 Visitor Reviews |
GrapheneOS
|
Reader supplied reviews for GrapheneOS
Average rating
9.8 from 4 review(s)
Version: 2025030300
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-03-19
Votes: 1
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I have tried GrapheneOS on a Amazon ordered Second hand Pixel 3a XL 2 years ago. Also Calyxos and GrapheneOS was basic and slow without many options of interest except security and privacy.
Now however since watching some you tube Videos in Nov/Dec 2024 how one could separate User Profiles for different uses on a Pixel 7 PRO phone and keep google sandboxed in the main profile without anything to harvest there for google and use the profiles with anonymity and separation from each other and the apps in each, I started to understand how I can use this for my benefit. I ordered a new Pixel 7 Pro from Amazon to South Africa and loaded the Pixel with Grapheneos Direct from the Grapheneos site through the automatic net installer. It was a internet connection and a few click...that is how easy it is...
I started January 2024 , So now I have 6 user Profiles, All apps are from Google Play sandboxed downloaded in the main profile, but not used there.There is also nothing google can get, no photos , no contacts or anything.Then the apps you want can be pushed thru to any new user you create by "Install available apps" for that user. By switching to that user-(With or without separate password for each user) you can setup that app for that user like and EXAMPLE -Gmail...(each user can have its own gmail app) ...
I try to keep my shopping apps in a separate profile without anything Google or APPS can steal..
I keep my work stuff in a separate profile
I have my personal stuff in a separate profile,
I have a PLAY profile just to browsing
I am still learning,playing and exploring . All I know is that just about everything you need can be adjusted. There is no annoying updates with Gemini, AI's or any other nagging suggestions and notification(Like my wives SAMSUNG phone), once you disable them.
Updates can be setup to be silent and in the background ( It never resets your settings), it is very respectful of YOUR choices and does not mess around with you. The OS is OBEDIENT!! you know what I mean. This is not like Android OR IOS or Windows..
It is complex to use if you want all the privacy and Security, but I LOVE the choices and respect this OS gives the user, by not changing your setting or nagging.!!!-Of coarse you have to set this up to work this way, but all settings are there for you to change, thereafter it stays the same.
Even if you do not set up the other profiles and just use the main profile like in an normal Android OS, Using Google sandboxed standard as setup by the GRAPHENEOS, you will be happy with the usage,PRIVACY AND SECURITY it offers.
I give it 9 because nothing is perfect in live....but this is close for me and my usage as a semi -geek.
In my mind this is the Phone OS that we should demand for our phones and not allow anyone to manipulate our info, privacy or data.
Watch some you tube videos on this OS and try it. Of coarse, you need to get a pixel. But if you do not like GrapheneOS you could still install stock Google Android OS easily. Pixel 8 onward have 7 years of updates, you cannot really loose. You will still have a GOOD phone for many years.
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Version: 2025030300
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-12
Votes: 5
|
I use GrapheneOS on my Pixel 7a because it cuts the noise out.
The various security hardenings Graphene offers are good - they could never be bad - and don't stop apps being run in my experience, even banking applications and VPNs, with one exception - Google Wallet.
There are a lot of full upgrades - I am on the beta channel and there are quite often 6 or 8 a month. "Beta" is notional as I have never had any issues. Full upgrades take about 10 minutes to complete, but can be scheduled to run during the night. They slowly add new features but, more often, introduce further hardening. Monthly security patches are often available before Google makes an official release - these are frequently packaged in an upgrade and install before a day has passed! Android 15 took a few weeks.
The big win here is that Google applications are reduced to two, only one of which is visible in normal use (Google Play Store and Google Play Services) and both of those can be uninstalled, although that is going a bit far. Other Google applications are replaced by stock alternatives (Launcher, Camera, Telephone, Messaging, Clock, Contacts, Files, Gallery, Calculator, PDF Viewer) and there is also Vanadium, which is a hardened Chromium. Cloud backup is replaced by a local backup, which Graphene admits is not good enough and is in the process of replacing. (Apart from anything else, to start it presents a screen offering 12 random words; you have to record them then type them into a following screen for confirmation before you can even consider doing a backup!)
Google Play is sandboxed and has had further teeth drawn by a hidden app, GMSCompatConfig, which replaces most of Google Play's integration with the rest of Android with stubs. The difficulty of doing this, which Google certainly doesn't like, is shown by GCC being on its 154th version as I write.
The only real issue I find, after about 18 months of using Graphene, is that it has too many ways of installing apps. As well as Google Play, there is App Store, which is Graphene-specific and allows the alternative apps, Vanadium, Google Play Store/Services and GCC to be upgraded. App Store also offers Accrescent, which gives access to a small number (about 30) of third-party apps. A F-Droid client really has to be installed as well, but there is no explicit support for that. If this (in effect) trio of app stores outside Google Play could be simplified - turning Accrescent into a hardened F-Droid app and putting the alternative apps into a repository? - that would be a huge improvement.
