Comment by TranquilMarmot
4 hours ago
> What are the tradeoffs?
As others point out, my main worry is about banking and NFC. I use NFC payments on my phone a lot, especially for the bus. Getting an Android Smartwatch just for that kind of defeats de-Googling haha.
I will probably try out Graphene at some point but that seems like a multi-day project to get it set up, find the tradeoffs, determine if they're worth it, and then potentially switch back to Android.
I also worry about the future of Graphene with AOSP going more closed/private: https://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-development-...
> OSMAnd has a lot of feature but the UX is harder
OSMAnd was the one I tried and it bordered on unusable. I'll try out CoMaps, somebody else suggested Mapy.
> my main worry is about banking and NFC
This may be useful: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compa...
> I also worry about the future of Graphene with AOSP going more closed/private
I don't think it's AOSP going more closed, but rather the evolution of the Pixels line. GrapheneOS wants the ability to unlock the bootloader, install their own key and relock the bootloader. Google could technically stop supporting that for the Pixels (just like many (most?) manufacturers do), but they haven't said anything about it.
GrapheneOS has mentioned talks with a major manufacturer. I wonder if it will be a Graphene phone (which sounds very tricky) or if it could be something like Huawei or Samsung offering to unlock/relock the bootloader and committing to providing the features necessary for GrapheneOS. The latter would be amazing.
> OSMAnd was the one I tried and it bordered on unusable.
I love it. But if that's your feeling, definitely try CoMaps: in terms of UX it's on the other end of the spectrum :-).
There is also Calyx, which is also a privacy friendly Android distribution. It uses open source versions of Google Services. With my Pixel 8a on Calyx I can use NFC to pay with my Credit Card.
> It uses open source versions of Google Services.
Microg, right? I don't think this is more private than the Google Services, is it? It's just open source, but it can phone home just the same?
> With my Pixel 8a on Calyx
Any reason you haven't tried GrapheneOS, given that you already have a Pixel? I have /e/OS because it's the only alternative Android that runs on my FairPhone 3, but I've come to realise that it's actually worse than the Stock Android in terms of security. I really would like to go with GrapheneOS, and I wish more manufacturers made this possible.