I can’t decide between stock Google Pixel vs iPhone

There are conflicting opinions on which of the two is better overall. Some members of the community recommend iPhones, others recommend Pixels. There are multiple forum posts that touch on this but the answer is still inconclusive for me.

I need a “normal” common device that is fully supported by modern features and app functionality (no caveats or complex workarounds) for day-to-day smartphone use like personal communication, payments, and navigation. I might be able to get a spare Pixel running GrapheneOS for anything really private in addition to the stock Pixel or iPhone.

What I like about iPhones:

  1. Post-quantum E2EE with iMessage and FaceTime (very popular where I live, unlike Google Messages)

  2. Apple Pay (I can’t use Privacy.com and heard this is the next best thing?)

  3. Supposedly better privacy policy?

Disputed privacy

I don’t have the energy to read entire privacy policies. PrivacySpy ranks Apple much higher than Google, but some say their privacy policy isn’t a benefit.

  1. Miscellaneous (there’s a few non-privacy-related benefits I don’t care to mention)

My issues with iPhones:

  1. It’s still unclear if Apple is actually better than Google for privacy.

  2. They’re unaffordable: The iPhone 16 (2024) is $800, the 15 (2023) is $700, the Pixel 8a (2024) is $500.

  3. No more TouchID. I can’t stand FaceID for many reasons and passcodes are both inconvenient and vulnerable to shoulder surfing.

  4. I’m not a fan of having no freedom but it isn’t a deal breaker if I can get that spare GrapheneOS Pixel.

iPhone SE and old iPhones aren’t a great solution.

In response to points 2 or 3, people can suggest an iPhone SE series phone or an older iPhone. The iPhone SE 3 is from 2022 which knocks off a few years of update support when buying it in 2025. People say iPhones are supported by security updates for a long time but it isn’t guaranteed and I haven’t even seen approximate ranges. Even if it lasts 10 years, you don’t receive full security updates so it sounds like a moot point. The rumored iPhone SE 4 is expected to swap TouchID for FaceID. Once released it’ll resolve point 2 but I’ll still struggle with point 3.

My issues with Pixels are basically the inverse of the pros for iPhones. Google Messages isn’t popular here so I’m much less likely to have E2EE by default with most people. I also don’t know if voice or video calls are E2EE on Android or if they’ve adopted post-quantum crypto yet. I heard that Google Pay isn’t a good alternative to Apply Pay if you’re looking to protect your privacy, so I lose that too. I might also suffer worse device privacy in general if it is true that Apple does a better job than Google.

”Just use Signal” is not a solution.

I try my hardest to move people over to Signal but not everyone budges. I also can’t move strangers over to Signal, so whenever I meet new people and talk over SMS, it’s totally unsafe. Even if everyone moved to Signal, it doesn’t address the other downsides I list with stock Android.

Go with Pixel Graphene OS and thank me later. This is not even a contest. I saw the other thread giving margin for iPhone, ignore it.

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The general consensus for privacy is GOS > iPhone > stock Android (Pixel) >> branded Android

Whether you want to use an iPhone or a Pixel really depends on you what other devices you own and how important having iMessage is to you.

The rumor mill expects the next iPhone SE (with faceID) very soon (2-3 months).

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what in the rails I just read.
Security wise both iPhones and PIxel perform really good and of course GrapheneOS being an industry standard for security and privacy
Now of course Apple doesnt have the best privacy especially first party but app privacy it does a genuine good job and with iMessage E2EE and ADP it’s geniunely good, Lockdown mode too.
I am not encouraging users to use an iPhone but only if you want to, as @Valynor put it:
Pixel with GOS > iPhone with iOS > Pixel with stock. Just depends on your threat model and needs.

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Yes, a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS would be a better choice for security and privacy. There are some tradeoffs as you mention, such as no E2EE chat because of iMessage, or no Apple Pay, but in return you get quite a lot of freedom with GrapheneOS, especially since Google Play Services doesn’t have an insane amount of privilege on your phone if you choose to install it. You will be losing out on encrypted messages, if you need them and don’t want an iPhone, you can choose to get an old used iPhone as a secondary phone. I understand that it is a sacrifice in security and you don’t want that, or it may be inconvenient, it’s an option.

Stock Pixel I would recommend against. For privacy, it’s worse than Apple in many ways, and worse in security than GrapheneOS.

You can run a Private Space or a work profile to combat some disadvantages against Google, just be aware of some issues concerning push notifications since only apps in those profiles would get access to Google push notifications. But alternatively you can just run the Play Services in your main profile if that is reasonable for you and worth the tradeoff.

As for any issues with apps due to GrapheneOS, I personally haven’t experienced much at all. My banking apps work fine, other financial apps work too, but I don’t use many apps. I don’t think anyone can know if you’ll have no issues, it’s just a risk you can take.

The privacy policy I don’t think matters all too much. If you go with either, your data will be with either Apple or Google, but generally Apple seems to prefer not sharing it with third-parties unless they have to. With GrapheneOS, you’ll be reducing how much Google gets, including not letting them get any at all.

Also, as for shoulder surfing, GrapheneOS has implemented fingerprint + pin unlock after initially unlocking the phone.

