Your data has monetary value to google. Giving them access, without getting any money from them (or even knowing what ways it will be used) is not something you must do.

To be fair, while you may not be getting money in its direct form (cash, bank deposit, etc) from Google, they are providing you a service which costs them money for free. So they are providing something of monetary value.

Only the individual can determine if their data is worth that free (to the individual, not free to Google) service. I’m assuming that most people in a privacy community would be against that, though.

I have no idea how to make beer…

How to Make Your Own Beer

Graphene OS is not a good source of information.

They’re not a good source of information on Android security? Granted, they’re not perfect, but they are one of the leading teams in terms of Android security. I call BS on anyone calling GrapheneOS a bad source of information for Android security lol.

News regarding vulnerabilities reported to Google and physical attack roadmap

Improvements to factory resets by Google due to reports by GrapheneOS

The main thing they have going against them is the currently small list of apps, and it won’t grow unless people become aware of it and ask devs to put their apps there.

As for “not as open,” can you clarify what you mean? Yes, Accrescent does have “certain minimum requirements for all apps submitted to it to ensure the privacy and security of its users.” Is that what you mean,to loosen that? https://accrescent.app/docs/guide/appendix/requirements.html

Or “just get it from Accrescent and be done with it?” Are you implying if you get it from Accrescent, you’re somehow not done with it? Sorry, I don’t follow your logic.

Also, no thanks on F-Droid as GrapheneOS recommends against and there are multiple security issues:

F-Droid has far too many security and trust issues for us to recommend it. The vast majority of apps in the official F-Droid repository are built on their sketchy infrastructure and signed with their own keys. We’re concerned about a future mass compromise of F-Droid users.

https://x.com/GrapheneOS/status/1803185925112934533

https://privsec.dev/posts/android/f-droid-security-issues/

A grapheneos community member is just a random person

A random person that is mentioned specifically by the official GrapheneOS account, not to mention that GrapheneOS has said Accrescent is their recommended app store above F-Droid. Maybe Accrescent dev is not a GrapheneOS core dev, but still a step up, with more credibility, than just “a random person.”

Organic Maps is also available via https://accrescent.app/ which is developed by a GrapheneOS community member and even hosted in the GrapheneOS App Store.

Accrescent is a private and secure Android app store built with modern features in mind. It aims to provide a developer-friendly platform and pleasant user experience while enforcing modern security and privacy practices and offering robust validity guarantees for installed apps.

Accrescent comes from within the GrapheneOS community and we’re collaborating together.

https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/112821386750410102

I don’t even use proprietary apps so most if the “security features” aren’t even useful to me

So only proprietary apps may have malware? Malware aside, only proprietary apps may have bugs that can be exploited? And all nonproprietary apps are perfectly safe? But seriously, there is so much wrong with that thinking.

Apps aside, GrapheneOS protects the actual OS and is kept up to date, much quicker than pretty much any other variant.

It is overly complex for no benefit to me.

What’s overly complex? Contact and storage scope I mentioned? You don’t have to use it. Separate profiles for work I mentioned? Again, don’t have to use it. GrapheneOS is one of the closest OSes to AOSP that I’ve seen. You could even just install the Play Store (which is in a sandbox by default, with no root, and you don’t have to do anything to specify that), only use the owner profile, and you get all of the security benefits with no extra work. You introducing F-Droid and using all nonproprietary apps is more complex than GrapheneOS out of the box.

Graphene sucks the life of android in my humble option.

What’s not “fun” or lifeless about it? It’s a phone. I use it exactly as I would a normal Pixel, with the exception of having the convenience of Google Wallet.

Everything is about security with anything else being second.

Would you rather it be all about fun/having life with everything else being second? That doesn’t sound safe. And I’m still confused about you saying it having no life.

I will say what I do differently vs a normal Pixel, is I use the storage scopes and lock certain apps to certain folders as well as contact scopes to lock certain apps to only see certain people. I don’t use my phone for work, but if I did, that would be a separate profile/user.

With Graphene, the recommended way is to use separate profiles, not Shelter or similar apps. Check out the official Graphene account on their forum:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/12503-shelter-versus-native-gos-app-isolation-tradeoffs/10

They are expensive

Sometimes you get what you pay for, and…

I don’t want to give money to Google

I get that, but your purchase (the entire Pixel department, to be honest) is a drop in the ocean to their profits. They won’t notice you not buying one at all. You’re handicapping yourself in the mobile security arena (not being able to install GrapheneOS) to take the high ground and not effect a tech giant.

That aside, if you really don’t want to give Google, buy one from a reseller and not from the Google Store.

• The video is a return to the creator’s previous “Top 5 Linux Apps” monthly series, which was popular in the past.
• The first app highlighted is Boxy, a graphic design tool for creating SVG images and logos, with a user-friendly interface compared to more complex tools like Inkscape.
• The second app is Eyedropper, a color picker tool that works well in Wayland environments and allows users to get color codes in various formats.
• The third app is Iotas, a simple, GTK-based note-taking app with Nextcloud integration, focused on basic note-taking functionality without advanced features.
• The fourth app is Plexamp, an electron-based desktop music player that provides access to the user’s Plex music library.
• The fifth app is Sigil, a niche tool for editing metadata in eBook (EPUB) files, particularly useful for adding series information to support self-hosted ebook platforms like Calibre.
• The creator acknowledges that Sigil has some quirks, working better in KDE than GNOME environments.
• The creator encourages viewers to provide suggestions for future “Top 5 Linux Apps” videos in the comments.
• The creator provides links to their social media and support platforms, including Mastodon, Odyssey, and Patreon.
• The overall tone is one of enthusiasm for sharing useful Linux applications with the audience, while also acknowledging the niche nature of some of the recommendations.

Courtesy of Kagi’s Universal Summarizer.

Nope, I’m out.

From the person you replied to, emphasis mine:

You could also start with just one of these

Do they all really? I know GrapheneOS does, and I think DivestOS even says “use my OS to stay as up to date as possible, but if you have a current/supported Pixel, use GrapheneOS instead for superior security.” But I don’t recall other OSes really going “we’re more secure than GrapheneOS and here’s why.”

if used for work…Features? Don’t care.

Most organizations care about maintaining document compatibility, especially formatting, and that usually means Office365. Microsoft is notorious for publishing a standard and then ignoring their own standard, making it exceedingly difficult to use other office suites.

I’ve heard OnlyOffice does the best at maintaining compatibility.

• Mainstream cloud storage providers like Google Drive and iCloud have access to users’ files, posing privacy and security risks.
• Nextcloud is the preferred secure cloud storage option, but has drawbacks like the need for technical expertise to self-host and issues with end-to-end encryption.
• Filen is a user-friendly secure cloud storage option, but has some concerns around encryption implementation.
• Mega offers a large free storage plan, but has had past security issues and controversies.
• Proton’s secure cloud storage is part of their broader privacy-focused ecosystem, but has some app and feature inconsistencies.
• Cryptomator is a useful tool to add an extra layer of encryption to any cloud storage service.
• Apple’s Advanced Data Protection is a proprietary solution that lacks transparency compared to open-source alternatives.
• It’s important to weigh the risks versus benefits when choosing a cloud storage provider based on the sensitivity of the data.
• Switching to a more secure and privacy-focused cloud storage option is worthwhile, even for non-sensitive data.
• The article encourages users to take steps to improve their cloud storage privacy and security, rather than relying on mainstream providers by default.

Courtesy of Kagi’s Universal Summarizer’s Key Moments.