Things that make me angry about my current smartphone Samsung Galaxy S21Ultra on a Verizon plan is the mandatory software updates in which they install WITHOUT MY PERMISSION stupid apps like Netflix and addictive gambling games and stacking block games and Candy crush. God knows what else they install without my permission. I don’t want any of it!
Next phone I buy I want to start with a clean slate, I’m not going to affiliate with any conglomerate like Verizon or AT&T or Sprint or T-Mobile etc, I prefer to go rogue somehow,
which smartphone do you recommend that has no bloatware and it’s customizable?
The only recommendation I can provide is a Google Pixel device with GrapheneOS. Graphene is only designed to work on Pixels because they are (allegedly) the most secure mobile phone hardware-wise. Once you flash Graphene, it’s up to you to install any apps beyond the basic browser (Vanadium), gallery, camera, caller, SMS, PDF viewer, contacts, file manager, and security/system apps. No Google involved without your permission, though you will have to install Google services, available via a Graphene mirror and sandboxed for privacy, IF you want to install an eSIM after flashing Graphene. If you’re interested in further information, please let me know. I use it, love it, and am happy to provide any information you may need to decide if it’s a good fit for you or not.
What is the root scene on Graphene? I know the dev is pretty against it but I like having root access after being used to it. Is it possible to easily root it without any integrity issues later on?
You can root on GrapheneOS. You do it exactly the same way you’d do it for the stock Google ROM:
- Have an unlocked bootloader. Yes, this means that it “”“defeats the purpose of GrapheneOS”“”, if the purpose of GrapheneOS isn’t for you to avoid Google’s privacy nightmare. I use GrapheneOS for privacy moreso than security, and not being able to block ads properly is irritating.
- Install the Magisk app.
- Extract the
boot.imgfrom the GrapheneOS image and patch within Magisk. - Flash the patched boot image in the bootloader.
The main annoyance with this is that you’ll have to do that dance every month when a security patch gets released, but for me, it’s better than vomiting from exposure to ads on mobile.
It looks like the verified boot security feature of Graphene effectively prevents rooting the OS. I understand wanting root access, it does provide some nice features, but I don’t have any need for it. I don’t have any bloatware embedded to remove, and I don’t need to mod any system apps, so I haven’t looked into it much. I know the dev says it isn’t planned because it massively increases attack surface, which I personally agree with, but it would be nice to have the option via a separate version of the OS or something. If you need root access, I would suggest looking into LineageOS. It’s similar in privacy to Graphene and last I knew could be rooted. Graphene is very focused on security as well as privacy, and for me is a best of both worlds, but if you want to modify the system for various power-user type features, it might not be for you.
Yeah I’m currently running LineageOS. I wanted root mainly for adblock (modifying
/etc/hosts) and AppOps. Does Graphene have those features built in?No, it doesn’t. I use 95% FOSS software, so anything that might have ads just gets denied network permission entirely. As for AppOps, I just looked it up, and that would be something I’d like to see developed as a feature of Graphene. It seems like a genuinely useful, and at the very least privacy-protecting, app. I don’t use copy/paste via keyboard, and despite it not having network permissions, I’d still deny it clipboard access simply because it doesn’t need it.
For security reasons GrapheneOS doesn’t allow the modification of system files. You can achieve the same thing with DNS though. Either self-host a Pi-Hole or AdGuard Home, or use something like NextDNS.
Get a used pixel for $100. Factory reset on arrival, and install Graphene OS. Do not install gapps.
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Why? By default gapps doesn’t come with ROMs. Its usually more work to install gapps.
A Pixel with GrapheneOS is okay but you don’t get Android Auto, which kinda sucks.
ooh no problem I despise android auto and glad it doesn’t force my phone to connect every time I start driving the way it did at the beginning, I had to dig into the settings and figure out how to disable it.
Well you won’t be able to use it at all even if you need it, but if that works for you, go nuts.
I can’t imagine ever needing it. What is it even for? All it ever did for me was instantly answer spam phone calls that I would have rejected, doesn’t let me use my phone until my GPS indicates I’ve reached my destination, and it would automatically answer texts telling them that I’m driving. Like leave me alone big brother ugh!
What are you going to use if you are driving somewhere new and don’t know where you are going though? I used AA for the maps and directions only and I miss it alot.
I use a phone holder and my phone sits there with my maps app showing me the navigation.
Same. I pair my phone to my car’s Bluetooth.
No Android Auto overbearing Big Brother necessary.
Seems that guy who loves Android Auto so much thinks there’s no other option 🤦♀️
Hey, you’re the one that bought a Samsung phone 🤹
If you just want something that’s more privacy-minded out of the box without messing about with custom ROMs etc, maybe consider an iPhone?
+1 for iPhone. Is it as private as GrapheneOS? No. Is it more private than almost all out of the box android phones? Yes.
Apple still use a lot of your data, although they at least claim to anonymise most of it. But that data stays internal to try boost more apple sales, and isn’t sold to other companies. I’d rather 1 company have my information than 100.
Any apple apps you don’t want are easily removed once it’s set up and they don’t come back with updates etc.
PInephone! A bit of work, requiring to not being shy opening the hood of a linux system. but totally worth it, the reward is freedom and its continuous cycle of collective learning…
(although the Pinephone is not really a “smartphone” in the sense most people use that word: a restricted computer that allows to run wallgarden applications… a pinephone doesnt natively run “smartphone apps” and is more like a full-blown, general purpose computer running GNU/linux that also contains a modem enabling calls, sms and data…)
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I have been daily-driving one for more than three years now, and totally happy with it. (with some caveats, some work and nerve-wracking moments, but that’s the exciting lot of the continous learning of free/libre computing…)
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