• Off Topic

  • tempted to transition from GOS to iOS

ZorroV999
Can't you get that on GrapheneOS as well?

Personally I have an iPhone as my work device and honestly I could never use it as my primary device. I could never live with daddy Apple deciding which apps I can install and which ones i can't. I have YouTube Revanced, Reddit Revanced, etc. That means I never have to see an ad on my Android phone. Good luck getting that on iOS without spending half an hour installing stuff on your computer.

No Google Pay blows but you can dodge that by having a credit card with NFC in the phone case or by using Fitbit Pay on a Fitbit device. Or Garmin device for that matter.

Some banks offer ringers or bracelets you can pay with as well.

      ZorroV999 it sounds like you made your decision already, and that's good and right. iOS comes with many convenience features and a unified, pretty UI. Compared to almost every Android device they are also better security- and privacy-wise.

      I personally would never use an iPhone because of the lack of control. Apple likes to boss you around regarding apps you can install and customization you can apply. There's simply nothing like NewPipe, InnerTune and Molly on iOS. I also don't like their anti-repair agenda, premium prices and "design flaws" (notch, sharp edges, uneven camera bump). And finally I'd felt spied on by Apple at all times because they force me into creating an Apple ID and only use their app store which they track my behavior in to serve me ads.

      GrapheneOS gives me all of the control and freedom I desire while adding a lot of security by default on top. The price I pay is to have an inconsistent design and workflow across apps. I understand that for many people iOS makes sense and is probably the right choice for them as long as they are aware of (and okay with) giving Apple a lot of control over their device and data. I just wish Apple was more honest and transparent about this, but you don't become a trillion dollar company with honest marketing I guess.

          Humorist6544 I mean, all of us security/privacy-focused GrapheneOS users have to deal with a lot of different companies. For instance : addy.io, Bitwarden, ente photos, Notesnook, Organic Maps, Proton Calendar/Drive, Brave Sync, etc.

          This is in favour of GrapheneOS to my eyes. I don't have one huge company imposing its apps to me and spying on me but several pieces of software that I choose to assemble to my tastes and choices, giving them trust or not, ... I can even choose to self-host my own cloud services in order to minimise my traces.
          But the fact is - maybe for the weight of the years ? - I don't care about a unified modern design.

            I feel Iphones are good options for people who don't know how to setup their phones or if they don't really want to tinker with anything. Your phone will be secure and somewhat private (except from Apple).

            I guess the important question is what you want to do with your phone. Its a product after all. You pick the one that meets most of your needs

            If Google ever shits the bed on Pixels (and they have) I will switch to iOS. I would enable Lockdown mode and keep it that way. One thing I wish GrapheneOS had is the ability to lock the settings from being changed, such as a parental control mode or profile like iOS. Something to prevent the user from disabling DNS/VPN in both the system and browser, and installation/deletion of apps.

            N1b

            Thank you.
            In my case, the only apps I sideload are LibreTube and Breezy Weather so there is only one serious gotcha : Libretube.

                ZorroV999 If you don't require to sell your Pixel right away, I'd probably just get an iPhone and see if it's everything I hoped for while keeping the GOS Pixel close by for a few weeks. Maybe you won't miss the GOS features at all (for LibreTube you might figure out a workaround with Brave Browser, SponsorBlock or just watch on Desktop).

                Since it wasn't mentioned before here's one more thing: iPhones are usually annoying to use with non-Apple devices because of some gate keeping (try accessing the files from a non-MacOS computer). If you want to fully embrace the journey, you probably want to save up some money for a Macbook, iPods, an Apple watch etc. (plus some extra money for software and apps to add features you'd get for free on any other OS, like proper window management). The more you buy into Apple, the harder it will be to leave if they do something contrary to your values or needs.

                I wish you the best of luck with iOS and that Apple will never fuck this up for you. But honestly it's the same for us, we are depending on the GOS team to keep delivering awesome work and Google to keep making secure phones.

                    iPhone is a great choice and is definitely better than most Android options. I have always used an iPhone and Mac, so I am very familiar with how they work. Even though switching to GOS wasn't difficult, I still have my iPhone just in case I do need to switch back to it.

                    Advanced Data Protection (ADP) definitely makes the iPhone and Apple a lot more enticing than Google. The fact that a Big Tech company actually offers the option to end-to-end encrypt most of your data on their servers is great, and I hope more Big Tech like Google and Microsoft imitate that. The same can be said with Lockdown Mode; if Google and Microsoft had a similar feature, it would make their devices much more secure.

                    The iPhone was always recommended to journalists and others who needed strong security because of their jobs for many years. While the iPhone is much better than most Android OEMs, the differences between it and stock Google Pixel in terms of security aren't that much as Android has improved a lot. But I'd probably still recommend the iPhone because of ADP and Lockdown Mode. My recommendations from best to least in terms of security:

                    1. GrapheneOS (best security)
                    2. iPhone (great security + option to harden via Lockdown Mode + ADP)
                    3. Stock Pixel (great security)
                    4. All other Android OEMs

                    I do recommend an iPhone or stock Pixel to everyone I know. I know not everyone would want to flash an aftermarket OS onto their phone, so these two are the next best options for a secure phone.

                      Traitor_Force867 This is the reassurance I have been looking for for a long time. Thank you!
                      I actually do recommend systems to other people in the same order as you do, although my knowledge is not very profund. It is good to see that other people think the same.

                        wuseman

                        Can't you get that on GrapheneOS as well?

                        Yes I can. It was just to show the benefit of delving into the Apple walled garden : you get Apple services (TV, Music, Fitness,...) (which aren't the worst privacy-wise]), a range of best-in-class secure devices AND a suite of E2E apps.

                          redfoxjumper one thing I would strongly disagree with your comparison is the battery. Its poor on Iphones as observed myself and had friends complaining about it constantly. Most likely due to all the features and background processes they have running

                            I think the main thing that hasn't been discussed here that is highly relevant is that with everything under one account/ecosystem (Apple) vs many (for VPN, Email, Photos, etc.) is control (or ownership), i.e. if you lose access to your Apple account (it's certainly not unheard of, though less frequent than with Google, I suppose), you lose access to "everything" (potentially not anything that's locally available to you, but you can also get locked out of that).

                            Yes, it's less convenient to have multiple accounts vs a single one, but for me, the control/ownership outweighs everything else.

                              N1b If you want to fully embrace the journey, you probably want to save up some money for a Macbook, iPods, an Apple watch etc

                              Just a self-correction, I meant AirPods, not iPods (these are probably not necessary for most use cases :D).

                              brn I think the main thing that hasn't been discussed here that is highly relevant is that with everything under one account/ecosystem (Apple) vs many (for VPN, Email, Photos, etc.) is control (or ownership)

                              Good point, and it's not just control but also compartmentalization. I feel much better knowing that the data I share are spread over many services. This can be emulated on iOS to the same degree as on Pixel OS, but I assume most people go with everything Apple for convenience, design and interoperability. So your contacts, location, internet usage, health data and behavioural patterns from apps are all stored in one place that Apple controls, and you have to trust Apple to never ever abuse that power, even decades into the future.

                              GOS will give you compartmentalization by default since you need to set it up yourself and having everything (or anything) Google is only one option among many. It's less convenient for sure, and many threat models will be just fine with iOS or Pixel OS.