About a week ago, I finally made the decision to flash GrapheneOS on my Pixel 6. I’ve been thinking about moving to GrapheneOS for months but was afraid to do so because of missing functionalities or app incompatibility that would result in my Pixel 6 becoming unusable. Even though I could just re-flash stock Android should I encounter those issues, I didn’t want to bother.
However, last week, I decided to set aside my fears and made the move to GrapheneOS. Whatever fears or concerns I had about missing functionalities or app incompatibilities were completely unfounded. Flashing of GrapheneOS was really easy, thanks to the instructions they provided on their website. The sandboxed Google Play environment still allowed me to download the key apps I needed, whether it be the mobile game that I’m currently playing or a smart home app (e.g. Ring) or a banking app (e.g. Chase). They all worked as expected, though my banking apps required me to turn on Exploit Protection Compatibility Mode, something that was explained to me in one of the Graphene Discussion Boards. Android Auto was another app that I needed for driving, and thanks to the latest update that was made by the GrapheneOS makers, I had no issues in setting up Android Auto to work with my car. That was a huge relief for me!
That being said, there is one thing that is not working, but it’s not that important of a feature for me, and that is NFC. Prior to making the move, I did not use NFC that much for payments, although my car app did have a Remote Key function that relied on NFC. As far as I can tell, it looks like NFC is not usable in GrapheneOS. There’s probably a good security and/or privacy reason for this, but I do wish something could be implemented for it, as it can be quite convenient. Again, it’s not that important of a feature for me to have right now…more of a “nice to have” feature…but I wonder if the GrapheneOS developers are looking into this.
Anyways, it’s only been a week since I made the move. I’m sure more use cases will come up the more I use GrapheneOS, and instead of fear, I find myself excited at testing out more apps and functionalities on the OS. Traveling is one scenario I have not yet tried, but that’s because I’m not leaving town to go anywhere. That’s one set of scenarios that I look forward to trying out.
If anyone has any other advices or information they have about their experience with GrapheneOS, I would welcome it. And for those who are still undecided about moving to GrapheneOS, I hope this post relieves some of your anxieties or worries about making the transition.
I replied elsewhere to questions but wanted to share my two cents.
I’ve been nothing but impressed with GOS, from it’s installer to it’s everyday use, and really neat security quirks.
However, I’ve been in non stop mental anguish from the Google pixel 7 series hardware. I was told this wasn’t really as much as an issue with pre-6 series pixels but Jesus tap dancing Christ I have the 7 series.
Fingerprint sensor flat out does not work. It’s not a true hardware based like old versions, it’s off the main screen. Not being dramatic, I see about a 99/100 failure rate. I learned it works better in humid climates. So if you’re in a dry climate you’re SOL. But even in humidity it’s still shitty. To get around this, I have to blow on my screen with hot air before being able to use it. Yes, I’ve done every trick in the book, including reenrolling the same finger, etc.
I cannot STAND the volume keys on the same side as the lock botton. Maybe this is just preference.
I’ve encountered other annoying shit that is either AOSP based or directly from GOS, just like horrible horrible horrible password manager integration, such as autofill not working in 50 percent of all forms.
Issues with the lock screen being garbage. Ie whatever behavior it has to work for unlock does not work well. Sometimes I have to swipe up 10 plus times to get to the PIN screen.
There are many features removed that were argued as security concerns which I do understand but drive me nuts. Native keyboard lacks tons of features one such is swipe/Swype. Haven’t been able to use speech to text either.
Copy and paste is painful.
Autofill for MFA Stuff doesn’t work.
There is no face id system period, I believe stock pixel 7 series does include this support and it actually works.
I could go honestly go on and on. I wish I could go back to the ease of use of an iphone but the peace of mind of security is worth the pain to me.
I will finish by saying that out of all the Google free custom ROMs for Android, GOS has the absolute best google services implementation with it’s sandboxing feature. This still does not include support for NFC tap payments. This isn’t GOS fault though
Can’t answer on the hardware since I don’t have the 7 , but keyboards are plenty around . I use gboard and remove network permissions ( jay GOS) why force a specific one on people? Just use the one you want. Passwords keepassDX , MFA aegis. Copy paste I havent thought about it guess what you compare to.
I have tried several keyboards actually. Gboard is the least shitty, and yes I do have network perms enabled :p