So, I’m looking to maybe possibly use a more secure OS for my phone, and I’m torn between these two. I’m mainly looking at Privacy for my main concern, though security never hurts obviously, and also app compatibility and ease of use. I’m also considering a Fairphone for my next phone down the line, and I’d probably have to go with /e/OS for that, so would it be worth it to just go with that now? Or change later?
Tbh, I don’t like that e/os is a few months behind in security updates. But making claims about the developers’ intentions is just bad faith. And for that matter, a few months behind in updates is by no means good, but it isn’t as dramatic as it might seem. Normal people who don’t do illegal stuff or aren’t important journalists don’t really need the best security. The most important thing for them is not using Google by default. (Security and privacy are not the same.) Yes, Graphene is more secure, no question about that, but you also need to think about threat model and ease of use. So saying “Graphene = good, e/os = bad” is just wrong. Just generally: e/os:
graphene:
The whole debate about MicroG vs. sandboxed Google Play Services is another thing.
btw, I’m using Lineage on my Fairphone right now because I was quite annoyed with the slow updates by e/os and would probably use Graphene if it were available, but to say that e/os is malicious or anything else is not what is happening. They just cater to different groups of users.
👌 Second this. Owning a Pixel grants more options, just stick to whatever you’re more comfortable with. But don’t pay attention to anything anyone linked to GrapheneOS says on social media or forums. They’re very toxic, constantly defame other projects and never accept feedback. You’ve got a decent comparison on Eylenburg’s site. I’d go for Graphene on Pixels but going through all the new settings might be too much for some people who will feel more at home using any of the other options. CalyxOS will be out of service for presumably six months though.
I would like to bring attention to the fact that /e/OS is also sending voice information directly to OpenAI. I think Graphene does tend to blow things out of proportion, but I wouldn’t entirely trust Murena. Other projects are great though.