Since GrapheneOS is the standard recommendation for a custom ROM on Pixel devices and comes up very often, I figured we should have a thread about it.
For those who are using it, what Pixel device are you running GrapheneOS on and how is the overall experience? What are the things that you like about GrapheneOS and what are things you miss from the factory Android install?
As for me, my curiosity got the better of me and I finally went and installed GrapheneOS on my Pixel 7a using the web installer on Arch Linux and a USB cable.
So far, nothing unexpected and I’ll have to do a bit of exploring of the OS’ security features. The OS works just fine and feels obviously way cleaner and less bloated, the annoying search widget finally went away without having to install a custom launcher. The only thing that scared me a bit in the beginning was the contacts not syncing and some purchased apps not transferring over as the sandboxed Google Play saw the device as a different one but that was solved by giving it permission to access contacts and also waiting for Google Play to do its thing. Google Camera and Google Photos also worked fine without network permissions.
I haven’t tried Google Wallet’s NFC payments yet and I have no hopes for that one to work on GrapheneOS, but that is certainly a feature I will miss.
I use it on Pixel 7 and my partner on Pixel 6a. I miss Android auto sometimes, but I would use it maybe twice a year so it isn’t a big deal to me. Otherwise it’s great, I had no trouble using NFC paiment and apart from android auto, every single app i’ve tried worked without issue.
What apps have you used for NFC payments? Most of the banks around me seem to just refer you to Google Pay, and it doesn’t work on GrapheneOS (at least not for NFC payments).
Deutsche Bank
They’ll work if they don’t have a Google pay dependency. Most banks don’t run their own NFC wallets anymore, at least not in the US minus some small banks. My credit unions used to, then they changed it. It’s was too easy for them to be a frontend for Google pay than to build their own app from the ground up.
Yeah, I’m in the states, and I’ve just given up on Google Pay on GOS. Even if I bother to find a bank that has an app, they’ll probably just abandon it and make me use Google Pay six months after I open the account.
Most likely, but even if it worked correctly via Google pay, you really want you purchases running through Google?
Honestly, I’d like to have the option. I typically just use cards directly, but there are times that I need alternatives / would like to have alternatives. E.g., if I’m traveling and lose my cards / cash, it’d be great to still have a way to pay.
Android Auto is in the works and it is one of the teams priority. They know it holds many back from installing.
This was from one of their social posts. Can’t recall if it was Bluesky, Mastodon or other.
Yes, I saw it too. I guess they still need time for this feature. It doesn’t sound like a very trivial fix, at least not without compromizing on security and privacy.