I strongly recommend GrapheneOS. If you can cope with not using your Pixel for [one-tap NFC] payments - due to the Google Wallet block - it is Android without the rubbish.
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Version: 2025030300
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-10
Votes: 4
|
I've been a longtime user of Graphene OS. With a few setting changes, I can use banking apps. Google Play works flawlessly for all the apps I have tested. Battery life has been comparable to stock os. The flash process is more straightforward than flashing other options. I am interested to see how the PKVM technologies are used for a desktop mode. If anyone is curious about security comparison, there is a celebrite (maybe another company) chart showing the last affected release for data extraction on GraphenOs forums and a GitHub comparison chart that gets retweeted by their x account somewhat often.
|
Version: 2025030300
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-10
Votes: 4
|
I have used GrapheneOS for >2 years on my phone and about 1 year on my tablet.
The good:
- This is about as secure as a reasonably full-featured mobile OS will get. The developers behind it are well-known for their extensive work in this area. It features special memory protections and has many secure defaults.
- Worth another bullet point, GrapheneOS bundles a special sandbox for Google Play Services for users that need it. I don't personally use it but my husband does and has no issues with it.
- Regular updates that make meaningful enhancements version over version with all the latest security patches
- Something that doesn't get talked about enough: the user experience is extremely consistent. I didn't even notice it updated the major underlying version of Android for a while because it keeps the same experience. The phone still works the way I expect it to.
- Extremely comprehensive documentation. Their FAQ is huge and covers quite a lot of topics. The user community is very helpful.
The OK:
- The project only supports Pixel devices because they are the only mobile devices that they see as reasonably secure enough at a hardware level.
- The default theming is very boring and black. I changed this but this is probably fine for most users.
- The project provides a very small app store, but doesn't provide any easy way to get apps by default (Google Play, F-Droid, Obtanium, others). You have to have a basic understanding of how to get your apps.
- Granular permissions with lots of control. It's a great feature, but I'm putting it in the OK section because it can be overwhelming.
The bad:
- While the project is definitely usable by non-technical users, getting it set up can be tricky.
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Latest Reviews
Project: GrapheneOS
Version: 2025030300
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-03-19
Votes: 1
|
I have tried GrapheneOS on a Amazon ordered Second hand Pixel 3a XL 2 years ago. Also Calyxos and GrapheneOS was basic and slow without many options of interest except security and privacy.
Now however since watching some you tube Videos in Nov/Dec 2024 how one could separate User Profiles for different uses on a Pixel 7 PRO phone and keep google sandboxed in the main profile without anything to harvest there for google and use the profiles with anonymity and separation from each other and the apps in each, I started to understand how I can use this for my benefit. I ordered a new Pixel 7 Pro from Amazon to South Africa and loaded the Pixel with Grapheneos Direct from the Grapheneos site through the automatic net installer. It was a internet connection and a few click...that is how easy it is...
I started January 2024 , So now I have 6 user Profiles, All apps are from Google Play sandboxed downloaded in the main profile, but not used there.There is also nothing google can get, no photos , no contacts or anything.Then the apps you want can be pushed thru to any new user you create by "Install available apps" for that user. By switching to that user-(With or without separate password for each user) you can setup that app for that user like and EXAMPLE -Gmail...(each user can have its own gmail app) ...
I try to keep my shopping apps in a separate profile without anything Google or APPS can steal..
I keep my work stuff in a separate profile
I have my personal stuff in a separate profile,
I have a PLAY profile just to browsing
I am still learning,playing and exploring . All I know is that just about everything you need can be adjusted. There is no annoying updates with Gemini, AI's or any other nagging suggestions and notification(Like my wives SAMSUNG phone), once you disable them.
Updates can be setup to be silent and in the background ( It never resets your settings), it is very respectful of YOUR choices and does not mess around with you. The OS is OBEDIENT!! you know what I mean. This is not like Android OR IOS or Windows..
It is complex to use if you want all the privacy and Security, but I LOVE the choices and respect this OS gives the user, by not changing your setting or nagging.!!!-Of coarse you have to set this up to work this way, but all settings are there for you to change, thereafter it stays the same.
Even if you do not set up the other profiles and just use the main profile like in an normal Android OS, Using Google sandboxed standard as setup by the GRAPHENEOS, you will be happy with the usage,PRIVACY AND SECURITY it offers.
I give it 9 because nothing is perfect in live....but this is close for me and my usage as a semi -geek.
