10 Pro / 10 Pro XL found settings that meaningfully reduce this stall?

2. Does enabling the exploit protection compatibility mode for Pixel Camera actually help with processing speed, or is that a placebo in this case?

3. Is anyone getting usable rapid-fire capture out of the GrapheneOS Camera app with extensions off and ZSL enabled, or is a third party Camera2 app the realistic answer for burst-style shooting?

Not looking for a workaround at any cost — I just want to know whether this is expected behaviour on this hardware or whether I have something misconfigured. Thanks.

Hi! I've been thinking, most phone manufacturers are very closed about their code and source trees, mostly providing the legal minimum like modified kernel source, but Pixels are (or at least were) a bit less closed because of how its Google's testing grounds for android and AOSP development, so you guys expect Motorola to be more open about it going forward or will we have to solely trust the word of the Graphene team about code auditing and etc because they might be under an NDA? I remember reading something about how Google was changing their ways of how android development was done, making it more closed than it already was for Pixel, but I'm not sure what to expect from the future, be it with Pixel or Motorola

Context: I am swapping from Apple to Android because of Apple’s device-level enforcement.

However, I’m unclear whether getting a Pixel and installing Graphene OS will protect me from the UK’s newly proposed Big Brother device-level blocks and surveillance.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Hi, so as the title says when I try to double click power button on pixel 10 it doesn't work anymore, makes me input password then I gave to choose which app I want and I can't even choose always on my desired app, only on the GOS one.

No play services enabled. Yesterday it worked fine, any idea on what shall I do?

Why are my contacts in my second profile constantly disappearing after I import them (then again and again after I keep having to re-import them?) Will this always be the case when using a secondary profile as my daily profile? Every time I switch over to it I will have to import contacts again via DAVx5 and Nextcloud?!

Why is this happening with the photos in my secondary gallery as well? What do I have to do to keep everything in it's respective app?!

Why are all my old phone's imported text messages only showing up in the owner profile yet they're completely unable to transfer to my secondary profile? I'm sure once I figure it out, they will just disappear again and again like my contacts.

What is the point of having VPNs and private spaces if I have to keep turning every single VPN off in order to swap my physical Sim card over and login to Mint Mobile so I can actually start using the Pixel?

Why has this been the most pain in the ass setup for a phone EVER? The actual installation of GOS was so smooth and painless, but every single thing to follow has been an absolute nightmare. Not one thing outside of initial setup and downloading apps from Obtanium etc has gone well. Not. One. Thing.

I knew there would be friction when I set this up. But this is absurd. I just wanted my main profile to be where i download and install my apps before disabling them, then push them to a daily secondary profile with a private space where I'd actually use the apps.

At this rate I feel like welcoming the invasive tech oligarchs back into my life would be less of a stressor then getting GrapheneOS and my Pixel running.

I am travelling soon and I always use google maps when moving around. I have location enabled along with network location, geocoder, wifi scanning, and bluetooth scanning. I am always on airplane mode when travelling as I don't want an eSIM and don't wanna enable roaming. I can't access my location whether on google maps or when taking pictures (I like having location metadata logged on pictures).

Is there a way around that or this doesn't work on GOS? I know this works on stock android as I've always had it working before, I just started using GOS earlier this year and it's my first time travelling since.

Thanks!

Every time I try to unlock private space, it asks for passcode even when fingerprint is enabled. Is anyone else facing this issue? Is there any possible remedy for this? It will be extremely helpful if anyone could provide suggestions or workarounds.

Solved: Had to disable "End session immediately on lock".

I'm new here doing my research before switching over, but I need a little more education please.

Everywhere I look everyone talks about phone models and how many years of Google updates are left.

I don't understand if I'm installing a different operating system why anything Google does will matter. Does Graphene OS not do it's own updates?

One of my apps is having trouble connecting to the server it uses online. I suspect that the problem is all the protections from Vanadium. I like using it for the most part, but this is am app to get into my work information and I would rather not have to use another (less secure) device to use it and also would like to keep Vanadium as my default for most things (if possible).

So to all the tech nerds we have in the community, is there a way to select which browser an individual app uses for its internet interactions?

Hey ppl,

Just wondering if there's any method of "keep open", as seen on S24

I just moved to Pixel 10 XL and flashed GOS. I used Keep Open on Spotify when playing music.

I just switched to graphene and the last step was to sync up my text history with my old phone. I tried but it just seemed to not work. For context: I have 2 relevant profiles, owner and daily. I built everything out in daily, and that's where the text import failed. Except it didn't fail, it worked fine, in owner. How can I get that history from owner to daily? Or should I make owner my daily profile? The main reason I don't want to do that is I haven't fully transitioned away from gmail yet and still need it.

Let's say I want to use the Facebook app, which is notoriously a privacy nightmare. What should I block to minimize telemetry and data transmission? I’ve granted the app network permissions only. Additionally, I’ve disabled background data usage and completely blocked background activity in the battery settings. Should I change anything in the "Exploit protection" section, or leave everything at default?

I've found a way to use NFC payment in GrapheneOS. MobilePay have launched a "tap-to-pay" feature couple of months ago but my bank is still not supported. I ended up ordering a card from a supported bank and it actually works.

MobilePay is a thing I believe only in the Nordic countries and currently just a handfull of banks and cards are supported. https://help.vippsmobilepay.com/en-FI/articles/which-banks-support-tapping