App Recommendations Needed for GrapheneOS

Off Topic
1

Hi all,

I recently moved to GrapheneOS from iOS and I’m still learning to get a hang of it.

I know where to download apps and how. I have explored all the settings, features, and functionality of the OS and I have made it my own.

However, I am having some difficulty choosing or finding some apps whose counterpart in iOS is not an issue. So, the following are the app categories I need help with:

  1. Contacts app - on iOS, I am using Posteo with CardDAV with the default Contacts app and it works well. On GOS, I don’t know which app I can or should use in the same way. I really want to keep using CardDAV here too.
  2. Photos/Gallery app - as of right now, I am using Aves Libre on GOS. Is this a good enough app to use or do you have better recommendations?
  3. Apple Wallet alternative - Apple Wallet works well on iOS. Is there a way to have the same/similar set up on GrappheneOS? Obviously I know Apple Wallet is not on GOS but being able to tap to pay would be nice to have.
  4. Is there a different or a better Phones app or a Messages app I ought to consider instead of the default ones?

Please share your suggestions and advice. Thanks!

2

Hey,

  1. I use https://www.davx5.com for both cal and carddev
  2. I am using Aves as well
  3. For tap to pay you have to check with your bank what is possible. Some like a lot of German banks have their own Android app for that. This site has a lot of info on apps that work on GOS Banking Applications Compatibility with GrapheneOS | PrivSec - A practical approach to Privacy and Security
    For things like tickets and membership cards you can check out https://catima.app/
  4. I use Our apps for that. (They do also have a caller app, its a little newer which is probably the reason why its not on the website yet, but you will find it in the app stores.)
1 Like
3

Thanks a lot. I’ll try them out and see what works best.

1 Like
4
  1. You either need a bank that supports NFC payments in their application, or you could also get a smartwatch and use Google/Apple Pay.
  2. The default applications are completely fine. I wouldn’t use anything else unless you have an issue with them.
5

Default messaging app is a usability nightmare IMO.
Also once interoperable E2EE roles out to RCS in Google messages, it might be more secure to use it instead of the default.

6

Isn’t Google messages E2EE already?

7

Only to other phones with Google Messages.

Otherwise, it is a bit of a pain to use Google Messages in GOS.

1 Like
8

What is stopping jmp.chat to implement RCS too? Would you know?

9

GraphenOS is planning to implement RCS.

10

What are stopping people for making apps with RCS?

11

I would be very interested to know how will GrapheneOS and the general dev community do it. So far the general consesus is that it’s so far impossible even with tiny progress.

1 Like
12

Don’t forget that we are talking about same folks who managed to make Google Play Services and Android Auto work in a standard sandbox.

13

still doesn’t matter when there’s no way to develop RCS (especially when other devs couldn’t), If it was really possible I would be on my way to develop the Signal-RCS project already.
This is a way different territory from sandboxing google apps.

Then again they can prove me wrong, hence interested on how they are going to execute it so I can try the same tricks for that project but nonetheless.

14

Messaging may get replaced in the longer term but there’s no viable alternative right now. We eventually need to provide RCS and the new RCS end-to-end encryption via MLS for text encryption compatible with iMessage and Google Messages once they both implement the new standard. That’s going to be very important, but it’s unclear how we should build it. We could start over with a new ground up messaging app, or we could try to bolt it onto the legacy AOSP Messagijng app.

SMS Messenger app will either get replaced or improved.

1 Like
15

they need to is not that they know how or they’ll do it, either way it is not possible until actual developments happen like GSMA opening up documentation for devs or google implementing Intents/Functions to the Android Development for RCS. (not counting reverse engineering and stuff like that obviously).

Last point I made before still stands obviously (“Then again they can prove…”)

1 Like
16

There is no development documentation for RCS. Developers have to go from the specification.

1 Like
17

I like and use Goodwy’s apps such as the dialer, contacts, gallery and messages app. It looks like they copied a lot of iOS styling but the apps are feature rich and open-source (but I don’t know why they’re not on F-Droid).

Specifically the contacts app gives me a clear and useful way to save contacts to the right source account (my Mailbox account) which has been a point of frustration with the stock contacts app (which used to save contacts locally on the device with no way to move them to an account).

1 Like
18

I never heard about Goodwy looks like it is a fork of simple apps + voice player but they also have plans to release F-Droid version some day. “2023”

19

For a gallery app you can check Fossify Gallery, which is a fork of the Simple Mobile Tools’ Gallery app (when it was open-source). It’s also available in F-Droid, but AFAIK gets more updates over IzzyOnDroid.

It’s pretty minimalistic, customizable and lightweight, with Dynamic theme support and you can have a better control of what you want to have on your gallery, by excluding, locking or hiding directories, and grouping them as well.

I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and I think is such an underrated gallery app. :'3

1 Like