Dan LerchAfter experimenting with #grapheneos on a Google Pixel 9a for 5 months I've come to the sad conclusion that it's not going to replace my iPhone as a daily driver. I've become too addicted to face id, digital wallets, and even iMessage.
Scott Leslie@dan_lerch sovereignty sounds like a great idea until its implications are faced. Still, kudos for experimenting, that's further than most go
@sleslie I remember the first time I tried Desktop Linux (way back in the day) and was blown away by how performative and feature rich it was. It was an obvious contrast to Windows. In comparison, Graphene felt like a continuous compromise. Even setting a background image became a tug-of-war with permissions.
Sudo Sudo Sudo ⒶⒺⓋ@dan_lerch I gave up trying a degoogle phone first time and my second try as well. My first try was on Calyx OS. My second with Graphene OS. My third time I was very determined and I've been off the iphone for a couple years now. Giving up imessages was huge. As well as an Apple credit card and a ton of family photos in iCloud. Ive spent $$$$ over the years in App Store. Most of which had gone obsolete over the years.
I have some tips for you folks trying to get off the Apple tit, er iPhones and the Apple ecosystem. There is some prep work to it.
1. Get off the Apple CC. It's a bad deal anyway.
You can use Revolut Debt card system as a good alternative to tap to pay without gplay.
2. Signal App is hands down better than iMessage. Ask you family and friends to switch. Yeah it's effort but hasn't been too hard. Now Signal App has a back up so switching to a different operating system is much easier.
3. MySudo App is my fall back. It's playstore dependent unfortunately. $50 a year for 3 VOIP numbers. Don't bother porting out your number to MySudo. If you've had a one cell number for years, it's time to ditch that tracking becon. There are alternatives to mysudo but none that work without a lot more effort and cost. This is not for using burner numbers.
4. Normal Epayment services will not work, if you set this up as I have, without some workarounds. Back to Revolut services. Get that or similar. It's better than privacy.com imo.
5. Get a pixal 8, 9 or 10. You can do this secondhand. Just make sure you get it unlocked and not Verizon. Get more storage than you think you'll need. You'll want both phones on you for awhile. While you workout kinks. Next year Motorola will have the next generation of hardened phone with Graphene OS partnership.
6. Carrier considerations. I use Mint Mobile because it affordable. Once a year i buy a full year prepaid as a new customer. $180 with unlimited data. I make up a name and use a prepaid cc. I use it for data only. No one gets this number. Now I have no more spam calls.
7. Consider your Apps with a lot more scrutiny. Try setting up webapps for things like banking. I needed to change my bank to a more modern and secure credit union. I sought out open source apps over proprietary ones where I could on the Fdroid repository through Droidify Store. I use The google playstore reluctantly, but do use it. Don't make this too hard on yourself.
8. At this point you got yourself squared away 95%. Whats the last bit keeping you to carry that iPhone around still? Might just be time to rip off the rest of the bandaid.
Ill post more to this effect. I understand the desire to get off the iphone as well as anyone. It is an undertaking worth doing. The piece of mind you will get back is really worth the effort.
@Prometheus There was no 'One thing', although I'll say the final straw was the awful fingerprint reader. Not sure if that's the Pixel phone, or Graphene. Especially while cycling and trying to take a quick photo. Also silly things bugged me like the default notification sounds and the way the phone vibrates.
@dan_lerch ive been using the open camera on my pixal 9 with GOS. Some setting will make it focus slow. So ive tweaked it to shoot much faster and use a shortcut. I'll still use the graphene os camera for its QR scanner but that's it. Also, using Aves Libra for my gallery. The finger print reader in the pixal 9 is far superior to my Pixal 7.
That VW Guy@dan_lerch It took me two times for it to stick