Pixels are Google Phones will full support for a custom OS like GrapheneOS.

Buy the phone, unlock it, flash a real OS onto it.

I think you didnt get that a phone can have a different OS?

you can use alternate OSs by unlocking the bootloader following the steps fairphone provides on their website) and permissions you aren’t allowed to customize and are designed to send data to third parties by defaul

You can unlock pixels easily. GrapheneOS extends those permissions, FairphoneOS CANT. Because otherwise they would lose their google certified OS status.

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/10712-what-are-stoppers-of-grapheneos-becoming-a-google-certified-os

Murena is based on e/os, which is open-source, it doesn’t send user data out by default

I hope I explained enough how AOSP sends a tom of data. Please prove that they actually replaced all those things like GrapheneOS did.

they replaced Google apps with open source apps

The Google Apps on AOSP are open source. What did they do with the preinstalled Chromium for example?

trackers are removed by default

What is that supposed to mean? Either they change the code or they still rely on Google Services. If they selfhost all those things I mentioned then yeah valid.

you can restrict tracking on any apps you choose

This doesnt work. Tracking is included in the APK files when building the App with Android studio. You have to decompile the app and remove it, then sign with your own key. You will need to do this on every update, as updates only work if the signing key is the same.

If you mean they use some kind of firewall this may be true. But most tracking goes to central servers (for reliability, these servers distribute the data) which may not be possible to block to keep functionality.

GrapheneOS has a network toggle and reduces the amount of data apps can collect (sensor permission, storage scopes, contact scopes,…), I suppose this is the best you can do.

no Play store

This will make the OS unusable for many people. Banking, insurance, state stuff all rely on Goofle. Their store, their service framework, their device verification.

Not having any playstore is bad. If they advise to use AuroraStore be aware that it is a legacy app and the “access all files” toggle is not needed. Also you should only use the session installer method.

Location services by Mozilla

This is nice, it uses UnifiedNLP and I already contributed a lot using TowerCollector, please do too.

The problem is just that unifiedNLP doesnt exist as a regular user app anymore.

You would need a minimal OS app that redirects location calls by apps to UnifiedNLP, unifiedNLP checks it and redirects it.

Currently it is embedded in microG only (the standalone unifiedNLP has no updates since years), which is an unsandboxed blob of Google Play services, ripped out various components, probably not up to date, with broken features and entirely relying on fake values to get the Play checks right

MicroG is insecure as fuck. I think they cant work with GrapheneOS’ses google play service “run as user app and still work” compatibility layer because they spoof values and more.

UnifiedNLP needs to become a standalone, modern android app again, running as a user app and getting the permission to serve location data by the OS.

GrapheneOS’ A-GPS works fine luckily, but GPS may just vanish if the russians decide to bomb our sattelites. Having NLP (Network location provider) is essential and also saves battery.

I think microG still sends unnecessary data to Google when just using UnifiedNLP but no source on that.

this is the summary from the e/os site today:

I like Mapbox and this is only in microG. Simply microG does not work reliably and should not be used until it is modernized and compatible with gmscompat from GrapheneOS.

They also use Quad9 by default when setting a custom DNS.

Default apps:

• QKSMS: not maintained anymore, I hope they use Quik or something else. But it is way too enhanced, has no encryption support and I dont see a reason to use it.
• “a fork of Chromium/Bromite.” I hope they use Cromite, Bromite is also unmaintained. GrapheneOS vanadium is most secure but relies on hardware features only on Pixel phones
• Magic Earth: if this is actually preinstalled as a system app that would be very bad. It is proprietary while there are OSMAnd and OrganicMaps that work fine
• F-Droid: I hope they use F-Droid basic but I dont think so. The old app is outdated, uses outdated libraries to support old phones, is insecure and only allows automatic updates through the “fdroid privileged extension” which gives it unnecessarily escalated privileges. Modern Android supports automatic updates without any of that. Seems they have their own store, no idea about that

They replaced most of the Google server stuff, sounds okay. No info about device attestation and DRM leasing which means you will not be able to use Netflix etc, but this is fine for many privacy conscious people.

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So in the end after arguing with GrapheneOS people too, the problem is:

• having an OS that will not support a vast majority of “critical inftastructure” like transportation, ensurance and banking apps, because those developers suck and make the apps rely on Google, is bad. GrapheneOS uses their sandboxed play and everything works. But it is a regular user app. You have to install it through their store if you want, and you can disable and uninstall every user app.
• microG is not reverse engineered magic. It is a subset of the play services, running unsandboxed (it can read critical device IDs, app storage, all files, call history, contacts, sensors, etc)
• unifiedNLP and a custom map tiler are very cool but dont work as sandboxed user apps so they are insecure poorly
• bundling a lot of random software like QKSMS or Magic Earth is not nice. Having an easy straightforward way to get all those apps is (and GrapheneOS sucks at this, as they call every appstore insecure lol). But you should not bundle random apps in your system, that may be insecure, too big, or unmaintained.
• their hardening will be very weak, also because they cant use many hardware features that GrapheneOS can use.

GrapheneOS focuses on simplicity, keeping everything as close to “how it is meant to be” as possible, embracing and patching what android can already do, like more permission toggles or running the Play crap without being able to read your IMEI.

If you buy a new device, just dont buy a phone with that OS, I am sorry.

If Murena would support all the security features of GrapheneOS, or simply take their free code, make it less secure to run on that hardware and add their nice UI stuff on top, it would be acceptable.

But buying a new phone that uses some random chinese OEM model and bundles in a random mix of LineageOS, unmaintained apps and insecure “privacy optimized” play services, just no.

That took hell of a time to write, I hope you appreciate it.

Btw you find every source on github.com/grapheneos