Just a correction micro g is incompatible with graphene os . Instead graphene can use sandboxed google play services which is google play services pretty much as a app vs system wide were the user controls its permissions on what google play can get like, treating it like any other app .
Hey man, I really need a beginner friendly tutorial for installing /e/ OS in my phone. I'd also appreciate a link where I can request for a phone model if it's currently not supported. Also, I need to know how to backup the default Android version and how to revert back to it if /e/ OS is not working out for me.
Small correction about Lawnchair 12.1 It doesn't require Android 12 to run, it can run on devices as low as Android 8.1 (tho atm 8.1 support is broken), only feature requiring Android 12.1 is the integration with the recents menu and gestures through the Quickswitch module
I used the launcher just now. It seems that it's still in alpha stage (12.4, which is the latest at the moment) and I found it kind of wonky. LIke it added a few apps on the home screen and there was no way to remove them. The app "Lawnchair 2" on the Google Play Store is more stable. If anybody wants to try, then I would recommend the play store one.
@@chinmayghule8272 lawnchair2 is on f-droid, sure it's pretty much the same app, but it's nice that you can find it in an open source store instead of google's play store
@@KnightRiderOfVoid Actually Lawnchair V2 isn't on Fdroid, what's there is the much older V1 version Reason why v2 wasn't published on Fdroid was due to some issues with Fdroid rejecting the app due to it needing a prebuilt jar during compilation time to enable the recents/gestures integration There were plans to solve this but from my knowledge they haven't bothered with Fdroid in after v1
@@dan3817 yeah my bad, as I use neo store and have other repos enabled. I sometimes forget an call fdroid to any fdroid alternative. Thanks for pointing that out. You can find lawnchair2 in the extra repos if you use neo storw or aurora droid, for those wanting to try it.
Regarding open-source apps that I use from F-Droid: mvp - Video Player Organic Maps - Offline maps support, even public transportation (google maps doesn't) Fritter - Checking Twitter (no account) Frost - Facebook client (with account) Open Note Scanner - Camera Digitalizer to pdf document/image NewPipe - RU-vid Player Tachiyomi - Manga Reader
Some others open source apps that you can find on f-droid: Seal (downloader), Music (listen and download music), ning (see devices in your network), feeel (workout app), blokada (system-wide ad blocker), Stealth (reddit app), neo store (f-droid alternative app), NewPipe (youtube app without google api), joplin (take notes and sync with cloud), material files (file manager)...
I use iodeOS on my Fairphone 4, it's great! My favourite maps app is Organic Maps. It's the best maps app on the F-droid store and much nicer looking than OSMAnd.
GrapheneOS users shouldn't use microG. They should use the Sandboxed Google Play Services package for GrapheneOS. Also, Neo Launcher is a great launcher that is still being developed!
florisBoard beta(best OSS keyboard) & OpenBoard, keepassDX, Librera Reader, Molly fork of signal, MJ PDF Reader, Nitter a twitter client, QR Scanner, Tracker Control, wifiAnalyzer, Hex launcher & Lunar Launcher, OrganicStreetMap & StreetComplete this app is for improving OSM, Standard Notes for end to end encrypted note taking app(also the best note taking secur), Scrambled Exif & ExifEraser(for erasing meta data only images), bromite a chromium based OSS browser, Forkgram(fork of telegram) & Moonlight Game Streaming(for local game streaming) these are few list of OSS apps.
Man I haven't been involved i the ROM scene since the Galaxy S days. Samsung not releasing the full kernel source. The international version getting Froyo while the US variants got stuck on Eclair. Finally getting our code merged into CyanogenMod. Good times. Note: I was part of Hacksung but Atinman did the heavy coding work. I mostly poked around looking for differences in the various kernel releases. We got the Captivate working so I couldn't have hurt the team too much...
