Using GrapheneOS as a base for a consumer product

pixpot Are there security focused launcher that allow you to disable apps and settings and not allowing the user to install the laucher och change its settings without a arbitrary password that we can set?

There are some launchers that can do everything you want within the launcher itself (lock/hide apps, password protection etc.), but I'm not aware of any launcher that can circumvent the system wide controls and pulldown shortcuts for settings. They probably need privileged access which no launcher should have... That's where the "education" would kick in. Like "we can only guarantee you safety and privacy if you never press that button, and here's why".

I lack the knowledge to answer the other questions (hardware removal, ease of forking GOS).

pixpot If you think it more productive to discuss this somewhere else, please point me in the right direction.

I think it was great that you came here first as there were a lot of things to clarify from your introductional statement and also some very important misconceptions that indeed would have wasted time from the lead devs and also made you look unprepared.

Your enthusiasm shows, and that's one of the most important factors for longevity and sustainability of your project. Once you can present your mission, goals and requirements in a few sentences, that's when you want to head to the leaders. I wish you the best of luck, you seem to have good intentions and I would love to see more choices out there for security and privacy use cases, even if GOS is the best solution for myself.

Fascinating thread. As I read the latest posts and now respond via this lovely Keychron keyboard connected to my tablet, a thought comes to mind: you speak of reporting on events in a repressive location. Simple texting via Signal is fine for a sentence or two, but are you actually seeking to support reporters? If so I might offer an alternative path to consider, as it doesn't seem this is about profit but rather supporting the free flow of journalism globally.

Typing on this keyboard is much faster & less likely to destroy my thumbs than using a phone. If detailed & accurate reports are to be prepared, even a folding keyboard would be beneficial, and can be used with a $30 tablet with NO sim card. But how to transmit securely? I would personally suggest a digital handheld radio, with an encryption performed using PGP on the tablet, and sent with a digital radio protocol. Here in the US it is ILLEGAL to send encrypted info on the amateur radio bands, but if one is sending data in a place where repression & torture are consequences of reporting, legality is not on the table. A report could be written at leisure of the author, encrypted, and then sent from a time & place where a brief burst of RF emmanates. Transmission concluded, the radio is shut down. The window of opportunity to locate & triangulate the signal is brief.

This scenario may not be useful BUT were I seeking to support journalists, this is how I would go about it. There is a little bit more of a learning curve, but in the present age I suspect this would be far less likely to be detected than monitoring cell signals. Given that a given Signal acct does have an identifier (a SIM, even if changed) and that anonymous SIM can be connected to a time/location of transmission. RF has no identifier, just the radio waves moving through the ether.

Blastoidea Absolutely, if one is in such a setting then using 'unauthorized frequency' is the least of one's worries. I meant this in a more general sense, to convey the idea that using non-cell RF might be a better solution. Out of band radio mods are trivial, and other countries actually have more open spectrum than we have in the US anyway.

One time pad communication ( number stations ) are still used today.

Skyway Indeed they are!

pixpot I only ever use one profile but from what I heard on here each profile is encrypted with the password you set for it. And each user profiles data is put at rest when you end its session.

It's on my wishlist that owner is treated as sudo, and the other users are treated as regular linux users. Then on the other hand there is the question of who manages sudo, and if done by remote = oh no. Solutions could be explored with enough donations.

pixpot It's how AOSP works. It could potentially work differently, but currently doesn't. It might change upstream, but who knows.

pixpot Theoretically? Everything is possible. In reality, however, it would likely be a gigantic change to make; not for the faint of heart.

The reason why you have to unlock Owner before using other profile after a reboot is being Owner houses config options and settings that other profiles use. You can't keep Owner at rest while using other profiles, so you have to do the first unlock after a reboot to get it out of the "Before First Unlock" state.

Changing that would be fundamentally changing how user profiles work at their core and would be a gigantic change to port to other Android versions in the future. Like I said, theoretically possible, practically impossible.

pixpot have you read the grapheneos website and or used grapheneos first hand ?