Hi, have always wanted to try GrapheneOS and finally am able to now that I picked up a 4a 5G.

I have a question about Vanadium updates. Shouldn't Vanadium updates be released as soon as they are available to the Stable channel? Right now, there was a tagged released yesterday with the latest version of Vanadium (v108), but that is currently in Beta channel. I know I could switch to Beta channel, but just wanted to know a bit more about the release process. Also, Chromium v108 has 28 security fixes, so ideally whenever a new version of Chromium is updated, GOS should push an update closely afterwards.

Am also curious why Vanadium System Webview and Vanadium are not distributed and listed on the GOS Apps Store like other GOS apps like Camera and PDF Viewer. Wouldn't this make updating Vanadium easier without needing to tag a Stable or Beta release?

I will have other questions, but for now, just want to say I'm glad this project exists! A big thanks to the developers and the GOS community.

    brambler Hi there! Welcome to GrapheneOS and the community!

    Currently, Vanadium is updated as part of OS updates instead of as a standalone app like Camera, PDF Viewer etc.

    This is for multiple technical reasons that I can't recall now (sorry!). I do know that one reason is that up until very recently, Vanadium did not have its own app ID, which was one blocker, but there are others.

    On releases, and the release channels:

    https://grapheneos.org/releases#about-the-releases

    Releases are tested by the developers and are then pushed out via the Alpha channel. The release is then pushed out via the Beta channel shortly afterwards. Finally, the release is then pushed out via the Stable channel after being tested by some users using the Beta channel. In some cases, problems are caught during Beta channel testing and a new release is made via the Beta channel to replace the aborted one. In general, it's not possible to downgrade unless a downgrade update package is generated, so use the Stable channel if you cannot tolerate dealing with temporary issues while a new release for the Beta channel is being created.

    We're always looking for more beta testers, and there is an alpha/beta testing channel on Matrix! The more people testing with diverse devices, apps, habits, the faster we can ensure the release is good to go and it can be pushed to the next channel with more certainty. If that's something you'd eventually feel comfortable doing, feel free!

    2 months later

    brambler Am also curious why Vanadium System Webview and Vanadium are not distributed and listed on the GOS Apps Store like other GOS apps like Camera and PDF Viewer. Wouldn't this make updating Vanadium easier without needing to tag a Stable or Beta release?

    Just wanted to update this thread and say thank you to the GOS team for allowing Vanadium to be updated through the GOS Apps Store now. This was one of my main concerns with using GOS, which has now been addressed so thank you!