@_____ nah, I am using microG and yes most of my paid apps just work without demanding a license, but minecraft (fixable with a 'launcher') and touch retouch don't work as they check for a license. In short: Download/Install - Yes Use - Most (only without license checks)
Another fantastic free open source Launcher is Ruthless. It runs very light, stable and fast and has enough customization options. one I really love is the ability to change the color of labels in the app drawer.
Hey Nick, I'm pretty sure Graphene deliberately and specifically does NOT use Micro G instead using a much more secure and interesting sandboxed Google play compatibility layer.
For anybody who wants to do any more than the most basic file operations, Simple File Manager is a must in my opinion. The stock file manager is soooo annoying, it makes collections that aren't folders look like folders and just.. bleh. Fisher-Price-lookin file manager.
Update: I've taken to preferring the 'Material Files' file manager, since it's more in-line with the modern Android design language and its developer seems to mainly focused on that project specifically rather than developing a whole collection of apps. It's less buggy.
Nice timing I am currently looking for a phone that i can install LineageOS and root it. Probably gonna go with a OnePlus 7T since they're pretty cheap.
i have a note 4 and i tried lineage os. it was pretty good aside from camera and spen. i needed to use a modified google camera app to be able to properly record videos. also the spen didn't had much functionality. so i reverted to stock android 6. and i also realized i can't do 4k or 1080p60 recording with opencamera even on stock which really sucks. and also adding that VoLTE becomes unavailable on non Samsung based roms so using a Samsung phone isn't good if you want to use open software as much as you can.
• Aurora Store - Play Store alternative • KeePassDX - Password manager F-Droid official client is pretty rough around the edges, luckily there are 3rd party clients that work better, I've tried many and I've found Droid-ify to work best for me but there's AuroraDroid (by the same dev as AuroraStore) G-Droid, FoxDroid and many others. • Material Files - File manager • Termux - Linux terminal for Android
Neo storw has worked perfectly for me, aurora droid has some features I'd like but fails a lot to sync my repos when using vpn. After ot fails it becomes pretry much useless until I forcefully stop the app. I will try droid-ify, but for a simple and reliable fdroid store with configurable repos, neo store has served me well.
Neo Launcher is a great and open source, it is a great alternative to Nova Launcher. it has a google feed replacement that is just an RSS feed reader. they also have some other tools like a store for f-droid.
I found Organic Maps to be more user friendly than OSMand Keyboard : Openboard is a good keyboard based on AOSP, but personaly I use Unexpected keyboard which is developed with developers in mind. If you are using command line applications or other compilers, this will come in handy with its unique swipe to input feature.
Grapheneos lets you have sandboxed Google services, they don't use microG because it's insecure. Security and privacy are two different things, and it turns out that Google stuff is really secure even if it isn't good for privacy.
"security and privacy are two different things" Bullshit. Tell that to anyone who has been forced to live in crime infected areas of the world. The less someone knows about your and your property, the MORE secure you are in that the enemy doesn't know how to infiltrate your life as easily. It's not rocket science.
Generally, custom ROMs are very good. The true problems come with portions that use proprietary sub-systems like the camera. The exposed Android Camera APIs are generally a fraction of the methods used with OEM cameras that take advantage of undocumented APIs targeting the firmware blobs (especially for post-processing and the like which could be coupled with OS level changes for whatever ungodly reason). This is doubly true for multi-camera setups. Microphones may use similar low-level processing but generally are less of a problem. Battery optimisations with always-on screens are a suspect if the used kernel isn't a derivative of the OEM one or if some part of the implementation is hiding within the OS layer like Samsung specific methods for example (because reasons...). Modem staying alive or the like, are within that group but less of a problem - usually the modem stays alive/ hibernated/ wakes up as expected. We have the usual BS with DRM or other "security" measures that immediately try to raise a red flag if they do (very questionable) checks to verify if the device is rooted. Banking apps or lower resolution with Netflix are the most common examples of problematic behaviour caused by those checks. On the other hand, there are historical examples of OnePlus, Xiaomi and so on not passing those security checks with their official ROMs so... Yeah 😁 The banking apps or wireless payment can be annoying - this depends entirely on whether the individual views such functionality as a desirable feature or not. If we go down the rabbit hole of VoLTE or WiFi Calling, counter intuitively the custom rom may enable this functionality in some cases (looking at LG's region implementations and crazy network provider systems...) There is one usual caveat with any custom ROM - depending on the family of the custom ROM, security updates can be a question mark. Just getting an update, doesn't mean it includes a security one. Sounds scary but given the OEM most likely has already nixed support for the device, _any_ update is an improvement. Overall, if camera quality isn't a must, custom ROMs are more than enough and can prolong the life of the device by a lot with minimal effort.
