chance

  • Joined Oct 6, 2023
  • In Understanding GrapheneOS relationship with Google Services?

    matchboxbananasynergy Yeah I know I could have been more welcoming, and reading ryrona`s responses to the same questions illustrated that well, so i certainly appreciated it, I will say that there was absolutely nothing snarky in my comment, i meant it genuinely without anamosity, as we all know taking the time to research and seek answers to our own questions creates a better understanding and is more likely to be retained, particularly with something as broad (although nicely summarised by ryrona) as what the op was asking about.
    Given the absolute abudance of information on these things available to anybody i do consider it in poor form for the op to be asking about that and does indicate a certain lack of gumption.

      • In Pixel 9a Timeline for GOS?
      • In Pixel 9a Timeline for GOS?

        The GOS are so fast at supporting new devices. But from all the leaks, the 9a is not a better deal than the 8 (not a). Unless you need the newer Tensor.
        The 9a looks to be big, bigger bezels and a lot of cut corners but without a fairer, lower price. Really like the trimmed down camera though. On the 8, its almost as thick ss the phone itself.

        • In Fingerprints in work profile...sketchy?

          I'm having a similar issue with fingerprint authentication in apps; most notably all apps in the shelter work profile that use this feature.
          Unlocking the phone using fingerprint works like a charm, so no issues there.
          The fingerprint authentication feature in apps within the shelter work profile, however, completely broke after the updates this week. I'm not sure which one, but all was fine last week Saturday.

          My banking app stopped asking for fingerprint all together, even though it is enabled (and has been enabled since day 1) in the settings. Another app does come up with the fingerprint prompt, but when successfully authenticating the fingerprint does not follow through and stays on the logon screen, forcing me to put the pin code. There's also an app that at first doesn't show the fingerprint prompt and forces a pin code, but after putting in the correct pin code suddenly shows the fingerprint prompt.

          I tried disabling and re-enabling fingerprint authentication, both in OS or apps, to no effect.

          It does seem to correctly authenticate the fingerprint presented, because providing the wrong print does give the 'invalid print' result. Correct prints seem to satisfy the fingerprint prompt but nothing happens from that point on.

          Does anyone have the same issues or maybe even a solution?

          • In Firefox done?

            router99

            I think they're best to be ignored. Nothing this person says will be substantiated with evidence, they're all about being bombastic. It's people like this that give privacy a bad name.

            • In Firefox done?

              What's more, about 22-23% of Tor nodes are set up by government agencies to de-anomize users.

              argante https://blog.torproject.org/malicious-relays-health-tor-network/
              https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2021/12/was-threat-actor-kax17-de-anonymizing-the-tor-network

              There is no such claim in any of your sources. They are blog posts from 2021 that describe events in the past, not the present. The Malwarebytes article speculates briefly that the nodes were set up by state actors, but we can't be sure of that.

              argante 22-23% is the general estimate that can be found

              Found where? Who is doing the estimating, and how are they estimating that number? Forgive me, but it's quite a bold claim to be throwing around. It's fair to claim it if it's backed up by evidence. You seem sure about it so I would expect at least some tangible evidence to be presented.

                • In learning about G

                  Good day. Are you looking to install GrapheneOS? You will need another device, but that doesn't have to be a desktop or laptop computer. If you have another Android phone in reach that's reasonably modern you can use that as the host device. Simply connect the two phones with each other, open the web installer on the other phone and start!

                • In Response to dishonest attacks on the GrapheneOS project by Robert Braxman

                  Braxman is continuing to double down on dishonest rants about GrapheneOS and targeting our development team with fabricated stories and harassment content. We're working on a detailed article going into detail exposing his products/services as highly insecure and non-private scams along with exposing his content as being filled with blatant fabrications. His continued dishonest attacks on us are being archived and can also be talked about. This post we made about it is completely insignificant compared to what's on the way. He's participating in extreme Kiwi Farms harassment which is plainly visible on his social media accounts, mainly on his own privacy unfriendly social media site. It will all be dealt with via a detailed article about him which can be expanded to cover he business partners. Lots of progress is being made on the article and we'll continue improving it after publishing it.

                  • In Which of the requirements for GrapheneOS are not fulfilled by Samsung S24 Ultra?
                  • In Safe way of using GOS in China

                    • Mmrn

                      • Post #4
                      • Edited

                      Never been to China, but I hope my 2 cents can help either way.

