pxlkng This is not correct. Proprietary is absolutely not a black box. You can audit it just fine. You can see what it does just fine. It is code like any other you execute. The licensing doesn't change any of that. If the system can execute instructions, those instructions can be read, and those instructions tell you what the program does.
You don't need the source.
Also, FOSS doesn't equal better or more secure/private. In practice, it is probably rather the opposite and proprietary code is likely more secure due to being backed up by corporations that can afford proper audits and regular maintenance.
Perhaps it is best for me not to mention F-Droid at all anymore as an option because even though it is a "possibility," it is not a safe one and there are alternatives that do it better, and it will only spread confusion, my apologies for that.
Also, it is indeed true what you said about proprietairy apps, I was wrong about that generalized "black box" statement.
Yet I still want people to know that there are alot of malicious apps on the Play Store (wheter it be FOSS or proprietairy) that people are not aware of and that should be avoided. (The same thing could apply to other app stores as well)
For example;
-Apps that let you sign an agreement that intrude on your rights.
-Apps that have tons of tracking involving personal identifyable information of users.
-Apps that use lots of unnecessary permissions like using the phone number, along other things. (It depends on the app, apps like dialers should have access to the dialer permission)
I guess it is best if people gather some intel on each app before installing it from both Play Store or another source/store.
One more thing;
Even though GrapheneOS is very accessible to beginners like myself, what people have to do afterwards to maximize security can still be very confusing to many.
Perhaps someone can point to a good guide (or create one) on the recommended steps to take after installing GrapheneOS, because there are so many questions about it on the forum, yet a simple link could be sufficient to inform people properly instead of having conflicting advices.
Perhaps that guide could be made as an app for GrapheneOS? (Or an extra section within the "Info" app)