this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2026
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Android

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[–] undu@discuss.tchncs.de 69 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

Shaming Google will only work for so long. Grapheme is is doomed to fail as long as it has a complete dependence on Google's whims.

Have they announced the pivot to a non-android platform? Being security-mind it is frankly bizarre they have long ignored the Google dependency as a huge risk for the project.

[–] im_fine_sandy@nord.pub 58 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

they have long ignored the Google dependency

What a silly thing to say.

I'm absolutely certain that no contributors, and extraordinarily few users, are ignoring the risks implied by the google dependency.

A pixel with Graphene is the best option for a daily driver for as long as it's viable. I expect that's everyone's understanding of the project.

I don't really see how this project can "pivot to a non-android platform", as I imagine none of their codebase can be transferred.

Sooner or later the project will become non-viable and we will all switch to whatever the best option is at that time.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Sooner or later the project will become non-viable and we will all switch to whatever the best option is at that time.

Or everybody who isn't Google will have to collaborate on a hard fork of AOSP.

Or some governments will have to finally break out of their oligarchic regulatory capture and step in with antitrust law.

[–] BlaestEgnen@feddit.dk 3 points 2 weeks ago

Biggest hope would be the French government to do stuff to help out Murena

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[–] Augmented1207@feddit.org 33 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Idk if i am missing someting, but what Plattform other than Android is suitable? Linux is just not there yet and people want a phone they can use easily, which graphene is and Linux is just not there yet i think

[–] undu@discuss.tchncs.de 22 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's exactly my point, there's none and GrapheneOS are not working to create a suitable one yet.

The time to start working on plan B is yesterday

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 11 points 2 weeks ago

Likely plan B is fork AOSP and crossport security fixes, such features as Google deigns to put in AOSP and so forth. They can do that at any time they choose, may as well wring as much work out of the big G as possible, later is better. Remember their focus is security, it just happens to benefit privacy as well.

Here's hoping they can hang on long enough that there's a viable hardened Linux phone to take the role.

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[–] asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world 22 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I will never understand this argument. Why in gods name would it be better for them to switch to a completely different OS like Linux and essentially have to destroy the entire ecosystem and start from scratch vs just hard forking current AOSP and maintaining it themselves?

[–] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

I agree, but to be fair, the current way involves completely obscured binary blobs for nearly every part of the hardware. Which is the main lock-in to be had on Android devices.

Even the pixel under GOS is using the proprietary device tree. There's no getting away from that unless you can RE the hardware and write your own drivers, which is impossibly hard for anything relatively current.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 weeks ago

i mean, i think there would be a lot of merit in maintaining a minimal linux platform that's basically just an android VM, that way it's basically infinitely easier to port to new devices and sandboxing becomes quite ironclad.

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[–] inari@piefed.zip 18 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

They don't particularly like Linux as a platform from a security standpoint:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49594106

[–] mmmm@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

But somehow Android, which is based on Linux, somehow checks those points for them...

The hipocrisy is too big to ignore and it's true, with that mindset of just wanting and waiting for someone else to do the hard work for them to just add patches here and there... they're doomed to fail.

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

I don't think you understand how different Android and Linux distributions truly are.

Linux alone refers to the kernel. There are custom AOSP kernels based on the Linux LTS versions with a few extra patches but that is basically all that connects Linux to Android.

But absolutely everything in userland is wholly diifferent in Android than with any Linux distribution out there.

And you can't just replicate what Android did on top of the Linux kernel without Google amounts of resources. Which GrapheneOS does not have in the slightest.

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[–] deltapi@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Maybe they need to look at haiku. :-p

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

How the fuck will words
Make any real difference
This is joke - please clap

[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Comedy is hard

Sometimes a joke just won't work

Clap clap clap clap cap

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[–] notSys@lemmy.cafe 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

AOSP is the most secure base. GrapheneOS focus is to be the most secure OS. Not to be the best open source mobile OS or even to be FLOSS.

Notice how they're complaining only about things that could improve security, not general usablity fixes.

