Back in April I made my last post here titled, How many times did you want to quit GrapheneOS?, but unfortunately got caught up with other priorities and totally forgot I made it. After I noticed how big the thread got, I felt bad that I made a vaguepost about not liking Graphene and never replying to anyone who took the time to try and give advice on the matter with no other context than my post history.
So I am back now a few months later with a full list of irks and quirks I felt annoyed by that are keeping me from committing to Graphene. I will preface, I want to stay on Graphene. Logically speaking. It seems like the only viable option I have for my own personal reasons, and switching back to stock Samsung or even Apple just to become more "normal" will be a smack in the face of my threat model. But the spectre does haunt me.
So here is that list in all its rambled glory. Some of you more expert users (I am a beginner with FOSS related stuff) may notice that my issues could be from certain apps/settings rather than GrapheneOS outright, so I am open to any helpful comments and am not trying to be bashful. I do genuinely want to stay, but here is why I have been thinking of leaving:
Higher Priority:
- Sandboxing apps removes cross-app features I used to enjoy (Spotify tab in Google Maps driving mode most specifically). I should leave GMaps but I have a lot of saved locations and it's convenient :/
- Location services stopped working mid-roadtrip on the highway, restarting GMaps & location on/off still showed my incorrect current location, phone required restart
- Screenshotting is super slow and delayed; Capture More screenshot feature sucks
- Even running Gcam still sucks and produces poor photos. Zoom is exclusively digital even though my phone has 2 cameras. Auto-exposure sucks and always shifts in low light, no exposure lock too. I guess I should just carry around a mirrorless camera anyway??
- Requires separate apps for gallery, photo & video editor
- Refresh rate drops out of nowhere, requires restart to fix
- Clipboard only exists for last copy, can’t open clipboard like Samsung. I guess this is technically a security buff not a bug but it is annoying
- 3 dot navigation disappears under certain apps, requires restart (Discord, Gcam mainly), also may lock up, doesn’t work/crashes
- When on a call, the proximity sensor to turn off the screen is very sensitive, cant use phone during call or turn on Mic Access without ending call
- "add to dictionary" suggestion for soooo many basic and common words, auto correct sucks
- apps completely restarting/refreshing after leaving app temporarily, loses anything I was typing or doing
- CONSTANTLY being asked if i want to unblock camera or mic when a media prompt exists in app (uploading to Instagram mainly). NO. If I set it to off, I want it off.
Lower Priority:
- relying on exploit compatibility mode (banking apps mainly)
- no good keyboards (swype), note apps, or photo gallery apps
- native contacts app sucks, not sure if I should trust any other though
- phone lockscreen timer was moved up and cut off on screen temporarily, I don’t know why that happened
- the brightness slider feels weak
- turn on battery saver notification pops up when battery saver is already on
- spotify slow unresponsive
- Unless there is a better translating app than Google Translate (especially audio based translations), there is no good translator app
- no split screen function for apps
- GOS pdf viewer is ass
- missing photos in folder/gallery while browsing in-app (Instagram)
- in app features go missing (object in road feature on gmaps)
- media continues to play even after leaving apps (in the bug, not a feature way)
- asking to install an app after downloading it from the store is odd to get used to
- keyboard glitching/flashing for no reason
- Excessive system notifications
Never screamed at a phone so much in my life tbh. Sorry if this is all very negatively worded but it has been a frustrating experience, and I hope all this is somehow useful for the devs or something. I will try and elaborate on any specific issue to the best ability I can since I am also aware this was written in shorthand. /rant