I own 2 bloated proprietary devices and don’t use them for anything important, like banking or dealing with authorities. I also don’t trust the manufactures not selling my data.
Id like to have a working device with no bloatware and completely degoogled. Ironically I’d have to buy something made by google to run GrapheneOS on it. Intended use would be to use as a camera, to run CoMaps on it, pkpass files with foss-wallet, reading epubs, making phone calls and running one aurora app.
I don’t need the device to play games, watch movies, show off or to play loud music, but I’d like a jack port for my headphones (I assume google headphones would cease to work if I degoogle the device, nor would I want to spend more than necessary enriching that data grabber even more.
Is there a pixel device with a jack port?
Are batteries inside pixel devices glued to the frame or can they be easy to change?
My main OS is debian. How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?
Overall if you run GrapheneOS on a pixel, how many years running it and what do you think about it?
Debian and GOS user here. Worth noting, if you cable the phone to your Debian system, on the phone you must explicitly tell GOS to use the phone in MTP File Transfer mode, if you wanna transfer files. Starting with Android 6, upon cabling a phone to a USB port on a system, the default behavior is just to charge the phone’s battery.
Love GOS, but my bank app won’t work with it.
Also, 3.5mm audio jacks on phones are phasing out. So I bought an Onix Alpha DAC to use my hi-fi Sennheiser headphones (3.5mm cable) to USB-C. I’m into hi-fi audio, so a DAC for me was a must.
It’s great, works even better than desktop Linux tbh. I heard devs are planning GrapheneOS for desktops, which should be great and secure as well!
I have been running GOS for 5 years now on my pixel 4a. Planning to snag a new 9a during black friday sales. Hardware is fine, but I want security updates.
I run my banking through vanadium browser with non-foss 2fa app in a separate profile.
Facebook messenger works, but whatsapp nevers works properly for me. Trying to migrate friends and family to signal.
I mostly use LocalSend to transfer files between my computer and phone. Photos and folders are synced with my synology nas.
Summary: I’m happy with GOS, great battery life and no distracting ad-bloated apps. Can run most apps with google play in separated profiles.
Works great for me on my pixel 7 but you have to be aware that you loose some stuff too unfortunately.
Not all banking apps work and payment using your phone is completely out.
If you care about it, the health stuff also isn’t available
Literal best phone I’ve ever had. Never had any problems getting apps to work. That said, idk whats going to happen now with the changes to the aosp
Yeah. Same sentiment here. Zero regrets about installing Graphene on my Pixel 7. Installatiun process wasnt even that difficult.
(you may want to post this to [email protected] or a similar community… I suppose GOS uses the Linux kernel technically but I think this community is for desktop Linux lol)
GOS is really nice. It’s very seamless and user-friendly, whilst still being very unbloated and minimal. You still have everything you’d expect to have on a phone but the environment is nicely minimal and lets you only install the software you want.
I’ve been using GOS as my exclusive mobile OS for many years, never had any technical problems with it.
You can use bluetooth headphones or usb-c headphones. Including the bluetooth headphones google sells. Afaik they are still just bluetooth headphones.
How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?
Easy: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Media_Transfer_Protocol
How is the camera in GOS? I have pixel 8a.
I also have Pixel 8a and have no issues with the camera. I’m by no means a photographer though and I don’t think I have much of an eye for that sort of thing, but it works perfectly fine for my purposes, ie snapping a photo of anything interesting I see in my daily life, or if I want to show something to my friends by taking a picture of it. iirc the FOSS options don’t give as high quality of a result as Google’s proprietary camera app but all I need is photos to be legible so it’s more than sufficient for me. If photo quality is very important to you then maybe you could use Google’s camera app with sandboxed google play? I’ve never tried doing that before so I dunno if it works.
I have the same model, the GOS camera pretty much uses the same basic features that the Pixel Camera uses, but when I checked their page for more info, apparently GOS Pixels only support night mode, you lose HDR, Face Retouch, Portrait, etc. My friends often have me take group pics and think my photos look good, so I wouldn’t sweat it, but you could always download pixel camera and restrict wifi access.
Thanks for reply. Camera is the only issue for me.
So you are saying gos camera is already good enough but I can download “pixel camera” app to get all the features of stock pixel camera? Including magic eraser, unblur etc?
