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Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

discuss.grapheneos.org

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Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#61

Post by jasonvorhe »

leoedin wrote: post #37
AJRF wrote: post #23

I don't know how large a group who will do this is - but if the UK bans VPNs I can see Graphene having a very large target on its back. - Buy Pixel, Get Graphene - Use FDroid, don't sign up for Google Play, download Tor browser - Censorship resistant access to the internet without handing over your ID. Pixel being a fairly popular phone in the UK is the interesting bit - if you had to buy some niche device I couldn't…

There must be 10s of millions of x86 PCs with unlocked bioses in the UK. The issue won't be running an open device. The problem is software - what does someone running Linux do if the government mandates online services require proprietary attestation APIs? It's scary how quickly the banning is moving. The problem is what happens next. When they realise that banning things doesn't really work. The next logical step i…

Don't use those services. You're not gonna miss most of the crap after a few weeks anyways. Everything else is consent.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#62

Post by jasonvorhe »

LightBug1 wrote: post #40
AJRF wrote: post #23

I don't know how large a group who will do this is - but if the UK bans VPNs I can see Graphene having a very large target on its back. - Buy Pixel, Get Graphene - Use FDroid, don't sign up for Google Play, download Tor browser - Censorship resistant access to the internet without handing over your ID. Pixel being a fairly popular phone in the UK is the interesting bit - if you had to buy some niche device I couldn't…

Who said the UK is going to ban VPN? Genuine question. That's news to me and I'm here.

They said so. "Nothing is off the table" was the quote, iirc.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#63

Post by bflesch »

mohamedkoubaa wrote: post #4

The solution is not to try to shame or force Volkswagen to support GrapheneOS, the solution is to (legally) force them to allow the car to run a custom CarOS, for which the community can write their own app

That's unacceptable, because intelligence needs a way to steer your car into oncoming traffic if required to do so due to confidential national security reasons.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#64

Post by fsflover »

ranger_danger wrote: post #3
warkdarrior wrote: post #2

Answer from VW: > Please note that the use of the Volkswagen app is only supported on iOS devices and Android devices with supported operating system versions. Is it time to mandate app developers support all operating systems for a device?

[flagged]

> If 97% of your users are on mainstream OSes, and the rest also account for disproportionately high numbers of bug reports, why should they bother supporting alternatives?

Because of those bug reports, very few may be specific to the non-mainstream OS? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28978086

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#65

Post by buggeryorkshire »

techdmn wrote: post #49
stymaar wrote: post #45

I hate that cars are every day more and more crammed with software, when car manufacturers can't seem to be able to make half-working code in the first place (looking at you Nissan, who just can't even put the correct timestamp on your GPS data points…)

My car won't let me flick the windshield wipers while the car is parked. I don't know why, maybe they think I'm throwing rain onto... already wet pedestrians? Similar problem with auto-folding mirrors. My mirror was frozen shut one day, and I didn't notice until I'd been driving for a few blocks (which is on me). Figured I'd just cycle the fold-unfold a few times to pop it free, but the button is disabled when the ca…

[dead]

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#66

Post by dylan604 »

Arainach wrote: post #10
mohamedkoubaa wrote: post #4

The solution is not to try to shame or force Volkswagen to support GrapheneOS, the solution is to (legally) force them to allow the car to run a custom CarOS, for which the community can write their own app

That's a non-starter in most countries. Since the car software is tied into a number of important safety features and regulated controls, custom operating systems will never be supported. There are already massive problems with people miswiring head units to play videos while driving and updating their ECU to spew pollution into the air. You're not going to convince any significant number of people that it's a good i…

> Since the car software is tied into a number of important safety features and regulated controls, custom operating systems will never be supported.

Then that's a poor design that should go the way of the dodo. Someone hacking the entertainment system should not be able to take over control of the engine. The entertainment system on planes do not allow one to hack into the autopilot. There should be no need for a firewall, they should have no shared wires between them.

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#67

Post by dylan604 »

Arainach wrote: post #29
dada216 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those two set of systems are separate and very distinct.

They're not. Use any car's heads up display and you can configure an enormous number of things. Even if there was somehow a pure separation, things such as "playing video while the car is moving" are regulated in many jurisdictions and would land firmly in the "UI" layer.

You can detect the car is in motion or not without talking to the engine computer. Just like my phone can tell I'm in motion without connecting to the car at all. You're trying to justify a bad design with bad reasoning

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#68

Post by spogbiper »

AJRF wrote: post #23

I don't know how large a group who will do this is - but if the UK bans VPNs I can see Graphene having a very large target on its back. - Buy Pixel, Get Graphene - Use FDroid, don't sign up for Google Play, download Tor browser - Censorship resistant access to the internet without handing over your ID. Pixel being a fairly popular phone in the UK is the interesting bit - if you had to buy some niche device I couldn't…

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-organized-crim...

“Every time we see a Google Pixel, we suspect it might belong to a drug dealer,” said a police official leading the anti-drug operation in Catalonia.."

Seems like some countries/areas are already targeting the Pixel (really its because of GrapheneOS)

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#69

Post by qrobit »

LostMyLogin wrote: post #48

Side note. Has anyone else noticed an uptick in GrapheneOS posts lately or am I crazy?

Sort of, there're more posts about graphene in the year 2026 & they get much more attention. Aggregated some data and plotted it with my agent: https://boop.icu/Pr.png

Re: Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users

#70

Post by moooo99 »

It is amazing how Volkswagen keeps messing up. I am currently in the market for a new car, an EV specifically. Volkswagen brands were at the top of my list for many reasons, among them the excellent driving assist implementation.

I got an offer from a dealer three weeks ago and was going to order the car, then the API for the community integration got turned off. I decided to hold back and see what comes from it. Now this, which ultimately - since I am a GrapheneOS user - makes me completely cancel my plans.

I really do not understand VWs thinking here. It would cost them little to nothing to continue not blocking the the inofficial API and not block GrapheneOS (or other non Play Protect androids) users. It would have no adverse effects on the average Joe, but it would gain a lot of support and enthusiasm from heavy users, differentiating from other brands. Not to mention the fact that it is the USERS data in the first place

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