Joined The GrapheneOS Brotherhood
from BladeFederation@piefed.social to degoogle@lemmy.ml on 02 Mar 23:24
https://piefed.social/c/degoogle/p/1835340/joined-the-grapheneos-brotherhood

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#degoogle

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Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip on 02 Mar 23:48 next collapse

Nice, how’s it treating you? Run into any issues?

I hope graphene serves you well, maybe someday I’ll make the switch as well :)

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 01:19 collapse

It’s surprisingly smooth, basically “just Android” but less bloat, spam, and creepiness. Way easier than my transition to Linux has been (which still wasn’t bad), and I feel like I can relax now.

I AM mildly annoyed that I was unable to fully degoogle though. I need Android Auto which needs Play Services. And I need a navigation app, and the one I chose (Here We Go) works in Android Auto ONLY if downloaded from the Play Store specifically, not even Aurora. Literally the only app that did that once I enabled side loading in Android Auto settings, and literally the only app I needed to work on Android Auto. But it was either that or Google Maps from Aurora basically and uh…nah. I found Open Street Map based apps to be unusable.

Still, it’s sort of nice to have the Play Store and Play Services. Play Store is most secure for downloads. Notifications are more reliable. I only give network permissions to each and turned off Play Protect so they can’t phone home. Most things auto update between Graphene App Store, Droid-ify, and Play Store (Aurora and Obtanium can auto update on my old phone, but not on GrapheneOS). The stuff I have left in Obtanium are just a few game emulators which aren’t security critical. I made a new burner account from the phone settings with a VPN on and it didn’t ask for a phone number that way. I can make a new burner next time I get a phone. Or not, and I can buy Play Store gift cards with cash if I really need paid apps. I was starting to like Koala Sampler for example, though it does have a few trackers which I’m not comfortable with.

I’m also mildly annoyed that I had to overpay for the hardware just to lose my SD card slot. Gaming is unimpressive, it’s barely an upgrade from a Snapdragon 865+. It definitely still has a premium flagship feel though, and the CPU and camera is a big improvement from my old phone.

merde@sh.itjust.works on 03 Mar 03:36 next collapse

for navigation without boogle services, comaps from fDroid or magic earth from Aurora work fine

Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip on 03 Mar 07:31 collapse

They may mean that open street maps doesnt have adequate data for their area, in which case those options are unlikely to help

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 14:12 next collapse

That is correct, a lot of basic, popular places that have been in my area for decades were not listed. And I was unable to simply navigate to an address that doesn’t isn’t explicitly added, which seems like a huge oversight.

merde@sh.itjust.works on 03 Mar 22:23 collapse

You can easily add them with StreetComplete ☞ f-droid.org/…/de.westnordost.streetcomplete

merde@sh.itjust.works on 03 Mar 22:21 next collapse

we’re the data of osm. It can be adequate tomorrow, if you care enough.

Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip on 04 Mar 00:37 next collapse

Yes, you can, but if every time you have to go somewhere new its not there its not really serving very well as your GPS, especially if you really need your GPS on a regular basis. At a minimum that means you need two GPS apps

I really enjoy adding stuff with street complete and wanna get more in the habit of it for anywhere I go regularly, but if someone needs to be able to get places and osm doesnt have the data they need, its totally reasonable for them to use a different gps- open street maps can’t get them where they need to go, so theyre gonna need a different one

Personally I think if someone’s needs are simply not met by the open source tool it is okay for them to look for something that will, even if the open source/free licence thing would be better in terms of freedoms

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 04 Mar 21:25 collapse

This would take dozens of hours though. If there were absolutely no option I would consider it but it is also absolutely useless for discovery: I have to already know it’s there and add it myself. Every time someone sends me their address, I have to add it to OSM before I can navigate to it. That is a non-starter for regular, reliable use. If I just had to add something every once in a while that would be one thing, but it’s entirely unusable.

Imaginary_Stand4909@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 04 Mar 02:45 collapse

For me the issue is traffic data. I need to know if something crazy happened on my usual route.

Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip on 04 Mar 02:53 collapse

Yeah, I have ADHD and accurate time estimations for how long it’ll get places inclidimg traffic are REALLY important to me because my brain can’t process how long it takes to do things and time manage the way other people can

Sometimes you have needs that aren’t totally met by the open source or free license option, and thats okay :)

Hopefully over time it can get better and better, which is why I still like contributing with street complete. Only time will tell if osm will end up working out adequately for me, but if it doesn’t work for your needs, that’s alright! Maybe in the future it’ll be able to :)

Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip on 03 Mar 07:41 collapse

Thanks for sharing your experience, thats super helpful! I’m curious what navigation app you’re liking, I’m currently still using google maps and occasionally trialing foss osm maps, but I’m not sure if they’ll adequately fill my needs.