Btw, I get your suggestion on disabling WiFi. I’d like to do that for some apps in stock as well. But there seems to be option only to disabled mobile data usage, not WiFi. Does GOS give me option to disable any internet access for any app? Help would be appreciated 👍
You can get them off Aurora Store if you don’t want to install Google Services.
Yes, GOS adds the ability to completely disable network access to apps.
For magic eraser, that’s a separate app from Google.
Pixel Camera does night mode, editing tools are in Google Photos
good enough but I can download “pixel camera” app to get all the features of stock pixel camera? Including magic eraser, unblur etc?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s how it works, I think I downloaded it once just to try the camera-translate feature.
Does GOS give me option to disable any internet access for any app? Help would be appreciated 👍
Yup, %100 sure about that one. You’d have to root your phone on stock to be able to disable Wifi for an app, but GOS lets you do it easily with a simple permission toggle. I do this for Gboard, as I like using it but don’t want Google to be in my business.
is it something you’d recommend for a privacy worried user?
Absolutely
I assume google headphones would cease to work if I degoogle the device
They’ll work perfectly.
Is there a pixel device with a jack port?
No.
Are batteries inside pixel devices glued to the frame or can they be easy to change?
They are glued, like all modern devices.
My main OS is debian. How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?
Very easy with KDEConnect/GSConnect.
Overall if you run GrapheneOS on a pixel, how many years running it and what do you think about it?
About 4 years. I like everything about it. The only thing I don’t like is that it can’t solve problems inherent in Google’s monopoly. So some Google Play apps will not work and notifications won’t work without Google’s proprietary Google Play Services or one of the super rare apps that support unifiedpush. The vast majority of developers don’t publish their apps outside of the Play Store, and almost none of them support anything other than Google’s FCM for notifications. Google Pay simply won’t work at all.
KDE Connect is fantastic and I don’t know how this isn’t the standard
Pixel 5a 5G was the last Pixel that had an audio jack. I held onto mine forever, until Graphene stopped support for the model.
I upgraded to the 7a, and then bit the bullet and bought a separate DAP for music.
The biggest adjustment to using Graphene is often just having to finding open-source app solutions that don’t require Google Play, assuming you don’t want to run the sandbox. I found the process cathartic, personally.
If I’m running mostly f-droid apps, and play services is not installed (e.g. I cant run YT-Revanced as it needs gapps).
Then does that mean I should be able to move over to graphine without much issue?
What abkut the one or two apps uninstall throguh Aurora store, woild they work?
It’d likely be quite painless in your case, then.
Aurora store logged in anonymously works for me, for the couple apps I have no other choice on.
I have used GrapheneOS on and off for 3 years or so.
I used to be on LineageOS with root. I did that so I could run a firewall, and have complete control over every aspect of my OS.
I tried GrapheneOS before they had ability for android auto. But lacking that, caused me to switch.
While my ultimate goal is to ditch big tech, Google, Microsoft, apple, etc I have to compromise a bit for some functionality.
That being said, having sandboxed Google Play has helped. Something I didn’t have on LineageOS.
Getting data to and from Debian won’t be an issue. Plug it in, and copy files to and from. Ezpz.
I use Arch BTW. And have had zero issues. So Linux compatability isn’t an issue.
As far as getting a Pixel with a headphone jack, that May be an issue. Security updates and software updates for a model with one may be an issue.
I have had GrapheneOS on a Pixel 7 Pro, and now an 8 Pro.
As much as I hate Google, I do like pixels. The 7 pro was miles better than my 8 pro.
I want to add, without Google play, you can still use Accrescent and Obtainium. While Accrescent is good, it has few apps. Obtanium you can pull from GitHub, F-Droid, Gitlab, and more and will check for updates.
I use both.
About 2 years for me. It’s a better experience than vanilla Android except that tap to pay doesnt work.
Other than that one downside it’s been nothing but an improvement. so much more control over what apps can access, and what Google services to use (if any). Google services are treated like any other app, and can therefore be easily sandboxed.
If you have a compatible device i highly recommend GrapheneOS. I’m pretty unhappy with the build quality and camera on my Pixel (7 Pro), but that was all the same on Android.
