What's the best way to use non private apps like Facebook on Graphene?

Dodo

Hi everyone, first I wanna give a big thanks to the team behind graphene, you guys are amazing.
I'm wondering what's the best way to use privacy intrusive apps like facebook and tiktok on graphene to minimise their tracking and violation of my privacy, I know that putting each of these apps on a separate profile is the way to go, but since I also want to use a vpn app I trust before accessing them, how do i approach this situation, do i need to install the vpn app on each of the profiles as well? how about google play services are they needed for meta's apps and tiktok to work? Thanks for helping. Also can I find a list somewhere that tells which apps need google services/framework to work and which don't, because manually trying apps one by one to see if they'll work isn't the best way in the world.

[deleted]

Dodo I know that putting each of these apps on a separate profile is the way to go

Right.

Dodo do i need to install the vpn app on each of the profiles as well?

Yes.

Dodo how about google play services are they needed for meta's apps and tiktok to work?

Probabaly not but you can still try and see for yourself, Its not hard to test whether they work without Google Play services or not

Dodo Also can I find a list somewhere that tells which apps need google services/framework to work and which don't

Scanning every single app on the planet to find out whether they need Google Play services is just not possible, My friend.

Dodo because manually trying apps one by one to see if they'll work isn't the best way in the world.

And having Google Play services/framework/store in a seperate user profile where you are only using privacy invasive apps like TikTok is not the end of the world either.

Mwgg

Dodo I put everything in the same profile, tiktok, facebook, Google... Everything. Putting applications like that in another profile is fine, but if you're using the same sim card, they'll see the same IP address, so it's not much use, or else you'd need a vpn for each application...

N1b

Dodo Also can I find a list somewhere that tells which apps need google services/framework to work and which don't

Most apps in my experience work without Google Play Services, they just won't send notifications. Problems occur often with games and banking apps. For the latter you can check out this list from privsec. Since you are good with using multiple profiles, maybe add a testing profile with and without Sandboxed Play to try a new app and see the differences.

Dodo do i need to install the vpn app on each of the profiles as well

Yes but you can install the VPN app on your owner profile and then push it to each user profile so you don't have to go through installation separately. There's an "install available apps" option in each user profile (in the owner profile, go "Settings -> System -> Multiple users").

Dodo

Another question : I see that I can download all the apps in the playstore from the aurora store without a google account, but what if the app needs google services/framework will it not work if I'm not logged onto a google account?
Thx again, and sorry I know most of this stuff can be known by experimenting but I haven't got my hands on a pixel device yet, but will very soon. My curiosity can't wait :)

[deleted]

Dodo but what if the app needs google services/framework will it not work if I'm not logged onto a google account?

Apps using Google Play services will be uneffected, but If an app requires that you sign in to It via Google (like games that use Google Play games), you'll have to sign in to the Google Play store app and not Aurora store first in order to sign in to that app.

Hb1hf

There are many possible solutions to this question with varying levels of privacy / usability.
Of course, you should use all of them with a VPN. Consider also a DNS blocker (there is some trade off here so it comes down to preference, but I'd rather be using one)

The preferred solution should be to always use proxies/frontends. Use New Pipe (app) / Piped (web) instead of YouTube, ProxyTok instead of TikTok, Geddit (app) / LibReddit (web) instead of Reddit, Nitter (web) / Squawker (app) instead of Twitter, etc. For a good list of proxies, add the LibRedirect extension to a desktop Firefox. For Instagram, imgsed.com is not a privacy frontend, but it is better than using the actual thing, specially if you use it with adblock.
You don't get to post, since you're not using your account. It's a big win for your own privacy to get used to not posting on social media, but sometimes you don't get that option.
So the next best thing would be using a third-party app that allows you to use your own account. I can only think of Infinity now. Reddit killed Infinity, but you can still build it with your own API. There's a how-to that should popup if you web search.
Next, use the services, but not the apps. Log into the social media website, the browser's three dots button and "Add to home screen". It's called a PWA, progressive web app, or just web app. A good practice here is to have different browsers for accounts and general browsers. You might even add a third browser to accounts that have your actual data. Chose between Vanadium, Brave and Mulch. Avoid Firefox-based browsers for mobile and other Chromium-based browsers that will not be as well maintained.
Apps. Only if there's absolutely no other way. Having a different profile for each surveillance app might be a good idea.

treequell

Mwgg It's perfectly valid to install apps in a single user profile. However, it's not possible to have a separate VPN connection for each app in a user profile.

Each user profile has a single VPN slot that applies to all apps within the profile. Some VPN apps support split tunnelling to allow some apps to bypass the VPN tunnel, but if multiple VPN tunnels are required, it's only possible to do that with multiple user profiles.

[deleted]

N1b For the latter you can check out this list from privsec

This list is not about Banking apps that don't require Google Play services, but rather Banking apps that don't disallow GrapheneOS.