Yeah having to use a pixel is a bummer, I have weird hardware preferences and would really love to have more options but understand why thats not possible. I just dont love what google offers and some of the things I’d loose out on vs more niche options

I hope graphene continues to work well for you! ☺️

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 14:11 collapse

You’re welcome!

Yeah OSM does not meet my needs in my area. I love the idea though. I’m using Here We Go. Good privacy policy, European, not sketchy. It is easily one of the best functioning alternatives to Google, and only 2 trackers: Crashlytics (which you can turn off in settings) and Facebook Login (which you can just not use). You can save locations and access search history without an account. There is a toggle to work offline if you’ve downloaded maps for your area, which I usually use. If you use it online it has integrated reviews from TripAdvisor, and traffic data, but you have to opt into sharing yours as well which I don’t want to. I use GMaps WV for discovery and reviews, and Here We Go for navigation. But you could probably get away with just Here We Go. As I mentioned though it does require Play Store for Android Auto.

Yeah but you know, first world problems. Still a good phone.

Thanks!

Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip on 04 Mar 00:39 collapse

Gotcha, I’d not heard of it! I’ll have to try it out sometime

Hope you have a lovely day ☺️

Tundra_Lifeform@piefed.social on 02 Mar 23:51 next collapse

Based af bro

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 01:24 collapse

🤜🤛

lukewarm_tauntaun@feddit.org on 03 Mar 00:37 next collapse

Where did you get that case from, looks nice wth the Grapheneos Logo! I cant find it on the spigen homepage, is there somewhere you can create your own design?

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 01:07 collapse

It’s their tough armor case in green. The sticker I created myself with Canva and a Cricut. I may have to remake it and use a bit of glue on the edges though.

lukewarm_tauntaun@feddit.org on 03 Mar 12:21 collapse

Thanks!

davel@lemmy.ml on 03 Mar 01:31 next collapse

Also, dude, brotherhood is not the preferred nomenclature. siblinghood, please.

eldavi@lemmy.ml on 03 Mar 01:38 collapse

let’s use brood; saying that you joined the “graphene brood” sounds much better. lol

eldavi@lemmy.ml on 03 Mar 01:39 next collapse

i envy you, you jumped in while i’m still on the shore fearing getting wet again. lol

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 01:56 next collapse

Graphene has been the easiest part of the journey so far tbh. The hard part was finding alternative apps and deleting accounts :) Heck, buying the phone in cash was harder than Graphene, dear lord do stores feel like they’re entitled to ask invasive questions. I had to order it too because they didn’t have the larger storage model in stock so I had to give a fake name with a fake email, a hotel address, voip number, wait over a week, and then argue with them about showing ID until they gave up when I came back to pick it up.

eldavi@lemmy.ml on 03 Mar 02:24 collapse

how did you prove that the package was yours?

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 02:30 collapse

I had the receipt, a separate piece of paper that they printed with my “name and info”, the email, and the text. Luckily I’d also forseen this happening and spoke to the manager when buying the phone, so I had him ready to name drop and he’d put in the notes that I’d “lost my ID” and wouldn’t have it for pickup so the guy couldn’t really argue with me for long. I did get some pushback initially though, I was a little stressed that they were trying to scam me out of my money but I played it cool.

hateisreality@lemmy.world on 04 Mar 02:41 collapse

Just pick up an old pixel off swappa for 100, and you can practice all you need.

Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip on 03 Mar 02:58 next collapse

One of us, one of us.

Where’d you get the sticker?

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 03:00 collapse

Brother! 🤝 I made it myself with Canva and a Cricut!

zingo@sh.itjust.works on 03 Mar 04:07 next collapse

Uuuuu. Like the glove!

Looks so profissional!

yumyumsmuncher@feddit.uk on 03 Mar 06:12 next collapse

Welcome brother

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 03 Mar 15:15 collapse

🫶

ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs@lemmy.world on 03 Mar 14:57 next collapse

In 6 months when my carrier allows me to unlock my bootloader, I’ll be joining that day.

Buage_@piefed.social on 03 Mar 17:19 next collapse

Nice!! Hope you enjoy your time!

Errand7030@lemmy.ml on 04 Mar 07:02 next collapse

Where did you buy the case?

jaypatelani@lemmy.ml on 04 Mar 08:21 collapse

It’s spigen case. Logo is sticker on case

needanke@feddit.org on 04 Mar 09:06 collapse

You don’t need Termux anymore!

Android 16 - so graphene as well - has a full built in linux terminal (look for terminal in settings).

BladeFederation@piefed.social on 04 Mar 14:00 collapse

Nice, I did not realize that. How well does it work?