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this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
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Privacy
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When will F-Droid stop working on stock android?
Try Graphene today. IT WORKS
Samsung s22 and s25, checking in. Graphene won't be viable for the vast, overwhelming majority of Android users today or in the coming seasons.
I hope people figure out some kind of virtualization/docker-containerization solution to the coming Goo-lag.
I'm still holding some hope that maybe Samsung's flavor of the OS won't have the restriction of requiring Google keys. Specially considering that Samsung has its own "Galaxy Store" with app submissions controlled by them, not Google.
Though it's possible they might simply extend the signatures accepted to include also the ones signed by them ^^U ..still it would give them a competitive edge to remove the restriction so they might be incentivized to do it.
I'm hopeful that the hackers will win. I will never underestimate the power of motivated, scorned engineers.
Except for stuff you really need like online banking, tap payments and digital ids
All my banking apps and credit card apps have worked flawlessly on Graphene OS. You're correct that tap to pay doesn't work, which is a bummer. But that is just Google spyware as well, honestly.
I heard about this a while ago, but I remember the GrapheneOS team talking about suing Google if they didn't allow them to pass play integrity checks like they should be able to, but Google just doesn't let them. That's the only reason tap to pay doesn't work and some baking apps have issues, its Google purposefully limiting graphene OS so they have a competitive edge somewhere.
Plenty of bank apps work just fine. None of the ones I've tried had problems, except Santander, which works perfectly after changing a setting.
Not here in Norway. You need BankID which is an app that well, requires a lot of stuff.
Personally I don't need or want any of those things on my phone.
No they work. It's not like LineageOS. Both Bank apps I now need, work on GrapheneOS but did not on LineageOS. It is my compromise without being compromised.
I don't have time today
Ok, I’ll extend your deadline til Monday then. ;)
Even on GrapheneOS, sure it uses a sandboxed Google Play Store, which is obviously great for users, but the developers of Android apps still have to hand over their personal data to Google specifically as this new decree from the Lords of the Google fiefdom entails.
Because FOSS developers rightly value their personal privacy, this decree effectively kills incentive for FOSS developers to continue making and maintaining apps for Android. Running GrapheneOS doesn't circumvent this.
It's like I'm saying "I'm hungry" and you say "Go for a run, it's healthy for you." I mean... it's true that running is healthy... but the act of running doesn't solve the problem of me being hungry...
As I understand it the sandboxed google apps are entirely optional. You can go completely free with GrapheneOS just like with LineageOS.
Too, you can shove Google into its own separate User from everything else and keep it locked down in an always on VPN or the like. You don't owe it the primary user on your phone. You can even keep that user shutdown such that none of it runs until you explicitly switch over and run it.
GrapheneOS is pretty dang impressive.
I use FOSS apps for everything, I only have one special user profile with google play store for my stupid bank and credit card.
For everything else there are alternatives that don’t need google play.
I think you're missing the point. You say you use FOSS apps for everything. Do you download them from F-Droid?
From the article:
I get my apps through Obtainium. I usually find the developers pages where they publish source code and the apk and then add them to Obtainium and install from there and let it manage the updates.
Most of the apps I use are also available on f-droid and some probably have play store versions as well.
Depends on your location. There is a timeline table here:
https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides
I see September 2026 as a tough date.
There's nothing set in stone yet. Google just committed to doing it is all that's happened so far. But the response against it has been pretty heavy and we'll see how it goes. We have to speak up right now and organize our communities like this post is doing.
LOL. There's dozens of us here.
Don't wait. GOS just works.
On one phone. The rest of are shit out of luck because we didn't buy the one phone from the company that is causing the problem in the first place.
They're working with an (unrevealed) major OEM to bring a compatible device to market sometime next year.
https://old.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/comments/1o32gpg/blackberry_phones/nivsx0k/
Here's hoping its a device with an SD card slot and optionally a 3.5 jack. The Pixel's lack of those is the one reason I haven't made the switch.
Buy used. The other phone vendors haven't been offering the security hardware GOS needs, so far. It might change soon enough though.
This isn't awful advice, but used Pixel prices are vastly out of whack with used prices from just about any other android manufacturer. On Amazon I can currently buy a refurbished Galaxy S25+ for $300 less than a refurbished Pixel 9 Pro XL - when the Pixel is a worse phone by every metric but its ability to run GOS.
Also, in some markets (US I believe? I think its a company called Verizon that does this) Some pixels just cannot be OEM unlocked, at all. So that's also a risk buying used online at least - there's usually not a way to tell if you'd be getting one of those if you live in a market that has this fucked up "feature".
This isn't a scalable solution. There aren't enough affordable, used Pixels for everyone in the ecosystem to adopt between now and the Goo-lag.
Alternative ROM market is fringe de la fringe, so there's sufficient used hardware available. I bought my 7a for 320 eur new and my tablet for 400 eur new though, so the Google tax (or, GOS tax, rather) was moderate.
One con, too, is that Graphene drops support when Google does, limiting the options around buying quite older models and running them for a long time to keep price low.
I still appreciate GrapheneOS and understand why they drop support, but it is definitely a con compared to other ROMs which trend towards extending support longer.