Not only the camera, but in the stock rom if you have access to Radio app, if you switch to another rom, you'll lost this and only be able to use the radio with internet connection on.
I know many people who make everything open source in their phone with exception to the camera. They still prefer Gcam or any of the inumerous versions made by devs all around the world. Loosing the hability to make excellent videos and photos nowadays is a real drawback to many people, especially if you've paid for a expensive phone.
@@MarkHobbes root is not yet a problem for most banking apps, Universal Safetynet fix magisk module still passes safety net. However, when most apps start implementing the new play integrity API, custom roms are gonna have a hard time
Note that some important apps (banking, for example) require a locked bootloader and Google APIs to use. Unless you're using OnePlus or Pixel phones (AVB v2), you're running a risk of bricking your device when locking your device's bootloader. Something that I learned just this afternoon.
Yes, and there is a problem for Samsung phones that even if you lock the bootloader, reinstall the stock rom and sell it. The person who will use it, won't have access to a lot of Samsung services due to the fact you once unlocked the bootloader, Knox is ruined as the security for the Samsung phone. In some phones, the stock camera won't work, neither will Samsung Pass, Samsung Pay, Secure Folder, Dual Messenger and so on...
@@MarkHobbes You are thinking wrong. Except for the re-sell, all you mention are benefits. You DON'T want those things to work if you care about privacy. As far as banking goes, switch to a bank that doesn't force you to compromise your security by an Android app. I mean, seriously, think about it. It's a bank. It holds probably all of your money. And you put all the trust in the OS with the least security support?
@@marcelplch8725 For me and you it may appear to be useless or a problem for privacy, but not for majority people who want everything to work as intended officially by Samsung. Unlock the bootloader is a no-go if you want to sell it later.
Nick, just a small correction: Lawchair doesn't demands Android 12 (maybe just for some Monet/Material You related features, but it still runs on older devices). I used the recent version just fine on an old Android 9 device.
5:34 Termus's PlayStore version is no longer supported and they switched to F-Droid. So they were available on both a long time now but the PlayStore one will receive no further updates and tells you to switch to the F-Droid version.
Niagara launcher is really a hidden gem of a launch in my opinion. updates often and strikes a good balance between ergonomics, minimalism, and eye candy
Your SOC is very important if you want custom android roms. Is easier to optimaze for Qualcomm Snapdragon than for Samsung Exynos. I had Redmi Note 7 with SD 660. And compatibility with other roms was very good (with Lineage OS is still running very well).
@@mat_max For Redmi Note 7 - pixel experience, arrow OS, PIxelPlus UI, Project Elixir , these are not open source. There is an old ported build of Calyx OS for RMN7.
@@terrydaktyllus1320 I personally install custom roms if android updates are slow or software support is short. I bought A33 because of software support (4 android updates and 5 years of security updates)
@@terrydaktyllus1320 My Redmi Note 7 is still Android 11. But that's my older phone. Also I have noticed more bugs than with MIUI (android version from Xiaomi) Which is probably normal. But system was way smoother. Probably better optimalization. It's worth mentioning that I was also using Lineage os with opengapps (Google mobile services) + Sometimes I like to change the Android version.
