edit: thank you all for your replies! They are all very helpful. I am reading through them and will ask follow-up questions if needed.
I made a post some days ago asking about LineageOS, but my curiosity towards Google Pixels and GrapheneOS has been growing. As somebody who has always used regular Samsungs and iPhones, I hope somebody can clear up some questions I have regarding this OS.
I plan that my next phone is to be either a Motorola (LineageOS/SailfishOS?) or a Pixel (GrapheneOS). My first question about GrapheneOS, or really any non-standard OS, is this:
- how does having an account on the device work? For example, Samsungs require a Samsung account and iPhones require an iCloud account. How does it work on non-standard OSes?
My second question touches on built-in apps that you often get with every phone:
- does GrapheneOS have its own Notes/Drive/Photos/Messages app? If not, how does one go about obtaining these? Related question:
- how do I sync my notes/photos/files/etc to the “cloud” of GrapheneOS?
My third question regards the app store of GrapheneOS. I have heard that the sandboxed Play Store is better than FDroid, for instance; what are your thoughts? Do I go for Aurora Store instead? Is there any major difference at all? Is it possible to use multiple app stores?
- note that I likely won’t be solely relying on FDroid since I need some non-FOSS apps (FB Messenger for contacting family for example).
I know that in the privacy community, it’s very common to fix up a cloud of your own (i.e. NextCloud). I have no experience doing this, but is it something I must do when I install atypical OSes? Then comes the question about pricing, how private and secure it really is, which one to choose… and so on.
I understand many of these questions will sound stupid to those who are experienced, but I have not been part of this community very long. Feel free to link any educational videos or articles that answer my questions. I hope to learn more about this subject and one day installing a more secure system on my phone. Cheers!
Grapheneos can be used almost identically to stock android. You can install google apps and use them or not. The biggest piece of it is the options.
There is no account associated to GOS. You can login to an existing google account etc, just like any android.
GOS has messages for SMS only. It had a Gallery app for photos and a files app for system files. There aren't many apps it comes with, so getting alternative apps is easy. Mostly via Fdroid (or droidify for a more modern looking app). For a better photos app, I recommend "Aves" For a drive app, a private option would be proton drive. Notes app can be anything you want, but GOS doesn't come with one. If you want to use google notes you can. I wouldn't recommend it, but you can. There are lots on Fdroid to choose from.
As for cloud sync, GOS doesn't do this, but again, you can use any other service you'd normally use to sync. I use Syncthing to sync a folder on my phone to a folder on my PC. That way I can have things like my photos easily on desktop and have backups.
As for app stores, GOS doesn't recommend Aurora because they don't sign the apps the provide, but I use it anyways, as it is the best way to get apps without a google account.
You definitely don't need your own Nextcloud or Homelab. I prefer paying for hardware I own instead of cloud things, but both have good positives.
Also, your questions aren't stupid their great! You're just learning about this stuff that that's amazing. Keep learning.
How's adblocking? I need to use some apps from the Play Store and my blocker requires root to not be crappy. Is there something built in?
No adblocker built in, but Rethink DNS is a great app that will set up a local VPN and do firewall filtering and DNS filtering. There are other apps too and they should all work on any OS.
Personally I self host a VPN and pihole and stay connected to that
Checked it out, just realised how out of date my setup is now. I got some setting up to do.
You can also set your DNS in settings to an adblocking DNS such as Mullvad, that works really well for me. Rethink is also for for more precise control.
Mullvad link to their dns servers: https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls
I hop around a few blocking DNS providers but I use that as a fallback. I don't control the list, though. I just need a good chance to play around with it. Rethink checks all the boxes though.
They actually added a basic content blocker back in mid February, and plan on improving it over time:
Github source: https://github.com/GrapheneOS/Vanadium/releases/tag/122.0.6261.43.1
Discussion forum: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/11000-vanadium-version-12206261431-released