A free OS that allows you to install Google services but doesn’t let anyone access your data.
In recent months, I’ve noticed a particular enthusiasm—in a small tech circle, it must be said—for GrapheneOS. The hype is such that some optimists are selling smartphones with this OS at exorbitant prices. For example, a used Pixel 6a with GrapheneOS installed costs $450.
After seeing so much excitement, I wanted to learn about GrapheneOS, how to install it, and its advantages over my smartphone’s ROM, a slightly outdated Google Pixel 6 that still works.
What Is GrapheneOS?
According to its developers, GrapheneOS is a “privacy and security-focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility developed as a non-profit open source project.” It was born in 2024 as CopperheadOS, and its primary goal is to strengthen the system’s security and privacy as much as possible.
There are no Google services if you don’t want them. The installed apps are the minimum necessary for the smartphone to function. In other words, the intention is to start from the Android source code (AOSP) to create a system that’s as secure and private as possible, avoiding the constant data collection that Google engages in with its apps and services. If you need Google Play services, you can install them in the simplest way possible, through the Google Services Framework and Google Play Store.
GrapheneOS promises improvements in memory encryption, with a unique key for each system user. It also removes the processes and apps pre-installed by Google to make Android more compatible with carrier networks.
The system has a compatibility layer that allows users to install and use the official versions of Google Play from the GrapheneOS App Store itself (it’s not a regular store, it only has basic apps).
The big difference when compared with known ROMs is that in GrapheneOS, Google Play doesn’t get exclusive access or system privileges. Google Play works like any other app without being able to “get into” the essential parts of the OS. GrapheneOS doesn’t use Google Play in the background, even when you install it.
These are some of the improvements this system proposes over Android: restrictions so that apps cannot monitor our network connections, baseband isolation (in this way, your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections are isolated processes in the system), and code audited by external security researchers. Check out the complete list here.
GrapheneOS Compatible Smartphones
GrapheneOS has official production support for the following devices:
- Pixel 9 Pro XL
- Pixel 9 Pro
- Pixel 9
- Pixel 8a
- Pixel 8 Pro
- Pixel 8
- Google Pixel Fold
- Google Pixel Tablet
- Pixel 7a
- Pixel 7 Pro
- Pixel 7
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel 6
- Pixel 6
- Pixel 5a
As you can see, GrapheneOS is only compatible with Google Pixel smartphones. Its developers explain that while many other devices may be compatible at the source code level, they’re looking for a system with minimal modifications. The Pixels require the fewest changes to run this AOSP-based system and provide the highest-quality support.
GrapheneOS can only provide complete security updates to a device as long as the OEM—the original manufacturer—releases them. In other words, with GrapheneOS, you’ll have the same support as with Google: seven years starting with the Pixel 8 and five years of security patches in the case of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7.
How to Install GrapheneOS
Surprisingly, installing GrapheneOS is much easier than installing any other ROM. You don’t need to carry out a custom recovery or download a .zip archive with the ROM, another one with the Google Apps, and pray for the system to boot. You can perform the entire process through a web installer.
You have to unlock the bootloader, connect the Pixel smartphone to the computer, and follow the steps. There’s no need to touch the device at any point—GrapheneOS does everything automatically once connected. The process doesn’t take more than 10 minutes. However, I recommend installing it only if you have minimum experience in changing ROMs.
You can perform a sideload if you want to return to the previous ROM.
Testing GrapheneOS
GrapheneOS is minimalist to the extreme. It doesn’t even have a wallpaper. These are the installed apps:
- Settings
- App Store
- Files
- Auditor
- Calculator
- Camera
- Contacts
- Photo Gallery
- ROM Information
- Messages
- PDF Viewer
- Watch
- Mobile Phone
- Vanadium (own browser based on Chromium).
In its App Store, you can download Google services, Android Auto, and Google Markup, the image editor for Pixel smartphones. This app isn’t in the Play Store, so GrapheneOS provides a direct link with automatic updates. Of course, the gallery is the AOSP one, not Google Photos.
There are some interesting changes to improve security in Settings. For example, Security and Privacy has a section called “Exploit Detection.” You can also access the system log from Settings to see what’s happening in your ROM.
In this section, you’ll find an option to restart your smartphone automatically after several hours. You can also allow the device to charge only when it’s locked and turn off the USB-C port—a perfect option if someone accesses your phone and wants to steal or add data through the port. In addition, you can automatically turn off features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and others.
You can also configure the GrapheneOS servers to do the network connection checks on your device instead of Google’s. This option will give you maximum system protection. Since GrapheneOS updates go hand in hand with Google’s, the latest stable version relies on Android 14.
The main drawback I’ve found with GrapheneOS is that, at least natively, users lose some of the magic of the Pixels smartphones. Goodbye AI features, goodbye Google Photos, goodbye Google Camera. You can install all those Google apps, of course, but you’ll lose the system privacy that GrapheneOS offers.
In short, GrapheneOS is a system for pure Android lovers and those who are still in love with Android but don’t want Google’s claws in their smartphone.
Images | Xataka On
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