Lobo Why not just use a store thats not tied to google and learn how to secure your own apps such as Aurora, etc.
There's nothing GrapheneOS can do about app developers only publishing their Android apps on Google Play. Installing apps using Google Play is the most secure option. Aurora is just an alternate frontend for Google Play, so you don't actually avoid Google by using Aurora.
Lobo I think Graphene is a great concept but given how phones are decommissioned for support leaves older phones in use with the same or similar flaws that android users face.
I'm not sure I understand... Are you saying that GrapheneOS dropping support for older devices is a bad thing? Because if so, Google dropping support for older devices means that they will no longer receive important firmware updates, meaning they're no longer secure.
Lobo Ubuntu phone looks promising as a secure OS also for example and is gaining support.
As I understand it, the OS is very insecure. If you want to avoid Google devices, an iPhone would be the next best thing after GrapheneOS.
Lobo but other than the sandbox app layer I am not sure what advantages it has over Android 15 with its enhanced and somewhat granular security?
https://grapheneos.org/features
Lobo What is so special about google phones for graphene?
It's not about the project deciding they like Google devices and only support them, it's about which devices meet the project's requirements. We'd like to support more devices, but they have to meet the requirements: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
Lobo Shouldn't Graphene ultimately support the hardening of all phones as a public duty ?
No. There are many issues I can see with this approach. Chief among them is supporting devices that don't meet the project's requirements would mean supporting insecure devices that would likely be vulnerable to exploits. If additional devices were supported, people may have a false sense of security because GrapheneOS is so well known for being a secure OS.
Lobo I am not convinced that google phones are as secure as you claim they are.
Take a look at this post and you'll see that GrapheneOS does quite well with security: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/14344-cellebrite-premium-july-2024-documentation
Lobo Unlocking the bootloader puts every phone at risk. Ya know?
You can lock the bootloader after installing GrapheneOS, in fact it's one of the last install steps: https://grapheneos.org/install/web#locking-the-bootloader