GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17
discuss.grapheneos.org
discuss.grapheneos.org
So I jumped straight to GrapheneOS, which was way easier and less extreme than I had been warned. So beautifully minimal, with no crap. Now my phone feels like a simple Linux (Void/Arch) PC. So wonderful.
I mainly use native camera (good in most cases, can be brought up immediately with double power button press, from locked), Google camera (rarely), BlackMagic for when I need control over videos and ProShot when I need control over images (the last one might be hard to install - it's a paid app (I'm a paid user, this is how I got it), but not long time ago the moron of the developer made the app "incompatible" with devices without Google surveillance buttplug claiming it will prevent people pirating it form opening support cases....???).
So you can have multiple camera apps. Thankfully Google is not Samsung or Sony, and all the apps have full access to the cameras.
Some of them have ridiculous secur... compliance rules.
Most banking apps work, but Google Pay/NFC payments won't work.
Its just a matter of time before this cesspool will leak into the rest of the OS, AppStore shows us the temptation is too big for Apple. When my iPhone 12 mini dies it’s /e/OS or GrapheneOS for me. My devices should serve me and my thoughts are my own.
I don’t think it will leak. After the U2 debacle, Apple might have learned not to push too hard on this front.
You bought a phone from an advertising company?
I was sad that I had to go through the OOBE setup on the stock image to unlock the bootloader. At least it doesn't force an internet connection and login, unlike Windows.
*It doesn't actually wipe your data; it just destroys the symmetric key, making the data permanently unreadable.
so it's kinda pointless to wipe data prior wiping them again during the bootloader unlocking process
My understanding is that it is impossible to unlock the bootloader on a new recent (Android 7+ at least; possiblt earlier) Android phone until it has connected to the Internet. After that, the ability to unlock the bootloader is permanent.
On the Nexus 5, you could just `fastboot oem unlock` right out of the box, install TWRP (custom "recovery") and install CyanogenMod/LienageOS, without ever booting the stock ROM.
On my Moto G4 Play and Moto X4, you had to get an unlock code from the Motorola website (based on the phone serial number I think) and waive some warranty terms, but once retrieved at least the phone didn't need to be online to unlock the bootloader.
The process on the newer Pixels is disappointingly intrusive, like basically everything Google has done for the last decade.
I'm not looking to fully de-Google but I want Google as apps and not my OS.
The Owner profile itself doesn't run Google Play Services, so when that Private Space is locked and dormant it's effectively a degoogled stack.
Some will invariably argue that an old pocket-sized Linux PC with a cellular modem is a superior experience, and for some specific things it may well be, but GrapheneOS is the only viable option for someone looking for a user-respecting modern phone with very few limitations.
My understanding is that even with pseudo-D2D (device-to-device) transfers Seedvault doesn't backup everything[1].
Are there more-functional, non-root, local (non-cloud) alternatives?
[1]: https://github.com/seedvault-app/seedvault/wiki/FAQ#why-do-s...
However, some apps that I need for work, like Microsoft Authenticator, no longer work under GrapheneOS.
https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2026/03/10/microsoft-tig...
This is how users learn to not update anything.
Small point of critique: it would be nice if it was a little bit easier to switch between personas, for example by simply scrolling to a different workspace. Because now the feature is mostly unused on my phone.
Is this an antithesis to Don't Be Evil?
The vast vast majority of apps (99%+) are compatible and those that are broken is due to bugs in the apps which GOS catches, but these exploit protections can be disabled, and apps that use the monopolistic play integrity api.
The only apps that are permanently broken are those using the strongest play integrity api which is security theatre.
Here's a community created list of banking applications and their current status on GOS.
https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compa...
GrapheneOS is often better for testing apps due to it being trivial to test with and without google services, most of the hardening options can be used for debugging and provide a crash log to determine what failed, and there is an easily accessible log viewer available in app info.
Authenticators should work normally, as far as I know (unless Google Authenticator does anything special). Can’t say anything about Google Wallet. There might be more lists/forums where people share which setups are (not) working well for them.