I find FairEmail a good alternative to K9, it has a lot of useful settings (both great apps anyway). Also, apart from all the privacy concern, changing the ROM to an open one can really boost the performance of your device ( I still use a 2017 Samsung which with his original ROM was unusable)
Totally agree with you about FairEmail. About changing ROM, I put my motorola on lineage and now, it's really buggy, I think, it's depend on the device.
@@UnixCorn_7 sometimes the builds of lineage take time to work properly (on my samsung a5 2017 the first release of lineage 18.1 had some issues, they resolved them in a few months with the following builds). Also I think the Motorola Rom is pretty lightweight, the Samsung one is full of stupid bloat (so for me was a great improvement, but maybe it's not the case for everyone)
I personally would NOT recommend fdroid, because of how they crypto-sign the apps. ALL the apps on fdroid are signed with fdroid's key, NOT the developer's key (one of the reasons why signal isn't on fdroid). There are very valid criticisms for why this is bad. Aurora store seems to be the next best option. I wish that this also be covered Good video as usual!
Found a launcher called kvaesitso recently. I believe its still somewhat beta but has a great search functionality nearing that of gnome's/kde's search function, things like calculations, auto wikipedia searching, etc on top of the standard "search for apps I have".
@@terrydaktyllus1320 Agree. I am using Poco F3 now. It performs better than some expensive phones and I could buy several such phones for price of one Samsung flagship.
There are some really good FOSS apps around that I think you overlooked. Starting with here RU-vid, NewPipe (especially Legacy) is really good, is lighter on the battery and on older devices that would struggle to play a 360p video if the ad video started loading in the background of the actual video. There's Signal for messanging, but also SMS. It has some neat features like detecting 2FA codes in some cases and showing a "copy code" right on the notification popup, along with SMS blocking or custom ringtones/rules per contact. Infinity for Reddit is another one that is really useful, lightweight and simple.
I disabled the RU-vid app on my phone and watch all vids on brave browser, no ads and I enabled the option to keep playing videos with the screen off (great for music and poscasts).
I recently got Fairphone 3+ with /e/os preinstalled from Murena. It's solid phone and the os works just as well as regular android (with banking apps too!) and highly recommend it.
Warning though for anyone thinking of installing a custom ROM: 1) You will probably lose your phone's warranty, if any 2) Most of your financial apps might not work with a custom ROM I have never applied a custom ROM myself, so take my words with a pinch of salt. I am only stating what I have read online previously.
It's generally recommended to use a different F-droid client like Droid-ify, as the official F-droid client is very outdated. Also 'Secure Camera' by GrapheneOS is another camera app option that works really well.
When it comes to private and secure alternatives, I would recommend Divest OS and Calyx OS. Those are pretty good. I'm using /e/ OS atm, but I hate their launcher and even though I switched to Lawnchair, it doesn't integrate well with the system.
Project Elixir ROM is a really smooth custom ROM for Xiaomi devices. I've been using it on my Redmi Note 9S for 6 months now. I have OrangeFox recovery. And it's the best ROM I've used. I've had zero issues. I'm using Android 13. When I would have been stuck on Android 11. I get many updates. If you know what you're doing it's a great alternative.
My biggest concern regarding third-party ROMs is how good they are at onboarding latest AOSP security patches, and if there any OTA updates? The idea of running Android without latest security patches, or re-flash entire ROM with each monthly security patch scares me more than Google spying on me in the shower...
About Lawmchair 12, it Doesn't requires Android 12. The number 12 just said about the version os the Launcher (Lawnchair 9, 10, 11 and 12). I'm running Lawnchair 12 on my Android 11 phone
The OpenBoard keyboard is quite nice. Unfortunately it doesn't support spell check for all of the languages I use and speak. If they only added Norwegian support I'd use it. They have support for most all languages or have a keyboard without spell check.
correction for 10:46 - even with the customization and settings your pictures might look more real than the ones spanned from the default app. ..you can fake (apply -photoshop- gimp cream) your picture on the adult computer whenever.
