GrapheneOS for mobile freedom

I always liked the minimalism of the Android and iOS mobile operating systems, they just don’t get “in the way”, and they work very well. And I’ve always been looking for an open-source and more ethical alternative to these locked down phones. 🗽

In the past (mid 2010s) I have been trying LineageOS as a mobile operating system on a Samsung Galaxy S3, it worked fine and was allowing me to give new life to the phone. After that, I switched to a LG Nexus 5X because I wanted a clean Android experience without any extra apps preinstalled, it was nice but it still was a Google locked system, and I needed to find a new alternative.

GrapheneOS

I’ve been trying out GrapheneOS starting in 2019, when I bought the Google Pixel 3a, yeah, a Google phone.
Unfortunately GrapheneOS was only supported on Google phones. But luckily, things are changing now since the team behind the project announced a partnership with Motorola and the system can be installed on their new phone!

GrapheneOS is literally Android without the Google pieces that Google itself ships with Android, and although it may sound intimidating at first, I assure you the experience and UI are the same as if you are running Android natively.
Even the installation process is super easy! 😃 Thanks to their web assisted installer it’s just a matter of minutes before you have the new OS running. However, if you need to run Google apps, they provide the Google Play Store app and Services as sandboxed apps, which means those will not get any extra permission other than the ones you specifically give, that’s awesome! Also about permissions, countrary to Android OS they allow for internet permission per app, this means I can disable internet connectivity for the keyboard app for example… It gives so much power!

Privacy

I specifically choose GrapheneOS as my daily driver mobile OS because it’s privacy oriented and open-source, it’s not granted to find such a developed project. I’m grateful to the team behind the project who is developing the system only thanks to donations! 🙏
They also ship vulnerability issues faster than Google! Which means the system is cutting edge in security.

Today I possess a Google Pixel 9a with GrapheneOS (based on Android 17) installed, and must say that my experience during these years has been incredibly smooth 😊, I haven’t encountered any issues (other than some affecting specific banking apps).