In general, I had these concerns as well until a few months ago. But I am much more optimistic these days that things will just work well out of the box (have read many positive sentiments in blog posts and here on Hacker News).
Still boggles my mind the fact Google doesn't sell their phones worldwide. Obtaining a Pixel has proven to be quite difficult for me.
They are kind of the opposite of GrapheneOS. Ancient kernel trees, ancient firmware bundles, etc. And since downstreams like /e/OS just take their kernels/firmware, they are ancient as well. Using Volla phones opens you up to a lot of known vulnerabilities.
Besides that, Volla is basically a marketing company (with some external contractors) that does Eurowashing. E.g. one of their phones (Quintus) is a phone designed by an Emirates company, produced by a Chinese ODM, marked up by 500 Euro by Volla (they probably turn some screws and flash the firmware to be able to call it 'from Germany'. You can get the same 719 Euro phone here for ~160 Euro:
https://www.amazon.ae/Android-Smartphone-Storage-Octa-Core-M...
I don't understand why people do free promotion for Volla, given that they are mostly snake oil salesmen.
Which is not to say that's not enough for most people, but why highlight them? It doesn't seem comparable to the laser-focus GrapheneOS has on security
The main things I miss are (1) when I'm entering text I can't swipe left and right on the space bar to scroll the cursor left and right, and (2) the texting app doesn't just attach reaction emojis to a message -- it quotes the whole message and prefixes it with something like "Marty like blahblahblah". When there is a whole family text chain it isn't uncommon to see the same message 7 times as various people react to the original message.
Anyway, I looked at Google's Android 17 blog and yikes:
"With deep integration between hardware, software and AI, we’re transforming Android from an operating system to an intelligence system. It's about delivering new helpful experiences that anticipate user needs, and it brings more opportunities for engagement with your apps."
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/06/Android-17...
GrapheneOS is compatible with the vast, vast majority of Android apps, so you can use GBoard or FUTO keyboard (which I recently switched to from GBoard), to get the ideal experience.
FUTO recently revamped their swipe to type model and it's now more accurate than GBoard in their testing. I am a huge swipe type person, so this is what held me in GBoard's clutches, but now I'm free.
The dataset is open source and anyone can add to it if you're on a mobile device here: https://swipe.futo.org
And you can learn about it here: https://swipe.futo.tech
> the texting app doesn't just attach reaction emojis to a message -- it quotes the whole message and prefixes it with something like "Marty like blahblahblah". When there is a whole family text chain it isn't uncommon to see the same message 7 times as various people react to the original message.
Google messages, the experience you get on PixelOS, is also compatible with GrapheneOS, but you will have to afford network access to sandboxed google play, among other things. I couldn't tell you specifically, but it will work out of the box before you restrict anything. Many people choose to use this setup because it opportunistically adds e2ee for chats between iPhones and other Androids using Google messages.
There's also other SMS apps, but I focused on switching people to Signal so I barely ever use SMS.
Once I replaced the default apps, GrapheneOS became a premium phone experience.
The voice recognition is built on Whisper, and is amazing. You can speak conversationally for a long time and it gets everything right, with smart decisions based on context.
My stupid thumbs text no more.
I've found graphene's keyboard far more error-prone than the stock android keyboard, but I also don't care to learn swipe to type.
The feature I'm missing is simply that rubbing my finger left or right on the spacebar in text mode causes the cursor insertion point to move left or right on in the text I'm entering. It makes it sooo much easier to correct typos.
So I still use gboard but block its internet access.
Maybe you can try installing another SMS app for problem (2)? Much like the stock keyboard, the stock Messaging app is just the AOSP app. Honestly it works fine for me so I don't have a recommendation.
RCS is different, which you can sometimes get working by installing Google Messages¹, which is essentially the only app that supports RCS any more. Google runs essentially all the servers too.
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1: There are no third-party RCS apps² because, unlike SMS which has an API and a shared database on the device, RCS is extremely locked down and it's literally impossible to create one in stock Android. This is also why it's only "sometimes" on GOS, the details are very complicated and rather enraging.
