Efficient and privacy-friendly basic setup?

b2cb

Dear GrapheneOS community,

i am a fresh user of GOS on a Pixel 6a and wanted to share my thoughts on some basic things, after i did research here and tried some things out. There are some points i am still not sure about, which i will summarize as questions. By the way, my primary goal is to use my phone as efficient and privacy-friendly as possible, which means using few apps and avoiding google as much as possible.

To keep it simple, i want to use Signal for messenging/calls and Tutanota for mails/calendar. I'd also like to try out Element. The important part is being able to get realtime notifications from these apps, which should be possible without installing any google services before them (like explained here https://grapheneos.org/usage#sandboxed-google-play), or am i wrong?
Are google apps/services necessary for none, some or all of these apps to work properly, especially the notifications?
If yes to any of these apps: what is the most minimal and privacy-friendly way to set it up? Like before installing these apps, first install Google Play services (which automatically will install GSF and Play Store), set battery optimization exception to Google Play services and permit only network access for GSF and Play Store?
If yes to any of these apps: do i get notifications from them when on my main profile, when i run google services only in a second profile together with only the app(s) with notifications depending on google services? That's the way i would like to handle it, if any of these apps needs google stuff. Would that be possible?
Navigation app: my research told me, Magic Earth should be the best option for me. Since it's free, is my data at risk or how do they make money? Does it need google services to function properly? Should i always run it in a separate profile, since it needs my location?

Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to share their wisdom!

[deleted]

b2cb
cascaderainfall's answers are very great.
1 yes, it is possible to have realtime notifications with these apps
2.No

No to grant them too much permissions, running them in a separate user profile and not connecting to your google account are good measures to protect your privacy and not be linkable to an account. Leave battery optimisation diasabled.
Yes, you can get notifications across profiles (Multiple users> notifications)
being free does not necessarly imply they are stealing you data. I think that they're very good privacy-wise. referring to technlore's plexus website, Magic Earth works very well without GSF. I suggest you to use it in your general profile since it is privacy-friendly. but if your threat model implies to not risk other apps on the same profile than Magic Earth, run it in a separate user profile.
I would suggest you to also look at Organic Maps (the best for me IMO), HEREWe go and Google's PWA.

140Volt

b2cb I prefer organic maps for its open source nature and the fact that it has been really good in my experience. None of the apps you stated require google play to my knowledge. Also in my experience, fair email is the best open source client, supports pretty much every email provider out there, and has some exceptional security features. Since tutanota (and I believe proton as well) doesnt support IMAP, I would recommend checking out startmail, especially since they have that unlimited alias thing. Fair warning though, an ad company or something along those lines has a significant share of company ownership. Their privacy policy is strict though and one of the more reputable privacy websites online questioned/audited them and found their answers to be suitable so 🤷‍♂️

b2cb

One more thing: is there a notes app which can be configured to require a password to open the app?

2dognight

b2cb
For notes I think there are quite a few options. I've been using SafeNotes which is working well for me.

Nuttso

b2cb notes app which can be configured to require a password to open the app?

https://github.com/keshav-space/safenotes

Or use molly.im - notes to self

tmp

b2cb Not a notes app specifically, can create text files for notes with Cryptomator secured in a vault(s).

zx9r5

b2cb Simple Notes Pro from Simple Mobile Tools has the option to lock a note with a PIN or a pattern.

cascaderainfall

All of the apps you mention have their own notification systems. So yes, the notifications will work without play services.
Not really necessary for any of them.
Not installing Play Services would be the most privacy-friendly setup but in general giving only the absolute required permissions and denying unnecessary permissions (such as sensors for Play Services apps) is best practice.
I suggest reading https://grapheneos.org/features#notification-forwarding
Here is their privacy policy: https://www.magicearth.com/privacy/ The decision is ultimately up to you.

b2cb

cascaderainfall

Thanks a lot, very helpful, much appreciated!

Thanks to 2dognight and Nuttso as well!

[deleted]

2dognight
referring to techlore's video , PTIO and privacyguides,
you have some great options such as :

Notally (for offline notes)
Standard notes (very limited if you do not pay but it is sufficient for my usage)
Notesnook (very complete free version)
Turtl
Joplin (very complete, premium),
Obsidian (there is a little learning curve)
Cryptee

I know that Standard notes and notesnook can use require a password. Idk for the others

BalooRJ

I've been using GrapheneOS for four years now and I have never used Google Play Services. My navigation app of choice is OSMAnd+~ in F-Droid with the downloaded maps from opensupermaps.com. I find it to be the most accurate and best open source and free navigation tool.

For email: Protonmail
For Calendar: Etar Android App to display, Etesync to cloud store and encrypt calendar entries to display cross device.
For Tasks: Tasks.org F-Droid app and Etesync.
For Contacts: Etesync
For Podcasts: Antennapod

Etesync by far is the best tool to replace the proprietary google services to keep track of your life.

b2cb

BalooRJ

Thanks for your recommendations! I downloaded the OSMAnd+ apk, but i couldn't yet figure out how to import a separately downloaded map. I found a site where i can download a map in the format osm.pbf or osm.bz2. Can you tell me which one i should get and what to do with it to get the map running in the OSMAnd+ app? I revoked the network permission of the app, as i am understanding it should work fine without?

Thanks in advance!

[deleted]

b2cb would this be any helpful to you?

https://itnursery.com/how-to-import-an-obf-map-file-into-osmand/

BalooRJ

b2cb The maps from OpenSupermaps.com are in obf format and when you download them to your phone, they should automatically open up and import into OSMAnd+.

Note that the maps are large. And you will need the larger overlay maps before you can download individual state maps for everything to work properly. Simply go to the left-hand side of the app's "Download Maps" tab and download the requisite world and country overlay maps. Then the individual maps from OpenSuperMaps will have the embedded street addresses so they are easily searchable in OSMAnd+~.

There are also quite a few navigation settings for driving and using OSMAnd+~. f you want TTS prompts while you're driving from OSMAnd+~, you will have to download a separate app called RHVoice from F-Droid and configure it to your liking.

Eirikr70

For Element, be careful, there are two versions

one on Github, Aurora Store and Google Play, that requires Google Play to have notifications,
the other on F-Droid store that works without Google Play.

Only install Element from F-Droid.

newbie24689

BalooRJ Thanks for clear instructions!
I managed to skip the step of downloading world and country maps - but my (U.S.) state maps seem to function find.

What functions am I missing? Perhaps greater generalized detail?
Have you compared OSMAnd with OpenSuperMaps to MagicEarth and/or Organic?
TIA

BalooRJ

newbie24689 Truth be told its hard to say what is missing without the overlay world and country maps. But I will say that last time I tried Organic Maps it was not nearly as good as OSMAnd+ using OpenSuperMaps. I have found OpenSuperMaps makes all of the address data very easily searchable, and I can get great car navigation through OSMAnd+. Been using this setup for quite some time now with no problems.

[deleted]

[deleted]
Moreover, you could use Signal and Bitwarden to make notes and ask for authentification for both

jo_hn

[deleted] Honestly I use Signal's "Note To Self" feature to write all my little notes and ideas in when out and about, it syncs up with my laptop and I don't need another app that I'll forget exists within 5 minutes of me installing it

BalooRJ

Protonmail supports IMAP on but on desktop using the bridge. FairEmail has way too many settings and the developer is mercurial and has stopped and started development twice now in the last year, so I moved back to K-9 Mail when development was restarted, which is going to be codeveloped by the Mozilla Thunderbird folks.

OSMAnd+ is also open source so it really just becomes at that point what you like to use best.