I would put Midori next genration into the browser category too. Very customizable, privacy respecting and (afaik) open source too + it uses the webkit engine. It works really good for me (as an daily driver). Sadly the desktop version is now chromium too. Everything else is as always very well put together. Nice video.
I'll second this; I find that Offi is actually way better than Google when it comes to public transportation in our area. (south of Heidelberg) Google doesn't think we can get anywhere by public transportation, even though we can walk to the bus stop in under 5 minutes.
I've found that KTrip is pretty good here in the UK which yes, runs on Android, luckily I prefer using the "TfL Go" app which includes a network map (and because I live in London). I have also tried "Transportr" which is also pretty good...
A happy LineageOS user here. It's amazing to have Anroid 12 and up-to-date security updates to my phone even years after manufacturer's end of support.
correction, lineage can only provide software updates, not firmware updates as your manufacturer has stopped them this is still better as you get newer android releases and software security updates, but that's it
Looks promising unfortunately very few phones are supported with lineageOS... Relatively speaking that is... You are lucky if you happen to have one of these few phones, otherwise you are out of luck anyways. Oh... and saying something is opensource doesn't mean it is safe to use.... especially on a phone. I'd be very careful with lineageOS as I've had some pretty questionable things happen to me on a lineageOS flashed tablet.
My Redmi K20 pro is running basically on open source app. I use open source contact, messages, gallery, file manager, calendar, clock, music player, video player, text writer, scanner and Firefox browser.
I just purchased a Galaxy Tab A7 in “new-other” condition (no box or other contents) At boot, I can skip the Samsung store and apps. How private would the tablet be if I only install and use open source apps from f-droid and the like? Will apps still be phoning home to google? I have considered /e/os, but the device isn’t yet officially supported, so installing requires using Odin4 and Samloader , which are apparently official Samsung tools, but as they haven’t been officially released, it is necessary to download a file from an unknown source on the Internet, to get a “more secure system” running. The irony isn’t lost on me. I guess I will have to wait until mid-February before I can get /e/os installed 🤔
Good for a burner phone but I still need damn google for the authenticator app and some wireless device config tools. Maybe installing APK directly will work for SOME of those.
maps me was sold and isn't open source anymore. But its former devs forked it and continue developing it open-source and tracker free. Its called Organic Maps. It's great, you should try it.
I have lineage os on an old phone, it doesn't only come without any Google app but it's also very optimized. Sadly, the manufacturer of my new phone doesn't allow rooting or installing custom ROMs.
I really like your videos. I just installed Virginia and am trying to transfer my files off my Blackview android to wipe my phone. I do not want all the pictures and downloads but cannot choose which ones I want because I cannot see the thumbs while connected to my pc. How can I view the pictures, videos, screenshots etc for transfers without having to click on each one first? Thanks.
What about Banking with custom ROMs? do Paypal/banking/authentification apps work? Or Whatsapp/Snapchat... and all the social stuff... it might be a contradiction to "open software" but nonetheless... AFAIK Flashing the ROM will permanently deactivate KNAX (some safety protocol or something...) sounds like a deal breaker... how does updating apps that are not in the repo on lineage/e work? would you have to check yourself regularly? like in windows on PC? ... kinda ironic...
I got a Xiaomi Redmi 9 that has so many issues thanks to the "amazing" MIUI system it has incorporated (for some weird reason it switches to the phone mic even if I have any headphones connected every time the screen locks, the audio over BT stutters with any music app, etc.) Is there a good recommendation to replace the ROM for something that allows me to have access to my regular apps?
In my opinion, a downside of FOSS apps is their look and feel of them. The aesthetic they give is like 5 years old, making them feel outdated, and depending on your opinion and use of your device may not be a concern for you. But, on the other hand, I understand the developers, often only one or two people, don't have the time and funds to produce an app that looks like a modern flagship app. I'm a computer science student, and the apps I've made feel older and even more outdated than most FOSS apps, so I know it's hard and can praise the developers for the quality app they produce
It seems that the photo viewer is called "Simple Gallery Pro", not "SimpleGallery". Why it needs a "Pro" in the name?... I would say to avoid some trademark thing, but that doesn't make sense because it's not different enough from "Simple Gallery" to avoid trademark issues.