2: Samsung had one, but they're shutting it down in favor of Google Messages. A tiny number of other devices / telecoms have their own too, but they're rapidly shutting down as well. RCS is very nearly fully controlled and implemented by Google now, except for iMessage as a client only, for now, and there's no encryption between iMessage<->Google Messages last I checked (but there apparently is between Google Messages... but no normal person can really verify that because it's Just Google Everywhere).
I had installed graphene os on a pixel but after a couple months and a couple loops between lineage, stock, and graphene, I eventually settled on stock android. I have group messages with family and some of the family are on apple, some on android, and RCS only works with google messages and google services installed.
It's infuriating that I can't send RCS messages unless google allows me to. I want to go back to email or MMS. Supposedly after a month (!!) RCS group chats will fall back to MMS, but that was not my experience. Also, if you turn RCS on/off you may get kicked out of group messages [0].
[0] https://support.google.com/messages/answer/7189714?hl=en
Now I use Heliboard with the swiping library added. It's not perfect, but has improved, and at least it can give more than three correction options (long–press centre suggestion with ellipsis below).
I really miss Keymonk — two–finger swiping, accurate, and no crap.
My single (minor) issue with GrapheneOS is the adaptive screen brightness. On the stock Android OS on a Pixel I'd mess around with the sliders for a week or two on a new phone and then it learned what I liked. Now it has a few set values, one of which is always too dim for me in darker conditions so I have to mess with the slider each and every time. I don't believe there's a way of fixing that.
Other than that I'm glad I switched, especially when I read about new "features" they add that I know I'd hate.
The point is, I'd like to be able to set up services, configuration, and run tasks on my phone this way too, ideally offline. If this system integration is what gives me programmatic control of my most personal computer and the ability to finally set up decent automated tasks and workflows then so be it.
Also never have that feeling anymore that my phone is spying on me.
I've got almost everything working the way I want. There were a few non-essential banking apps that won't install. The most annoying problem I had is when I tried to install Strava, which I cannot get working. The app installs, but it will not let me sign in. I guess I need a replacement, because I use that app a lot.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48571526I suspect this is an attempt to prevent folks from spinning up many new accounts to get these deals.
Sounds like spyware, to be honest.
I can also recommend Gadgetbridge for BLE smartwatch integration.
Curve demand a "video selfie" and I've never been comfortable with sending companies such biometric data.
> Attention required!
> Sorry, you have been blocked
> The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
Thanks cloudflare *handshake* garmin. I suppose I'll stay with chip and pin for now
I don't really see the appeal of contactless payment, pulling a card out really doesn't take much time.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48571526Support expires? Upgrade to custom ROM Ads? Upgrade to custom ROM Want to use it as server? Upgrade to custom ROM.
If I would use Apple iPhone, these old phones would be trash very soon.
For context, that would put it at the same release as Pixel 3 or Pixel 4. Those devices stopped receiving updates in 2022-2023.
Asking as an A11 user who will probably soon need to switch to a new device. I haven't noticed anything on other people's phones that isn't available on mine, including on my work phone that runs an up-to-date GrapheneOS (but I don't need to do much more than calling and 2FA, so I might just not be seeing it). Anything you guys are excited for, or any protips of things to check out that were released recently?
This should have the full list; it's not a ton of changes, which speaks to how perfected Android has become.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/06/Android-17...
Edit: not discontinued but 'merge with Android' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChromeOS
If you'd like to donate to the project, you can do so here: https://grapheneos.org/donate
<https://redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=aNgupWEV13M>
Visually, it generally looks much like stock Android in terms of capabilities, though a stock install generally has far fewer apps installed.
1) What's a reasonable Pixel phone to buy to try out GrapheneOS? Is a 128GB Pixel 7 "good enough" or will I get a significantly better experience with a newer phone and/or more storage?
