100% love it.

I was worried that I would try it, not be able to use it for my needs, and be stuck hating what android has turned into, but not yet able to jump ship for linux phones (because moving to apple is as bad as what android is turning into).

Instead, graphene reminded me of why I loved android in the first place. It genuinely works so much smoother, I don't have to worry about much of anything at all, but can relatively freely do whatever the fuck I want on my device.

As usual, you do have to be aware that some apps just will not cooperate with any OS changes that aren't OEM. And graphene isn't root friendly. So that's why the "relatively freely" is present in the previous paragraph. Within those bounds though, holy crap is it a better experience than anything else I've ever used since my lgg3 was new. Faster, better battery life, and zero bloat to deal with. That's compared to pixels I had fucked with that weren't the same model as the one I was so generously given me by a great friend. Can't say for sure that if graphene was available on my other devices that it would be better in terms of speed and battery life, since that's hardware dependent to a great degree.

But I can say that when I fucked around on pixels newer than the one I have, that they were less responsive and drained battery faster doing similar tasks, despite having newer hardware.

I've said it elsewhere before, but my experience with graphene pissed me off. It makes me so angry that this experience isn't the default experience for all devices, out of the box. I hate that until the recent announcement, that having this experience meant being limited to the shitty choices Google made for pixels (like no sd card, not the chipset or anything like that). I'm hopeful that the Motorola option is realistic for me once this phone has met its end of life. I'm riding it until the wheels fall off though lol.

Legit, if you aren't limited by work requirements regarding apps you have to use, and your bank app isn't pissy, don't hesitate. I haven't been this happy with any device since I put lineage on an old tablet years ago and it fit my needs so perfectly I couldn't believe it. Even my beloved g3 didn't work as well with any rom as this pixel does with graphene.

Yep, do it.

(Posted from a Pixel 7 running GrapheneOS)

is it worth it? Do you like it?

yes

6 months in, and I can't imagine going back. Use the web installer if possible, it is quick and really easy. Then immediately create a secondary user account for the Google compatibility layer, if you want that shit. I dont but I need my bank app. Keep it seperate. If you wanna use Google apps sometimes, have a separate user for that. You will gain quite a bit of battery without Google calling home every couple minutes. But if you install the compatibility layer in your main profile it becomes a chore to move to another account.

🙀

Made the jump last week.

The only thing I miss is Android Pay, but it's not a big deal. Cards are fine, you'll just need to remember your wallet.

I did find I had a problem with my work 2FA app, but that's their problem to solve, not mine. Maybe they'll give me a 2FA USB key.

A few pieces of advice:

• Don't forget to back up any apps with local data that support it. You won't get your app data back from the play store. Many FOSS apps have built-in backup optioms to files etc.
• Back up your phone logs and SMS if that's valuable to you, and ideally make sure the backup works on another device.
• Install GCam to keep the same level of camera quality and features as the original app provides. I recommend BigKaKa's versions for good compatibility with Pixels, though they can get a little cluttered.
• Do install both the Play Store and Play Services if you want to use any Google app like YouTube or Maps (even some non-Google ones will need it). Then use a more private app store like Aurora and remove all permissions from the Play Store to strike a good middle-ground.
• The Fossify apps are great alternatives to the imo not very good stock apps preinstalled on LineageOS.

is it worth it?

I'll try to be objective.

The Pros:

1. Graphene gives you more "control" over your data "out of the box" than any other custom firmware. Yes, you can patch and mod your favorite firmware to your liking, but graphene "just works"
2. It's rock solid and reliable. It only supports one hardware family. I've never had graphene lock-up, crash, camera stop working, etc
3. The installation and upgrading is amazingly easy (compared to other cfw) and streamlined. After the initial setup, it behaves just like any ofw.
4. You'll see just how much of an intrusive cancer Google has become (Google play has a "feature" where they'll dynamically load code and try to run it - graphene blocks this kinda crap).
5. Going back to stock Google (with locked bootloader) is rather easy. So you don't have much to lose (other than a few hours) in trying.

The Cons:

1. Some apps will crash. Graphene hardens how applications behave (in terms of accessing memory, for example) some apps are buggy and will not work. Not many apps (may 1 or 2 out of 30+) but it does happen and you can fittle with the app settings to try to fix it, but it's tedious through trial-and-error
2. Some apps won't work, like maybe your bank because it will never pass the "Google integrity" checks. The fear and concern is that more and more apps will start to block cfw. So expect that you might need a second device.
3. Any apps/processes that deal with money (tap-to-pay, Google wallet) probably will not work (again, it fails the "Google integrity" checks).
4. (personal preference) I don't like the graphene launcher nor their store nor their (boring) default icons. However, graphene empowers you to change/replace all this.

“Software integrity cannot be guaranteed on a custom os”

Ah yes software integrity like, sorry we no longer support your device beyond its intended lifecycle and please make sure your beloved app has the latest enshitification update installed.

Just go for it. You can always go back to stock if you dont like it.

My advice: dont make it too complicate. GOS has a lot of different securities and you can choose whatever you want to do with your phone. Some examples::

• you can run the whole thing on 1 profile

• 1 main profile and 1 secondary for Google

• 1 main profile for admin and several secondary profiles each with their own private space... .

and so on and on. I like to think of GOS similar to Archlinux. You can choose your way, but if things go south , a extremely complicate setup will make it very difficult to diagnose and maintain.

I'm nearing two years into using it as my daily driver and I would 100% not want to go back. Graphene does everything I need.

GrapheneOS is absolutely the best thing going right now.

Just buy a phone wallet hold your credit card and transport pass.

