I am edging towards using Android, since Google is the manufacturer of the phone and OS, and I would like to reap the benefits of their newest updates and features. That being said I would definitely configure it to be as privacy friendly as possible. Also, I heard the camera app is worse on GOS, which I am not willing to compromise for. Lastly, some of these updates and features might be necessary for me to stay connected with my family, especially if I am going for bush walks, and stuff like that. Let me know your thoughts.
Should I use GrapheneOS or Android?
Just to be clear on terms, GrapheneOS is Android. GOS vs Googles Proprietary/Stock Android is a more accurate way to frame it.
I would like to reap the benefits of their newest updates and features
in terms of updates both receive updates regularly. In terms of features, you give up some of the âfunâ and/or mainstream/convenience features when you move from Stock Android to GrapheenOS. On the other hand GrapheneOS has some really cool privacy and security features not available to Stock Android. And of course will have stronger privacy out of the box, and the added piece of mind that the OS was not made by a company whoâs whole business model is invading your privacy, tracking you, profiling you, and then advertising at you. So it really comes down to what sort of features you value more, and whether you prioritize privacy over the pixel + stock android specific features, or not.
I heard the camera app is worse on GOS, which I am not willing to compromise for
It is, but (A) it is still pretty decent, but feature limited, and (B) there is absolutely no reason you need to use it. If you prefer Google Camera you can install that, or any other camera app for android. Its not as pure as GOS w/out any Google apps maybe, but its still a hell of a lot more private than Stock Android, even if you add back a select few Google Apps. So ignore the camer app completely when making your choice you could use Google Camera on GOS, or GOSâs camera app on Stock Android if you wanted to.
My advice, and what I usually do when faced with a decision like this, choose the choice you really want, but are worried about being overly restrictive right away. Best case scenario you find out Graphene is a great fit for you and your fears were unfounded, worst case scenario you find its not a great fit for you and you go back to stock android. its a low risk decision because you can always change your mind and go back.
8 Likes
From a privacy and security POV, nothing beats GOS.
Though if you prefer customizability, UX, Theming etc you can check other âROMâsâ
Wdym by âROMâ? Personally, practicality and functionality are super important to me, which are very vague terms but by that I mean fast loading times, no extra hurdles to jump over and the ability to share my location at all times with my family, emergency contact information, calls ⌠I also need energy efficiency and low âCPU usageâ.
Both GrapheneOS and the stock OS that comes with the phone are based on AOSP. You will receive all the latest updates and features on both.
Thatâs not possible. Itâs a pipe dream.
This is misinformation, camera quality is exactly the same. Could you link to where you heard this from?
I have no idea what youâre trying to say.
1 Like
GrapheneOS significantly increases both privacy and security while also giving the user more control and freedom over their device.
All of the features that stock OS offers can be replicated and used on GrapheneOS, as long as it doesnât require invasive privileged access.
Itâs not only privacy but also security, freedom, and control.
GrapheneOS Camera takes slightly worse pictures and is less feature-rich, but it also offers privacy features that Google Camera doesnât offer.
As far as video goes, GrapheneOS Camera takes better and sharper videos than Google Camera.
In any case, you can just install Google Camera from the Play Store and get exactly the same quality as on the stock OS.
1 Like
There is no such thing as a ROM; theyâre all alternative operating systems.
GrapheneOS is the only OS that is recommended to buy a phone for or change your stock OS to if you already have a Pixel.
DivestOS is recommended as a harm reduction if you have a phone that doesnât receive updates anymore and canât afford a new one yet.
There is a reason why all the other OSs arenât recommended.
GrapheneOS isnât an OS made by a student in their free time. Itâs a production quality OS that has a lot of developers and a big community. Theyâre also hiring more developers which shows that theyâre in a good place.
You might have had some bad experience with a random OS from XDA Forums or something, but nothing comes close to GrapheneOS quality when it comes to alternative OSs.
1 Like
This is reassuring, but I doubt GOS will have the same feature-set as Googleâs Android. But I could be wrong, so what I will do is try out both, and get a feel for what is different.
