4 ms·

I did the switch to graphene on my pixel 9 pro recently and have 0 regrets. it's just a better OS than the google infected android. Here's what I did: * Follow

I did the switch to graphene on my pixel 9 pro recently and have 0 regrets. it's just a better OS than the google infected android. Here's what I did: * Follow instructions to install graphene on their website: https://grapheneos.org/install/ https://grapheneos.org/install/ * Set up a private space which will be used for google play services required apps (bank stuff, etc). Install google play and google play services in the private space. Do not install google play services on your main profile. Set the private space to lock after 5 mins of inactivity. Set up google play on a brand new google account. You'll need to provide a phone number during setup. I used my normal phone number, others who are more concerned about deanonymization could use rental phone numbers or other things. Install any apps into the private space. * Try to install apps on your main profile, ideally open source, privacy respecting stuff. Some recent apps I've found that work great and replace google infested stuff - AntennaPod for podcasts, OrganicMaps for OSM maps, Obsidian for notetaking (google keep), KOReader for ebooks, Molly/Signal for messaging. Vanadium as the default browser works well, except it doesn't have adblock plus for youtube (it does some other ad blocking though and works fine). Things I still don't have a great solution for: * Android auto - I don't think it works from a private space due to auto locking. Still figuring this out * Spotify - since it also needs to run in the background and I haven't found a better music replacement. Overall graphene has been a far better experience and I like it much more, and feel more in control of my hardware.