I really wish GrapheneOS supported another brand of device. Pixels are way overpriced for how cheaply put together they are, but i’d rather have a meh phone with real security than a nice one with just security theater
It works great with Linux for me, i expect Debian will have no issues
In another thread, someone mentioned that they keep their card inside their phone case to mimic tap to pay. I haven’t tried yet because my card is screwed up and the chip doesn’t work.
I switched to it this past winter, same time I moved from Windows to CachyOS on my desktop, and I haven’t looked back on either device since.
Debloats the hell out of the thing, and personally I love how deeply documented everything is. Reasons and justifications are given for every design decision, but it’s also not an extremely opinionated ecosystem - if you need a google app or w/e for any reason, the option is there. there are some limitations like the integrity API dogshit, but for the most part, it’s a near flawless experience.
I’m a week into using GrapheneOS and its been great. It is a little restrictive in that I seem to have to explicitly allow apps to run and apps like my Bank app or Spotify don’t work.
However, most apps are just Web Apps at this point and I’ve noticed very little difference in the use of the app versus the pinned browser version.
I’m also trying to curb a phone addiction so Graphene + Lemmy + Mastodon + Jellyfin is all I’m using on this thing.
I assume google headphones would cease to work if I degoogle the device
I’m using my Pixel Buds. They work just as well. Remember, its just a Bluetooth device just without all the QOL stuff like voice control.
I recommend trying it. Graphene OS install also has instruction ions to revert if you change your mind. And it’s pretty easy. Maybe a touch harder than installing Linux generally, but if your dailying Debian, you’re fine.
Spotify works for me.
I do online banking through the browser if I need it.
I figured it was just a skill issue on my end that Spotify wasn’t working, but I really should be just buying CDs/digital albums as opposed to paying the Spotify subscription
Fair. I’ve considered the same myself.
I don’t pay Spotify though. £10 a month is 12 albums per year at least. Can buy full catalogue. For cycling new music I ain’t fully sold on when driving is fine though.
I have 5 different banking apps, all working without an issue. Some I may had to “explore protection mode compatibility” but it is not the rule and is a quick tweak.
It really just depends on luck. You can check the GitHub list of banking apps reported to work or not. My credit card banking app (Discover) works but not my debit card bank (Navy Federal), and PayPal has a stroke and hates me. I tried using exploit compatibility mode.
According to some new reports, there might be hope to get other apps working, but overall it’s not “plug and play” for all banking apps.
I have done a lot of pixel repairs and GOS installations . Pixels are glued shut. It is repairable but it is quite sure to say that the screen will break if removed , it’s kind of like removing two eggshells glued together. Requires a lot of patience and luck to do it without breaking it. Once in it’s not harder than any other phone. That said my own has a a 40 euro case to avoid the issues of repairs, I recommend that. Screens are 100 + euros nowadays. So repairs is rarely worth it. Depends on the price you can get the parts for it.
Batteries can be replaced but takes some work and hot air gun to remove glue.
For GOS yeah that’s what you want it’s the best. And I do everything from debian distros.
Don’t use aurora. Instead install GOS implementation of google play on a separate user profile if needed. The user profiles are a lot better sandboxed than regular user profiles and the gapp implementation better than aurora. And most things work without it also.
GOS gets more support than regular pixels but are recommended to not trust after pixel official updates end. For the new ones it’s 7 years. Usually GOS gets a year extra of minor updates. Check the FAQ and device support on https://grapheneos.org/faq
I use mine for nearly everything. And there are either FOSS apps from FDroid (and additional repos) or just use the mobile website for non Foss stuff like banking. There are a few exceptions , like Whatsapp that I need but it have fewer permissions and no access to contacts ( there’s a Foss app as helper for that as well) . Your headphones will work fine.
pixel is meh
GrapheneOS is fucking amazing
Well put
Is there a pixel device with a jack port?
None that are still supported by GrapheneOS. But you can buy a USB-C to 3.5mm jack dongle.
My main OS is debian. How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?
Pretty easy, either by cable or using an app like LocalSend (they have an apk on their Github).
Overall if you run GrapheneOS on a pixel, how many years running it and what do you think about it?
Haven’t used it in a while. I think it was cool, but was definitely more of a hassle than regular Android. The default apps are pretty barebones and feel old. Though I do still dream about replacing my iPhone with a device with GrapheneOS.