2) Is there a Graphene alternative that would let me de-google an Samsung A12? Back in the day I had some Galaxy S3 and S4 phones that I installed Lineage on, I have no idea if that's compatible to Graphene and/or still a going thing?
it ships with Memory Tagging Extensions (armv9 security feature) and two more years of support than previous generations; pixel 7 might be eol in oct 2027 https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-lifetime
official recommendation page: https://grapheneos.org/faq#recommended-devices
2) there is no real graphene alternative for other devices. I would say DivestOS at least made sane compromises to support less secure devices, but it's unfortunately defunct now. Yes lineage is still around and still the go-to clean 'ROM' but far from security focused. just avoid stuff like /e/ os
And trust me you'll like it ;)
Checking which phones are supported by Lineage and Graphene can be done by everyone in a matter of minutes.
My only issue with it has been a few apps not working correctly, and not the ones I expected. I did my research before hand and knew that my banking apps would work, thinking those would be the main challenge.
Turns out the bike-sharing system in my city, Madrid, won't work. I ended up installing Google Play services (that run sandboxed in Graphene, but still wanted to avoid), and it works sometimes, but mostly doesn't. I use these bikes a few times a week, so this is a major hassle, and I end up carrying my ancient iPhone with me sometimes just for this.
This and Trade Republic have been my only two problems. Happy otherwise, but do your research before switching, and don't assume only the apps you expect to be problematic will be.
There are some apps I can't do without like ReThink DNS, NewPipe and other open source apps which I use regularly. All would get blocked under Googles new regime.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.celzero.br...
Occasionally, these play store versions of apps are heavily watered down. Termux is an example. Always get that from F-Droid, not the play store version.
And they accept XMR donations, so instant credibility boost.
GrapheneOS has some hardening in this phase, which as I understand, essentially has to rebuild all apps without cache.
And as I have a ton of apps, I was parked for 30 minutes waiting my phone to boot up.
And because of this app optimization thing, I always delayed OS update finalizations, which probably isn't the best thing.
Unfortunately, GrapheneOS recommendation to this was to have fewer apps. Had to let it go after that.
I've seen payments being another problem - but Garmin watch handles it for me. And paying with a watch becomes a conversation starter with merchants for some reason.
GOS has much better battery than stock pixel ui because of less services and telemetry.
Sounds reasonable. People tend to install way too many apps on their phones and than blame the phone about short battery life or too many notifications.
Android also takes permissions away from apps after they haven't been used in a while anyway.
So most of the battery consumption will be from the apps that you actively need and use. Android's battery usage screen backs this up.
The metro app I installed when I was on a trip in Istanbul is still on my phone, but it's dormant. Yes, I should definitely uninstall it, but I really can't be bothered to do this all the time. On stock Android, phone takes care of this for me. On GrapheneOS, either I take that responsibility or face the consequences - which I don't really want.
> ... Android 17 expands the capabilities of AppFunctions, a platform API with a corresponding Jetpack library. It allows you to contribute your app's unique capabilities as orchestratable "tools" for Android MCP, the on-device equivalent of the Model Context Protocol. AI agents and assistants (like Google Gemini) can discover and execute AppFunctions to perform workflows on behalf of the user with direct access to the app's local state.
Is that implemented in GOS? How is that done securely - giving LLMs power to control some apps?
> With deep integration between hardware, software and AI, we’re transforming Android from an operating system to an intelligence system.
I didn't see any comments on the "ai" features. Are they coming along to GOS or AOSP or staying out and how does that affect Graphene in particular?
That change doesn't negatively affect your privacy it's simply a feature that apps can take advantage of in order to have ai be useful. Similar to the share feature where you can send links or files to other apps.
Of course on many operating systems it's not optional because they add ai as system apps, but gos does not do that.
https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24134-devices-lacking-stand...
No love for 9 or 9a? I guess it's still coming eventually.
- A 9a owner running GrapheneOS
>Those are just the devices we initially tested it on which mainly has to do with which devices were available to the people working on the port.
>To clarify the 2nd paragraph, we've ported GrapheneOS to Android 17 for all of the supported devices. That's a list of the devices we already built and tested it. Our initial public release will be available for all the supported devices and we'll have tested it on each by then.
As an iPhone user, I really like what Oppo is doing with their ColorOS: https://www.oppo.com/nz/coloros16/
You can change any apps to different apps meaning the keyboard, homescreen/launcher, messaging app. The launcher is a primary UI thing which is different from iOS and is totally customizable by just installing a new app.