I use Kvæsitso as my default launcher. It's by far the best launcher I have ever tried. Available on Izzyondroid. The developer also has their own repo. Another good option is starlight launcher. Not quite production ready in my opinion, but an interesting project nonetheless. It's also available on Izzyondroid.
What I don't understand (as I haven't looked hard enough) is why can't there be a generic ROM which can be installed on any phone as with GNU/Linux distros, leaving you to either be lucky and find a compatible ROM or to build one yourself. I replaced my OS on an old S5 Neo just for fun and it was a pretty learning experience, but I couldn't find a compatible ROM for another phone and I'm not savvy enough to build one myself, and I guess there are many more phones which could benefit from a new OS for many reasons, mostly being abandoned by their manufacturers
9:29 Secure Camera, from the GrapheneOS project, is also pretty nice (but doesn't generally work well on cheap devices). On some devices, it even has access to the same post processing pipeline as the stock camera app
4:10 installing graphene OS is very easy, no way to break your phone 😅, May I ask how /e/OS is more Private / Secure then graphene OS? /e/OS does still prioritize usability and app compatibility over security at times
I used to root my older phones and replaced the OS with stuff like CyanogenMod. But I hesitate to do that with my most recent phone since (last I heard) rooting makes Google Wallet (Google Pay) / NFC credit card storage and payment completely disabled. I use it all the time. Has this changed in the last five years? Does anyone know?
Simple Music Player (the one with red note with white background) is an amazing FOSS music player. It's a perfect replacement for any crappy music player you might find preinstalled
I personally hate the look of /e/. I never used it before but from seeing your videos, it doesn't look good (or maybe it is just the terrible wallpaper which you can change, but even then, it definetly doesn't beat stock Android's look). It pretty much looks like a bad iOS copy.
The risk that I see is that the binary that your download needs you to trust it, that it was built with a clean environment with no shenanigans from the maintainer. You are saying - Google is proprietary and cannot be trusted. But no word on the trustworthy-ness of these ROM binary packagers. Would you be perfectly fine accessing your bank from an EOS or Lineage or Graphene or ETC phone? Not sure I would?
Finally, he is flashoholic (same as distrohopper on linux)! It wont take long for him to learn building and port privacy roms. Join the buildbot cult.🤪
3:17 microG is not recommended on GrapheneOS, they use the standard Google services installed as regular user applications (that is, they have limited access to your device). It's literally written in the webpage shown in your video :)
Would it make me some kind of nutty conspiracy theorist if it seemed odd to me that you can degoogle any phone (without dephoning same phone) (in America, anyway) as long as it's a google phone? Or are there exceptions to the rule? That an American can make phone calls on?
The only con about /e/ is the fact it's like Debian, always behind in matter of development and technology. No Android 12 version yet and Android 13 is already a thing...
Sometime ago, I searched a smartphone compatible with a Rom Android privacy focused and an OS for smartphone based on Linux (Yes, dual boot on smartphone is possible). I know, Android is based on Linux but I searched for one that is more open source. The most interesting result that I found is the FairPhone 4 with /e /os and Ubuntu Touch. I don't know if that work well (I don't want to change my smartphone just to test that) but, because the FairPhone 4 was release not so long ago (October 2021), the support development of /e /os and Ubuntu touch for it is quite active. I discovered later on that it is possible to "install" a Linux distro on Android with the app UserLand but I don't know the differences between the use of this app and Ubuntu Touch
There is a huge problem with using custom roms... Your banking apps stop working & you are forced to use netbanking for transactions (which not as seamless as UPI)
I deleted several of my Samsung Apps including the calculator. I downloaded Simple Calculator and the thing is awesome! It even has a customizable widget.