Least horrible alternative to GrapheneOS?

JB11

andrej567 I ordered a new new battery for my phone so I'm hoping that resolves my battery issues.

If not, my frustration will continue I guess.

Pixels are starting to remind me of iPhones as far as repair goes. Lots of little details that make repair more difficult. (Tons of screws, multiple parts that overlap each other)

I've worked on several phones over the years, mostly Samsung, and my success rate for repair is 70/30 I'd say, 70 being good. Point is, I'm very disappointed/unimpressed with how irreparable devices have become and that's just smartphones, other things are just as bad.

andrej567

JB11
100% agree - repairs.
I used to replace/upgrade some modules in japanese television cameras, 20 years ago. All was well designed for the service operation, you could assemble/disassemble the device 100x without harming it. no glue was used..

grayway2

There's no serious alternative to GrapheneOS at the moment. iPhones and Pixels with stockOS are the most secure hardware on the phone market but with no privacy.

People who thinks that iPhones are a good alternative don't know what they're talking about. iOS is a prison, everything you're doing on an iPhone is almost tied to your apple account. You can't download apps without and the hardware is tied to your account forever.

raccoondad

DeletedUser639 Humans are such muppets...

You don't need a house just live in your car aahh post

Eirikr70

raccoondad Err... I don't have a car, can I keep my home? /s

DeletedUser639

raccoondad

I believe my "humans are muppets" theory is gaining traction....

raccoondad

Eirikr70 Err... I don't have a car, can I keep my home?

[Insert that one gif of the people on a convert belt where they get their head lightbulb broken and a graduation cap on]

Novalissoide

JB11 At the moment my Pixel 6 is not operable. It needs a new battery which I'm shopping around for.

You've got a few months before EOL this October.
https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-lifetime

JB11

Novalissoide I know. It'll still be useable it'll just be less and less secure as time goes on I guess.

Frankly I'm very tired of and annoyed by the constant "need" to buy a new phone. Some people do it every 2 years, some wait longer, I've been switching phones more than I care to say because it's I buy used, there always seems to be a problem while brand new (as in same year as current year) is just highway robbery expensive.

Novalissoide

JB11
Totally get it. Security is one big reason not to hold on to your device past EOL but there is another important one also:

The memory hardware will increasingly likely fail as the device gets older. Very important is to keep good backups. Be prepared enough to handle a total sudden loss of the device, and look for a Pixel8 and newer. Used is ok, it saves money.

treenutz68

JB11

Have an iphone 12 working just fine that is 5 years old. That is one benefit of going the apple route.

DohnJoe

DeletedUser639 Most people don't need a mobile, they want a mobile.

My government "forces" people to have a smartphone, because newer services like digital identity or the like are provided via app only.

Sometimes you have the possibility to use a very clanky alternative (like SMSs), sometimes you completely lose the opportunity to use the service if you don't own a smartphone.

I would say that most people in my country need a smartphone if they don't want to go back to send physical mails via post and wait months for their issues to be addressed.

Also, in an international point of view, some banks are working through app only, without a web interface available through browser.
It's easy to ask a person to change bank, but maybe that specific bank you want has better prices/fees and this starts to be a matter of money.

If I had to go with your statement and accept that "humans are such muppets", you are just moving all of these into another device (regular cellphone for SMSs and calls) or a computer.
In 2026, in a lot of countries, it is mandatory to have a piece of technology in your house.
So what is the point you are trying to make?

JB11

Novalissoide I'd really like to get more life out of my Pixel 6 before I go get another phone. I've not had my Pixel 6 for long. If I am to get another phone, maybe it'll be a Motorola phone with graphene on it? (shrug)

n3t_admin

DeletedUser639 Most people don't need a mobile, they want a mobile.
They entwine their very existence into a mobile phone so much so they cannot function without one.
Humans are such muppets...

Oh yeah, I'm such a muppet too.

