Comment by pmontra
8 days ago
> I can use my bank on some linux distro,
Yes, I've been doing that since 2009 on Ubuntu and Debian but there are several caveats.
One of those banks has its own TOTP device and they won't replace it when the battery dies. It's almost 20 years old now. Then it's the fingerprint sensor on my phone.
The other banks authenticate accesses and many operations with either their app + fingerprint (all of them) or SMS (some of them). So basically I would still need a phone with a blessed OS. I could buy the cheapest one and store it in a drawer, but it's still a dependency on Google or Apple.
GrapheneOS requirement of Pixel devices is a dependency on Google too.
GrapheneOS requirement of Pixel devices is a dependency on Google too.
They are currently working with an OEM to release a non-Pixel GrapheneOS phone in the future.
I hope and pray that is a Samsung S Ultra device. The built-in stylus transforms the whole user experience, I would not go back to a device that I must swipe my dirty fingers across.
I saw one last week. I can't comment about the stylus (but I'm swiping with my thumb to write this message). I held it in my hands and it's a brick but most phones of the last years are bricks so I expect that they will deliver another nearly 7" 200 grams brick. We used to call them phablets. This is one of the models that defined the category in the early 2010s https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_n7000-4135.php
It's almost lightweight nowadays and it's definitely small. I remember that we thought that it was insanely huge when pressed to a ear to talk.
I’m just imagining myself pulling out the stylus on the train/plane, dropping it, and watching it roll away forever.
6 replies →
as long as it is not fairphone. I am out. I don't want to have to choose between privacy and sustainability.
It won't be Fairphone. Fairphone is very far removed from the hardware requirements listed here https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices They don't seme to take security seriously at the moment, so the chance is low they are going to make the huge leap needed to meet the requirements. Fairphone heavily markets their sustainability but it's very relative. Fairphone doesn't give proper software support. They don't properly keep up with Android updates and also stop giving updates much more quickly than Google (8 years since Pixel 8) and iPhone. Giving proper software support is also part of what makes a device usable for a longer period of time and hence reduces the need to purchases a new device which has an environmental and climate impact. With regards to the hardware longetivity, Google has good repair programs for their Pixels. It's more difficult and less supported to do repairs yourself but it's certainly possible to repair your device.
It's not really a requirement of a Pixel device. It just happens to be the case that Pixel devices currently are the only devices meeting the hardware requirements listed in the FAQ: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices. The hardware requirements don't contain exoctic things but non-Google and non-Apple companies until now just fail to deliver on the security front. It's also not that GrapheneOS catered these requirements to fit to Google and Google only. They are actively working with an OEM partner since June 2025 to help them meet the hardeware requirements for a subset of their future devices. So they are even willing to assist companies to meet the requirements if they have the ambition to do so. The OEM is not yet disclosed, the launch of the device will be somewhere in 2027.