In my mind this is the Phone OS that we should demand for our phones and not allow anyone to manipulate our info, privacy or data.
Watch some you tube videos on this OS and try it. Of coarse, you need to get a pixel. But if you do not like GrapheneOS you could still install stock Google Android OS easily. Pixel 8 onward have 7 years of updates, you cannot really loose. You will still have a GOOD phone for many years.
|
Project: GrapheneOS
Version: 2025030300
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-12
Votes: 5
|
I use GrapheneOS on my Pixel 7a because it cuts the noise out.
The various security hardenings Graphene offers are good - they could never be bad - and don't stop apps being run in my experience, even banking applications and VPNs, with one exception - Google Wallet.
There are a lot of full upgrades - I am on the beta channel and there are quite often 6 or 8 a month. "Beta" is notional as I have never had any issues. Full upgrades take about 10 minutes to complete, but can be scheduled to run during the night. They slowly add new features but, more often, introduce further hardening. Monthly security patches are often available before Google makes an official release - these are frequently packaged in an upgrade and install before a day has passed! Android 15 took a few weeks.
The big win here is that Google applications are reduced to two, only one of which is visible in normal use (Google Play Store and Google Play Services) and both of those can be uninstalled, although that is going a bit far. Other Google applications are replaced by stock alternatives (Launcher, Camera, Telephone, Messaging, Clock, Contacts, Files, Gallery, Calculator, PDF Viewer) and there is also Vanadium, which is a hardened Chromium. Cloud backup is replaced by a local backup, which Graphene admits is not good enough and is in the process of replacing. (Apart from anything else, to start it presents a screen offering 12 random words; you have to record them then type them into a following screen for confirmation before you can even consider doing a backup!)
Google Play is sandboxed and has had further teeth drawn by a hidden app, GMSCompatConfig, which replaces most of Google Play's integration with the rest of Android with stubs. The difficulty of doing this, which Google certainly doesn't like, is shown by GCC being on its 154th version as I write.
The only real issue I find, after about 18 months of using Graphene, is that it has too many ways of installing apps. As well as Google Play, there is App Store, which is Graphene-specific and allows the alternative apps, Vanadium, Google Play Store/Services and GCC to be upgraded. App Store also offers Accrescent, which gives access to a small number (about 30) of third-party apps. A F-Droid client really has to be installed as well, but there is no explicit support for that. If this (in effect) trio of app stores outside Google Play could be simplified - turning Accrescent into a hardened F-Droid app and putting the alternative apps into a repository? - that would be a huge improvement.
I strongly recommend GrapheneOS. If you can cope with not using your Pixel for [one-tap NFC] payments - due to the Google Wallet block - it is Android without the rubbish.
|
Project: GrapheneOS
Version: 2025030300
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-10
Votes: 4
|
I have used GrapheneOS for >2 years on my phone and about 1 year on my tablet.
The good:
- This is about as secure as a reasonably full-featured mobile OS will get. The developers behind it are well-known for their extensive work in this area. It features special memory protections and has many secure defaults.
- Worth another bullet point, GrapheneOS bundles a special sandbox for Google Play Services for users that need it. I don't personally use it but my husband does and has no issues with it.
- Regular updates that make meaningful enhancements version over version with all the latest security patches
- Something that doesn't get talked about enough: the user experience is extremely consistent. I didn't even notice it updated the major underlying version of Android for a while because it keeps the same experience. The phone still works the way I expect it to.
- Extremely comprehensive documentation. Their FAQ is huge and covers quite a lot of topics. The user community is very helpful.
The OK:
- The project only supports Pixel devices because they are the only mobile devices that they see as reasonably secure enough at a hardware level.
- The default theming is very boring and black. I changed this but this is probably fine for most users.
- The project provides a very small app store, but doesn't provide any easy way to get apps by default (Google Play, F-Droid, Obtanium, others). You have to have a basic understanding of how to get your apps.
- Granular permissions with lots of control. It's a great feature, but I'm putting it in the OK section because it can be overwhelming.
The bad:
- While the project is definitely usable by non-technical users, getting it set up can be tricky.
|
Project: GrapheneOS
Version: 2025030300
Rating: 10
Date: 2025-03-10
Votes: 4
|
I've been a longtime user of Graphene OS. With a few setting changes, I can use banking apps. Google Play works flawlessly for all the apps I have tested. Battery life has been comparable to stock os. The flash process is more straightforward than flashing other options. I am interested to see how the PKVM technologies are used for a desktop mode. If anyone is curious about security comparison, there is a celebrite (maybe another company) chart showing the last affected release for data extraction on GraphenOs forums and a GitHub comparison chart that gets retweeted by their x account somewhat often.
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