Complete beginner iPhone 11 to Pixel 7 Graphene OS

Freckles222

Hi all,
My phone is due and upgrade and I’m seriously considering moving from my iPhone 11 and getting a pixel 7 to use grapheneOS as my primary phone.
I am pretty much tech illiterate, and I use Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, google maps to run my business.
If I download these apps is it worth it?
How beginner friendly is grapheneOS?
What is sandboxing?! (Sorry clueless)
How easy is it to transfer my data over from my iPhone as someone who has no previous experience?
Thanks in advance for your help!

de0u

Freckles222 How beginner friendly is grapheneOS?

One thing to consider is that at present GrapheneOS doesn't have a "set & forget" backup system like iCloud backups for iOS. See, for example: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/6686-seedvault-video

As you can see in that discussion, reliable comprehensive encrypted app-state backups are a goal, but not yet realized.

[deleted]

Freckles222 As with anything, tradeoffs are to be considered. Why are you looking to switch over?

[deleted]

Freckles222
Great ! Welcome to the community

1 Yes it is worth it. This has been asked numerous times. Please search the forum :

The answer, in my opinion, is yes. It is worth it to use GrapheneOS no matter what apps you're using. In the vast majority of cases, it's going to be the most secure environment in which to run apps, and the one that gives you the most control as well.
The goal of GrapheneOS isn't to avoid Google or "Big Tech" apps, although people can use it for that, and that's completely fine. The actual goal of GrapheneOS is to provide an OS with substantial privacy and security benefits no matter what you're running.
Using 'mainstream' apps on Graphene still worth it for privacy?

You can also look : If im using mostly Google based apps, is it still worth using GOS?
Google Play Services, WhatsApp, Facebook, what privacy am I giving up?

2 It is beginner friendly.
Those post answers your second question.
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/5097-is-grapheneos-for-me/7
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/5988-is-grapheneos-worth-it/15
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/5988-is-grapheneos-worth-it/12

katemason

Freckles222 Hi all,
My phone is due and upgrade and I’m seriously considering moving from my iPhone 11 and getting a pixel 7 to use GrapheneOS as my primary phone.

I have moved from an iPhone about 3 years ago for privacy reasons. One of the main reasons is that I did not want intrusive tracking without my consent. Pixel + GrapheneOS helped me to avoid

Location Tracking every 10 seconds
Body movements: walking, cycling, taking stairs or lift

Ask yourself what makes you to consider the switch? The answer will help you how to setup and configure apps on GrapheneOS.

I am pretty much tech illiterate, and I use Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, google maps to run my business.
If I download these apps is it worth it?

I have these apps and other intrusive apps stored in a separate User profile, that I access once 3-5 days. Might work for your too?

How beginner friendly is grapheneOS?

Was a super easy switch for me.

What is sandboxing?! (Sorry clueless)

Basically it loads Google trackers (Framework, Play store etc) in a container, that can't track your location every 10 seconds unless you give explicit permission to do it.

How easy is it to transfer my data over from my iPhone as someone who has no previous experience?

It was a manual exercise for me, one photo album or even photo at a time. Have two devices with you in parallel for a month and transfer file based in importance/priority over longer period.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Please ask more questions. I will help as much as I can. (And also do read the forum and official web-site)

[deleted]

If I download these apps is it worth it? Yes. GrapheneOS isn't just for people with a high threat model or for those who want to be free of Big Tech. Anyone can use it.
How beginner friendly is grapheneOS? Anyone can use the OS. It's easy to use. I would definitely recommend/suggest you read through the website if you haven't already. It's caulk full of very important and useful information.
What is sandboxing?! (Sorry clueless). https://source.android.com/docs/security/app-sandbox
How easy is it to transfer my data over from my iPhone as someone who has no previous experience? https://grapheneos.org/faq#file-transfer

Skyway

I switched from iPhone to grapheneos a while back , for email you can use a client such as fairemail or k9 mail to keep Google off the phone , if its supported you can use the webapp version of Facebook to mitigate some of what they collect . separate user profiles may of use to you here as well

As for switching , you can read and watch videos all you want but for me I used two phone for while while getting used to grapheneos . helped me better understand how it worked and how I wanted to set it up.

Freckles222

[deleted] definitely just wanting better privacy/security on my phone, fed up of all the personalised ads etc and apps knowing my location all the time

Blastoidea

Perhaps you should begin by reading all the information on the GrapheneOS website, and then ask more specific questions.

