Like "gluing" two phones together - just better ;)
It would be great to run an open OS but having to carry a separate phone for banking/paying is not really a viable option.
The excuse of "security" or "it's for the children" is complete BS, because it's about "them" having unwanted and total control.
Or just leave the possibility of easy unlock the phone and publish sources.
As did WileyFox - https://www.xda-developers.com/wileyfox-to-issue-update-to-m...
They were both budget brands with niche offerings. For most people, the source of the OS is immaterial. There's very little competitive advantage to selling a forked OS, and a rather large downside in terms of support costs.
I'm mostly happy with my GrapheneOS device - but it is absolutely not suitable for mass market.
What makes you say that? I run GrapheneOS on a Pixel and had to go through the relative simple flashing process, but if GOS came preinstalled on a device anybody familiar with Android (or even iOS) would be able to use it. Compatibility with Android apps is great too.
Lots of banking apps don't work.
RCS has only just started working.
No "Find My Device" support.
Permissions model is difficult to understand - even I struggle with it.
Standard launcher has tiny icons which can't be adjusted.
Pop on to https://discuss.grapheneos.org/ and see the struggles which users have.
I don't have any issues with it
If people do not want to interface with those features, they can simply skip them, and the permission model will be the exact same as it is on Android.
"Find My Device" means the location of your device is constantly sent to and stored on someone else's computer (the "cloud"), and it is something that shouldn't exist unless that someone else's computer happens to be yours.
It's nearly the same permission model as Android 16 beyond having Storage Scopes and Contact Scopes as easy to use alternatives with fine-grained control along with Sensors and Network toggles. It's otherwise the same.
If you're talking about the exploit protection features with toggles, that's not part of the permission model and the defaults don't break any apps without serious bugs. Apps with memory corruption bugs can be broken by the defaults, which only requires turning on the compatibility toggle for the app. People don't need to understand the finer grained settings.
The default 4x5 icon grid has the same icon sizes as the stock Pixel OS, which can't be adjusted there either.
The vast majority of issues people have with GrapheneOS are issues with Android and Android apps which are not specific to GrapheneOS.
As an alternative you can order a code generator but for DKB that requires a paid debit-card. ING disables the phone app if you use a code generator. You cannot have multiple 2FA.
Germany likes to think that they belong to cabinets and powered with internal combustion engines. Internet was a new land in 2013. So every user-friendly feature has to be shoved into Germany's throat by EU (especially banks and insurance). The usual reaction from German companies is to wait until the last moment and then hire a law / consultancy firm to implement required changes as badly as possible.
They tried to force me to add my phone number, but when you talk to a Rep you can get out of that too...