I hope my response helps, I tried addressing most of your points. Also I can’t exactly say the usability/functionality difference between iPhone and Graphene, or go into huge detail, I have only ever used Android. Thank you

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Assessing the privacy protection/risks between Google Play or Apple Pay is pointless when you’re using credit/debit cards.

Privacy policies are also pointless to evaluate when they can change on any given day.

$500 is the original price of Pixel 8a. It’s not going be more than $400 now.

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The risk of banking apps not functioning on GOS is overblown. I personally have not had any issues nor have I heard of anyone else experiencing issues in my +4 years of communicating with members of the GOS community.

Getting a second phone for this purpose is a ridiculous suggestion. Just log into your account from the browser if you find that your app doesn’t function.

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To be clear, I would personally not use an iPhone, but even without getting into the weeds of privacy from Apple vs privacy from Google on Pixels, iPhones do a much better job of giving you privacy from apps than stock Android.

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Agree. Personally, I have used four different banking apps on GOS and all have worked flawlessly with sandboxed GPS.

Could you please elaborate on what specifically is causing the confusion?

Did I mention anything that would suggest otherwise?

The OP specifically notes that there are conflicting opinions on this topic, the quote above is what creates room for confusion. I must admit that @Valynor addressed the question more constructively, while I took a more direct approach to eliminate any doubt and probably which also brought room for him to approach it better.

Don’t get me wrong; in the past, when asked what I would choose if there were no GOS option, I have consistently said an iPhone. However, I would never choose an iPhone if I had the option to get a GOS phone, even if my entire family were using iPhones. The advantages you highlight in my balance are outweighed by the drawbacks I would face by using an iPhone instead of a GOS device. This is what I challenge from the other thread and probably what triggered the OP here to ask.

Ultimately, the user is more important than the platform in use. A person that doesn’t care for privacy will jeopardy their privacy no matter the phone. Some security and privacy is better than none, like what iPhone offer. Nevertheless, if the user is seeking good privacy and security, why not recommend the best option, instead of coming with so many maneuvers trying to compare what can’t be compared and generating doubts/confusion? There is a clear winner in this battle, period

iphones aren’t suitable for private use because the host OS is closed-source

pixel w/ Graphene OS is FOSS, so the possibility of trusting that OS to not spy on you is possible, and in this case it is.

of course if you run closed-source software on GOS afterward, privacy isn’t there for you so stick to the FOSS requirement and you’re good

I for one would really like to know more about this position and would love it if you would elaborate. Maybe this was better suited for a PM, but I couldn’t immediately figure out how to do that and I need to get back to work. Regardless, would be really interested to hear more about this. (By family I’m picturing a couple and children old enough to use a regular phone.).

To make it short @graym, I think is ok to have all your family members that are already familiarized with the Apple ecosystem using it with all the privacy settings “full mode” but I don’t want myself to be forced to use an iPhone to have the benefit to exchange E2EE iMessages (which I don’t even see as a benefit since we don’t communicate via SMS).

There are tons of privacy advantages to be in the GrapheneOS that I don’t see an iPhone giving me. To start with the main point that @nihilist brought above about the auditability and transparency that we have for the promised privacy settings. There is a reason for the general consensus that was mentioned in the second comment of this thread. Some other reasons but not everything:

GrapheneOS disables permissions for third-party data and other dynamic code, reducing the risk of data breaches and unauthorized data access. iOS, while secure, does not have the same level of control over third-party permissions as GrapheneOS.

GrapheneOS allows users to customize their privacy settings more extensively, including toggles for network and sensor permissions. This level of customization is not available in iOS, where certain permissions are more integrated and less customizable.

GrapheneOS does not come with pre-installed bloatware, reducing the amount of unnecessary software that could potentially compromise user privacy. iOS also has fewer pre-installed apps compared to Android, but it still includes some that might be considered unnecessary by privacy-conscious users. I don’t need apps such as “Pages”, “Reminders”, “Stocks”, “Arcade”, “Health”, etc…

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You sure?

At least one thorough study (done a few years ago) shows there isn’t much difference between the two. I’m more familiar with protections in Android and so I have a lot of confidence that AOSP has improved manifold in this regard since that report was published.

afa Apple is concerned, they employ some of world’s best cryptographers and security researchers (as does Google). So, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are ahead or behind, even if slightly.

Yes.

https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/1864869705267212321#m

That’s great but that study has literary nothing to do with privacy from apps.

Obviously they can both afford world class experts. It’s a matter of will, not technical capabilities.

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In the sense that keeping data safe from “harmful apps” like forensics tools is a very high bar for privacy. The conclusion of that 100+ page documentation is very revealing.

Perhaps. From what I have observed, Google runs Android as a Platform (for better or for worse; this also means mods like Graphene & Calyx co-exist) and not as a singular Product.

Contacts crackdown

It’d be nice for AOSP to expose this to the end-user but this one example alone is hardly indicative of some of gulf in class between iOS & AOSP. In fact, external tools like XposedMod (later Magisk) has had this ability to fake permissions or reduce the permission surface since 2016?

App tracking

Think Google has something similar setup for the Play Store what they call “Data Labels”? Besides, I am more interested in AOSP (and things mods like Graphene can implement even if Google doesn’t) vs iOS.

If you want a clean Android experience with better AI features, go for Pixel , if you prefer longevity, ecosystem integration, and smoother performance, choose iPhone.

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