I've been using Graphene for several years and I love it. I could never go back now, Google android feels so incredibly bloated and invasive by comparison.

Double check your backups just to be safe, and then go for it. It's not hard to revert if you hate it. There is a big of a learning curve, mainly just using the alternative app stores like Accresent, F-Droid, etc.

But once you spend a bit of time getting your apps installed and your system set up the way you like, you'll love it.

Made the jump a couple of weeks ago, and couldn't be happier with it. Everything just worked out of the box. The web installer is literally point and click, zero hassle. Google store installer is bundled by default, and you can install it right away. All the apps I use worked fine for me without any issues.

It's 100% worth it. As someone who's been flashing custom ROMs since the Windows Mobile 5.0 days, it's never been as safe or as easy to do as GrapheneOS.

There's only 1 app I can't use on GrapheneOS (Australian government MyGov app), and that's a small price to pay to get Google out of my life.

It is so obscenely easy to install graphene on your phone. I bought a pixel just to try it like a 6 for 60 bucks or something and it took no time whatsoever. Online easy peasy and it is so much better than googles Android

I recently got a Google Pixel as well and immediately switched to it.

I used to run LineageOS on Fairphone before, the only difference I felt is the bootloader locking.

As for comparison between the base OS, well, way less bloat. Its so much less bloat that its quite refreshing to see your phone screen with so little apps on a new install lol.

Only thing that don't work is Macdonald's app for me, but I guess that's 1 more fast food I am cutting down on.

Easily the best phone i ever used. Graphene on a Pixel that is.

I've been on it for a bit over a year now and honestly, it's just the new normal. Can't really say I miss anything, and things like the separate profiles are pretty neat.

Although, I have bricked myself once by enabling developer settings and accidentally changing my language to a dev-only language that made the os crash on boot. But the Graphene Devs fixed it and unbricked my phone within a week after I posted the problem to the forum.

iodeOS/ LineageOS and especially GrapheneOS (if you don't stick with older hardware) are the best things I've found for the mobile. It's pure freedom without restricting yourself to a dumb phone. It's even more worth now when Google will start to ask developers for intrusive verification. I don't have to worry about apps that I'm using doesn't meet Google's bullshit approval because developer doesn't want to give so much personal data to entity like Google. I was thinking of buying Google Streamer but when I found out about this, I'll wait and see what happens with apps outside Google Play Store. I know that you still can sideload but I don't think the apps will update automatically.

Welcome to the cool side Peter! (Family guy joke). No but seriously, jumping over to GrapheneOS was the best choice i've made in years.

It's great! Top notch privacy and security with OEM update convenience.

I'm pretty sure they don't "guarantee software integrity" as it is. At least not in any meaningful way.

It’s pretty great, there are things I don’t like but that just its android base

Never going back unless I'm forced to do so.

Yes, completely unproblematic. Using it on Pixel tablet and 7a, old devices are on Lineage OS.

I love it. I even went a step further and found some alternatives to Google maps, calendar, mail etc. And it took a couple days to get used to but I never went back!

It's worth it, it's a very easy install, there's some growing pains but it's relatively simple to move past

I've done it and I will accept nothing less. I'm glad though, that it'll be expanding in availability to more than just google pixels.

I love it!
Installation their costom ROM was the easiest I ever did.
I can't imagine going back to any other Android variant.

Aside from 2 apps I tried everything works fine including banking apps, which is to say: all I really want to use works.
If you're especially worried about banking apps, you can have a look here about their expected compatibility: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/

Short of my future Jolla phone with SailfishOS blowing my Pixel with GrapheneOS out of the water (unlikely to happen), I'm stuck with GrapheneOS for the foreseeable future.
My next daily driver might be from Motorola though, if they do their business with GrapheneOS the right way.

I'm using GrapheneOS to type this and have been using it (periodically) for weeks. I just noticed today that it doesn't have visual voicemail, and I haven't the foggiest idea what my vmail PW is. But all in all, it's solid (knock on wood).

I relock the bootloader with graphene installed. EZ.

I don't intend on cutting Google from my life, but I want the option to, and I want boundaries with Google. I felt as if I didn't install GrapheneOS, I'd lose the ability to in the future. Google could easily roll out an update locking the bootloader, so I felt like doddling with it was a risky move.

So far it is good, I am still exploring what I can do with GrapheneOS. It's bare bones to start with, no included wallpapers so I have to fetch my own. RCS seemingly works after granting Google play to access my carrier or whatever, so that's good.

Honestly man god bless I'm here for the cause but it's a real pain as a daily driver.

Big problem for me - Intune. If I want it, I have to have a stock OS. Right now I've got a Samsung tablet which is nice hardware but dogshit software. I'd love to not carry two devices around, but that's the price of freedom and convenience.

Does it with with banking apps and Google wallet?

Welcome, I also use GOS and I will say its amazing. If you want support or just to chat with other GOS users I reccomend the GOS matrix chat or Discord chat (note due to recent events the bridge is no longer online)

Only thing I've noticed is quite a delay in notifications for some reason (could be self inflicted), haven't looked into it yet

Besides setting up my Samsung watch for the first time its been painless. My bank app works without issue. Honestly the worst part was moving from android 9 to 16. I had my last phone for 8 years so I splurged one got a 9 pro with extra storage and I don't regret it. Its snappy, has all the features I need and I get security updatea frequently

Will digital ID's and banking and stuff work? Or do you need to root it?

Been running GrapheneOS for almost two years. Ran it before long ago too. It's a PITA to use, but it does limit tracking. So, pick your poison: ease of use in exchange for your personal data, or additional work in exchange for your privacy. I chose privacy.