Privacy @lemmy.ml Wild Bill @midwest.social 7 mo. ago

ELI5: GrapheneOS questions

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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46 comments

There's no grapheneos account identifier.

you can use any app you want.

Usually nextcloud is the go to for cloud stuff.

you can install play store or use aurora store.
- Also, doesn't Graphene sandbox the Play Store (and Google Services) if you install it?
  
  Lineage (and DivestOS) enable you to install MicroG into a single user account on the phone (e.g. The work profile) and isolate it there.
  
  The Graphene approach is even more restrictive, I just forget how they do it.
  
  It's just an app like any other. No special treatment
  
  You can use a work profile but don't have to. Grapheneos' team don't support fdroid or aurora store, hence they propose installing everything via play store.
  
  Edit:
  
  What do you mean it doesn’t support fdroid? I’m using fdroid on my GOS phone and GOS tablet.
  
  My bad! Thx.
  
  Grapheneos' Team don't support it in tge sense they don't like it
  
  Ah gotcha. Wasn’t aware the GOS team doesn’t like F-Droid.
  
  I can't find the source right now. It's about the whole app installation process. They prefer play store. Aurora store isn't enough. I guess fdroid isn't good because fdroid signs every apk. Haven't read it in a while. Iirc, their stance was that every app should have its own updater.
  
  Update: i found a source
  
  Official grapheneos account:
  
  GrapheneOS includes our own app repository client which provides a way to install the sandboxed Play Store. There is no advice for this fitting everyone's preferences because all of the available options other than our own app repository currently only used for our own apps have major flaws.
  
  https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/6758-a-message-for-grapos-developers-whats-your-recomendation/16
  
  Which means all stores are bad.
  
  Thanks for the link.
  
  From my quick read, doesn’t seem that they don’t support it. More of a caution to understand the risks involved with each App Store. For example, their comments regarding F-Droid are completely valid.
  
  All you get from F-Droid is knowing that the developer adding a closed source third party library will likely get detected and the app won't get updated, but in exchange you're trusting people to build/sign the apps who have shown consistent untrustworthy behavior. You're also getting significantly delayed updated in many cases.

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