TL;DR
- Efforts like Graphene OS face increasing pressure from apps that refuse to run on non-standard Android.
- The custom ROM project characterizes Google’s approach to device attestation as incomplete and flawed.
- Graphene OS is prepared to take legal action if Google won’t let it pass Play Integrity checks.
Wow, I legit just ordered a used pixel yesterday to give graphene a try lol. Uncanny timing!
Anyhow, that’s great news! I can really see the EU sinking its teeth into this if nothing else.
Welcome! I’ve been on it for a month or so and I’m still so thrilled
I’ve been using graphene for years at this point and it’s the best operating system I’ve ever had on a phone. Before this my favorite phone was a jail broken iPhone 5c. I even got a pixel tablet to take notes on for college recently and put graphene on it as well.
Only thing Google has right atm is leaving the bootloader on their phones unlockable.
Thankfully there are FOSS alternatives for apps like Authy. I recommend Aegis
For your banking app, you can use this list to check if it’s compatible: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
Using the web app might also be an option.
I plan on doing the same thing, any tips on finding cheap recent-ish Pixels?
The Pixel 6a is really cheap on the used market, and it still gets updates for at least 3 years.
The 7a isn’t that expensive either. I recommend staying away from Fairphones, Murena or /e/OS as these are highly insecure, and the companies behind them have repeatedly proven that they don’t give even the slightest fuck about the security of their users. They don’t publish important Android security patches on time, and Fairphone even managed to fully break Android Verified Boot, by signing their ROM with the publicly available (!!!) AOSP test private signing keys. It should have been impossible to pass verification, but the vendor conducting the verification seems to be just as incompetent.
A used Pixel with GrapheneOS is your best option, while still being affordable.
A brand new Murena Fairphone 4 (North America) is about $600 brand new, IIRC. I’ve been on one for the last 6 months and it’s excellent.
I’m planning on flashing my One Plus 9 Pro with Murena’s ROM. I’m working on getting de-googlefied.
Perhaps consider DivestOS as well if it’s supported, seems to be a way tidier package when it comes to security and privacy.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Stay away from both Fairphone and /e/OS/Murena. Fairphone fails hardware security in the most miserable way, and fundamentally breaks Android Verified Boot, while /e/OS is based on the highly insecure LineageOS, and it further rolls back security, while also repeatedly missing important security patches.
Also, 600 dollars is absolutely not cheap for a smartphone, and it’s especially not with it considering that both the hardware and software are highly insecure.
A Pixel can be purchased for much less, while being superior in every way.
Lineage OS is highly insecure ?
Yes, it is much worse than stock Android
https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html#lineageos
https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
Thanks, I’ll check it out. I’ve installed lineage since it was Cyanogenmod on secondary devices for years. I dedicate them for audiobook playback and music playback. I’ll look in to it.
That kind of usage should be fine, it doesn’t really matter. Just wouldn’t use it for my primary mobile device.