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https://tbot.substack.com/p/grapheneos-new-oem-partnership https://tbot.substack.com/p/grapheneos-new-oem-partnership > GrapheneOS has officially confirmed a m
by walterbell 11mo ago
https://tbot.substack.com/p/grapheneos-new-oem-partnership https://tbot.substack.com/p/grapheneos-new-oem-partnership
> GrapheneOS has officially confirmed a major new hardware partnership—one that marks the end of its long-standing Pixel exclusivity. According to the team, work with a major Android OEM began in June and is now moving toward the development of a next-generation smartphone built to meet GrapheneOS’ strict privacy and security standards.
- axelthegerman 11mo agoOh that's one of the best news in the smartphone world in a long time. It's impossible to escape the Apple/Google duopoly but at least GrapheneOS makes the most out of Android regarding privacy. I still wish we could get some kind of low resource, stable and mature Android clone instead of Google needlessly increasing complexity but this will over time break app compatibility (Google will make sure of it) Edit: I do think Pixel devices used to be one of the best but still I'd like to choose my hardware and software separately interoperating via standards
- Kuraj 11mo agoYou might also be interested in Jolla Phone https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46162368 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46162368
- Klonoar 11mo agoIf you're stateside and want a shipping Linux phone today, [FuriLabs](http://furilabs.com http://furilabs.com) is another option. Graphene is in a class of its own compared to both of these though and there's frankly no reason to bother unless you're trying to improve those ecosystems.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- embedding-shape 11mo ago> Stateside - being in, going to, coming from, or characteristic of the 48 conterminous states of the U.S. In case others, like me, weren't aware.
- Klonoar 11mo agoI admit to being shocked that such a common phrase isn’t widely understood, but this site has plenty of international traffic so I can only say thanks for the context comment. :)
- embedding-shape 11mo agoYeah, it's funny how our contexts shapes what we believe to be universal :) I had the same experience with "ground floor" and "first floor", where seemingly every country has a different understanding and way they use those. Or even what "Caravan" actually is seems to differ too. Language is fun :)
- umbra07 11mo agoThanks! I had no idea that this existed. Unfortunately, the specs aren't great, especially when compared to Jolla's offering. Oh well. I'm quite enthusiastic about Graphene's OEM partnership,though.
- Klonoar 11mo agoI share your enthusiasm re: Graphene OEM partnerships. I think it's fantastic what they've managed to pull off so far. Re: the FuriLabs phone, yeah, it's rough - but it's definitely usable for early adopters who want to contribute and help build.
- tenthirtyam 11mo agoI'm not knowledgeable enough -- what would it take to escape the Apple/Google duopoly? I'm imagining a future where you buy a smartphone and when you do the first configuration, it asks you which services provider you want to use. Google and Apple are probably at the top of the list, but at the bottom there is "custom..." where you can specify the IP or host.domain of your own self-hosted setup. Then, when you download an app, the app informs the app provider of this configuration and so your notifications (messenger, social media, games, banking, whatever) get delivered to that services provider and your phone gets them from there accordingly. Is there anything like that in the world today?
- immibis 11mo agoAny one of us here could learn the skills to design a smartphone. It won't necessarily be good, but I remember that years ago, someone made one with a touchscreen hat and GSM hat atop a Raspberry Pi, rubber-banded to a power bank. I'm sure any one of us HN users could do this. And it worked. Quality only goes up from there. The problem is it won't run any apps, so you'll need to carry this open-source secure phone in addition to your normal phone.
- zdc1 11mo agoOr use everything via the web browser; but yes, I think apps are the main reason we can't just have a generic Linux phone OS on an open hardware platform
- bossyTeacher 11mo agoApps make or break operating systems and app stores. Just ask Microsoft (Windows Phone) or Huawei (HarmonyOs). IIRC amazon was paying devs to publish to their app store or something like that. Thankfully, some apps have both web and native mobile versions but for a modern digital life, the critical apps are sadly not on both versions.
- immibis 11mo agoWe can have it. It won't become as popular, but we can have it.
