Worth switching to GoS as a student?

Drippy_Fast_999

Hi everyone, I know that this sort of question may have been asked a multitude of times on this subreddit, but I have some quirks that may drive me away from GrapheneOS.

Also, my apologies for bad formatting and English as it is not my first language.

Obviously my main reason for switching is moving away from the Google monopoly and becoming more concerned with my privacy overall. But, there are a number of services from Google that I still rely on, and am wondering if it is possible to find alternatives or workarounds for them. Additionally, I am not located in US, but in the EU.

Furthermore, I only have one phone (Pixel 6a) and since I am a student, I cannot afford to buy a new phone. My biggest concern are banking apps, messengers and social media platforms (Youtube, Instagram, whatsapp, telegram, etc.) I also have two microsoft applications, namely outlook and microsoft authenticator and I absolutely need them to work on my device. I also have two google accounts, one for professional use and one for personal use.
Another thing that I do not want gone is adaptive charging, where I can plug in my phone with an alarm set and it will fully charge it before that alarm goes off.
I am also wondering if switching to Graphene OS will mess with my internet provider and simcard, as I do not want to lose that functionality.

I have read a bit about how to implement some google features and apps using sandboxing but I am not sure if it fits all the needs I require.

Any advice and recommendations would be gladly appreciated.
If any of you have more questions pertaining to what features on my phone that I use, please ask.

Probably9857

Drippy_Fast_999 Another thing that I do not want gone is adaptive charging, where I can plug in my phone with an alarm set and it will fully charge it before that alarm goes off.

This will not be possible.

Check here to see about your banking apps:

https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/

Everything else you mentioned should work fine.

benzo301

Drippy_Fast_999 I have similar needs regarding the apps I use so I guess I should give my advice from personal experience. First of all the google play services will work exactly like they do on the stock OS, I have them on a separate user along with all my banking apps and all socials too. Second, I have 3 banking apps and all of them work perfectly fine along with google services, and I never had any issue with any app functionality on GOS. If you are concerned about sandboxing, it does not affect you in any way, it simply prevents google services from interacting with other applications on your phone that have nothing to do with google, preventing them from collecting your personal data.
On separate profiles you can use F-Droid and Aurora Store to download your apps if you don't want everything on the same profile that has the google services: Whatsapp, Instagram, Signal and other non-google socials work perfectly fine like this (without Google services).
From my own experience and all the people I know that also use GOS, you will not encounter any issue if those are all your needs, and your banking apps should work perfectly fine. So in conclusion yes, I do suggest switching to Graphene especially since you are concerned with your privacy, it's the most rational solution if you want to minimize data collected by large corporations and still use their services.

Edit: No, GOS will not "mess" with your SIM or Internet provider, and yes you can still use all the Office tools in the profile you have google services installed. Just watch some youtube videos and do some research, you will see how others have it set up and you will find that everything works pretty much the same.

(IMHO, the best option would be to backup your data and just install GOS to test it and get familiar with the ecosystem, so you can draw your own conclusions afterwards and decide for yourself)

Good luck and have a great day! :D

littlerack

Drippy_Fast_999 yes, its worth it. However, check https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/29568-whats-one-thing-you-just-cant-get-to-work-on-gos/ for some possible app/feature related limitations

Johnnyloans

Drippy_Fast_999 Another thing that I do not want gone is adaptive charging

Adaptive charging only slows down charging to help with battery life. If your phone charger can handle charging your phone fast enough before you wake-up, it'll be charged fully.
GOS has limiting charging to 80% to help battery life (it'll still go to 100% every 10 charges).

Drippy_Fast_999 simcard

To get RCS texting, follow this: https://grapheneos.org/usage#rcs
The step about ICC special permission you may not need.

Drippy_Fast_999 sandboxing

This won't affect you--it's transparent to the user.
If any apps don't work--namely banking apps. Go to the apps info page and turn on 'app compatibility mode'

benzo301 sandboxing, it does not affect you in any way, it simply prevents google services from interacting with other applications on your phone that have nothing to do with google, preventing them from collecting your personal data.

This is false.
Sandboxing only helps preventing viruses from spreading elsewhere outside of the app that it started at. Apps can talk to each other. The 2 apps talking to eachother must be programmed specifically to talk to that 1 other app.

Google wallet doesn't work. For tap/contactless/NFC payments, if you have another app that lets you pay by card with your phone, then that'll hopefully work. You can search your bank/finance app that has tap to pay in this forum and see if anyone else mentions it working.

Drippy_Fast_999 Will I be able to keep using my phone after that?

Yes, you won't lose any functionality. As others said, you might still get updates with GOS maybe not.
Risky to not get updates for 2 years. Used phones can be cheap.

All other apps you mentioned should work. Some apps do not work on GOS, mainly because the app developer does a check on the device to see if GOS is on google's list of favorite operating systems--which it isn't. Then you get a message about insecure device or your phone is rooted (it's not). You'll get a notification that says "[app] used the play integrity api" when this happens. Many apps I have used pop up with this notification and the app works anyway. An app could choose to disable some functionality and partially work after this check; but, i haven't seen that outcome.

Drippy_Fast_999

benzo301 Thank you for your detailed reply. I might actually make the switch!
Though, I have one more concern left, and that is the longevity of my phone. On the website for GoS, it says that OEM minimum support end for the pixel 6a is on july 2027. Will I be able to keep using my phone after that?

littlerack

Drippy_Fast_999 kinda yes, but as you will no longer get updates, it no longer will be up-to-date from security point of view

Drippy_Fast_999

littlerack Is it really that big of a deal though? Because I do not plan on upgrading my phone in the next 2 to 3 years.

nandohyphen1

Drippy_Fast_999 Is it really that big of a deal though? Because I do not plan on upgrading my phone in the next 2 to 3 years

It can be a security concern. See
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/30716-vulnerabilities-of-eol-pixels/6
And the thread I created a while back
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/27818-keeping-a-device-after-its-eol-date
And search the forum with just the keyword 'EOL' and a lot of info will come up to read

kaisernatron

Drippy_Fast_999 It's not secure but if you're using it just to escape Google then... sure, though if you plan to continue using those 2 gmail accounts I'm pretty sure they're already linked to each other if they've ever been logged into the same browser, from the same IP address, on the same phone etc. If you transfer everything to the new account it's likely that Google will realise too

schweizer

I think with your user profile the main issue is not to change the OS but the way you use your phone. You use google accounts. What for? This can be easiy replaced by a paid for email provider wehere you are the client not the product. And you get a nice me@mydomain.com address.
Instagram? I can live without so you can probably as well. If you absolutely needit, use it in a browser. Youtube? Use pipepipe instead and you get it ads free (but without recommendations algorithm). Works on all Android phones. Telegram? Works fine on GOS without Play Services and is ok for receiving group messages. But it is terrible as a messenger. Start using Threema.

andrej567

also, there was a discussion here about a person living on campus where the access to buildings/rooms was possible only using google wallet, having some NFC? keys stored there. that would not work.

Czubek

I have a pixel 6 that I just converted to GOS and am very happy with it. When I saw the op I became excited to offer some information/suggestions, but the above replies covered everything and more. The sad news is that GOS updates to the pixel 6 may not last much longer. Oh well, if GOS is around I can always get a later model pixel.