We are in contact with GrapheneOS about this situation. Even though we produce hardware, our company is far away from what you need by a smart phone OEM. If there would be a GrapheneOS phone in the future we will be happy to collaborate with them regarding funding, purchasing, selling…
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I know Fairphone has struggled on the software side and had less than stellar security in the past, but a Fairphone running grapheneOS might be my perfect phone. I don’t like having to pick between security and repairability so I’ve been sticking with my old iPhone 11 for now.
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So, I do have a question and I couldn´t find an answer. How are drivers update handled? Are they part of the pixel updates that are now not accessible for GrapheneOS or are they distributed directly by vendors?
Because, if GrapheneOS does not have timely updates for hardware level attacks, it can no longer be the “most secure” OS on the market.
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Sadly, I don’t think there are must hope for a new OEM GrapheneOS phone. There are to many risk for the OEM working with GrapheneOS especially if it is a startup. I can’t really see any OEMs who want to risk money on it.
I’m not trying to make flame war, I’m just giving my 2 cents.
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There seems to be some progress in that regard:
https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114729018035689722
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I will hope for the best custom hardware and firmware would be crazy 
but I still can’t see any OEMs working with GrapheneOS long term. I think they are a hell to work with.
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Who? The OEMs? Or GrapheneOS?
GrapheneOS
OK, and… why?
P.S. Sorry if it might be a silly question. IDK that much about GrapheneOS.
@null Okay, so maybe because of their hardware requirements? Like, security and so on?
I prefer not going into it. I’m not trying to make flame war. Lets us just say they are not known to play nice other project.
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I’ll be honest here and say I’m having a struggle with this. In my scenario I was so close to making the switch to GOS. Been running both a Pixel 8a and an iPhone 13. The idea was that since my iPhone is starting to have battery issues I would not buy a new iPhone but transition to the Pixel 8a with GOS this summer. I took the red pill and went through the process of learning about iOS and Apple as a company and grew to desire wanting to be free of that ecosystem. Now I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me by the other player on the market, Google. On the one hand, I don’t want to reward Google for doing this by running Android and now I’d be settling to stick with Apple….
The immediate thought I had was I would just pause and see how long it takes to get Android 16 running and how many issues does it have. I also understand that I could potentially use the Pixel for several years without issue. But honestly, like others have said here, I’m very concerned about the longevity of the GOS project now. My threat model does not include trying to hide from dangerous people or anything like that. I like to think I’m a regular person who just wants to be more private and not just “give away the store”.
All this to say, I’m at the point now where I am entertaining the question of iOS v. Android (stock). The default position here is that iOS is the next best choice to GOS for both privacy and security. I have never used Android before I started with GOS, so I want to make sure I’m not looking at this through a biased lens. Can a case be made at all for Android as a better choice than iOS going forward (assuming a world where GOS is not a viable option)?
Things that I think about when it comes to the future: with Apple you can’t repair phone, you basically rent the device (need an account that they can shut down) and only have access to what Apple allows. If we are having a conversation that is forward looking here, consider the fact that iPhone sales are flat and as a public company Apple’s shareholders demand growth. Where is that coming from? It is coming from “Services” (subscriptions and reoccurring fees) but also from…. Advertising. Add in AI that will have/has the ability to read messages (including signal messages?) and I ask the question: does it really make Apple better than Google?
I’m truly looking for input here. I fear we are going to be at a point of making bad compromises and I don’t want to just fall back to my default iOS position without having at least asked the question. Furthermore, all of this has become a little bit of an obsession and can’t just keep spinning my wheels anymore.
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Let’s assume that you are comparing a stock Pixel with an iPhone. Both have the advantage of having the latest security updates compared to other OEMs. They also have similar advanced protection modes if you are a targeted individual.
The only reason why you would choose the stock Pixel is more freedom over customization. You can choose whether to use the Play Store or not. You still have the choice of disabling many invasive Google services after tinkering with settings. However, complete degoogling is frankly difficult without the assistance of a custom ROM like Graphene OS.
Choosing between a stock Pixel or an iPhone boils over to your desire for security over privacy. Security-wise, you are better off NOT installing outside apps or doing anything sensitive on both phones. OpSec/basic common sense works best in this case, and to be frank, the last thing you need to worry about is Google or Apple with state-level threat models.
If you don’t think security is that much of a concern and care more about micro-managing the privacy experience of your phone, you might as well use stock Android and accept the risks behind doing so. Normally, Graphene OS can help you with both factors.
But note that these conversations are merely speculation and not indicative of the project’s health. Please do not worry excessively about this issue without actual confirmation of any changes by the GOS team. Privacy Guides will make sure that an official recommendation is made in such scenerio.
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I’m going to say, if you’re willing to tinker and “resist”, and if value freedom, then it’s still Android. You can use it without a Google account, you can get all your apps from F-Droid or Github, you can block all Google connections or all connections from specific apps with an firewall-like app such as RethinkDNS, you can “debloat” and remove preinstalled packages (including Play Servics) using adb, …
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I prefer not going into it.
You really stood up for what you said/claimed. Why say anything at all then?
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I always do 
I think it’s too offtopic.
From my experience too, just leave null be honestly, Sparking drama is never fun and we all know it.
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I don’t think playing coy after bringing the subject up serves to keep this discussion on topic. For those who don’t know what is being referred to in these recent vague posts, it’s GrapheneOS founder Daniel Micay’s unfortunate habit of getting into tiffs. See this discussion on Hacker News for a relatively sober discussion of the last big one: Daniel Micay publicly steps down from GrapheneOS | Hacker News
And remember, this PG thread is about Google’s recent changes to AOSP.
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Yet you do the complete opposite and bring in another useless link about it, where people speculate, which will let the discussion drift further away.
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