Google Pixel 8/8A and GrapheneOS

prisi

hi all, a bit of off topic question but im planning to finally get a new phone and install long waited GOS

with new pixel release - 8A, and older version of course - 8, anyone using GOS on these phones noticed anything unusual?

is it safe/smooth to operate on these phones and shall i go ahead and purchase one?

razorsedge

prisi
8a works fine for me...
Except:

wifi calling doesn't work. Call goes through but neither party can hear anything. Reported by a few people.

It's still in "pre release" so hopefully this will be fixed. But if wifi calling a deal breaker for you, don't go for the 8a yet.

p338k

It works fine on the 8. I don't have an a.

VAULT

I use my 8 Pro about 4 hours a day, mostly as a PC rather than phone calls, and it is extremely stable... same for wife's 8. I flashed an 8a, but too soon to comment, though I didn't like the feel of the plastic back.

GrapheneOS

razorsedge That appears to be a carrier issue. It's listed a prerelease on our site not because it's buggy but rather because the Pixel 8a still uses Android 14 QPR1 so it's missing all the enhancements in Android 14 QPR2 along with the improvements made in GrapheneOS during March, April and May other than what we backported to the Pixel 8a QPR1 branch. QPR3 should be released in June and the Pixel 8a should move along to that which will bring it up to the latest Android and GrapheneOS features along with resolving issues fixed in QPR2, the May/June monthly releases of QPR2 and QPR3.

razorsedge

GrapheneOS
Thanks for the clarification.

However, wifi calling is reported failing on a number of different carriers, yet it works on stock os. (I can at least confirm on my carrier) What would account for that?

Compuboy04

GrapheneOS Thanks for clarifying what pre-release means. I actually have an 8A that I was waiting to install on and I wasn't doing it yet because I wasn't sure what the pre-release meant. That being said, with your clarification, would you recommend I go ahead and install it now or I continue to use my Pixel 6A until June when everything catches up?

GrapheneOS

Compuboy04 There's little point in delaying installing GrapheneOS but it's not current GrapheneOS beyond having the May 2024 patch level just as it's not the most recent Android release with the stock OS.

razorsedge

GrapheneOS

Hey, I just tested again with my wife's 8a. Same carrier as me, stock os. Wifi-calling flawless.

Would love to solve this... I use wifi-calling a lot... And can't at the moment. Any directions I can take to help find a solution?

tmp

prisi: long press paste is a bit buggy on my 8a. no screen protector. mutiple reboots has not resolved the issue. not a big deal, waiting for june/july :)

gsture

I encountered some problems with GOS on 2 pixel 8a's.

Like mentioned before by @tmp long press copy/paste is buggy on 8a. Sometimes takes a long time to register or does not register at all.
I encountered problems with WIFI. I got regular disconnects on 6Ghz and the phone regularly couldn't find the network which it was previously connected to. This happens even when roaming to the next access point: the phone is connected to 6ghz network for some time and then when roaming to next access point it can't find the network on the new channel and then switches to 5g.
I also had trouble with vpn's, i constantly get the message that the always on vpn has been disconnected although the vpn is connected. Pressing the message brings me to the vpn app which then is already connected.

These are the main problems i encountered this week. But i upgraded to a pixel 8 now so can't test anymore. I also don't know if these issues are on the stock os as well. I upgraded to GOS without using the standard os.

mnifty90987

I completed setup of a Pixel 8a with the pre-release and fresh accounts all around. I have had zero issues thus far, other than the following:

I've not tried Wi-Fi calling; it's not something I've used for a while, and don't have need of it currently.
Google Play (installed as sandboxed, following the excellent documentation available from GrapheneOS) straight-up refuses to accept any gift card codes. Each I've tried results in an error to the effect of "we need more info". Google Play "customer service" (such as it is) claims that my Google account (which was made fresh, specifically for this phone profile) is invalid, though they have not as yet given any detail in that regard, despite a lengthy e-mail back-and-forth. Frankly, I can live with it, and I rather doubt it's an issue with GrapheneOS's implementation, but I thought it worth mentioning.

Many thanks to all the GOS developers. Y'all do excellent work.

mnifty90987

EDIT: Enabled ProtonVPN. No issues on either carrier data or Wi-Fi. No issues with switching either, and both always-on VPN connection and block non-VPN connections appear to be working.