There are goverment apps I need to install on my phone. I heard that GrapheneOS is ideal for that, since GrapheneOS user profiles are reliably isolated from each other, I can install all the government apps in a separate user profile, so those apps cannot communicate with or snoop on my other apps.
But if I don’t use GrapheneOS, what can those apps do on my regular Android phones?
What data can an app collect from a phone running regular Android vs GrapheneOS? What’s the difference?
Its a long page but this might be enlightening: Frequently Asked Questions | GrapheneOS
You don’t need GrapheneOS to contain your (user-installed) apps or block them from accessing sensitive identifiers. A modern stock Android device or an iPhone gets you 95% of the way. The differences between GrapheneOS and AOSP, on which different Android flavors are based, are listed here. If these resonate with you, GrapheneOS is worth considering.
However, if you are simply worried about downloaded apps not having a free-for-all, an up-to-date stock Android device is more than enough, though GrapheneOS goes even further in containing what apps can access. This is to say nothing of Google Play services themselves, which are optional and run as standard, sandboxed apps, contrary to stock Android where Google Play starts out with all the runtime permissions granted.
You also don’t need profiles on GrapheneOS or stock Android. It’s better to start out without them.
After using GrapheneOS, anything else just feels incredibly invasive and anti-user. It’s a great rabbit hole to get into, but don’t let anyone mislead you into thinking you need it.
Here’s the mirrored thread on the GrapheneOS forum, for reference: What data can an app collect from a phone running regular Android vs GrapheneOS? - GrapheneOS Discussion Forum
One practical way to think about it is:
- On an up-to-date regular Android phone, a normal app is already sandboxed from other apps’ private storage, and it should only get contacts/location/files/camera/mic/etc. if you grant those permissions. So it is not a total free-for-all.
- The bigger things to check are the special permissions: Accessibility, notification access, device admin, VPN, install-unknown-apps, SMS/phone permissions, and broad file access. Those can change the risk a lot.
- A separate Android user profile or work profile can help keep government apps away from everyday apps and accounts, but GrapheneOS gives stronger and clearer controls (separate user profiles, sandboxed Google Play, network toggle, storage scopes, and generally less privileged Play services).
So for a regular Android phone, I would at least use a separate profile/work profile if possible, deny every permission that is not strictly needed, keep the OS updated, and avoid granting Accessibility or device-admin unless there is no alternative. GrapheneOS is the cleaner option if you can use a supported Pixel, but a current stock Android phone with careful permissions is still much better than an old or unpatched phone.
It could be that my Android phone (Android 8) is outdated, so something weird happened?
I have a banking app on my phone that I don’t connect it to any other app or social media, the bank account logged in on this app is not even in my name. But when I open my Facebook account and check the “Your activity off Meta technologies” in the Your information and permissions tab of the account center, I see that banking app listed there saying that “29 interactions were shared with us”. And I have no idea how to stop that.
Could it be that they are communicating with each other via Intents, Content Providers, and such mechanisms (sorry I don’t know enough technical things about Android)? Is it possible to block that kind of communication?
I think that on Android, applications within the same profile can see what other applications the user has installed. There is no way to prevent this, other than installing them in different profiles.
GOS has sensors permission so you can prevent an app from seeing a ton of stuff related to that.