Profile Question

HMdubai

Hi all, first time user of graphene on 7a and though I love it but I’m kinda lost when it comes to profiles.. looking for someone who has experience in Dubai, UAE that can advise for an agreed fee

Cheers
HM

other8026

HMdubai If you ask me, setting up profiles and the way you arrange apps is a very personal thing. Someone can tell you how they have their phones set up, but that setup may not be ideal for you.

Either way, there are many people here on the forum who are happy to share their thoughts on this topic. Feel free to look through older posts about profiles. There are tons.

My suggestion would be to accept that you may try one approach, then later want to change things around to better suit your needs. You may end up going through multiple setups before finally settling on one that works for you.

I find that most people do some of the following:

Different profiles for Google and open source apps
Don't install anything in the owner profile and instead use secondary profiles for daily use
Install apps in the owner profile, then "push" apps to other profiles
Separate profiles for certain important or sensitive uses, like banking
Separate profile for work
Separate profile for social media

Edit: I've changed the title for this post so that people scrolling through can get an idea of what this post is about. Maybe someone will have more suggestions for you so you can started with your setup.

ntop

other8026
Very interested. ... Install all apps in owner profile but don't use the profile on daily ran?? Please can you highlight the benefit of this compare expect for pushing update... Any other benefit?
I have 6 profile but I have install auraro store in all of them..
Each profile has there own app and owner profile only has contacts synch with outlook, protonmail, proton calendar, molly and few other...
Would recommended moving these to its own profile ?

Thanks a million

other8026

HMdubai There are lots of helpful community members here who are happy to give advice for free.

I already wrote some things that you might consider in a post earlier here other8026. Do you have specific questions about profiles that my post didn't cover?

other8026

ntop I just listed that setup because I see a lot of people say they do it that way. I gather that they like this kind of setup because they find it easy to install apps in the Owner profile, then push them to secondary profiles. I personally don't see the point of doing it this way unless the user cycles through profiles like crazy.

I wouldn't suggest any of them, to be honest. I feel that this is more of a personal preference sort of thing than anything else. Each setup would have its own pros and cons.

PMUSR

other8026

If you install apps in a User Profile. Would they appear in Owner Profile too in Settings under "Apps"?

I only have messed around with others Pixel with GOS but will get a Pixel soon myself. This is my needs. Please advice on how I should set it up.

Im thinking of using Obtainium to install as much apps I can from but I want to use VPN in all profiles but then I cant install Obtainium in Owner Profile when its already installed in User Profile to install that VPN app. The VPN app is the only app I need in Owner Profile. Should I install Obtainium in the Owner Profile then install all apps I need via Obtainium in the Owner Profile then push those apps to User Profile? Does that setup affect the security in any way? How should I do?

treequell

PMUSR If you install apps in a User Profile. Would they appear in Owner Profile too in Settings under "Apps"?

Yes, they appear that, but you won't be able to edit their permissions or other settings from the owner profile.

PMUSR Im thinking of using Obtainium to install as much apps I can from but I want to use VPN in all profiles but then I cant install Obtainium in Owner Profile when its already installed in User Profile to install that VPN app. The VPN app is the only app I need in Owner Profile. Should I install Obtainium in the Owner Profile then install all apps I need via Obtainium in the Owner Profile then push those apps to User Profile? Does that setup affect the security in any way? How should I do?

You can have the same app installed in multiple profiles. When you update the app in one profile it'll get updated across all user profiles. However, the user data of the app in the different profiles remains completely separate.

You could install Obtainium in either of the owner profile and the secondary user profile or in both profiles. It's up to you, and you're free to set that up as you wish.

All apps are sandboxed in GrapheneOS and there's
no difference in the security of apps installed in the owner profile or the secondary user profile, aside from the fact that you can log out (end session) of secondary user profiles without restarting the phone.

PMUSR

treequell Well I had Obtainium installed in a User Profile. Then I tried to install Obtainium also in the Owner Profile to install only a single app I needed in the Owner Profile but I got an error something about the version did not matched User Profile app version even though I downloaded the same APK with same version.

Second, can you really install an app in a User Profile then push that app to Owner Profile? I thought you could push apps from Owner to User Profile only? I want to install one single app in Owner Profile via Obtainium but also want Obtainium to be installed in the User Profile too?

[deleted]

I sometimes hope this profile system to work similar to how QubesOS treats multiple operating systems at once. However in my understanding from previous posts on this forum, the profile (or users) system was developed with an intention to let other people have their own space on a single device. I have no clue why Google created such thing at the past, but nowadays GrapheneOS improved this system by adding advanced features such as "Allow running in background", "Disable Calls & SMS", etc., - probably assuming that privacy and security interested person would never lend their device to someone else.

Anyways, although the current profile system does not reach the level of how Qubes OS describes themselves as a "Reasonably secure os" (and will probably never; unless GrapheneOS goes into the hardware space and virtualize multiple OS on mobile environment), it still certainly acts as a good isolation feature for apps and files. For example, the sandboxed Google Play Services could be installed on another profile space - for installing proprietary apps and allowing network connections only when the owner intends to do so by disabling the user to run in background. Another usage of profile system could be separating owner profile / Sandboxed Google Play Services and proprietary apps / Games / Social Media / Banking / Security / etc. I personally only operate two profiles, one the owner and other the SGPS. However it basically depends on how you want to use the device, as well as considering your threat models, daily habits, convenience, etc.

HMdubai

I still need help .. anyone that is proficient in profiles plz help .. will pay for your time .

We can do zoom if more convenient

Regards
HM

HMdubai

Hey bro , not an individual question as much as a practical “do together ‘kinda help

I have setup 7 different profiles so far .. and have certain apps in certain profiles but some apps should be running in multiple profiles and it gets kinda messy and sometimes frustrating .

That’s why I am looking for a practical how to experience with someone that has done it many times .

Thx

N1b

HMdubai looks like what you want to do is use the owner profile exclusively for installing and updating all apps, then push these apps to their related profile(s). This way you have one hub from which you manage all your apps, without providing them usage data. On the user profiles you exclusively have the apps you need and no appstore installed. This keeps everything clean and minimal and you don't run into trouble trying to install different versions of apps (e.g. same app from different appstore).

Disadvantages of this approach are

You have to go back to the owner every once in a while for app updates (if you set Play Store and Neo Store to auto-update, this can be done automatically on reboot).
None of your profile will have owner exclusive settings (e.g. dev options, bluetooth timeout, auto reboot, SIM lock, etc.)

This is what I would do if I ran 7 profiles. Hope this helps.

DeletedUser59

Question:

If I use the owner profile only for installing and upting apps and then push those apps to my everyday user profile, does this also work for in-app-purchases?

Example: Let's say I have Google Play in the owner profile. I install an app and make an in-app-purchase. When I push this app to my everyday user profile, can I use the in-app-purchase in the user profile, too?

other8026

DeletedUser59 does this also work for in-app-purchases?

If I'm understanding the question correctly, no.

Basically, the app that you're using will use an API in Google Play to ask if you've made a purchase or not. If Google Play isn't installed, or you're logged in to another account, then the purchase won't transfer.

DeletedUser59

Thanks for your reply.