- cross-posted to:
- privacy@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- privacy@programming.dev
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Any non Google phone running graphene would be epic.
Having a vendor explicitly supporting it…epic is an understatement.
I had completely forgotten Lenovo bought Motorola from Google some 10 years ago. Honestly haven’t seen a Motorola phone in at least that long …
This is great news. While I still think we should make a push towards Linux phones being mainstream so that we don’t keep this duopoly on OSes, it’s nice to know that at least one manufacturer is currently defying googles obvious goal of suppressing third party ROMs and marketplaces.
Can someone ELI5 me what’s so special about Google’s SoCs that no other manufacturer could do (preferably citing sources not involved)?
I still find it weird that a major manufacturer would bother with a ROM.Being able to lock the bootloader with custom keys. Major OEMs do not want people to bypass their backdoors. Google signalled they will shift away from it too so Motorola is a welcome addition
That’s nice, but how much will those phones cost? Will GrapheneOS be an option on the low end devices or will they only support “some” devices, which happen cost as much as a Pixel anyway?
Pixels have hardware documentation and are directly supported by Android, making them possible for the GrapheneOS dev community to support. Good luck doing that on a Samsung.
Motorola is doing good here. Also, buy a used Pixel 8, you’ll have almost three years of support left.
That’s the thing, even used Pixels are almost twice the price of what I paid for my new phone.
Back when I bought my phone I considered that route. but then since I can’t replace the batteries on new phones without risking destroying the device. And there’s a big probability that the phone comes with an almost dying battery.
I also understand that GrapheneOS can’t be installed on any “unlocked” phone, it needs to be OEM unlocked and most sellers don’t know/specify, so ended up considering too expensive and too much of a risk.
Pick your poison. Want cheap? Be tracked. Want privacy? Pay the price.
“Hello Moto” (iust my first, unfiltered thought)
They spotted an opportunity
I actually bought a new Motorola phone 2 months ago precisely because i wanted a phone with an unlockable bootloader, and motorola delivered that.
Vote with your wallet.
Just wanted to echo the vote with your wallet sentiment. It’s the only power we have!
I think most people here don’t really understand what’s going on here. Graphene OS is an Android mod with some extra security features designed to run on a hardened hardware. The main goal of Graphene OS is to protect users from some very specific attacks like some devices police uses to unlock phones or some targeted hacks by state actors. Unless you’re worried you may be targeted by such an attack and have some date you need to protect from them you don’t really need Graphene OS. You can run any of the other deGoogles Android mods on any hardware that supports it. You can already buy phones with pre-installed /e/ of iode ROMs. Many other phones support Lineage OS. Also, let’s keep in mind that GrapheneOS only supports Pixel because they don’t want to allow people to run their OS on hardware they don’t think is secure enough. It’s their choice not to support other phones.
Also, Google still controls AOSP so this does not solve any of the bigger Android issues. Motorola forking AOSP and providing the resourced needed to keep the development going would be amazing news. This is just one phone maker promising to fulfill the security requirements of Graphene OS. It’s basically like Dell offering Ubuntu laptops. Good news but it will not have a big impact on the ecosystem.
Nice try officer.
If you’re worried about police getting your data you’re already using GrapheneOS on a Pixel device. This is good news for you because you will have more options when changing phones in the future but not really a game changer in any way.
Reproducible builds and lack of telemetry, plus hardening against compromise (by any actors) is my personal use case. I only run free/libre infrastructure privately, and hope to move on to open/libre hardware in future.
But how is that significantly more secure than LineageOS? I have read through countless blog posts from GrapheneOS developers and have not yet encountered an explanation that is sufficiently convincing. Outside of additional security hardening, which is definitely a big pro, GrapheneOS doesn’t have many things that LineageOS doesn’t. LineageOS is fully FOSS and telemetry-free. They introduced the “Trust” control panel for managing all sorts of privacy and security matters. They have PIN scramble.
The only major, obvious security vulnerability lies in the proprietary driver blobs from the device vendors / OEMs. But AFAIK Google Pixels also have those, right? So outside of doubtlessly valuable measures like restricting malicious reprogramming / access through the USB port, in what ways is GrapheneOS actually more secure than LineageOS?
in what ways is GrapheneOS actually more secure than LineageOS?
In many ways. This document provides a detailed overview of Graphene’s unique features, and is worth a skim even if you’re unfamiliar with some of the jargon.
My very reductive summary is that Lineage is primarily focused on reviving and bringing modern features to old devices, whereas Graphene is focused on hardening the security of AOSP as much as possible.
Both are de-Googled. Lineage is good for e-waste prevention, but not security. You will never be able to secure a device that can’t receive kernel updates because the OEM abandoned it, and “state actors” are certainly not the only people who can exploit those vulnerabilities.
If you live in the united states, then you DO need protection against police and state attacks.
I never said you don’t. I’m saying that if you DO need it you should be running GrapheneOS on a Pixel already. If you can wait a year or two until this phone comes out it’s clearly not a “must have” for you.
Fair point. I really do wish it were more than “Pixel, or MotorolaSoonTM” for hardware choices. Who knows, though. Maybe other manufacturers will join the party.
