I was running GrapheneOS on the Pixel 7, but it’s quite lacking in care towards UX (the preinstalled apps, for example, are AOSP apps seemingly taken from multiple versions of android with different UI designs, all of which are ancient. There’s no preinstalled apps store, although they seem to recommend using the play store and recommend against F-droid?)
You also need to spend a while figuring things out. Sometimes the FAQ is helpful for that, other times it’s really not.
The security is remarkable but I feel they could give other areas more care.
No contactless payment is really tough too. I hate carrying my wallet. That’s not their fault though.
They’re the newest releases of Google’s own AOSP apps. If you don’t like the apps and the fact that they aren’t maintained anymore, complain to Google. They are the ones who fail to provide up-to-date apps in AOSP, because they want to promote they proprietary, spyware-infested garbage. It’s not like you have to use them, you can easily disable all the pre-installed apps, and either replace them with the proprietary Google apps (and disable network access to maintain privacy), or get open source alternatives, for example from Fossify.
There’s no preinstalled apps store
There is a pre-installed app store, which lets you install Graphene’s own apps, Google Play Store and services, as well as the Accrescent app store. For everything else, you can grab an APK from the web. My recommendation is to use Obtainium, it easily lets you download, install and update APKs from various sources on the web. There’s also an extensive list with presets for apps to download via Obtainium: https://apps.obtainium.imranr.dev/
The security is remarkable but I feel they could give other areas more care.
They don’t want to include any unnecessary bloat, so they leave the OS very minimalistic on purpose. You can install whatever you like, and you don’t have to deal with removing bloat you don’t need.
No contactless payment is really tough too
Some banks offer their own NFC payment system that doesn’t require Google Pay and just uses the bank’s app. Again, complain to your bank if they only offer mobile payments via Google Pay.
I was running GrapheneOS on the Pixel 7, but it’s quite lacking in care towards UX (the preinstalled apps, for example, are AOSP apps seemingly taken from multiple versions of android with different UI designs, all of which are ancient. There’s no preinstalled apps store, although they seem to recommend using the play store and recommend against F-droid?)
You also need to spend a while figuring things out. Sometimes the FAQ is helpful for that, other times it’s really not.
The security is remarkable but I feel they could give other areas more care.
No contactless payment is really tough too. I hate carrying my wallet. That’s not their fault though.
They’re the newest releases of Google’s own AOSP apps. If you don’t like the apps and the fact that they aren’t maintained anymore, complain to Google. They are the ones who fail to provide up-to-date apps in AOSP, because they want to promote they proprietary, spyware-infested garbage. It’s not like you have to use them, you can easily disable all the pre-installed apps, and either replace them with the proprietary Google apps (and disable network access to maintain privacy), or get open source alternatives, for example from Fossify.
There is a pre-installed app store, which lets you install Graphene’s own apps, Google Play Store and services, as well as the Accrescent app store. For everything else, you can grab an APK from the web. My recommendation is to use Obtainium, it easily lets you download, install and update APKs from various sources on the web. There’s also an extensive list with presets for apps to download via Obtainium: https://apps.obtainium.imranr.dev/
They don’t want to include any unnecessary bloat, so they leave the OS very minimalistic on purpose. You can install whatever you like, and you don’t have to deal with removing bloat you don’t need.
Some banks offer their own NFC payment system that doesn’t require Google Pay and just uses the bank’s app. Again, complain to your bank if they only offer mobile payments via Google Pay.
I replaced most stock apps with Google’s ones, with Network access revoked. I really like their UI and UX.
It’s a great ROM, but the monochrome icons piss me off.