I have not any prior experience with installing custom ROMs, but after trying it out (and getting stuck, and googling and finding answers) I successfully did it. Below is my home screen if anybody is curious:
I use OpenBoard for my keyboard. Unfortunately I am still dependent on Play Store since some of the apps I need can only be found there. Sometimes it feels meaningless committing to this whole thing because I’m not perfectly private; then I think this is better than using a regular iPhone or Android phone.
So far I’m liking it. I am naturally inclined to feel hesitant about using this as my main phone and plugging in a SIM since it’s custom, but I’m slowly making the transition.
Feel free to share any beginners advice or your own experience using GOS for the first time. Cheers!
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I suggest Droid-ify over the F-Droid store for ease of use, but both work fine
I personally like the F-droid app way better. It is pretty polished and has the benefit of being first party
The latest f-droid release has been causing me headaches and I’ve switched (for the time being) to droid-ify. Which also has some headaches but no show stoppers. Of the two, I can definitely say I prefer f-droid. I hope this helps someone find what they want in an app installing app
I like neo store
You don’t need Play Store if you’ve purchased something. I had to use a paid app for a few years and installed it through Aurora. You can install paid apps on Aurora if you log into the google account you bought it on.
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Automatic updates were added about six months ago. https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore/-/issues/719
They’ve been working well enough for me.
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Unfortunately I’m experiencing the same thing :( Not too big of a deal for me to do manual updates once every two weeks or so but still an annoyance
Is it really a massive inconvenience? I would hardly even call it a minor inconvenience. I get a notification maybe twice per week that there are updates pending, and I just accept them in bulk. Your life must be absolutely perfect and ridiculously easy if that simple infrequent action can be classified as a massive inconvenience.
There are much more annoying things when de-googling and using graphene OS than this IMO. This hardly even registers as annoying. Not being able to use my government 2FA app or NFC payments, now that is massive inconvenience.
To me I love to have control over what I update, I agree with it not being inconvenient. For other it might so it’s not really necessary to be mean about it!
Okay, smuglord. It’s a massive inconvenience compared to doing literally nothing. And it heavily depends on what apps you use and how often they update.
It’s OK shitbrains, but a small action compared to nothing does not make a massive inconvenience, at best it makes a minor inconvenience.
Every step you take towards a more private digital life is essential. I mean you have to start somewhere right? And the phone is in my opinion the biggest privacy thread out there. I am not on GrapheneOS but I’m considering switching soon.
I switched over a year ago and have no regrets. It does everything I want (including android auto now) and gives me at least a little but more privacy than a stock android image.
The more people who use it the more impetus there is to further develop it.
Give it a go! Its a great.
Aurora store is also pretty cool. You can download from there without a google account.
I’d love to try out GrapheneOS (or another OS), but I can’t afford a second phone, and there’s no way I’m gonna dive head-first into something entirely unfamiliar to me when it’s my only method for telephony.
It does function just like any other phone so far I’ve tested. No app that simply doesn’t work. And if it doesn’t, you can simply exploit the GOS hardening in settings to improve compatibility. You overall have more control over any app, which I like
I can add that ive also had 100% success with that setting, but I’ve only needed it 2 or 3 times.
Ironically it was when the stock android upgrade on my pixel 7 completely bricked my phone (due to the multiple user profiles bug) that I decided to jump in to Graphene head first.
Compared to my experience running random ROMs on Samsungs back in the era of galaxy note 1 to 4, Graphene installer was so easy!
It is really similar to stock android in terms of functionality. It’s just degoogled and hardened. It’s designed to be user-friendly and not for tech-savvy people (though tech-savvy-friendly—which is part of being user-friendly imo). I promise you you can use it out of the box once installed just like a stock android install. The only thing to be aware of is to install some kind of package manager like fdroid or aurora store, or even grapheneos’s unprivileged google play store, to get apps, unless you just want to use the stock apps it comes with i guess in which case you probably shouldn’t waste money on a smartphone.
