this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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Privacy
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Everyone talk about GrapheneOS. But CalyxOS is very good too.
"Good" really depends on what you're after. Do not use CalyxOS if you care about security. They are significantly behind in implementing security patches, regularly. You are in some way more vulnerable with CalyxOS than regular android on a pixel because you would get security updates faster on pixel. Additionally, the network permission of GrapheneOS is a paramount security and privacy feature. Also, GrapheneOS takes over all location services requests even if you use google services, making sure that even if google services are installed, google only gets location info whenever the location request is for the google services, not all/any services or apps on your phone. There are additional points too, but CalyxOS, while I don't want to bash them, should not be considered a secure OS the same way GraphemeOS is.
The problem with Graphene os is that it is unethical. I want my device to be fully free or as free as it possibly can be. Graphene doesn't see to care about that.
Calyx is a bit better because it is a little stricter on software. Probably the best solution is to only install a apps you need and only get them from F-droid.
How is GrapheneOS unethical? How isn't it as free as CalyxOS? Basically everything they add to the OS can be disabled. Personally, I'd say GrapheneOS and CalyxOS are the same in this regard.
How is CalyxOS stricter on software? With GrapheneOS, a user can opt to only use F-Droid to install everything too if they wanted to.
What about DivestOS? Only option for a private system when you don't have a Pixel
Divest os is much more free in terms of software freedom. They minimize binary blobs and keep everything clean. They also maintain mull browser.
Also just incredibly well-documented
And very good with security patches
The only problem I have with it is one I have with Custom ROMs in general:
The Camera API to make use of all the lenses modern phones have. There is one single app that can somewhat hook into it for me to use my second lens, and it's extremely unstable to the point of being functionally useless.
Everyone talks about custom ROMs, it's so fucking annoying not a single one is supported on my Motorola g73. Next phone I'm getting is a fairphone, and I'll dual boot a custom Android ROM and postmarket OS.
Excuse me, dual boot? Is that still a thing?
still a thing for postmarketOS, not regular Android
I recommend checking this table out.
CalyxOS misses the mark imo. It does a couple things well (such as its improved Dialer app, and the ability for hotspots/tethered devices to be able to use the phone's VPN/Tor) that I hope to see other projects adopt, but beyond that, it just doesn't seem to stack up.
I'm not trying to bash them or anything because at the end of the day, they clearly have good intentions which I can respect, but I do hope they improve on a lot of things, because in its current state, CalyxOS just doesn't even compare to GrapheneOS or DivestOS.
The only thing which stop me to install Graphene is that I need some apps that I'm not sure will work with this os
GrapheneOS has pretty much perfect app compatibility. I don't think I've ever ran into an issue in around a year of using it as my daily driver.
Most apps function without Play Services, but you may lose some functionality like notifications, and a couple apps do very rarely genuinely break. But, that's where Sandboxed Play Services comes in, which you can even put in an entirely separate user profile if you want to, so that you can still safely use those apps.
But yeah, I've personally had no issues with app compatibility. Even my bank app works perfectly on Graphene (didn't even require Play Services either!).
Ok thanks! Let's try Graphene then
definetly :)