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GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

discuss.grapheneos.org

251–260 of 653 posts

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#251
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Desktop mode is new and exciting. This should have the full list; it's not a ton of changes, which speaks to how perfected Android has become. https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/06/Android-17...

New garbage collector could be pretty big.

But some of the garbage collector changes are also rolling out to older Android versions through a Play System Update.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/06/Android-17...

I'm not sure though if GrapheneOS gets mainline modules at all (most likely not).

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#252

I've been using Graphene on my Pixel 7a for about a year and I'm happy I made the switch. For sure it is a bit rougher than using Google's OS, but not enough to make me regret it. The main things I miss are (1) when I'm entering text I can't swipe left and right on the space bar to scroll the cursor left and right, and (2) the texting app doesn't just attach reaction emojis to a message -- it quotes the whole message…

I use GBoard on GrapheneOS. I just deny it network permission so it can't phone home.

I used to do this but I found it downloads needed language files in the background. So every time it updated, I would clear all the app data, open it again on something innocuous, like a text file, toggle each language I used. Not knowing how long it would take, I'd wait until each seemed to be behaving, then disable network permission. I still don't trust that it doesn't send data off via Play Services.

Now I use Heliboard with the swiping library added. It's not perfect, but has improved, and at least it can give more than three correction options (long–press centre suggestion with ellipsis below).

I really miss Keymonk — two–finger swiping, accurate, and no crap.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#253
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too, liked it. However, some apps that I need for work, like Microsoft Authenticator, no longer work under GrapheneOS. https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2026/03/10/microsoft-tig...

Graphene is NOT a jailbroken/rooted OS, its a real secure unrooted, bootloader locked OS, and MS Authenticotor works just fine. If anything does not work its related to dependency of the App maker on a certain attestation google play services grapheneos.org/articles/attestation-compatibility-guide

Root =/= insecure. You probably have administrator access on your home computer operating system, and can very likely do online banking via the web browser with no issues. A secure API is possible regardless of the host metal, operating system, or user permissions.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#254

I have two questions, if anyone has any advice. 1) What's a reasonable Pixel phone to buy to try out GrapheneOS? Is a 128GB Pixel 7 "good enough" or will I get a significantly better experience with a newer phone and/or more storage? 2) Is there a Graphene alternative that would let me de-google an Samsung A12? Back in the day I had some Galaxy S3 and S4 phones that I installed Lineage on, I have no idea if that's co…

1) I'm typing this in a pixel 7 pro running grapheneos. I'd say these are plenty good enough. Device support is pretty solid compared to cyanogenmod of previous times. App installation is a bit slow using sandboxed play store. Not sure why that is.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I got a new phone last year, I purposely got a Pixel (open box 9a) to put GrapheneOS on it immediately. Been happy living the de-Googled Android life since. I was sad that I had to go through the OOBE setup on the stock image to unlock the bootloader. At least it doesn't force an internet connection and login, unlike Windows.

While the OOBE of the stock image doesn't force an Internet connection, the ability to unlock the bootloader does - whether you can do it or not depends on the phone manufacturer's desire, and Android for some reason uses an Internet connection to check that. My understanding is that it is impossible to unlock the bootloader on a new recent (Android 7+ at least; possiblt earlier) Android phone until it has connected…

Yep, on older phones it was certainly possible without an Internet connection.

On the Nexus 5, you could just `fastboot oem unlock` right out of the box, install TWRP (custom "recovery") and install CyanogenMod/LienageOS, without ever booting the stock ROM.

On my Moto G4 Play and Moto X4, you had to get an unlock code from the Motorola website (based on the phone serial number I think) and waive some warranty terms, but once retrieved at least the phone didn't need to be online to unlock the bootloader.

The process on the newer Pixels is disappointingly intrusive, like basically everything Google has done for the last decade.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#256
post #78
post #62

What does it mean for an OS to be ported to another OS? Do they mean "ported to devices that support Android"?

Android makes yearly releases. It is developed in cathedral-style. Google releases the source as a single big update. GrapheneOS is a fork. They need to port their customizations and extra software on top of the new release.

Every six months, not yearly. Google releases the major version and QPR2 as part of AOSP. QPR1 and QPR3 are Pixel-only.

Since they switched to QPRs and Pixel drops, major releases have become less important because feature roll out throughout the year. It's just that nobody outside GrapheneOS and Samsung (to my knowledge) rolls out QPR2, so for non-Pixel/Samsung, the major releases are... major.

I think another major source of work for GrapheneOS is when Google releases QPR1 and QPR3, because GrapheneOS had to rebase the driver/firmware changes on top of QPR0/QPR2.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#257
post #20
post #12

I've been running GrapheneOS for 7 months now and I'm not going back. When I bought my Pixel 10 last year, I wasn't actually planning on trying Graphene for a while....until I noticed Google had force bundled a 'Wicked For Good' movie promo theme with the latest security update.

Ha! Me too! Exact same. Bought a Pixel 10. Intended to do the default Android for a while. But it was filled with ads for “Wicked” which had me looking at my phone with a sneer on my face I couldn't erase - as if someone had smeared feces all over it and threw it on my bed. So I jumped straight to GrapheneOS, which was way easier and less extreme than I had been warned. So beautifully minimal, with no crap. Now my ph…

What about banking Apps? No problem there?

Some of them have ridiculous secur... compliance rules.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#258
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it need its own F-droid repo?

Because the code is not provided under a free/open-source license, and therefore does not meet the requirements for the main F-droid repo.

Ah interesting. They use the "FUTO source first" license. https://github.com/futo-org/android-keyboard/blob/master/LIC...

Open source with limitations on commercial use.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#259

I have two questions, if anyone has any advice. 1) What's a reasonable Pixel phone to buy to try out GrapheneOS? Is a 128GB Pixel 7 "good enough" or will I get a significantly better experience with a newer phone and/or more storage? 2) Is there a Graphene alternative that would let me de-google an Samsung A12? Back in the day I had some Galaxy S3 and S4 phones that I installed Lineage on, I have no idea if that's co…

I would suggest Pixel 8 series or later, since they get 7 years (instead of 5) of updates, which is also decisive for Graphene support duration.

Re: GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17

#260
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's any consolation, the wipe* requirement before unlocking the bootloader is generally a good thing, even if it's inconvenient. Someone who is targeting your personal data gets access to your encrypted phone, either by stealing it or in an evil maid situation. They unlock the bootloader and install privileged code that helps them recover the symmetric encryption key or intercept your PIN. Then they either have y…

AFAIK you can't unlock bootloader without wiping the data, that's my experience from last 15 years unlocking bootloaders on various phones so it's kinda pointless to wipe data prior wiping them again during the bootloader unlocking process

We're saying the same thing. The bootloader unlocking process includes a step that destroys the FDE key.
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