So you can change the look of anything that depends on an app, but stuff like the control center, lock screen, volume sliders, connectivity icons, notifications afaict can't be changed.
https://niagaralauncher.com is a cool looking launcher that I used to use.
It's a little confusing but I'll say there's nothing ugly like the stock GOS apps that can't be changed and tha unchangeably UI elements match the Pixel UI.
Here's a comparison which will show both the unchangable stuff like control center, but also the Pixel launcher, which you can swap out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwNicPJk4lY
I switched from iPhone and once I installed good looking apps I really prefer the look to iOS because it's a lot faster and smoother.
So far I've yet to encounter any that have passkeys that could speed up the login process, and by using the website you've now fallen back to thier most involved login. You will have to login, then usually answer some security questions or complete a capture, then get the SMS code they sent you. Every time. For async notifications, some banks support emailing or texting you, but it tends to be poor. Hopefully you don't have one of the credit cards like Citi or Amex, which require you to verify flagged purchases via thier app. Otherwise it's a 10+ minute process to do it via phone call, and you have to guess that's why the transaction didn't go thru, call them yourself, get it approved, and try again. Instead of just clicking "yes, that's me" in the app when they prompt you about fraud. And if you click it fast enough, the original transaction might not even get rejected.
So no, the banking websites are not at all good substitute. And it's especially bad for certain banks.
Since they switched to QPRs and Pixel drops, major releases have become less important because feature roll out throughout the year. It's just that nobody outside GrapheneOS and Samsung (to my knowledge) rolls out QPR2, so for non-Pixel/Samsung, the major releases are... major.
I think another major source of work for GrapheneOS is when Google releases QPR1 and QPR3, because GrapheneOS had to rebase the driver/firmware changes on top of QPR0/QPR2.
The apps also need to be updated to the Android 17 target API level but that can happen over several months following the OS itself being ported to it. The app aspect is something all Android developers need to deal with due to new target API levels bringing backwards incompatible improvements.
They've ported the patches to work on top of the latest release.
If I try Graphene what do I lose? Similar to how if you use something like icefox or icewolf one of those very secure browser, lots of normie websites like banking just straight up don't work. What would I lose by moving away from samsung's default to this more private OS?
Fairphone cant be supported because it does not keep up with Android updates and in particular Linux kernel updates. Currently supported Fairphone’s have EOL (outdated, not supported) Linux kernel version. They are bad in terms of other aspects like lack of MTE, lack of USB port(s) control from software level on hardware level (Pixel 6 and newer have that), etc. You cant have privacy without security
But in 2027 this may change due to Motorola and GrapheneOS partnership
It's not one of the main issues with their devices but Fairphone has had a lot of issues with verified boot including using publicly available sample private keys for signing firmware and OS images across multiple device generations. It's not a strength of their devices.
Because somehow this is also a privacy issue. They're really taking this a step too far with making life-saving decisions on behalf of the user: if you call 911/112, you HAVE a reason to do so. If you somehow need to NOT share your location, it could let you OPT OUT.
If you wish so you can gain root privileges on your own in your own build or with modifying GrapheneOS existing builds. It wont be compatible with GrapheneOS provided updates because of signature mismatch
That device, and the Debian derivative it runs, are not private or secure.
The biggest hurdles for me were - should I use separate profiles and how to get apps. Initially, I started with a separate profile for google stuff (like play store/services and apps downloaded from there, like Viber), but eventually I moved everything to the owner profile (and took a bit of a privacy and battery hit in the matter of convenience). Still, being able to control many app permissions, gives me a good state of mind that apps are not doing more then I expect.
Just looked at what android 17 brings to the table and I'm mildly excited - especially improving performance and adding more permissions (like ACCESS_LOCAL_NETWORK)
In the USA, I think most people can easily afford a Pixel 9a at $56/year of device support starting from today. Calculator checks yearly cost based on device support: (https://ibb.co/xq82YQCw)
Sources for device lifetime from calculator: (https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-lifetime)
I used a New+Unlocked+Pixel+X on eBay to find a rough price of the phone.
