App recommendations to cover the basics

GlytchMeister

Hello again
I have my pixel 8 coming soon and after doing some looking around here, I realize I have no idea where to look for recommendations on the standard utility apps that play nice with GOS (aka that don’t utterly undermine the whole point of having GOS, and also… y’know… actually function)

I’m going to be using this phone as a regular smartphone, my threat profile is not very advanced or restrictive.

So here’s where I’m at so far:

So far I’ve had a discussion about Silent Link (data only eSIM with no KYC) and Jmp.Chat / Cheogram (VoIP through which I intend to funnel legacy calls and SMS, giving different numbers to different entities to try to compartmentalize and also give me a way to kill numbers that start getting lots of spam calls).
I’m still trying to sift through VPN recommendations - no log and kill switch are important to me, as is having them be based in a non-“eyes” nation.
I’m using proton for email at the moment, but I saw someone here mention that it’s bogus?
And I saw a discussion here about how a lot of the stock GOS apps are ugly (don’t care about that much) and maybe lacking some quality of life features (kinda care about that so long as it doesn’t screw up privacy/security too much). What all does GOS come with, in terms of apps like Notes, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Alarms, file manager, etc?
I’m planning to use Syncthing to back up files and photos.
Also, recommendations on a good way to use YouTube? I have been using Invidious but lately I’ve noticed the tab titles are sometimes showing up as some kind of gobbledegook Wingdings nonsense, which makes me very nervous. So I’m trying to figure out newpipe vs libretube vs revanced.

I’m also a little confused about how apps can undermine GOS security unless I explicitly tell GOS to let them have whatever it is they want that is not secure - aka give them permissions they shouldn’t be given. Is this a thing apps can do on their own, or am I missing an implied “this app just plum won’t work without permissions that undermine GOS privacy/security standards”?

Thanks for the help. Please forgive my… eh… obviously-uninformed questions. I am not only new to GOS and to actual privacy and security in general, I’m also new to Android - I’ve been on iPhones since I stopped using flip-phones because my dad’s company gave him iphones and I got his hand-me-downs until I moved out, and I just kinda stuck with them until now.

I know I’m kinda diving into the deep end but I figure I might as well rip the bandaid off, so to speak.

Thanks

applesbana

GlytchMeister

Welcome to the party! I was in a similar boat to you recently so I can definitely understand where you’re coming from. I’d say the transition away from using an iPhone for 10+ years is more challenging than anything specific to graphene.

Personally I saw a few major decisions to make initially:

1) use SIM provider traditionally (data and calling and sms) or use sim provider for data only and separate from legacy call/sms provider

2) use google play services or not

3) segment usage into profiles or keep everything on owner

I ended up with the following:

I went with silent.link as my data only esim provider. It’s non-kyc, you can pay with lightning, and has reasonable rates over T-Mobile in the USA.

I am also using Jmp.chat for legacy calls/sms while trying to push the people I speak to the most to use things like signal. The issue I have here is the cost for Jmp.chat is not great if you use a lot of legacy calling (which I have to do for work). Additionally you are paying a few more dollars every month for each number you maintain.
I would actually prefer mysudo pricing model of $100/year for unlimited call/sms and 9 numbers, but there are downsides. Namely that you need google play services to be notified of incoming calls/sms and that they limit service to a handful of countries which is tough as I travel internationally for business frequently. Apparently you can use being a VPN while traveling but there are stories of ppl having accounts shut down (and numbers lost) for violating the location restrictions. Overall I think Jmp.chat fits the graphene open source freedom ethos better than mysudo (private San Francisco based company).

I chose not to use google play services at all on my phone. Well, that’s not entirely true. I had to install the 3 components (none with network access granted) in order to enable privileged esim management, install my silent link esim, and then I immediately uninstalled the 3 google play components.

At least thus far I have kept all of my apps in the owner profile and not enabled multiple profiles as I think the added friction isn’t worth it for my use case. It was tricky enough transitioning from iOS, I didn’t want to make it tougher, at least initially.

In terms of apps to install, here are a couple of links I bookmarked that may help you:

https://brainfucksec.github.io/a-good-privacy-list
https://awesome-privacy.xyz/#/

Oh yeah, Mullvad for vpn is very highly regarded

Aleksandr90

GlytchMeister

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