Do you happen to know why this is the case? It seems odd to me that they differ in terms of the actual sharpness and quality of the photos/videos. Do they just use different encoders, or is it something else software related?
Software plays a huge role in image quality in smartphones. Without good image processing, images wouldnât look good. Main reason is there is only very little space for lenses and sensor compared to real cameras.
Sony phones have by far the best cameras, but in blind camera tests, Sony phones perform very poorly.
Google Pixel devices just casually take the first place in ELO-based blind camera tests.
With Sony, your photos depend on you, if you know how to take advantage of the cameras in that phone, the results will completely blow away every other phoneâs photos.
With Google Pixel devices, when using Google Camera, you just point and shoot, and software processing automatically takes care of everything. The sad truth is that all of this processing is proprietary and closed down.
How did you come to this conclusion? Using DXOMARK, though it only reviews some phones and is controversially viewed, claims that Chinese brand phones have the superior camera quality.
Also manual shooting is preferred, especially for focusing, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, basically to the highest degree possible, by most serious photographers.
The Pixel seems to have the best combination of camera quality, screen quality, I do not know about the overall quality of itâs shell and internals, security and efficiency? (I assume because Google owns the Pixel and Android). Basically, the best combo of software and hardware features at itâs price, with Chinese phones having the best hardware features for their prices.
2024-01-19 https://youtu.be/VRoTOE3FqT0
The winner: Google Pixel device
The one of the worst: Sony device
2022-12-22 https://youtu.be/LQdjmGimh04
The winner: Google Pixel device
The one of the worst: Sony device
Why?
Google Pixel devices win because of the software processing of Google Camera, which is proprietary and closed.
Sony devices were ranked low because YOU have to make the picture look good. If you know how to use the manual mode, Sony would destroy every single mobile device.
2023 winners:
The feature set is the same.* Now you not have Googleâs propietary AI stuff, but those arenât part of Android.
*Except a few features like Digital Welbeing .
You can install google camera app and get similar result as good as stock.
My friend have 7 pro and i have seen the quality.
1 Like
A lot of pixel exclusive features are missing, not just AI. Off the top of my head, all phone call related features like call screening, image/text extraction in recents menu, gestures (back tap, flip to shh), rules, anything âadaptiveâ, native android cloud backups (replaced by the unreliable seedvault)
Just be careful of the âeverything worksâ crowd because they fail to mention that GOS, calyx do not pass play integrity hardware checks. More and more apps are moving to require these checks and will not run.
Yes GOS offers a private and secure OS, but you have to be impartial and list the downsides. You will also have slower pixel camera processing and i noticed worse thermals and degraded battery life by ~1.5hr SOT compared to stock.
4 Likes
This is not accurate. All of those OSs arenât Google Certified because, in order to get certified, you basically need to do everything in a way that Google wants it to be done. There are some app developers that are requiring this certification, and they can gargle my balls.
Saying that these OSs fail hardware checks and apps are increasingly requiring phones to be Google Certified is misleading.
Has been fixed quite some time ago: add TPU/GXP toggle ¡ GrapheneOS/grapheneos.org@d5845a8 ¡ GitHub
Basically misinformation at this point. I guess @matchboxbananasynergy should step in to clarify some of this.
1 Like
So on the Pixel 8 seried for example, all of the AI features mentioned here are software/cloud based rather than hardware or offline based, and therefore wouldnât work without google apps on GOS?
GrapheneOS allows special access to hardware accelerators for Pixel Camera, Google Photos, Google Recorder, etc.
I am talking about my recent experience with GOS. You call it misinformation just because we donât share the same views.
What is misleading is failing to mention that it fails play integrity anywhere in the FAQ. I donât have solutions for GOS and I am not going to play the blame game. What matters in the end is the user experience.
As for the camera I made sure I had the hardware accelerators option enabled and still that was my experience. Everytime I preview a pic that I just took, it was still processing. Now I am back on stock and it is instant.
For the thermals, I noticed the device getting warm doing nothing but SD video playback.
Battery life difference might be because JIT is disabled and it has to do AOT optimizations for every new app install/update while on battery.
1 Like