You can sandbox Google Play services and 99% of things will work that way

Is it a new build of grapheneOS you mean, or messages? I'm on AT&T so I will definitely try it!

I'm on AT&T so I will definitely try it!

Thank you!

When I started my degoogle process some time back & researching options I literally laughed at loud at myself. Am I seriously going to hand over yet more money to the very beast I am trying to get away from? Talk about instant compromise of values

Years later, extremely proud of that decision. Just a non starter. Buying second hand also creates a market value for selling more google crap

If you already have one go for it. My 6 with GOS runs significantly better than my 8 with stock android. I wouldn't buy one specifically for it though, I'd go newer since it will be supported longer.

e/OS is fantastic, IodeOS also IMO, plenty good choices. LineageOS with rethinkDNS in whitelist only mode is also amazing

And for extra goodness supporting open source apps without trackers

All without handing yet more $$$ to nasty google, imagine that

It worked! I'll update my original comment! Thank you again!

I got a new (to me) pixel a bit ago and haven't switched back cause life has been crazy. I miss GOS. Maybe this weekend I'll have a minute to do that.

Not knowing you can buy used/refurbished betrays a deep level of real life illiteracy

Break free from Google by giving your money to Google!

I understand the complexity of supporting different hardware, but i cannot take this thing seriously while it only runs on google pixel phones.

Im not trying to "spread fud." The state of 3rd party software on android is where it is. Google is introducing a high friction system for unverified apps that includes fees paid directly to google, and is not releasing to aosp in advance at all... this potentially means things like f droid and aurora cant operate. It doesnt mean that gos wont "allow" sideloading, but that you wont have alternatives to load. It also means you will have to increasingly be limited to sandboxed google play, with more barriers to overcome to make those apps work on non-android. https://www.androidauthority.com/android-changes-third-party-app-stores-3613409/

I bought my Pixel 9 refurbished (as new).

MicroG isn't necessary with Grapheneos's sandboxed Google Play.

Refurbished is a thing. So is

Don't remember if the interface was much different.
Forced dark mode and notification history work fine.
You can take screenshots in the overview, not sure about select, maybe you need an app?

Most banking works fine. There was a time it had more problems but I don't even need to use a secondary profile with Google Play Services running any longer.

NFC works, but that is app specific.
So no, wallet won't work because google wallet wants Google services to work. But in the EU some banks have their own contactless payments that work fine. In the US none do to my knowledge.
For bus pass etc that would be down to your app and if they require google services or not. There's always the option for secondary profiles.

To me, I was amazed at his many apps use google services for notifications. So many apps work, but don't give me notifications unless I open the app... Which I'm okay with because 99% of them I would turn off anyways.

I don’t remember the last time I brought my cards with me. Needs to be on my phone.

We need data portability laws to really untie people from these platforms.

Credit card companies can claim whatever they want, that’s not how their agreement works. They need to cover. But also the risk of someone stealing my unlocked phone is so exponentially lower than the risk of someone stealing my cards that I’m not even remotely concerned.

I would use banking through the browser for sure, but to be able to login on the browser i can only receive the pin through the app. not only this ,but everytime i make a purchase online I have to authorize the transaction through the app. There is no other way, they don't even offer a physical token anymore.

Wish i could find where i read that google was planning to eliminate bootloader access... they walked it back in the end after expected uproar. Ultimately, the pressure from 'verified by google' and the changes to AOSP are enough pressure to push out ROMS as it is...

https://www.androidauthority.com/android-rom-calyxos-support-freeze-google-blame-3590268/

Anyway, listen. I LOVE graphene. Everyone should use it, BECAUSE google is demonstrably a band of fuckwits. Im not trying to dissuade but inform. I am excited for an announcement about who theyre working with when they say their future is a phone made in connjunction with a "major OEM" maker. https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/10/grapheneos-may-break-pixel-exclusivity-with-a-new-phone-in-2026.html

I'm looking into getting a Jolla, though I'm sure the security probably doesn't match up to GrapheneOS. They seem more privacy oriented and these days I'd like to contribute to the existence of European alternatives.

https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-preorder

“Needs to” may be a bit strong for you, but for me it’s legit. I will NOT switch to an OS without Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay.