Really? That’s awesome! I think I’ll check it out. :)
Edit: …Seriously? They only support Pixel devices? Wow. Fuck this.
Yes, only Pixels are officially supported. If you want to add support for other devices, it’s a foss project and you’re welcome to write the code yourself. For other devices there are other degoogled OSes you can use. Graphene is generally considered the most secure but if you have another phone you can install one of the other AOSP forks or turn it into a linux phone or something
Its also worth noting Graphene’s focus on pixel devices stems from those devices having more easily secured hardware. Which android fork you decide to use will depend on your particular use case. I wound up going with a Pixel and Graphene for android auto. But if you’re someone with existing hardware that you want to set up with a degoogled os, there’s e/os, lineageos, CalyxOS, iodé, and, if you wanna get really weird, postmarket os. Having done a deep dive into this I can honestly day there’s no single OSFA answer to this.
I did not realize there were other forks besides Graphene and LineageOS.
In any case, thanks for the info. I guess I’ll have to shop around.
I feel the same. If I try to install a different ROM and it falls I could be without a phone for a bit.
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I was shocked to find out that the hardest part of the installation was finding a Chromium based browser on PC lol
All you have to do to install GrapheneOS is press one button in the WebUI. No other ‘ROM’ has been easier to install.
You can also use a Chromium-based browser on another Android device
Exactly.
Futo keyboard. Its the best.
Don’t forget to change your DNS provider to something such as NextDNS for added benefits
Does it have any benefits over just running pihole, other than reliability?
It also works when using cellular data or connecting to a different Wi-Fi network. Your Pi-Hole only works when you’re at home or when you VPN into your home network
Fair. I always assumed I could just point to it while I’m out, but i also haven’t put a lot of thought into it yet lol
I mean you technically could expose the Pi-Hole from your home network on the internet, but I don’t recommend it. A VPN (either a simple WireGuard setup or something more fancy like NetBird, ZeroTier or Tailscale) could work, but I think NextDNS is the easier solution. Alternatively you could look into running your Pi-Hole on a VPS with WireHole.
You aren’t always home, therefore when you aren’t home it’s useful.
You might be underestimating the OP
You can still use PiHole as your DNS when not home if you setup a VPN. For me that was the route I went.
or you can allow public authenticated access to dns over https… (just don’t expose the raw udp dns server, it’s a really bad idea)
(not sure if DoT can also support auth, but if it does that’s great because android supports dot natively)I know I don’t want to open up any more ports than I have to, but you’re right, that does sound like another alternative to setting up VPN.
Since I access more than just my pihole when connected to my home network. And because I want access to my home services, and don’t want to open up access to the public, opening one port and connecting to VPN is the way to do it. I have one port opened up for my VPN, and in order to connect you have to have my IP or my domain pointed at the IP, and you have to have a Wireguard profile setup, and know what port is open. So that does help a tad bit with my security concerns.
Edit: how would I go about that if I felt so inclined? Any tips?
I have not yet looked into the DNS topic. What are the risks if I use the provider’s default DNS? Or what are the advantages of using a different DNS?
ISP DNS servers often lies, depending on your country, a lot do DNS blocking so it’s a way to evade basic censorship. Also some alternative DNS can lie in useful ways, for adblocking or malware protection. You can also check mullvad DNS.
NextDNS even let’s you customize your DNS filter. You can choose which blocklists you want to use, and you can manually whitelist/blacklist individual domains. It also has other cool features like parental controls and malware protection.
I think I can live without playstore completely but I might need K-9 with Google emails for some stuff on my device, so I guess I’m not escaping Google spying on my IP address anytime soon. Other than that, I don’t use Google or apps from the playstore at all
I guess I’m not escaping Google spying on my IP address anytime soon
Use a VPN. No reason not to if you’re concerned about privacy—otherwise you have no privacy as your ISP can monitor you. If cost is an issue, ProtonVPN has a free tier, otherwise I recommend Mullvad as an affordable and really reliable and decent option imo. I found ProtonVPN’s connection to be kind of volatile when I used it (I paid for it too, on the highest tier). Mullvad has always been super reliable though. Whenever I’ve had connectivity issues it’s always been because of whatever network I’m connected to, not because of Mullvad.
