Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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Is GrapheneOS a good pick for someone wanting to simply degoogle a new Android phone? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I currently use an iPhone 8 Plus, but I'll be switching to Android soon and I of course want to degoogle it. Is GrapheneOS a good pick over something like Lineage (or anything else)?

Edit: Also, is there support for mainstream apps and services? Most of them aren't privacy friendly, but I need to use them for contact with people (e.g. Discord, ability to print, gmail, etc.)

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[+] [email protected] 9 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

What is the difference between the normal Lineage and the MicroG fork? What does MicroG add?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 years ago (1 children)

MicroG is an implementation of gapps, or a collection of Google-provided applications, frameworks, and services. Without it, it will be hard to run apps that depend on that support (most apps present in the Play Store); even if an APK of that app is downloaded it will not be able to work properly.

A free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.

https://microg.org/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Makes sense, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Just wanted to chime in: you mentioned you needed Discord to work, yes? Discord is reliant on some of Google's android services, so you will need either microG or opengapps on your phone. @ajz already mentioned LineageOS for microG, which I think would be your best, and simplest, bet.

Note that microG can be installed with other ROMs, but that is usually a separate thing you have to install after you've installed the android ROM, whereas Lineage with microG already comes with microG bundled, as the name implies. Flash it and you're done.

CalyxOS also comes with microG and is generally well received, but as you can see here the selection of supported phones is rather limited at this time. Good luck!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago

Great! Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago

Follow the advice of @ajz, grapheneos focus is on security alone and is not compatible with microg (which you will need to use some apps). You should choose LineageOS, /e/, calyxos, or something like that. Calyx could be a really good choice if you're interested in a more secure system as well

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago

Until Linux runs properly, and has a healthy app ecosystem for smartphones, Replicant is our choice.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 years ago

IMO it will be a more simple and fluid transition than to a Linux phore or even Lineage, and since it is based on Android you can still all the typical Android applications, although you may need to install MicroG and the Play Store (or other third party application like Aurora Store).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago

My phone is google clean and i don't need google play/ google services / every google was removed and it's amazing

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Graphene is solid, stable and secure, if the app requires Gplay it WILL NOT RUN, you cannot sideload GAPPS the way you can on regular Lineage.

For most cases I recommend Lineage, but if you're really concerned about privacy Graphene is way to go.