drnick1 7mo ago
You should be able to install Android Auto, Google Maps, etc. in a separate user profile with Google Play on and no autolock.
- diowldxiks 7mo ago
  I did try that as a first solution. I found switching profiles to be pretty unusable. Having it all in a private space so that it's accessible from main profile was much more ergonomic but does come with some privacy downsides for sure.
- jazzyjackson 7mo ago
  Thing is Android Auto only interacts with google blessed devices, iirc device manufacturer has to pay license fee to support android auto. Android auto is not FOSS, I don’t think any automaker would allow their smartphone mirroring to work with rooted hardware that may not comply with safety regulations.
  - drnick1 7mo ago
    I don't think this is true, AFAIK Android Auto works on Graphene. Google Play isn't FOSS either and also works in a sandboxed mode.
    - goda90 7mo ago
      I haven't tried anything advanced with profiles/private spaces yet. But I did successfully get Android Auto to work with sandboxed Play Services and Google Maps just this last week on my "new" GrapheneOS Pixel 9 Pro XL.
beeflet 7mo ago
Android auto works for me. For music I just use newpipe and an mp3 player.
- jazzyjackson 7mo ago
  You have Google play services enabled only in private space outside of default profile? Just double checking because I’m interested to know if this works. All I want is car GPS that is (not cloud connected) && (not 5 years out of date), OSMand should cover this, tho it takes quite a bit of work to get address search to work. Music I like Finamp, but I like an iPod even better
  - rbits 7mo ago
    The GrapheneOS website[1] explains how to use Android Auto with sandboxed Google Play [1] https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto
Markoff 7mo ago
why not use Youtube instead of Spotify? there are certainly open source Youtube apps btw. Spotify really doesn't work without gapps? what a crap app then, I am using phones without gapps for 10+ years and only very few apps actually don't work without (usual suspects being anyone using gmaps) them despite warning shown
- ThePowerOfFuet 7mo ago
  Spotify works perfectly on GrapheneOS without Google anything installed. I use it daily.
gib444 7mo ago
Vanadium annoyingly has no option to automatically delete history nor always use Incognito. It's one of the reminders that the project's main focus is security, not privacy. The workaround to drag a shortcut to the New Incognito Tab intent is clunky as it launches a new tab each time A lot of people use Brave, which has the features "forget me when I close this site" and "clear data on exit"
4k93n2 7mo ago
fennec (firefox mobile fork) lets you install ublock origin newpipe or tubular for youtube. ive also been using freetube lately. its just the desktop ui ported to an android app so its not as good as newpipe, but im using syncthing to sync freetube's settings/subscriptions between desktop and mobile comaps is better fork of organicmaps and has better people running it the fossify apps are great for the basics, sms, phone/contacts, gallery, calculator etc droidify is a nicer front end for the fdroid store imo keepassdx for passwords kde connect or localsend for one-off file transfers between devices, or syncthing for things you need to sync all the time and hacki for hackernews!
- Epa095 7mo ago
  What makes comaps better?
  - Freak_NL 7mo ago
    Better governance, hopefully: https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ https://lwn.net/Articles/1024387/ https://lwn.net/Articles/1024387/
  - 4k93n2 7mo ago
    its only a fork since a year ago so there isnt a major difference between to two in terms of features. see: https://www.comaps.app/support/how-do-the-features-differ-from-those-of-organic-maps https://www.comaps.app/support/how-do-the-features-differ-fr... but i mainly meant its better just because its more community based now
- kspacewalk2 7mo ago
  Plain old Firefox on Android lets you install uBlock Origin too.
- goda90 7mo ago
  There's also IronFox.
lvales 7mo ago
> Set up a private space which will be used for google play services required apps (bank stuff, etc). If all the apps (including GP+GPS) are sandboxed anyway, what's the point of doing this?
- danparsonson 7mo ago
  For one thing, sandboxing does not prevent apps from using IPC to talk to each other, so Google Play can communicate and thus share data with other apps regardless of the user's settings.
- diowldxiks 7mo ago
  For me personally I want to close the space and know nothing is running, particularly gplay
ThePowerOfFuet 7mo ago
>Set up google play on a brand new google account. You'll need to provide a phone number during setup. I used my normal phone number, others who are more concerned about deanonymization could use rental phone numbers or other things. Install any apps into the private space. Or just use Aurora Store to install apps from the Play Store.
- goda90 7mo ago
  Which works unless the app needs Play Services, which do require logging in.
  - ThePowerOfFuet 7mo ago
    The only app I have ever encountered which is significantly broken without GMS is Too Good To Go. Versions of Google Maps newer than the last year or two also require it.
Freak_NL 7mo ago
A note on OrganicMaps: at present you are better off using the fork CoMaps. OrganicMaps is tainted by governance issues and a lack of financial transparency: https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/
- tredre3 7mo ago
  A note on this reactionary stance: at present you are better off using OrganicMaps. CoMaps is tainted by being a reactionary fork, has less features and lags behind on bug fixes.
  - amatecha 7mo ago
    I've found CoMaps actually has more features, like I was able to submit a new Place to OSM which wasn't possible in Organic Maps at the time I switched over. This discrepancy may not still be the case though as I haven't checked recently.
rbits 7mo ago
Android Auto apparently should work if you follow the instructions on the GrapheneOS website[1] [1] https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto

drnick1 7mo ago

You should be able to install Android Auto, Google Maps, etc. in a separate user profile with Google Play on and no autolock.

diowldxiks 7mo ago
I did try that as a first solution. I found switching profiles to be pretty unusable. Having it all in a private space so that it's accessible from main profile was much more ergonomic but does come with some privacy downsides for sure.
jazzyjackson 7mo ago
Thing is Android Auto only interacts with google blessed devices, iirc device manufacturer has to pay license fee to support android auto. Android auto is not FOSS, I don’t think any automaker would allow their smartphone mirroring to work with rooted hardware that may not comply with safety regulations.
- drnick1 7mo ago
  I don't think this is true, AFAIK Android Auto works on Graphene. Google Play isn't FOSS either and also works in a sandboxed mode.
  - goda90 7mo ago
    I haven't tried anything advanced with profiles/private spaces yet. But I did successfully get Android Auto to work with sandboxed Play Services and Google Maps just this last week on my "new" GrapheneOS Pixel 9 Pro XL.

beeflet 7mo ago

Android auto works for me. For music I just use newpipe and an mp3 player.