Yeah I probably should but the WiFi at work doesn’t let wireguard through (I have a wireguard server running on a VPS)
OpenBoard is no longer maintained. Heliboard is a good alternative.
I think Google Play on Graphene is a good compromise, since at least it does not have root access. Unfortunately it is very crippling to completely avoid Google on Android.
That being said, I heard others are using work profiles to isolate all apps using Google Play from their more private apps. I’m not doing that, but work profiles are nice for … well work apps.
Thanks for the heads-up!
As someone who has a profile only for Whatsapp (used to also be Instagram), a profile for banking & finances, a profile for some stuff that needs play services, and a profile for most other stuff (main profile)…don’t use profiles unless you’re only creating one more at the most, and you’re absolutely certain there’s no need to share information between the profiles.
Graphene has had a long-standing bug from upstream AOSP, if I recall correctly, where it’ll always ask for your pin when changing profiles, and only sometimes will it allow you to use your fingerprint or alternative methods to get into your profiles. I almost never get the fingerprint option for my main profile, and have to tap back from the pin input on other profiles to get the option to use fingerprint, and not always. They do sometimes push something that loosely resembles a fix, but it’ll go back to not working after another update.
Regarding communicating between profiles, that’s hard to pull off. The curveball of having to send screenshots from banking apps, say, confirming transactions, it’s made a lot worse with profiles. I’m currently relying on my nextcloud instance to upload screenshots from finances, then downloading those screenshots from nextcloud into my WhatsApp profile, just to send a proof of transfer to someone. I’m definitely not keeping my phone like this for much longer.
All else considered, however, I’m not going back to a ROM that doesn’t respect me as the owner of my device. I’m happy to have switched to graphene and I am here to stay.
I was wondering about that. Seems like 90% of the time it flashes the finger print reader then fails and goes back to pin. Also 75% of the time can’t read my fingerprint reader when just unlocking but that’s not a grapheneos issue… :(
Thank you for sharing this. Honestly, right now, I simply don’t feel a need to use profiles for my apps. I understand some people claim I probably should considering I use both FOSS and Google apps, but I’m just getting started with this whole privacy thing and I don’t feel like rushing. Using only one profile probably isn’t the absolute worst thing you could do, eh?
I’m using a work profile for Google Play. It was surprisingly easy to setup and there are few guides around. But basically you install Shelter, then clone Apps to the work profile. Open up Apps on the work profile and install google play services normally.
Openboard updated for me recently. When did they stop maintaining it?
https://github.com/openboard-team/openboard
Last commit is two years ago. I’d recommend checking what you have installed. A quick search on GPlay finds what appears to be a clone that may or may not leak user data.
version 1.4.5
org.dslul.openboard.inputmethod.latin versionCode 19
targetSdk 31 minSdk 19
Installed: May 8, 2024; 3:17 PM Updated: May 8, 2024; 3:17 PM
Is this an AHH SHIT moment or I’m good? Lol
1.4.5 is the latest—and last—OpenBoard version, released 8/8/22 per app on F-Droid.
Did you fresh install it? Your log makes it look like you just installed it.
Yes I forgot I did. My phone bugged out one day about it. I don’t know why. Whats a good FLOSS alternative?
I like FlorisBoard
Heliboard is recently restarted sucessor
Futo is another option, I am not sure if it is Foss Lois rossmann backs it though
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So I don’t want to tell you to panic but I can’t find anything about “dslul” or their version of openboard. The questions I have are as follows:
- How did you acquire this apk? (F-Droid, play store, obtainium, regular download?)
- Do you have hypatia installed? If not, can you install it and run a device scan to see if there’s any known malicious blobs on your device?