If my phone is dead, broken, or stolen, I use my watch.

The level of security, of privacy and of granular control of those does not come even close to what GrapheneOS brings to the table. Additionally Iodè and /e/OS have some noise going on with not being private at all. And all of them, except LineageOS (some times) have long delays with security patches.

/e/OS uses OpenAI for voice-to-text. Iodé has closed source components (trust me bro?). What do they claim? "some protection is better than none". In security that is ridiculous.

Then there is choosing between Microg vs actual sandboxed Google Play Services (which you don't need to have at all on GrapheneOS if you don't want to).

/e/OS signs their OS with Google test keys instead of their own keys.

Unconfirmed, but concerning is the claims of ties of those 2 (Iodé and /e/OS) with the French government, not unlike Chinese companies with the CCP.

Choosing LineageOS, or even CalyxOS are options I would consider if I wasn't willing or able to get a Pixel device, but Iodé and /e/OS are absolute 'no' in my book. Too many holes, too pragmatic (and I'm trying to be nice using that word) for my taste.

I use GOS and I am all for correcting people, but perhaps next time, don't assume they are spreading FUD, and instead assume they are just misinformed

by using a Pixel...

Oh yes the magical security black box that is 100% trust worthy! Surely nothing can ever wrong!

yes, but you have to use a pixel.

There's no reason not to buy a second hand Pixel.

other than a burning hatred for google that prevents you from participating in keeping the resale market high. lol

Buy one used to not financially support them. GrapheneOS only supports Pixel phones as they are the only ones which meet the security requirements.

https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices

Nothing else meets the secuirty requirements and they don't want to comprimise.

https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices

No OS comes close to Graphene in security. Second hand sales for Graphene are a drop in the bucket for Google. If Graphene went away and people stopped buying second hand Pixels for that purpose, it wouldn't even be a blip to them.

If what you care about is security though, nothing comes close to Graphene.

The duress pin seems like such a cool feature, but I feel like it flies a little too close to the sun.

Misremembering your own pin ten times stretches the limit of credulity, but a lawyer could argue that under the circumstances of enhanced interrogation you weren’t able.

Expressly giving the wrong answer in a place with compelled speech threatens to add a million new legal hurdles to your freedom.

When you fuck it up ten times they’re gonna try to slap you with those charges anyway but at least you have some defense instead of it being an open and shut case of “he’s recorded entering the evidence destruction button when we asked him nicely to instead let us push the evidence retrieval button”

For assange types (and I mean people actively under threat by a nation which has a set of charges it’s investigating or planting evidence for, not people who have leaked documents or share his ideals) it’s a good thing, but anyone not dodging the “if I walk out of the embassy they’ll “find” cp on my phone” bullet it seems like more trouble than it’s worth.

Very encouraging!

Valid in many cases (hence the rubber hose quip), I was merely responding to above. It does have use as a quick way to burn it all down before any requests are made.

Aurora is also a good substitute store if you don't want to use sandboxed Google Play, but anything that uses Google Play Services will likely be borked

Yeah sorry to hit you with a wall of text.

Between all the people who refuse to use graphene because it’s on pixels and the ones who seem like they haven’t been keeping up with the news or even had any interaction with cops this thread is deeply disturbing and hitting all the buttons that make me wanna say No Don’t Do That!

Who knows, maybe there’s a good case where someone uses the duress and gets away with it. I think assange did once before…

"all laws are local, and no law knows how local it is", which is to say it on the user to understand their local legal (and political) situation. It's a big world.

But yeah, there's a bit of naivete here, the rubber hose (cryptanalysis) was also a reference to the xkcd

Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance and stupidity.

Too bad those other phones have shit security hardware. That's the only reason Graphene uses Pixels.

Apart from unnecessary, pretty sure it's also unsupported to begin with

What services do they have for senior citizens? Because they are the most likely ones to not want to use technology. You can probably piggyback on what they use.

I will always laugh at their "security requirements"

What is wrong with them?