I'll admit that big companies may have some incentive to protect their users' privacy; but they are an easy legal target. If tomorrow the US or EU pass legislation that mandates a backdoor in all mobile devices, the entire world is screwed.
I bought a cheap refurbished Pixel 7 Pro off eBay for $250 and installed GrapheneOS on it. Threw an eSim $20/m plan on it and use it as my phone when I leave the house and go IRL.
If I ever lose it or it gets taken while traveling, who cares, its secure af. I just cancel my eSim and buy another phone to install GrapheneOS on all while my main phone Pixel 10 Pro is still safe and at home.
2 - I've been raided by the FBI before in my past (used to be blackhat in my 20s but now im whitehat :))
3 - I lose my phone sometimes. far better to lose a dinky burner phone VS my main phone.
Also — how well/bad Graphene plays with Play Store (esp wrt safety net checks) apps?
The only app so far I've found that won't work is ParkMobile and you can just use their website
Depends on the apps. You wont be able to use a lot of apps like Chase Bank app and etc w GrapheneOS. Lots of errors bc it blocks a ton of shit your banking apps will need or want to use.
* Google wallet NFC payments
* Always on now playing
* Always listening OK Google
Android auto used to not work but they added support. Voice commands to Google while driving don't work for me, but may be possible to get working.
Google voice commands work, but you need to open the Google app.
Google wallet works fine for tickets, bar codes etc, just no NFC payments.
Android song search works for me, there's a quick access file for it and it works great. I think pixels normally show what's playing on the lock screen, offline. I think this might be the same thing, triggered manually. Though I'm not sure if it's offline or not.
I'm in Ireland and any backing apps I've tried work fine, PTSB, AIB, revolut, IBKR, Trade Republic. I've had no issues there.
It's a very stable OS IMO, the extra user profiles, being able to choose whether to have Google play or not, and what level of access to give it. I've used it on a pixel 6, which died not too long ago, and now a pixel 9a.
Fixed that for you.
Not to mention it's a colossally dumb move to create a back door into your system that anyone can access and can break things like government contracts. Apple is greedy but they aren't suicidal.
And you know what else is cool? If the screen gets cracked or something doesn't work, you can take it to an independent repair shop and they can fix it.