Airplane mode in GoS the best?

GeorgeSoros

Just one simple question, since I see discussions about airplane mode here:

Is airplane mode in GoS better/do more than airplane mode on the regular non graphene pixel phones?

Why/why not?

de0u

GeorgeSoros Is airplane mode in GoS better/do more than airplane mode on the regular non graphene pixel phones?

The official GrapheneOS project statement on what airplane mode does is:

Activating airplane mode will fully disable the cellular radio transmit and receive capabilities, which will prevent your phone from being reached from the cellular network and stop your carrier (and anyone impersonating them to you) from tracking the device via the cellular radio.

Since the Android OS that Google releases for Pixels is not all open source, it may be difficult to say for sure what airplane mode does on that platform (and in theory what it does might change over time).

yore

GeorgeSoros Is airplane mode in GoS better/do more than airplane mode on the regular non graphene pixel phones?

I believe it's the same as GrapheneOS avoids altering too many things.

It might be better on GrapheneOS as we know for sure what is making connections etc as it is open source. But I could not find anything that would suggest they made any changes to it.

Xtreix

GeorgeSoros Is airplane mode in GoS better/do more than airplane mode on the regular non graphene pixel phones?

Why/why not?

There's no difference between airplane mode on GrapheneOS and Stock Android on a Google Pixel, it's a purely hardware feature that works properly on GOS-supported devices, so no, airplane mode on GOS isn't better / doesn't do better than airplane mode on the regular non GOS Pixel phones.

GeorgeSoros But in addition to airplane mode, for location and mic concerns would you still need to also go in and disable

1) location tracking
2) mic
3) blue tooth
4) wifi auto

5) etc...what else am I missing?

Or is GoS airplane mode a one stop full shop for all these?

No, GOS airplane mode isn't a complete solution for all the points you've mentioned, airplane mode doesn't disable the microphone, by default airplane mode disable cellular radio (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE), 5G) which also prevents tracking via cell towers (but there may still be other ways of tracking you), bluetooth and finally Wi-Fi (which includes automatic Wi-Fi).

Since an update, if you activate airplane mode for the first time and then reactivate Wi-Fi without touching airplane mode activation, the device is now able to memorize your preference, meaning that when you deactivate airplane mode and then reactivate it, Wi-Fi will remain activated.

Probably9857

From the GrapheneOS FAQ

Airplane mode is the only way to avoid the cellular network tracking your device and works correctly on the devices we support.

The implication seems to be that this is more a function of the hardware, and presumably Airplane Mode would be similar for stock Pixels too.

Of course, a malicious OS could trivially implement a fake Airplane Mode that didn't disable anything, so the software does matter, but presumably AOSP implements this correctly.

Probably9857

Probably9857
Of course, I'm reading alot into that sentence, assuming that whoever wrote the FAQ is using very precise language...so I'd wait for a more informed response to be sure.

GeorgeSoros

But in addition to airplane mode, for location and mic concerns would you still need to also go in and disable

1) location tracking
2) mic
3) blue tooth
4) wifi auto

5) etc...what else am I missing?

Or is GoS airplane mode a one stop full shop for all these?

de0u

GeorgeSoros The interaction between airplane mode and Wi-Fi, for recent releases of GrapheneOS, was explained here last month: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/14720-airplane-mode-no-longer-turns-off-wifi

In addition, the interaction between airplane mode and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth was explained here in February: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/9571-does-airplane-mode-emit-zero-rf/15

GeorgeSoros

de0u those links don't address the above question.

GeorgeSoros

Xtreix No, GOS airplane mode isn't a complete solution for all the points you've mentioned, airplane mode doesn't disable the microphone, by default airplane mode disable cellular radio (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE), 5G) which also prevents tracking via cell towers (but there may still be other ways of tracking you), bluetooth and finally Wi-Fi (which includes automatic Wi-Fi).

Now this is a clear full answer. Thanks.

What are the ways they can still track you assuming you have airplane mode on with wifi and Bluetooth off?

GeorgeSoros

Xtreix airplane mode disable cellular radio (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE), 5G) which also prevents tracking via cell towers (but there may still be other ways of tracking you)

Would be interested to hear if any additional selected settings in GoS can help with the "other ways".

Or if airplane mode with Bluetooth and wifi off is the best GoS can do.

GeorgeSoros

GeorgeSoros RE above: to have all settings correct to the max...

Roger

GeorgeSoros they can just follow you on all the cameras they put everywhere. Or you'll end up being accidentally filmed in someone's video they're making for some flavor of social media and instantly be searchable from the servers with facial recognition AI. It's so depressing, sometimes it seems like the battle is lost and the only option is adapting.

yore

Roger The goal is to find the right balance between privacy and being able to live freely. The battle isn't lost; you gain a ton of privacy by making small changes because when they add up, you realize how much progress you've made. At some point we have to stop and ask ourselves: "What are we really trying to achieve?"

other8026

Locking this because now people are sharing links to websites talking about other devices, confusing things, and the discussion isn't going anywhere.

The GrapheneOS website has made this clear and this has been shared many times (https://grapheneos.org/faq#cellular-tracking):

Activating airplane mode will fully disable the cellular radio transmit and receive capabilities, which will prevent your phone from being reached from the cellular network and stop your carrier (and anyone impersonating them to you) from tracking the device via the cellular radio. The baseband implements other functionality such as Wi-Fi and GPS functionality, but each of these components is separately sandboxed on the baseband and independent of each other. Enabling airplane mode disables the cellular radio, but Wi-Fi can be re-enabled and used without activating the cellular radio again. This allows using the device as a Wi-Fi only device.

THIS is the official answer. Posts about other phones that aren't supported by GrapheneOS don't apply here.