                      If you are really worried about the content of your phone, I would wipe the phone and only go with the basics installed on it.
                      Otherwise, I would say, don't bother making your phone overly complicated, just uninstall things you think could be sensible, here's why I think that is a valid option:

                      I was always of the belief that if you go to China, they are gonna ask you for your phone and password, and keep an eye on you.
                      Very recently, multiple people I know personally went to China to visit, including one person married to a Chinese citizen and as such, goes regularly there.
                      Naturally I have asked all of them by curiosity, if it was really as bad as what people say, they all answered the same thing; None of them felt like their privacy was being invaded at any point during the trip.
                      Obviously, it's extremely likely that you are still monitored in some ways, but from what I heard from anyone that went there, the CCP doesn't really care much about you because you are a random foreigner, and also, they actually would like a lot of people to visit the country, so they're trying not to be too hostile to foreigners.
                      So really most likely what you should be expecting is the level of monitoring that's done in every country nowadays.

                      • In Worried about my seized Pixel 7

                        When did they seize it how much time has passed ? I know someone who his phone pixel 7a seized in Germany and he got it back after 3 months, they were not able to extract any data from the phone.

                      • In Missing APN (Access Point Name) Options

                        chance Honestly you should just contact customer service, I work for a cellular provider and MMS not working is very common IME, and is almost always an issue on our end.

                          • In Missing APN (Access Point Name) Options

                            chance MCC is a number corresponding to the country your provider is based in, and MNC identifies the provider itself (when combined with MCC).

                            They are both set automatically, you don't need to set them yourself.

                              • In Long time iPhone user thinking about making the switch - good idea?

                                hesitantapplegal Alright, let's do this:

                                I've used my ex's Samsung Android phone before, and let's just say it wasn't my fave.

                                Samsung tweaks the UI A LOT compared to Stock Android/AOSP. Watch a video or two on the interface. Graphene is a lot more tame than Samsung's cartoonish design and doesn't suffer from all the bloat and overload.

                                I just read Snowden's book and it's freaky to think about how much data big tech companies and the government are collecting.

                                And that was a good 10 years ago. Imagine what is possible nowadays...

                                My main hang-up is what I'll be giving up if I switch - namely, iMessage and FaceTime (which are encrypted, right?).

                                Sorta... iMessage backups are still not encrypted by default and the setting needs to be enabled for iCloud backups. Since you don't use these, no biggie. The chat/call part is end-to-encrypted (according to Apple, nobody can confirm. They might have backdoors for all we know). Giving up on FaceTime will likely be unavoidable, unless your relatives want to send you the invites. You could then FaceTime on your GOS phone through a browser.

                                iMessage might hurt less, now that RCS is supported by iOS. You would have to use Google's messaging app for that to work and set up Play Services, but you could separate these from your other apps and data via Private Space or a Work profile.

                                I think what you should do (if undecided) is just get a cheap Pixel used (something that still is supported) like a Pixel 6a for example (they run pretty cheap, haven't checked, but some say around $120-140) and try it out for two or three weeks. If it's not your cup of Gatorade, you can just revert back to iOS. If you find out that you get along, grab a newer Pixel (or stick with the one you have) and enjoy it. This way you're not gonna take much of a loss, since you can sell the Pixel again for roughly the same price.

                                • In What feature/app do you use that the majority never talk about?

                                  I absolutely love the dynamic wallpaper feature of BreezyWeather. The app as a whole is quite stunning for any app, especially so for a completely FOSS app. All of the animations and the great graphic design is very pleasant. I also really enjoy, how according to the weather it changes the core material colors. Such a good app.

                                  • In Are you planning to buy Pixel 9?

                                    Onlyfun I only buy the Pixel line, because of the security features. I totally agree with you, there are always problems with Pixels. If it's not A, it's B, and if it's not B it's C... etc... However, it's the only phone that can load the official version of GrapheneOS, oh well.

                                    • In Are you planning to buy Pixel 9?

                                      nope, had to force myself to upgrade to p8 from p5 to keep up with security, size makes it barely usable with one hand, and p9 is even bigger so passing on this one. honestly these pixels are garbage i hate that fact that none oyher manufacturers offer a relockable bootloader, cause 4 year old s20 is still far ahead of pixel 8 in terms of built quality, screen, camera, when i happen to use my s20 as replacement for broken pixel i enjoy it a lot, rrally not happy whrb the ne pixel comes in.

                                      someone please figure out a relockable bootloader!!!

                                      • In Are you planning to buy Pixel 9?

                                        Why would I? My Pixel 6a still works just as well as it did when I got it and will receive security support for another 3 years. If I'm running GrapheneOS, it's not like I'm someone that cares about new Google features, most of which probably have privacy concerns.

                                        If Google does another absurd deal like they did when I got my 6a where they practically gave the phone away, I might consider it since why not. Otherwise, no.

                                        Regardless, I hate having new and expensive tech, especially for things I carry around with me that are prone to being lost, damaged, or stolen.

                                      • In How many GrapheneOS users are there?

                                        Since there is no telemetry in the os we can only really approximate by looking at how many updates are pushed through the update servers, the current estimate is over 250k.

                                        • In What feature/app do you use that the majority never talk about?