• Off Topic

  • Questions about the launcher, browsing and Google Camera

matchboxbananasynergy changed the title to Questions about the launcher, browsing and Google Camera .

Mwk But the one thing I tried to search for and couldn't get the answer to is the app drawer and lack of ability to rearrange the apps.

I don't believe this is possible with the stock launcher.

Mwk I understand sticking to the GrapheneOS one is the best choice for maximum privacy and to avoid any fingerprinting

There are a lot of discussions here about Vanadium versus other browsers. You'll like find your answers in the search results.

Mwk the app wants me to download google photos to be able to access pictures from within the camera app.

Unfortunately, I don't see any way around this. However, Google Photos does not require network access, nor does it require Google Play Services/Store. You can install it with zero permissions and further restrict its file access with storage scopes (e.g., to the DCIM folder). I use Google Camera, Gallery and Photos in this manner with no issues.

  • Mwk likes this.

        Thank you for all your answers!

        What about GPS? What is the best app you could recommend for navigation? i currently have Sygic set up as it had quite high ratings in Aurora but are there any other decent ones?

          Mwk In my opinion, it doesn't get much better than Google Maps. However, if you're looking for an alternative, Organic Maps and Magic Earth are two good options that you could check out.

            Thanks for that, I tried the organic maps and I think it works amazing. In terms of VPNs, which one in your view is trusted provider? I was using nord VPN but I heard it's not really good, what about Proton VPN or any other?

              8 months later

              Mwk magics earth is good. Also there is something you can install that fools the gcam into thinking that whatever gallery app you have is google photos so the preview will work. I use simply gallery pro and it works fine.

                  4 months later

                  E24
                  I think I know which one you mean. It's called GCam Photos Provider. Beware though: when I tried to install the real Google Photos again, it said something about wrong version. I haven't been able to install it since.

                      Clueless You would have to UNINSTALL gcam photos provider before you could install gphotos. The gcam photos provider application fakes part of gphotos (i.e. uses its package name) in order that it can respond to the button in gcam. You cannot have two packages with the same name installed at the same time! And because the package signatures don't match, you can't just install one over the other, that would cause a signature mismatch.

                          Is it possible to change recents menu? Stock launcher is really bad! Personally I want pixel launcher recents menu that has text select feature. If its possible to get that in GrapheneOS, that would be a great deal, at least for me!

                          bookreader
                          I Know, I saw that the package names are the same. The Problem persisted after uninstalling it though. I even looked for a leftover folder but didn't find anything.

                            Clueless yes it does give me the same error but I won't use google photos I'm happy with simply gallery pro

                              Mwk

                              I use Osmand for maps and navigation. I even bought their maps+ offering a couple years ago when it was on sale for 6€
                              I really like that the app uses offline maps you download beforehand.

                              The free version on google play only allows 5 map downloads, but I think on their github you can get the full version without paying.

                              I wanted to support the developer and 6€ was a nice sale.