jazzyjackson 7mo ago
You have Google play services enabled only in private space outside of default profile? Just double checking because I’m interested to know if this works. All I want is car GPS that is (not cloud connected) && (not 5 years out of date), OSMand should cover this, tho it takes quite a bit of work to get address search to work. Music I like Finamp, but I like an iPod even better
- rbits 7mo ago
  The GrapheneOS website[1] explains how to use Android Auto with sandboxed Google Play [1] https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto

Markoff 7mo ago

why not use Youtube instead of Spotify? there are certainly open source Youtube apps btw. Spotify really doesn't work without gapps? what a crap app then, I am using phones without gapps for 10+ years and only very few apps actually don't work without (usual suspects being anyone using gmaps) them despite warning shown

ThePowerOfFuet 7mo ago
Spotify works perfectly on GrapheneOS without Google anything installed. I use it daily.

gib444 7mo ago

Vanadium annoyingly has no option to automatically delete history nor always use Incognito. It's one of the reminders that the project's main focus is security, not privacy. The workaround to drag a shortcut to the New Incognito Tab intent is clunky as it launches a new tab each time A lot of people use Brave, which has the features "forget me when I close this site" and "clear data on exit"

4k93n2 7mo ago

fennec (firefox mobile fork) lets you install ublock origin newpipe or tubular for youtube. ive also been using freetube lately. its just the desktop ui ported to an android app so its not as good as newpipe, but im using syncthing to sync freetube's settings/subscriptions between desktop and mobile comaps is better fork of organicmaps and has better people running it the fossify apps are great for the basics, sms, phone/contacts, gallery, calculator etc droidify is a nicer front end for the fdroid store imo keepassdx for passwords kde connect or localsend for one-off file transfers between devices, or syncthing for things you need to sync all the time and hacki for hackernews!

Epa095 7mo ago
What makes comaps better?
- Freak_NL 7mo ago
  Better governance, hopefully: https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ https://lwn.net/Articles/1024387/ https://lwn.net/Articles/1024387/
- 4k93n2 7mo ago
  its only a fork since a year ago so there isnt a major difference between to two in terms of features. see: https://www.comaps.app/support/how-do-the-features-differ-from-those-of-organic-maps https://www.comaps.app/support/how-do-the-features-differ-fr... but i mainly meant its better just because its more community based now
kspacewalk2 7mo ago
Plain old Firefox on Android lets you install uBlock Origin too.
goda90 7mo ago
There's also IronFox.

lvales 7mo ago

> Set up a private space which will be used for google play services required apps (bank stuff, etc). If all the apps (including GP+GPS) are sandboxed anyway, what's the point of doing this?

danparsonson 7mo ago
For one thing, sandboxing does not prevent apps from using IPC to talk to each other, so Google Play can communicate and thus share data with other apps regardless of the user's settings.
diowldxiks 7mo ago
For me personally I want to close the space and know nothing is running, particularly gplay

ThePowerOfFuet 7mo ago

>Set up google play on a brand new google account. You'll need to provide a phone number during setup. I used my normal phone number, others who are more concerned about deanonymization could use rental phone numbers or other things. Install any apps into the private space. Or just use Aurora Store to install apps from the Play Store.

goda90 7mo ago
Which works unless the app needs Play Services, which do require logging in.
- ThePowerOfFuet 7mo ago
  The only app I have ever encountered which is significantly broken without GMS is Too Good To Go. Versions of Google Maps newer than the last year or two also require it.

Freak_NL 7mo ago

A note on OrganicMaps: at present you are better off using the fork CoMaps. OrganicMaps is tainted by governance issues and a lack of financial transparency: https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/

tredre3 7mo ago
A note on this reactionary stance: at present you are better off using OrganicMaps. CoMaps is tainted by being a reactionary fork, has less features and lags behind on bug fixes.
- amatecha 7mo ago
  I've found CoMaps actually has more features, like I was able to submit a new Place to OSM which wasn't possible in Organic Maps at the time I switched over. This discrepancy may not still be the case though as I haven't checked recently.

rbits 7mo ago

Android Auto apparently should work if you follow the instructions on the GrapheneOS website[1] [1] https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto https://grapheneos.org/usage#android-auto