this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024
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ELI5: GrapheneOS questions (midwest.social)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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edit: thank you all for your replies! They are all very helpful. I am reading through them and will ask follow-up questions if needed.

I made a post some days ago asking about LineageOS, but my curiosity towards Google Pixels and GrapheneOS has been growing. As somebody who has always used regular Samsungs and iPhones, I hope somebody can clear up some questions I have regarding this OS.

I plan that my next phone is to be either a Motorola (LineageOS/SailfishOS?) or a Pixel (GrapheneOS). My first question about GrapheneOS, or really any non-standard OS, is this:

  • how does having an account on the device work? For example, Samsungs require a Samsung account and iPhones require an iCloud account. How does it work on non-standard OSes?

My second question touches on built-in apps that you often get with every phone:

  • does GrapheneOS have its own Notes/Drive/Photos/Messages app? If not, how does one go about obtaining these? Related question:
  • how do I sync my notes/photos/files/etc to the “cloud” of GrapheneOS?

My third question regards the app store of GrapheneOS. I have heard that the sandboxed Play Store is better than FDroid, for instance; what are your thoughts? Do I go for Aurora Store instead? Is there any major difference at all? Is it possible to use multiple app stores?

  • note that I likely won’t be solely relying on FDroid since I need some non-FOSS apps (FB Messenger for contacting family for example).

I know that in the privacy community, it’s very common to fix up a cloud of your own (i.e. NextCloud). I have no experience doing this, but is it something I must do when I install atypical OSes? Then comes the question about pricing, how private and secure it really is, which one to choose… and so on.

I understand many of these questions will sound stupid to those who are experienced, but I have not been part of this community very long. Feel free to link any educational videos or articles that answer my questions. I hope to learn more about this subject and one day installing a more secure system on my phone. Cheers!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Good job getting here.

  1. You won't have any accounts to sign in to anymore unless you install an app that requires an account. You are free from forced accounts that track you.
  2. Graphene is very barebones at start. You need to use the web browser (Vanadium) to install an app store to download apps or download apk's straight from the source/Github.
  3. You sync data by either manual backups or by using your chosen app for syncing. Syncthing, NextCloud, ProtonDrive, Ente, Immich, etc.
  4. I would say that the fdroid store is better than the PlayStore. Everything is open source, no ads, and a lot less/close to zero junk apps spamming my searches. You also have access to repositories to add even more apps.
  5. I would suggest looking at DivestOS instead of Lineage. It's more secure as you can re-lock the bootloader. I do suggest Graphene over all else for you specifically as it's incredibly simple to install and the Google Sandbox works very well.