Need help transitioning from iOS to GrapheneOS

Questions
22

iMessage is iOS only unfortunately.

23

It’s already implemented in the iOS 18 beta.

24

Oh, what I do is a manual type of sync. I use Proton Contacts as my main contact manager and make changes there. When I add someone to my contacts its there, then I add the vcf to my contacts app. It’s not a good system but I find I don’t add a lot of people that often.

25

I see, thanks!

26

Hey all,

I am thinking about moving to GOS from IOS. I love the fact for having more security and privacy, but I also just want to use my phone way more less this year. I like the fact the with GOS you get the necessities in the install and it can stay that way if you wish. The only apps that I would want are Reolink for cameras and a secure messenger since I won’t have iMessage anymore. I say secure because 99% of the people I talk to are on IOS. Does this seem like a good move?

Thanks!

27

It’s not super clear to me what your specific question(s) are. If you’re just wondering whether you should switch to GrapheneOS, then I can at least give you my insight / opinion.

Personally, I would encourage anyone and everyone to at least try GrapheneOS if they have the possibility to do so. It’s easily the most secure OS available, with far superior privacy than stock Android. It’s also extremely user-friendly, so while you will no doubt feel unfamiliar with Android in general, don’t let that discourage you from using GrapheneOS. The only real features that cannot be made to work are NFC payments with Google Wallet and running certain apps which arbitrarily restrict running on non-Google-certified devices (non-exhaustive list at the bottom) using the anti-competitive Play Integrity API.

As for a secure messenger, what is most important is finding something which the people you communicate with will actually be willing to use. You can look at this topic below for options, but Signal is my recommendation.

Google’s store accepts returns within 15 days of purchase, so you can easily try it for 10 days and decide if you like it. The reason I recommend returning the Pixel at that point is because honestly you are much better off with iOS both privacy and security-wise, than with stock Android on a Pixel.

Feel free to ask more specific questions if you have any.

28

A bit OT but comparing to your phone, your “security camera” from Reolink, a Chinese company, poses a much higher risk.

Back to the topic, iMessage is still a closed garden so unless your contacts are willing to migrate to a messenger of your choice, your idea might not work.

1 Like
30

Thank you for the response! Yeah I probably will get only a couple people to move to signal, but I do not use iMessage or SMS for anything sensitive.

31

Really appreciate you installing and testing! Yeah, I have it hooked up to my NVR I just like getting those push notifications if someone is at my doors or driveway

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32

Sorry, what is OT mean? I appreciate the insight I assume I will be on a lot of SMS unfortunately. But I don’t use messaging for anything sensitive.

33

I would strongly discourage you from using SMS at all. Absolutely everyone should be using exclusively E2EE messengers. If they are not willing to download Signal, then even WhatsApp is a substantial improvement over SMS/MMS/RCS (RCS is UNENCRYPTED between Android and iOS, so it is no better). I say this despite you saying you do not use SMS for anything sensitive; it really is important for everyone to use E2EE messengers. Even the US government is recommending this across the board.

They mean off-topic.

34

If they’re all just using iMessage you won’t have E2EE messaging anymore.
It’s quite hard to bring over all your friends to, say, Signal.

1 Like
35

Oh yeah, that is not going to be a fun conversation lol. I am the only one that is passionate about this kind of stuff unfortunately!

36

Absolutely :frowning:

37

Based on your replies, it seems sticking with iPhone but reduce your reliance and amount of data shared with Apple would be more practicle.

Switching platform will only improve your privacy and possibly security in one small part of your digital life, and user habit plays a much bigger role here.

My genuine suggestion would be you need to sort out your surveillance camera FIRST, you should either air-gap it or replacing it with non-chinese brands.

38

Don’t let Apple lock you in their bs ecosystem. They prey on people like you to keep them locked in and using their devices and services. Try to move the people you chat to an app that has E2EE. Signal, SimpleX, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, etc. As long as it’s cross platform and has proper E2EE unlike Telegram, it will be an upgrade over iMessage.

39

Theoretically correct, practically very hard/impossible to do in most cases.

40

A few months ago Naomi Brockwell presented some decent tips for how to convince your friends and family to use a private messenger like Signal: Ditch SMS! How to convince your friends
(you can also find her videos on YouTube)

2 Likes
41

Yeah I saw that. I don’t want to be the pessimist here but in my personal experience it’s very hard to bring ppl over to the privacy side when they don’t have a little bit of interest in the first place.

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42

Thank you for the input! Do you like simplex over signal?