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0 pointsdrnick15mo ago0 comments

> If you're talking about not being able to install third party apps, aurora store doesn't require an account and works fine on stock android. Most other basic functionality works fine too, eg. camera, calls, browsing, maps.

The Play Store is not the only issue with stock Android devices. Google dependencies run with high privileges and the device is constantly communicating with Google servers for one reason or another. You do not own a Google device for all intents an purposes. The main contribution of Graphene here is that it strips out the proprietary blobs and optionally provides an environment to run Google's libraries with unprivileged access.

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xethos5mo ago· 1 in thread

The point about de-Google'd Android vs your insistence on GrapheneOS is that by the time you are using Google's libraries, like Maps, Play Services, or their notification service (Firebase, IIRC), you've already lost. GrapheneOS is not dramatically better than de-Google'd Android if you're still sending all your notifications through Google, as well as your location and things like contacts

The point is you have to leave Google with both for it to do much good

drnick1OP5mo ago

> insistence on GrapheneOS is that by the time you are using Google's libraries, like Maps, Play Services, or their notification service (Firebase, IIRC), you've already lost.

Graphene offers the option of sandboxing Google apps should you want them. The usual setup is a second user profile with all the Google stuff in it. My main profile only contain FOSS apps and nothing passes through Google's servers. I use the Google profile for the maps with a dedicated account maybe once a month when driving somewhere unfamiliar.

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