Moving from official Beta to GrapheneOS.

vazgussa

Hello everyone. I'm new to reflashing devices, and that's why I want to ask a lot of questions before trying to use GrapheneOS. Now I use the official beta, but lately I hear more and more about this firmware, and since I I use VPN often And I like to hide all the traffic that I use (because many sites in my country are not available or banned) I thought about the fact that I would like to use a more secure firmware. My device is Google Pixel 6A. I would like to know if I can immediately use the graphene firmware tool or should I first roll back to a stable official firmware? Also tell me if there is a chance to brick my phone because I am very afraid of it? One time I tried to flash custom ROM on my old budget phone but I hardbricked it and then bought pixel. Also I wanna ask if there stock option to use VMESS/VLESS/SS/WG/TROJAN VPN protocols without using apps like Karing or NekoBox? Thank you for your help and support, I hope the community of GrapheneOS warmth will accept me and help me understand all aspects.

dhhdjbd

vazgussa
do you mean really mean "firmware" or is this an translation issue and you are talking about the Operating System? (android pixel beta i guess)

Mystified3527

vazgussa

Also tell me if there is a chance to brick my phone because I am very afraid of it?

If you use the Web Installer it is very difficult if not impossible to brick your phone;
There is a Youtube video by Side of Burritos (If you go to settings, then subtitles, you can auto translate the captions to many languages) where he tries and fails to brick his phone while installing Graphene from the web installer.

Just read through the full web installer guide before installing, this answers a lot of common questions about the installation.

vazgussa

dhhdjbd Sorry I used translator to write that text because my English is not very well. I mean that I'm using official Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3, and wondering if I can flash GrapheneOS without rolling back to stable Android 16.

Oggyo

Will the downgrade protection trigger or not when completely changing the OS?
The OP mentioned they are running an OS based on Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3.

ron

Oggyo there should be no protection that is triggered because it is a fresh install of GrapheneOS. All data is wiped and the stock OS gets replaced by GrapheneOS.

vazgussa

ron Thank you and everyone for your answers. One more question. If i flash Graphene on my device and then leave Beta Program on google's website where you register for beta and etc i will not get ota update with stable google official android 16 rom? Im sorry i have stupid questions but im kinda nervous and i never succesfully flashed custom ROM and use it so idk, i am not a phone or techno geek i m just an ordinary user that want to get more privacy and get rid of that junk on my phone that is tracking a lot of useless data and wasting my old and bad battery :)

ron

vazgussa you will only get updates from GrapheneOS servers. Not Google Servers. So If you keep beta opt in enabled, you will not be affected.

NetRunner88

When you use Beta version of Pixel OS, you cannot enable Oem unlocking and therefore you cannot install Graphene OS, switch back to official stable Pixel OS before attempting to install GrapheneOS.

Dmbruley

NetRunner88 I was on the Beta (Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1) when I jumped ship. I was able to have OEM bootloader unlock on. Got a notification not long after installation about an OTA update to the Beta. Can't remember if I ignored it or not, but that doesn't matter now. It would've failed anyway. I've since removed my device from the Beta program. No harm, no foul.

Jamitz44085

I came from the beta 3 and installed GOS last night , the web installer works absolutely great.

vazgussa

Jamitz44085 So you are successfully unlocked the bootloader and flashed it withour rolling back to stable? Im not sure if i can do that because NetRunner88 said here that "When you use Beta version of Pixel OS, you cannot enable Oem unlocking and therefore you cannot install Graphene OS, switch back to official stable Pixel OS before attempting to install GrapheneOS.".

de0u

vazgussa Im not sure if i can do that because NetRunner88 said here that "When you use Beta version of Pixel OS, you cannot enable Oem unlocking and therefore you cannot install Graphene OS [...]

Well... can you enable OEM unlocking?