My public transport ticket is digital only (and actually limited to Apple or Google Wallet or the mobile website which takes like 5 minutes to log in to). Do you think I will pull out my 16" laptop in a crowded train to show my ticket?

My student ID is also digital only. Do you think I will carry around a laptop for that?

Need a taxi? Well, tough luck. All the public phone booths have been shut down here. Just pray that someone will pick you up via the old "thumbs up" hand sign.

Meet a stranger who needs help and doesn't speak your language? Well, time to learn 190 languages to cover every possible scenario, because you don't have a "mobile" anymore.

Forgot to pay the bills? Well, off to the bank you go, because nowadays most banks will have some sort of 2FA for online banking that requires a phone.

Need directions? I guess we'll ask the muppets to check on their maps app and meanwhile tell them how great it is living without a "mobile".

I honestly don't know where you live, but I think you really have very little to no obligations, because if you do, you will absolutely need a mobile (phone) in this day and age. Not trying to attack you personally, but that opinion is straight out of early 2000's when you actually didn't need a mobile.

DeletedUser639

n3t_admin Not trying to attack you personally,

I didnt think you were, I have read enough of your posts to come to that conclusion myself.

Nothing in your list of tasks is unable to be completed, because you lack a mobile phone.

userofgos

@n3t_admin what is your iPhone setup currently? I'm curious

treenutz68

userofgos

You didn't ask me, but I generally follow the advice here:

https://thenewoil.org/en/guides/most-important/mobile-settings/

n3t_admin

userofgos oof, it's not really that special honestly. Did some hardening, here you go:

for lock screen (while phone is locked) most options are disabled.
Siri still on, but no 'Hey Siri' and most Siri features disabled. Siri access to all apps disabled
Health protocol disabled
location services limited to few Apple apps. Other apps only on request.
obvious ones, like contacts, camera, bluetooth, local network etc. etc. are very limited to just a few apps
AirDrop, NameDrop, Handoff disabled by default
iMessage completely disabled (most critical attack vector on iOS)
iCloud ADP enabled
FindMy is on, stolen device protection off (I don't need it)
background app refresh is disabled for most apps (although it doesn't do very much)
VPN is always active outside of my home network (and the VPN goes into my home network while away, so everything goes through the firewall and DNS block)
Password manager is a self hosted Vaultwarden and replaces iCloud Keychain completely for me.

and a few other small changes not worth writing down here.

Obviously, OpSec is more critical. I reduce the amount of apps, also no social media or even WhatsApp.
Could do a bit more, honestly. Still need to go through all my apps and disable search indexing. And take out some more stuff out of iCloud.

n3t_admin

treenutz68 quick glimpse: nonsensical guide.

"FaceID should be avoided"
"Stolen device protection -> on"

???

Most points don't even have a description and I disagree with quite a few of them.

This is also a former project of Henry from TL - a name not seen kindly here, for various reasons.

JB11

treenutz68 That's a very extensive security list. Thanks.

I generally disable a lot of settings, don't really wanna go into detail but I'll bet a lot of those settings are in that list you shared. :)

As for people going on about iPhone and longevity, the apple ecosystem is very annoying. And if google gets its way, it'll essentially be another apple.

userofgos

n3t_admin iMessage completely disabled (most critical attack vector on iOS)

I was wondering about this, makes sense given how many exploits there have been. It's still not possible to use an alternative SMS app as the default app, unless you are in the EU right?

n3t_admin

userofgos yup. But I (and no one I know personally) even uses SMS anymore. iMessage is pretty much the same, no one cares about it in the EU - but it remains a huge attack vector while active. I wonder why it's not mentioned more often. It's basically one of very few default ways to contact/get unsolicited access to an iOS user.

otterfoghornrainfall

n3t_admin iMessage ... remains a huge attack vector while active.

Can you expand on this? I see so many people lauding I message as secure, I am curious to hear the gaps in that.

n3t_admin

otterfoghornrainfall
See here and here and here and here. And there's also Kismet and a few others, but I'm too lazy to find a source now (sorry).

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