I have not any prior experience with installing custom ROMs, but after trying it out (and getting stuck, and googling and finding answers) I successfully did it. Below is my home screen if anybody is curious:
I use OpenBoard for my keyboard. Unfortunately I am still dependent on Play Store since some of the apps I need can only be found there. Sometimes it feels meaningless committing to this whole thing because I'm not perfectly private; then I think this is better than using a regular iPhone or Android phone.
So far I'm liking it. I am naturally inclined to feel hesitant about using this as my main phone and plugging in a SIM since it's custom, but I'm slowly making the transition.
Feel free to share any beginners advice or your own experience using GOS for the first time. Cheers!
Even if apps you use depend on play store one of the things you can do on GrapheneOS is temporarily disable it and only turn it back on when apps refuse to run, another option is just keeping those apps in a separate work profile.
all android phones can temporarily disable an app until you turn it back on.
No, that only applies to (some, not all) system apps. GrapheneOS allows this for all (including user-installed apps): https://grapheneos.org/features#user-installed-apps-can-be-disabled
adb shell pm disable-user PACKAGE_NAMEworked for me with Signal on a stock pixel
Sure you can do it through adb, but Graphene exposes this option in the settings. They also recommend against enabling developer settings and using adb for security reasons.
But you said "no" before... I was just showing that it is indeed possible with non-system apps.
Yeah you're right, I didn't think of adb while writing that comment. It's not possible through the settings is what I meant.
yes also including uaer apps: for example I can disable whatsapp by putting it in deep sleep and disabling its allowed network for extra measures, then it wont ring, wont update store version, wont recive calls, nor messages all while I'm online watching youtube for 2 hrs, then I can enable allow mock location and once online I'll appear in brussel. btw I all non-rooted Androids can but Apple Users cant do any of that with their phones
Not all of them can disable google play service apps
I would argue you shouldn't be using those apps in the first place since they all contain proprietary blobs (yes that includes Signal, see Molly-FOSS for a non-blobbed fork).
Molly also includes other useful features like database encryption and UnifiedPush support.
Yes but for me it is a non-starter for legal reasons because screenshots do not work with fingerprint lock turned on. I don't understand why the user cannot choose to enable this or not like other apps can (including Signal).
Absolutely, my suggestion was just for folks who have apps that still require play services, not everyone can avoid it, but you can minimize usage if you do need them.
Not google services