- itissid 11mo agoI have been trying to come off of google and cloud by building — quite slowly — my own nas server which has 2 nodes in two geographic regions where I am building certain services like cloud storage and backup, webhosting etc. But I think there are a few key things that need to be community driven to really get rid of this duoply. 0. A privacy first approach would be something like this: `You+App --Read/Write-> f_private(your_data) <--Write only- 3p` and App cannot communicate your data to 3p or google/apple. Think of Yelp/Google Maps but with no _read_ permissions on location, functions can be run in a private middleware e.g. what's near an anonymous location or ads based on anonymous data. You can wipe your data from one button click and start again for EVERYTHING, no data is ever stored on a 3p server. Bonus: No more stupid horrible permission fiascos for app development that are just plain creepy. 1. An opensource data effort that can support (0) with critical infra e.g. precise positioning, anonymous or privacy preserving functions that don't reveal their data or processes to 3p. Here is my favourite open source effort: Precise Location Positioning. A high recall, opensource, 3D building and sattelite-shadow Data-Infra effort[3]. This world class dataset on shadows and sattelites are a must. Most geo-location positioning tied to Radio signals is just a bandaid and fraught with privacy issues — thought there are heroic privacy first efforts in this direction[1][2] which though amazing will be playing catch-up with google already deploying [3]. [1]https://beacondb.net/ https://beacondb.net/ [2] https://github.com/wiglenet/m8b https://github.com/wiglenet/m8b [3] https://insidegnss.com/end-game-for-urban-gnss-googles-use-of-3d-building-models/ https://insidegnss.com/end-game-for-urban-gnss-googles-use-o...
- yipbub 11mo agoI don't understand your syntax: `You+App --Read/Write-> f_private(your_data) <--Write only- 3p` Does this mean a server where third parties can send code to run on your data, but cannot respond to them?
- RandomThrow321 11mo agoTotally agree. Pixel devices are probably still the best Android offering, but I originally got into the ecosystem because it was less confined and that appears to be changing. While I'm likely not representative of most consumers, I would love it if I could choose both the right device and right software for my particular needs .
- toastal 11mo ago> but still I'd like to choose my hardware and software separately interoperating via standards This is why I can’t do GrapheneOS. Pixel devices do not suit my needs (& aren’t available). 2 of the big appeals for my going Android was 1) device options 2) ability to customize (appearance, apps from other sources, root access). Google has basically done everything to prevent #2 & GrapheneOS prevents #1. …This is why I also have a Linux phone to just leave these restrictions.
- bpev 11mo agoWhat kind of Linux phone setup do you have, and what kind of experience has it been? I want to make the leap sometime, but not quite there yet.
- toastal 11mo agoI have an Xperia with Sailfish OS. The Android app support ironically ends up what makes it usable, but the new patch isn’t released with kernel support that actually makes the IO work properly. Its own app selection is pretty small. It would be cool if all desktop Linux didn’t need an entirely new skin to work at this form factor, else I could get what I needed. I also use Nix to smooth over some of the repository shortcomings.
- tranq_cassowary 11mo agoSailfish OS just takes the wrong approach, to be honest. It makes more sense to have the more secure OS at the host (Android) and the less secure as a guest for compatability (traditional Linux distro). Its also problematic that the app compatability delivered via the Anseood support uses an outdated Android version etc.
- drnick1 11mo agoThe success of an OS is inevitably linked to the availability of apps. A "smart" phone today is basically useless if it can't run either iOS or Android apps. Projects like Waydroid can make Linux phones viable, but since there are approximately zero native Linux apps for phones, you might as well use Android as a FOSS base. This is precisely what Graphene and Lineage do.
- test1072 11mo agoEven if google breaks compatibility, still using some compatibillity mode it's possible to run such apps right ?
- brightball 11mo agoI’ve been an iPhone user from the beginning but this would really tempt me.
- sans_souse 11mo agoPixel phones currently have the additional benefit of a full Debian OS running via AVP. This is (imo) on par with or better than having Termux on a rooted device. It's still fairly off-the radar which makes it a really good time to be exploring it's uses.
- Grisu_FTP 11mo agoI agree, it has been lots of fun testing around in the KVM. Recently a GrapheneOS update even included the Button to attach to the "screen" of the VM. It also has GPU passthrough iirc? When i have more freetime during the holidays i will test further. I especially want to try how it works when i combine stuff like steam + fex + Proton or run other GPU stuff
- sans_souse 11mo agoKeep me/us updated!
- matheusmoreira 11mo agoThis is excellent news. Google doesn't sell Pixels in my country for some reason. Hopefully the new phones will be easier to obtain.
- DANmode 11mo agoHave you considered using mail forwarding, or sites like Swappa.com with forwarding built in? Hoping this helps you get your hands on a cheap Pixel!
- spaqin 11mo agoThat's not only adding to cost but also doesn't solve the issue of why you would buy a new phone - warranty.
- DANmode 11mo agoThey just said Pixels. Nothing about brand new ones. Just that the new ones might be easier to buy international. Phone without warranty is better than phone you hate, or phone with OS you disagree fundamentally with - in my opinion.
- YY876438726 11mo agoHas the OEM in question been revealed yet? Likely not one of the major OEMs because they all lock their bootloaders. I'm crossing my fingers it's Fairphone but that's because I love my FP5. The GrapheneOS devs have been pretty harsh towards Fairphone because of their slow updates.
