What problems are you running into on Graphene OS? Maybe we have different workflows, but it works just fine for my purposes.
It didn't used to be like this but started maybe a year ago.
The browser doesn't handle dark mode well.
The launcher is primitive. Why didn't they just take Trebuchet?
I was also very used to pattern unlock.
Use some other browser if dark mode is really important to you.
I think the launcher is good and I can't think of anything to improve on it. I'm happy it's the default, but I'm sure you can switch to a different launcher if you want.
Pattern unlock is also not there because of security.