GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard

Post by george_perez » Sun, Sep 06, 2026, 10:13 PM UTC

fc417fc802 wrote: post #14

exceptione wrote: post #6

> RCS isn't an open platform in practice. It isn't even as open as SMS/MMS. It heavily depends on proprietary Google and carrier infrastructure in practice. We can start by replicating Google's approach and then we can work on only using carrier services for carriers where it's actually supported. What is the point of RCS though? It seems to be strictly inferior to Signal. It seems a Google product meant to serve Goo…

The point of the exercise is for Google and Apple to maintain control over the ecosystem. RCS is technically superior (protocol, transport, security, all of it) but is captured from the start on the technical level by design by the big players. From the perspective of the vast majority of users who have very limited technical awareness, it was silently slipped in as an upgrade at one point or another. This means that…

Post by graemep » Sun, Sep 06, 2026, 10:23 PM UTC

HybridStatAnim8 wrote: post #17

andrepd wrote: post #13

There are excellent FOSS gallery apps already, like the Fossify suite. Why not use them I wonder?

Their license is invalid due to being GPLv3. GPLv3 cannot be included in GrapheneOS as that would necessitate GrapheneOS give up their permissive licensing. Refra Gallery is licensed as Apache 2.0, which is a permissive license GrapheneOS can bundle in the OS.

Post by anon7000 » Sun, Sep 06, 2026, 10:33 PM UTC

george_perez wrote: post #21

fc417fc802 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of the exercise is for Google and Apple to maintain control over the ecosystem. RCS is technically superior (protocol, transport, security, all of it) but is captured from the start on the technical level by design by the big players. From the perspective of the vast majority of users who have very limited technical awareness, it was silently slipped in as an upgrade at one point or another. This means that…

Eh, I don’t think you have to include Apple here. If it were up to them, the iPhone would still have zero RCS support right now. The current implementation of RCS, even in iOS 27 beta, is clunky. To me, the only they’re trying to maintain control of is AppleOS-to-AppleOS text communication.

Post by minitech » Sun, Sep 06, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #26

Ctrl+f clipboard, no results. What does "Secure Clipboard" in the title refer to? The release seems to be only the SMS/RCS app, rest is future: > We're also going to be overhauling or fully replacing the rest of the AOSP apps in the near future. AOSP Gallery is incredibly outdated and is being entirely replaced. AOSP Keyboard may be similar. We recently hired a bunch of new people and will be hiring more so our progr…

Post by annzabelle » Sun, Sep 06, 2026, 10:41 PM UTC

exceptione wrote: post #24

HybridStatAnim8 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is to access an e2ee protocol bundled by default on many devices, and is cross-platform. GrapheneOS does recommend using superior platforms like Signal, but that is 3rd party, and thus has adoptability issues in convincing people to use it. Just because better platforms exist does not mean RCS should be ignored.

Thanks for clarification. Anything first party from Big Tech is a lost cause privacy wise. At the same time, nobody uses it (maybe that is different in the USA, don't know). So for me this would be ultra-low prio as I (and I expect almost every other GOS user) will never use it. But I believe GOS knows what it is doing.