Advice for first-time user

lpd64

First-time user and looking forward to trying GrapheneOS.

My initial goal is to reduce the background calls to google as much as possible.

Does installing Play Store come with the same amount of phoning home as my stock Pixel 8?

de0u

lpd64 Does installing Play Store come with the same amount of phoning home as my stock Pixel 8?

Probably less, definitely not zero. If nothing else, the Play Store will contact the mother ship to determine whether installed apps have updates available. At least in theory if an individual user has a very specific mix of apps installed that could result in fingerprinting.

freezet

There are a lot of differences, just to name some , you can remove internet access on demand or keep it in a different profile, so its only active when you go on the second profile for an update, just a lot more possibilities.

Aeon

If you are a first time GrapheneOS user, dont make the switch too jarring.

Even if just use one profile with google services installed and all oyur old apps, your security and privacy is already much much better than using standard Android :-)

your level Security and Privacy you need is constantly shifting. With graphene as base you can change over time and adapt to your then current needs.

get rid of invasive not needed apps, move google services to another profile, you even have the ability to move back to the Pixel Android OS if you really need it.

This is what I value about Graphene: no compromise in terms of security, privacy and choice.

Now one of the only downsides but this is not something GrapheneOS can change, its googles doing: Apps that only run on certified Android install will not work as GrapheneOS. And Graphene most likely will never be Google certified. This also extends to using google pay with nfc.