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Google Starts Scanning All Your Photos As New Update Goes Live
(www.forbes.com)
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this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Technology
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GrapheneOS works great for me. Not a lot you can do on stock android that you can’t do on GrapheneOS. I would highly recommend anyone looking for privacy to look into it. Very very easy to install. Just make sure you have a Pixel phone that is unlocked. I’ve been using it as my daily driver for two years now.
GrapheneOS isn't a replacement for Google Photos though? What do you use for photo backups? (Immich seems like the obvious answer, but I'd like to know if there's more options out there)
It let's you run Google Photos without network permissions and with storage scopes limiting it to certain folders.
Does the photo search still work offline? It doesn't for me. That seems like it'd be the only reason to stick with that app if you're not using the cloud storage, otherwise I might as well just use a basic file browser.
I don't upload my photos to the cloud, and don't use the search function. It's just a photo library app on the phone. It seems to do a better job of post processing the pics from my Pixel, which is why in use it.
I use google photos to pull up old pics that have already been uploaded for a long time. Google photos requires you to share your entire library otherwise it doesn't let you view photos from the cloud, but GOS let's you tell google photos that you're sharing your whole library when you actually aren't. Google doesn't have access to any of my new pics but I can still view all my old stuff.
It's so easy to install! You just need to be in the 3% of smartphone owners who actually have one! EASY!
rolls eyes
Huh? It's a replacement for android for pixel phones. Therefore it works on.... Pixel phones...
My point is that if it requires a specific device that most people don't have to install, then it is not easy to install for most people, because it literally cannot be.
But it's not for most people. It's for Google pixel users, that's the whole point! That's like saying oh this diesel sucks and isn't user friendly because it doesn't work in my petrol car. That's because it isn't for your car.
Then don't recommend it for people that can't use it, JFC.
No one is doing that. YOU'RE the one here that is getting angry at nothing. It's just an option for pixel users, who are one of the only demographics locked into Google photos. Other phone users are free to use their stock photo app. You've clearly just misunderstood the original comment and are trying to save face.
That doesn't mean it's difficult to install though.
Cool, I have a Samsung S23fe, please feel free to install it for me. I'll wait.
Admittedly, being facetious there, but my point is that if it requires a specific device that most people don't have to install, then it is not easy to install for most people, because it literally cannot be.
My point is if something is impossible to do, that doesn't make it difficult. It makes it impossible. Those are two different things.
... what exactly do you think the phase "impossibly difficult" means? Because "impossible" is a level of difficulty ie. THEY ARE NOT DIFFERENT THINGS
Impossibly difficult is an oxymoron. If something is impossible, it can't be difficult because if it is difficult that means its very hard to achieve but still possible. If something is impossible, that means you cannot do it, full stop. It is not possible. Those are two completely different things.
My only issue is with banking apps and our national ID app which is very useful. I know some work, but I haven't seen all that I have listed, so I would have to be the guinea pig :) I actually have an older Pixel phone with a shattered screen, I was planning to have it repaired, so I guess that's where I can test GrapheneOS safely.