- moooo99 11mo agoThey seem to refuse that they're working with fairphone, so it seems unlikely. https://www.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/comments/1o3vmn5/comment/nj1km4c https://www.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/comments/1o3vmn5/comment... My guess is that its either HMD or Nothing. Will probably still take a while until we learn about this
- umbra07 11mo agoThe most likely contenders are OnePlus, Motorola, and HMD. > "It is a big enough OEM that there is good chance you may have owned a device from them in the past." I think this takes Nothing out of contention.
- zikduruqe 11mo agoWhat about HTC, LG? Heck, Blackberry rising from the ashes? I'd love for it to be Framework.
- wkat4242 11mo agoThose are no longer big these days so no. Also, they're not going to restart a whole product category just for grapheneos. As OnePlus is kinda dead and taken over by oppo, I'm guessing Sony. They have some similar collaboration in the past like with Jolla. My Sony XA2 was one of the few models that could run sailfish.
- palata 11mo ago> Also, they're not going to restart a whole product category just for grapheneos. I don't think that there is any need to restart a new category. Just make your new phones good enough for GrapheneOS. GrapheneOS has close to half a million users, I think it's worth doing some adjustments.
- bloqs 11mo agoI literally just bought a pixel this week. Just my luck.
- muyuu 11mo agoprobably good timing this will take a while and RAM prices will be out of control for a while as well
- palata 11mo agoPixel with GrapheneOS is still great. And it may take 1-2 years before GrapheneOS gets on this new device. Now if you just bought a Pixel, it will be supported for 8 years, so by this time hopefully GrapheneOS will be available on many different devices :-).
- getpokedagain 11mo agoI guess my 8a is gonna have to do for a bit longer. This one is very exciting.
- joelthelion 11mo agoThis is really cool, but, longer term, what happens if Google makes android closed source? I feel this is a very real risk.
- jhasse 11mo agoThen Android gets forked.
- worldsavior 11mo agoThey won't because they literally control the mobile market by having Android open source.
- joelthelion 11mo agoNow that their market is established, I don't think open-source is a requirement anymore. They would of course share with hardware vendors strategically.
- wkat4242 11mo agoTrue. All the big OEMs are in too deep with Android now, there's no going back. They could easily make it code share under NDA instead of open source.
- hamandcheese 11mo agoI wonder if a real OEM supports graphene if that would solve device attestation for things like banking apps.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- rl3 11mo agoNever underestimate stupid, especially for that sector.
- rjdj377dhabsn 11mo agoNon-Google attestation is still a bad thing. I'd much rather GrapheneOS continue to get popular enough that banking apps are forced to support phones without attestation.
- 7bit 11mo agoWill never happen. Banks will not support this unless insurance companies include that. And that will never happen because they will never support something that a large company doesn't committ to.
- subscribed 11mo agoSome do. Don't want to give out names, but it's slowly happening.
- subscribed 11mo agoWhat do you mean? Graphene OS devices DO support Hardware-based attestation (AOSP standard), they just don't support STRONG or DEVICE Play integrity checks. Now developers can choose to support it (and some of the developers do!) aside or apart of google "attestation". How it should be, reliable providers should be able to certify it equally firmly. Google should be forced to accept a valid hardware-attestation certification as their own. GOS have raise the issue with the European Commission and I hope Google will get fined and forced. in quotes because it mostly confirms that google runs in the privileged mode and can't detect one of the issues. But google also gives a pass to many very old, insecure, rooted devices. It's a scam.
- czernobog 11mo agoDamn, I just got a Pixel 10 pro XL for installing GrapheneOS. I hate how below average Pixel's hardware is and I wouldn't have minded waiting a couple of more years for this.
- Mond_ 11mo agoPixel hardware is below average? Since when? That sounds like a flagship phone to me.
- Xss3 11mo agoIn raw cpu and gpu performance terms it is quite weak compared to other flagships. You dont notice unless youre gaming or encoding video or doing other heavy workloads. The daily driver experience is very smooth. The cameras and camera software is in the top 5 consistently though, the screens are also really good, so its a mixed bag hardware wise.
- preisschild 11mo agoMeh good enough for everything unless you use your phone as a "gaming pc". But the extra open-ness and security is worth it for me.
- subscribed 11mo agoNo, just run a popular Roblox game on a recent Pixel or 3-4 year old Sony. The latter runs better:) But yeah, it's my choice as well, because f** Sony software updates policy.
- ottah 11mo agoWe will see how that goes. I love GrapheneOS, I've used it for years, but the details matter. An OEM partnership might promise a lot at the start, but a lot can change between now and delivery.
- preisschild 11mo agoWorst case scenario we still have Google Pixels.