- Please take a look at heliboard. I know its weird to tell people they’re safer going with the most popular options, but legitimately we’re a pack animal. We do better when we look out for each other and this may be a case where it’s best to go to the version of this project that has the most eyes on it
So I don’t want to tell you to panic but I can’t find anything about “dslul” or their version of openboard.
It’s the app id from F-droid, so I would assume it is legit: https://f-droid.org/packages/org.dslul.openboard.inputmethod.latin/
Interesting! I assume then that dslul was the original developer. Weird I wasn’t able to turn up anything at all… Well… Not that weird given that internet search is broken
I use heliboard now downloaded today and deleted open board. I acquired openboard from Fdroid. Both times. I’ve never heard of hapatia. I will check it out momentarily.
Unfortunately it is very crippling to completely avoid Google on Android.
Tbh if you don’t do mobile gaming, I think this is entirely doable. I say this as someone who uses Aurora Store for about 3 or 4 odd apps. I could live without them on my phone, but I just choose not to for the convenience of having a mobile client for some proprietary services I use. And I don’t have Google Play services at all.
I found a separate profile with google play was too much of a pain in the ass unfortunatly.
To install apps from the Play Store you could maybe look at Aurora Store?
I use Gboard with network permissions toggled off
Welcome! My experience has been seamless, I think most of the idiosyncrasies have been covered in other comments already but Ive had zero issues with base functionality “out the box”
I have been using lots of the different private keyboards that have been out for a while but FUTO just came out with a amazing Keyboard that has better then Google Voice typing.
I’m curious why no one recommending FlorisBoard.
I’ve been using GraoheneOS as my daily driver for months now. I still have issues with things that need Google Localization (car sharing program in my city for example) and I’ve had a few banking apps complaining when being installed from the Aurora Store.
I miss having my cards on my phone quite a lot.
FUTO Keyboard is really nice imo
+1 for this, but i will mention that suggestions/autocorrect is not stable yet if that matters for people.
Suggestions/autocorrect will likely come within the next 2 months when 0.5 releases
It’s also easily customizable and will likely have an in-app layout editor by 0.6
hopefully i can move clipboard buttons too.
I tried Floris board. Its particular rough patches are deal breakers for me, but I’m sure my keyboard of choice has rough patches that would be deal breakers for potential Floris board users. I hope some people see your comment and give it a try. It seems like a promising project
Check out Heliboard (also on F-Droid) and follow the instructions to enable gesture typing. I also suggest Futo for on-device voice to text.
What specific apps are you using that you can’t deal going away from? Other than some social media or gamr or something. Even then it seems like there are replacements a lot of the time
Today I learned that Vanadium has a search widget, so thanks for the post :D
It gets me wondering, I have never use a search bar widget in my life and I find them rather setting in the way… My search bar is just 1 tap away inside Firefox, which is also on the desktop… I’ve not seen many people around me use it
Do people really use it?
Well I used to use it when I was still using normal Android. When I open Vanadium I get greeted with the last page I visited and I get distracted from that, so a search widget helps me.
Makes sense. Whenever I open Firefox, of opens on the (empty) homescreen where I can start typing in the URL bar right away. But everyone has got their own ways!
Have you checked out this?
Yes. The reason I don’t use Aurora is because I’ve heard it’s instable sometimes and uses many anonymous Google accounts in order to install apps. I feel safer using my own burner account for that.
You can also use your own Google account in Aurora store.
Interesting. I’ll check this out later.
Definitely do! I also suggest Droid-ify for FOSS apps :)
There is also Neo Store which can be used as a F-Droid client.
I’m still waiting on LineageOS being ported on my phone (SM-A536B).
You are welcome to work on it. However, Samsung devices are a absolute pain to work with.
Yes, I know that, and I tried porting it to PostmarketOS, but the build failed miserably.
You need to mainline the kernel for Linux systems. That is a very difficult job
