Replace "Android" with "GrapheneOS" so ppl don't think stock Android is recommended

I appreciate the GrapheneOS recommendation (I proudly donated with XMR :sparkles:) but believe we should clarify our guidance so newcomers don’t think stock Android is recommended.

Currently, when navigating through the hamburger menu, you’ll find:

Recommendations > Operating Systems > Android

(Note: While Routers and Linux are listed, Android is the only mobile OS mentioned)

If you aren’t reading carefully it seems like Stock Android is recommended when on the forum 75% of users use GrapheneOS and 23% use iOS or something like that. Now that divestOS is gone the heading should be changed.

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They’re really similar, I’d say it doesn’t matter much if you pick a stock pixel or iOS. However most Android OEMs are really bad, so I’d be recommending people still stick with a pixel.

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Off-topic

I really like the suggestion, and this is absolutely unnecessary to ask, but is this AI generated? (A genuine question, not to use it to attack you or anything :slightly_smiling_face:.)

That’s fine then, maybe the design suggestion would be change the title of the menu so it reads

Recommendations > Operating Systems > GrapheneOS

as it reads right now to a novice it seems like you are recommending stock android, where it seems like the forum users are 75% GrapheneOS and 23% iOS. so it appears to me like the current recommendation could be read backwards and you’ll get users buying android phones and not reading further.

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off topic

I wrote my thoughts and let an AI improve my grammar, formatting and add emojis see below:

improve the formatting and grammar of this post, and add some emojis to it.

I love the GrapheneOS recommendation (I donated to them with XMR, scouts honor) but think that to a novice visitor the community recommends stock android over iOS.

When navigating from the hamburger menu you see: Recommendations > Operating Systems > Android

(you also see Routers and Linux, but Android is the only mobile OS mentioned)

Phones are ubiquitous and installing GrapheneOS will be a nonstarter for enough people that I think the guide should explicitly recommend iOS over stock android, if that is indeed the recommendation.

I imagine the following people would appreciate that advice:

  1. People from Enterprises or Governments looking for recommendations on devices to buy (assuming they can’t reasonably flash grapheneos)
  2. People from countries where it’s hard to get Pixel devices, I’ve seen comments like that in the forums.
  3. Rich people like Warren Buffet who owns both Google and Apple stock, and is wondering which will keep him most safe.
  4. People without computers to flash (or the technical ability to use the auditor app after flashing at the library or whatever someone will recommend)

Fwiw, I think the design change should be:

Recommendations → Operating Systems → Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

I disagree beacuse I don’t think privacy guides recommends macOS or Windows…

I think changing the name from android to grapheneOS would make me happy and eliminate confusion… the android title seems to be an artifact of the distant past when DivestOS was an option too.

I think the GrapheneOS team might even agree with the change. they call themselves

"The private and secure mobile operating system with Android app compatibility. "

Yes it is AOSP based but they don’t want to be called android (and I don’t think they can for copyright reasons without googles blessing)

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Off-topic

It’s fine, you don’t need to. I was asking since—from my observations and experience—some minority like to criticize people for it, strangely believing they’re too “incompetent to make posts properly, so use AI for it.”

A suggestion for
Remove the emojis, but of course you can add your own such as :slightly_smiling_face:, :warning:, etc.

I’ve noticed AI models tend to add a summary at the end in a unique fashion. I’ve bolded the part that, aside from the emojis, made it especially stand out as potentially AI generated, or tweaked in this case.

[quote=“Anonymous201, post:1, topic:23971”]
The guide should explicitly state whether iOS is recommended over stock Android for users who cannot implement GrapheneOS, making the security hierarchy clear for all user scenarios.

It goes fine without that dependent clause, and it’s a pattern all follow, AFAIK, so those using/working with AI models, like myself, will notice it pretty rapidly.

The guide should explicitly state whether iOS is recommended over stock Android for users who cannot implement GrapheneOS.

Anyway, I’ve likely bored you with this, but just wanted to point these out.

Silly me, I didn’t realize this entire time that this was for Operating System recommendations, and even though I saw it, thought it was overviews for Operating Systems :sweat_smile:. (I suppose that’s what happens when you answer posts late at night.)

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Off-topic

To add, you could probably use some prompt engineering here. It’s a bit tedious initially, but you’ll get used to it.

Here’s a really helpful video I watched a while ago about it. (Ignore the fact he’s mostly referring to ChatGPT throughout the video; it can literally be applied for all.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jC4v5AS4RIM&pp=ygUbdWx0aW1hdGUgcHJvbXB0IGVuZ2luZWVyaW5n

Our recommendations in the Android category of pages are in fact for all Android devices. For example, you can install Obtainium or F-Droid on any Android device, they are not GrapheneOS exclusive recommendations.

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Also:

Many stock Android, LineageOS, and CalyxOS users out there :slight_smile:

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There’s only 1 lineageOS and 4 calyxOS users so I wouldn’t say there are many of those.

I think this is a good time to remind people that there are way more users of the website then there are of the forum and way more forum users then forum users who respond to these polls.

The number of people who respond to these polls is almost certainly not a statistically significant amount to make decisions based off of or really glean any sort of meaningful info off of. They are for fun, treat them as such :slight_smile:

It is the same reason why polls have no bearing on the recommendation process.

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mildly off-topic

“Android-based operating system” and “Android ROM” would be fine per what the brand guidelines say about using the term

As a rule, we prefer the truth over the developer’s marketing so this is irrelevant.

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Yeah I personally also believe that this will not be the right course of action. Android just points to a certain section of the phone market based on Googles OS, nothing more nothing less.

What if another valid option besides Graphene turns up in the android space, Will we have to change the name again in this case? It honestly seems like too much of a hassle.

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To be fair, AOSP and Android are, to some extent, both practically and legally distinct. The Android trademark is the property of Google and they have conditions for it’s use.

Brand Guidelines:

The use of the “Android” trademark on hardware, packaging or marketing materials of device is restricted to Android-compatible devices only.

GrapheneOS does not and cannot pass the Compatibility Test Suite (due to the extra permissions they add, etc.). So while, GrapheneOS is an AOSP derivative with Android app compatibility, they cannot call themselves Android or Android-compatible.


I do wonder why Linux distributions are directly listed at /desktop/ while Android distributions are at /android/distributions/. There is a similar Linux Overview - Privacy Guides page but it isn’t placed before the recommendations in the same way the Android - Privacy Guides page is. Perhaps this structure is something that could be changed so Android distributions (i.e. only GrapheneOS at this point in time) weren’t behind an additional page.

Because we don’t have generic Linux app recommendations along the same lines as https://www.privacyguides.org/en/android/general-apps/ and app stores like https://www.privacyguides.org/en/android/obtaining-apps/

That is to say, most of our Linux-related recommendations don’t involve swapping out core system apps like is basically required on Android.

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Those brand guidelines are for hardware specifically which isn’t applicable to this case.