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[–] PiraHxCx@lemmy.dbzer0.com 62 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

i bet that thing of google cutting security stuff for pixel11 was because the government complained about graphene making it unhackable

[–] AnotherHelldiver@jlai.lu 22 points 2 weeks ago

It's probable and now they aren't even hiding themselves anymore.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

According to Graphene they think it is cost cutting. Since it uses a lot of space.

[–] eleitl@lemmy.zip 36 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

But of course they would that. And it shouldn't take too long until Google makes Android completely proprietary.

[–] dewritoninja@pawb.social 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Can't wait for the android with a forked bsd kernel that self destructs if you install Firefox

[–] cobalt32@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago

A boycott-divest-sanction kernel? Hell yeah!

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[–] Jiral@lemmy.world 35 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Graphene's problem is that its very high firmware and other requirements mean they have to stand on the shoulders of giants. Their problem is that the giant is Google.

They would probably need huge resources to do that on their own, which is why they have to rely on the maintenance effort of some large company.

[–] NokkR6@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They announced a partnership with Motorola and said it will makes things better for them.

[–] Jiral@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Supposedly. Yet Motorola doesn't have the reputation to be frantical about their firmware and security updating. Also, they are not at the source either, Google is. That also adds delay. We will see how the partnership with Motorola will work out in practice.

[–] scott@lem.free.as 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Indubitably

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[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

It’s interesting to hear it has high hardware requirements. I didn’t know that. That sounds similar to the problem that also causes planned obsolescence in phones generally.

[–] Jiral@lemmy.world 28 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

High requirements not as in performance but hardware security feature. But that is the easy part as far as I understand. The difficult part is the requirement of super fast and constant security patching.

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago
[–] carrylex@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I really like reading some stuff like that from a website that summarises a few mastodon posts and additionally adds 10 ads and trackers.

How about posting the original source next time?

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[–] sanitation@lemmy.today 22 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Grateful for this graphene os team.
They are doing a great job.

Alienating google is not really a problem in my view, google is already alien and hostile to everyone so it changes nothing.

[–] kepix@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

ive seen the same news on reddit and lemmy. reddit was like "omg gimme that feature, even i dont use it, it is my right". lemmy is like "are you insane? just get a better platform, your dependency from google is going to kill you"

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[–] mlg@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

While my dream is to see something like PostMarketOS replace java junk Android someday, my immediate desire is to see Motorola kick Google's ass with GrapheneOS.

[–] dRLY@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If Moto doesn't fuck it up by not having multiple options at different price points (I want to be able to have a flagship that can last, but want to see people that need mid or low tier also have real options). Then I would love to have a real option for ditching Samsung after so long. I just need the camera to be on par with my S24U and to have at least 12GB of RAM to help lasting for years without the old days of just feeling so slow after two years for me. Really doesn't help that the RAM and NAND likely causing regressions while prices are the same or higher than stuff from last year.

But beyond those two personal wants, it will need for Moto to be in it for the long haul as the most important thing. Not just going back to only regular Android if this first release isn't popular with mainstream buyers. Which is what I fear happening if the folks at the top and shareholders don't see Samsung levels of sales.

[–] BlaestEgnen@feddit.dk 4 points 2 weeks ago

Samsung levels of sales?? Moto??

Nah, they'll just do like fairphone and let buyers decide between two OS's

[–] pirate2377@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I feel vindicated for pivoting to Ubuntu Touch. It's far from secure and is admittedly inferior to Android right now, but at least it has no dependence on Google. I kind of saw this coming the second they annouced closing down Android and making security fixes no longer open source

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[–] Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 weeks ago (17 children)

I don't understand why the GrapheneOS Foundation can't keep maintaining GOS on Pixel devices, while also collaborating with other manufacturers than just Motorola (which is a $77,000,000,000 multi-national corporation) towards more decentralized hardware that can serve their needs while also having the ability to be manufactured by multiple vendors in a white label way.

Relying on Google or Motorola for everything will eventually lead to the same issues, which is platform lock out. I have no confidence that the Motorola deal will fix everything forever.

I refuse to believe that the most secure OS can't be installed on the most OSH.

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[–] OldChicoAle@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Do the most evil or something like that

[–] heavy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I feel like this sort of friction is inevitable. Ideally we'd just move on from Android one day, but that's asking a lot. Not completely, but something that can still support Android apps.

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