Most people get scammed by their carrier and pay $25-45 per month just for their wireless subscription, and many more get caught up in the device bundles which gets you the "latest and greatest", at a huge price. So people are paying, per month, what you can pay, per year for a Pixel.
Pixels provide strong hardware and firmware security. Pixels have made multiple significant hardware and firmware level improvements based on recommendations by GrapheneOS. GrapheneOS now has a hardware partnership with Motorola Mobility which includes working with Qualcomm. It isn't only a software project.
Regularly leaked data on the capabilities of Cellebrite show they have the least success with GrapheneOS by far despite specifically hiring for it based on their job postings.
That’s why I have two phones. One runs GrapheneOS and is my daily driver; the other (considerably less private and secure) stays at home connected to my server so I can always scrcpy into it.
Few questions if you dont mind answering: - do you have to keep the phone screen switched on? - Do you access via VNC? - Can you access it from another phone? is it usable?
Thanks!
If you've confirmed your banking app won't work on GOS, have you considered accessing your bank's website through your phone's browser instead?
Reqs: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
Currently that means modern pixels and the next generation Motorola flagships once they come out.
Requirements: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
also, there's ZERO mentions of drivers or binary blobs on that link!
Many apps that work on microG don't work in GrapheneOS without installing Google services anyway. I'm by no means across the full privacy implications, but my feeling is microG balances privacy and usability better for me.
I've since switched back to LineageOS+microG and am happy with it. Just my experience.
not sure about downloads specifically, but app installs are slow because grapheneos forces AOT compilation (JIT is disabled), presumably for security reasons.
Contrary to popular belief, exploitation of vulnerable devices is a lot more common, and a lot easier than people pretend it is. You dont need to be targeted either, mass exploitation can, has, and will occur.
LineageOS does not have privacy, security, or usability comparable to GrapheneOS. LineageOS is missing many important features and falls behind android updates. GrapheneOS will be the far better choice in all 3 of these categories.
The features GrapheneOS provides, such as the network permission, cannot be replicated with a firewall app. The network permission properly covers all forms of network access for an app, where firewall apps do not have the ability to prevent all network communication. They are leaky.
The AGNSS servers and proxies are very, very tiny aspects of what GrapheneOS provides. You would be losing out on many more high impact privacy, security, and usability features.
Root access and an unlocked bootloader are insecure, even for low threat models. These devices are vulnerable and should not be used for any sensitive data.
LineageOS is not the better choice for any privacy, security, or usability usecases relative to GrapheneOS.
lineageos has built-in firewall for years now. no need for afwall.
Buying a used Pixel is economical, environmental, and likely doesn't support Google. Pixels are the only secure and open android devices that could work for the project and meet the extensive requirements[2]. This is because GrapheneOS takes real steps to protect user privacy and security, not features that degrade security and don't increase privacy. You are going to be doing much more against Google by using GrapheneOS because it comes with 0 google services by default and takes advanced steps to protect you from all apps and services you install.
If you are still not willing or able to purchase a Pixel, GrapheneOS has a partnership with Motorola to help them create compatible devices which will be available soon[3].
[1] Privacy and security on computing devices need to become far stronger to protect people from pervasive violations of their rights. https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/2044440381803069778#m
[2] https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
[3] https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/2028448871374803007#m
Interesting. What do you think are reasons for google to run Pixel then?
Not being sarcastic here, but what links you shared (thank you) say imply there are almost no benefits for Google to run Pixels and as we all know, Google is not a company doing charities.
That said, Google's hardware is behind their competitors and they've had a lot of problems in the past few years. The Pixel 8 Pro has hardware WiFi problems, the 9 and 10 are both minor updates with prices that are far too high, the 10 is eSIM only, etc.
I still don't want a pixel, so I went with a used ebay phone and installed lineageos.
Everything else is meh, bad, or atrocious.
Next year we'll have Motorola flagship(s) to choose from. Can't wait.
See https://grapheneos.org/faq#recommended-devices for the device recommendations. There are going to be Motorola devices with GrapheneOS support within a year too.