What features do I miss out on by switching to Graphene?

duckdough

Researching GrapheneOS to hopefully move from a iphone 15 pro to a google pixel 10 pro ~ December and join the community! I am also newly technical (but learning) so apologies in advance for any obvious / dumb questions

What exactly do I lose by going to GrapheneOS in comparison to stock android? I understand some limitations like wireless pay (unless your bank has its own system), and notifications in some instances, but would I lose out on systems like call assistance, or video boost? Are these trade-offs that I can live with, or can I, with sandboxing, make a way to keep these cool features around with little -> no data given over to Google or its partners?

nandohyphen1

duckdough only certain banking apps work unless you have google play services installed and disable exploit protection compatibility. I've never used wireless payments so a can't confirm if they work or not but from what I've read probably not. Notifications for apps that depend on google may not work and there is no digital assistant. You can of course have all of these features by installing google play services (preferably in a different profile to protect your privacy) but I find most features are worth living without rather than giving it all to Google. Hope this answers your questions. :)

de0u

duckdough I don't know what "video boost" is, and I don't have Play on my device, but I believe some Google calling features, perhaps "call assistance" (is that the exact name?) do not work.

duckdough

nandohyphen1 I guess a further question would be more so for your opinion: Would I be able to make a "stock android" profile that gives the full featureset, while my upmost private data (or data I wish to not give over to Google / whoever else) can sit behind a "private main/admin" profile. Another question I haven't seen in any review videos: Can these profiles be on one screen? Or do I need to switch profiles to get notifcations/alerts of certain apps, certain layouts, etc... Or are profiles more so treated as security layers?

nandohyphen1

duckdough Yes you can create as many profiles as you like. So you could have your main Owner profile for your private stuff and create a Google Profile. If you install play services in your google profile, you can download apps from the play store and it will function just like stock Android. And it is separate from your Owner profile so Google can't access your private stuff. They can't be on one screen though. You do have to switch between the two. But in settings you can turn on Send notifications from this profile to the current user. So if you are in Google profile and you get a text message, a notification will come up saying you have a text and it will give you the option to switch to the other profile.I personally love GrapheneOS because even if you decide to go all Google with it, there are still way more privacy advantages to GrapheneOS over stock Android

nandohyphen1

You also have something called the Private Space(requires a screen lock). You access it by swiping up from the home screen. I use it for apps that need verification codes to log in because its annoying to be in an app in one profile and have to switch to your main profile to get the verification code and then switch back to use it. With private space, you can unlock it, use the app(s), and when you are done you can lock it and it has no access to your private stuff

duckdough

nandohyphen1 A private space to access password managers / vpns / auths sounds super useful considering I am in entry level IT and need to use them all the time, but do not want Google to have a finger on those applications and what they possess, or how they process syncing between my other devices. Hypothetically, would this 'private space' be accessible in my "google only profile" via an action like Samsung's OneUI edge panel? Or is it just the bottom of the home screen?

duckdough

de0u Video boost is some new feature for google pixels where you can take super high quality photos because the processing is done in the cloud instead of on device (I believe). I am totally fine with using something like that for specific photos that I would only really post on social media once in a blue moon, but not something I would like to use daily for keepsakes / memorial moments. But you are saying something like call assistance (helps with being on hold, prevents scam/spam/telemarket calls) is not usable on Graphene, at least, without google play services enabled in a box?

de0u

duckdough Video boost is some new feature for google pixels where you can take super high quality photos because the processing is done in the cloud instead of on device (I believe). I am totally fine with using something like that for specific photos that I would only really post on social media once in a blue moon, but not something I would like to use daily for keepsakes / memorial moments.

I don't know how that works at all, so I can't comment (or even meaningfully speculate) on whether it can be made to work on GrapheneOS. Perhaps others will chime in.

duckdough But you are saying something like call assistance (helps with being on hold, prevents scam/spam/telemarket calls) is not usable on Graphene, at least, without google play services enabled in a box?

If I search for google "call assistance", what I get includes information about "Google Assistant". I am not seeing information about whether "Google Assistant" works on GrapheneOS, but I have a faint memory that it does not (at all). Again, perhaps others will chime in.

oci3o

I'll list some cans and cannots.

NFC payments can be done by Curve, Garmin Pay (needs Garmin Watch), or your banks own NFC payment system if it has it.
You can still use assistant, just not via Hey Google, this also applies in Android Auto, it just needs the button to be pressed.
Call assistance is mostly handled via the Dialer app, which can be installed on GOS, I use it for the spam protection.
Now playing for music wont work, there are 3rd party projects, but they require some work arounds which use ADB.
Good backups, Seedvault is no where near as good as Googles.
You can still use GCAM, which will do a lot of Pixels camera stuff.
Think Video boost is a google photos feature, or GCAM, both can be installed on GOS and work fine.

You will miss out on a lot of the AI crap, circle to search wont work for example.
Make sure key apps work like banking first, just ask on here, I am sure someone will have used the same bank, mine flags as an "insecure device", this is because GOS cant pass specific safety checks, only Google can allow an OS to pass, but it doesn't mean less secure, its just like shitty DRM.

How degoogled you want to be is entirely up to you, thats the benefit of GOS, cut out what you dont want, keep what you do!

DeletedUser370

What features do I miss out on by switching to Graphene?

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