Freckles222

[deleted] amazing thanks! All helpful info :)

[deleted]

Side note: The "Apps (app repo client)" tag is for when a post has to do with the GrapheneOS Apps repository hence the tag's name.

[deleted]

Freckles222 I don't want to sound like an iOS shill (I migrated over to GrapheneOS from iOS) but Apple does allow one to limit the personalization of ads as well as turn Location Services and GPS on or off for individual apps. iOS devices are also considered secure.

GrapheneOS is fantastic but a far cry from the set-and-forget convenience of iOS. Josh of Side Of Burritos channel on YT does a great job highlighting some of the benefits of using it as well as plenty of frictions if you want to give it a watch. He has also migrated over from iOS.

Freckles222

[deleted]

[deleted] thanks for the advice! I am going to watch some of his videos now.
Also I’ve just thought of another question - if I get my new pixel from my phone carrier is it possible to still install GOS? Or will it be locked?
Thanks for your help :)

applesbana

[deleted]

I struggled with making this decision myself and figuring out if graphene is worth the move. After using iPhone for 10ish years, it’s not the simplest transition. I still have an iPhone for work so use both systems.

Despite locking down my iPhone as much as possible (no iCloud, lockdown mode, etc…) it’s still tough knowing that since it’s closed source, you must trust them. Also the amount I’d usage data they send back to the mothership is crazy, and while it’s allegedly anonymized and not shared, I don’t know how to verify that’s true.

Certainly feels like I’m more private with my graphene device, but I’d be lying if I said I prefer the daily usage compared to my iOS devices.

N1b

[deleted] I don't want to sound like an iOS shill (I migrated over to GrapheneOS from iOS) but Apple does allow one to limit the personalization of ads as well as turn Location Services and GPS on or off for individual apps. iOS devices are also considered secure.

No worries, you are far away from a shill. Apple does make things look and sound easy, but as far as I know there's no way to see what they actually do since everything is closed source. They are regarded secure, but their walled garden comes with problems like for example when they didn't fix a WebKit exploit for many weeks, but also required all iOS webbrowsers to use WebKit (so no webbrowser on iOS was secure). They claim to collect less data or allow you to fine tune your privacy settings, but it also looks like they have been caught ignoring privacy settings in the App Store. I'm not surprised about this, because Apple's duty is to please the investors and there is a lot of money in breaching user privacy. My general agenda is "If a company would profit more from your data than from your privacy, it will do so."

@Freckles222 as you can see there are nice people around here and you receive instant support for your quesitons. Personally I like the advice from Skyway a lot. If you can afford it, buy a Pixel, install GOS and use it for a while before you reset and sell your iPhone. This way you have a smooth transfer and can still use your old solution when something doesn't seem to work at first. Achieving great security and privacy is no sprint and it depends a lot on your personal threat model. You will likely get there one day in the future with GOS, but take your time (it took me about 3 years). And never shy away from asking questions (after doing some research on the official GOS website and this forum), we are all here to help and learn.

[deleted]

Freckles222 That depends on your carrier. Verizon locks the bootloader on their devices.

[deleted]

Freckles222 It's best to buy from Google directly. But do inquire before buying the device if you can enable OEM unlocking on it. It's mostly an issue in the United States as far as I can tell.

de0u

Freckles222 If I get my new pixel from my phone carrier is it possible to still install GOS? Or will it be locked?

What if some underpaid salesperson working for a carrier assures you it'll be fine and it isn't?

At least in the U.S., as [deleted] said, the guaranteed thing is buying an unlocked (not carrier-specific) device directly from Google. Other things might work too, but also might not.

I hear 6a's are pretty cheap right now...

Blastoidea

de0u
Do not ever buy a phone from a carrier, especially Verizon.

[deleted]

Blastoidea They never said that they should.

[deleted]

applesbana Certainly feels like I’m more private with my graphene device, but I’d be lying if I said I prefer the daily usage compared to my iOS devices.

Hard to argue here. For me, it's manifested in my reduced usage of a primary mobile device (which is Pixel running GrapheneOS). I used hit 3 hours per day on my iPhone. I average 30 minutes with GrapheheOS. That said, I love it and unless it goes away tomorrow I'm not interested in switching to either stock or iOS.

Freckles222

[deleted]

[deleted] sounds perfect, I would love to reduce my phone time