Pixel Watch and GrapheneOS
Has anyone tried using the Pixel watch 2 with GrapheneOS? Also, has there been any update on the state of privacy within the smartwatch world, or just any better alternatives for more privacy-focused people?
any better alternatives for more privacy-focused people
I don't have a Pixel watch (or even a Pixel for that matter but I'm here because I'm looking to switch to a Pixel 8 running GOS), but I would echo what free23 said - a Garmin fitness tracker would offer better privacy than a fully-fledged smart watch like a Pixel Watch.
I have both a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, and I feel more at peace with my Garmin and its privacy policy. But I still use the Galaxy Watch as my main smart watch, because the Garmin doesn't support unicode (baffling...) and can't display notifications in non-Latin languages, so I can't use it to receive notifications, which is the biggest reason I use a smart watch.
The other reason is that I use the watch's NFC chip for my public transport card, which is not possible with my Garmin.
On the flip side, Garmin does have Garmin Pay, but I'm living in a country where Garmin Pay is unsupported, so that doesn't benefit me at all.
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Is there any news about getting GrapheneOS on pixel watch?
[deleted] as far as I know, there are no plans to support them. You can see another mod left a reason why in this thread: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/9616-grapheneos-on-pixel-watch-series/2
Would the Garmin Venu watches be a good private alternative? I know smart watches in general are insecure, but in the absence of any secure option, I'd really love some kind of option that is at least private.
Also what is the recommended set up for a Garmin Smart watch?
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dandelion9536 its pretty bare bones and most certainly not polished, absolutely not on par with an apple/google/Garmin etc watch, but take a look at bangle .js - depends what you want then watch for, but my own personal research seems to indicate that this is the most private watch available.
mmmm My questions were about Garmin and the Garmin Venu series specifically.
dandelion9536 I know smart watches in general are insecure, but in the absence of any secure option, I'd really love some kind of option that is at least private.
Apologies. I took this to mean any smart watch.
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mmmm It does, but those are statements, not questions.
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dandelion9536 I would recommend not really worrying too much about it. You already hijacked a thread about pixel watches with a garmin question, and my insight has helped others. Its not worth getting all annoyed about it really, is it?
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mmmm I'm not worried. I'm just replying to your reply.
I didn't hijack the thread. Garmin watches had already been brought up here before I asked my question, and the thread's OT was already marked as solved. You replied to two questions about Garmin watches with an answer not related to either question. That's wonderful if it helped others who didn't have those two Garmin questions, but you replied to me, not them, and it didn't help me, because it wasn't an answer to the questions I asked. I'm sure offering recommendations on the best fuel for launching a rocket into space would offer insight and help to some people as well, but it would be no less related to the questions that were asked.
I'm not getting all annoyed. I'm just replying to your reply.
dandelion9536 OK then? Just seems your constant attempt to reprimand me is a little superfluous, but for a second time, apologies for replying to your post unnecessarily.
Think we can end this back and forth and get back to the topic at hand now, thank you.
I have been running my Pixel watch on my Fold, and I'm waiting for PW3 to connect to my P9PF. That being said, please don't pretend like you are maintaining any level of privacy if you do this. Even if you somehow ran the watch without your GoS phone and attached it to a junk phone in a drawer just to relay notifications, you're still giving just about everything to Google.
I'm about 60% complete with my de-googling operation, which has taken 4+ years, and when I get closer to the end, there's no way I can justify having a Google watch. It makes GoS nearly pointless. I consider what I'm doing now as more of a learning experience. What works, what doesn't. I'd kill for a GOOD Linux watch. I do use a TicWatch Pro 3 GPS with limited app connectivity as well, since it's so good at sleep monitoring with SleepAsAndroid, but I'm sure there's some leakage there as well.
At this point, I think I'd rather China steal my data than Google/The US Government.
PW3 seems to work fine, except I did have to add the compatibility mode to 'Watch.' Not a fan, but oh well.
scrampker
I'm experimenting with a fitbit watch in a GOS profile with Play services allowed to give as many permissions as the watch requires.
I created a burner gmail account for the fitbit but did NOT assign a gmail account to play services, play store or framework.
I'm curious what data I'm giving up since no apps, Google included, can see IMEI or SN of the phone, Google can't associate an account (unless it can get what it needs from the fitbit app) with my personal information, and the only information the watch gets is physical activity since information required to sign up is all bogus.
Yes, it can get location information but, again, can't associate it with an IMEI etc.
I'm also curious what play services can do given that many permissions with respect to other apps in the same profile that have access network access.