Comment by madduci 2 days ago
I would be happy if any of the big phone makers will starting adopting LineageOS or GrapheneOS as the main operating system for some of their models.
Or just leave the possibility of easy unlock the phone and publish sources.
> I'm mostly happy with my GrapheneOS device - but it is absolutely not suitable for mass market.
What makes you say that? I run GrapheneOS on a Pixel and had to go through the relative simple flashing process, but if GOS came preinstalled on a device anybody familiar with Android (or even iOS) would be able to use it. Compatibility with Android apps is great too.
Off the top of my head:
Lots of banking apps don't work.
RCS has only just started working.
No "Find My Device" support.
Permissions model is difficult to understand - even I struggle with it.
Standard launcher has tiny icons which can't be adjusted.
Pop on to https://discuss.grapheneos.org/ and see the struggles which users have.
Most banking apps work on GrapheneOS. Around 10% ban using any alternate OS, but a small subset of those specifically permit GrapheneOS now in addition to Google certified devices with the stock OS.
It's nearly the same permission model as Android 16 beyond having Storage Scopes and Contact Scopes as easy to use alternatives with fine-grained control along with Sensors and Network toggles. It's otherwise the same.
If you're talking about the exploit protection features with toggles, that's not part of the permission model and the defaults don't break any apps without serious bugs. Apps with memory corruption bugs can be broken by the defaults, which only requires turning on the compatibility toggle for the app. People don't need to understand the finer grained settings.
The default 4x5 icon grid has the same icon sizes as the stock Pixel OS, which can't be adjusted there either.
The vast majority of issues people have with GrapheneOS are issues with Android and Android apps which are not specific to GrapheneOS.
What is the issue with the permission model. It's basically the AOSP permission model. The changes made by GrapheneOS is the user-facing toggle for the INTERNET permission, and the sensors permission.
If people do not want to interface with those features, they can simply skip them, and the permission model will be the exact same as it is on Android.
Given that Cyanogenmod was discontinued shortly after the OnePlus One released, it's hard to blame them.
GrapheneOS is partnered with a major Android OEM and working towards some of their future devices meeting our requirements and providing official GrapheneOS support. It won't be the main operating system, but it will be an officially supported option. Their current devices don't meet our requirements, but they're working towards meeting those for future devices.
BQ tried that with Cyanogen (the precursor to Lineage) https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/bq-aquaris-x5
As did WileyFox - https://www.xda-developers.com/wileyfox-to-issue-update-to-m...
They were both budget brands with niche offerings. For most people, the source of the OS is immaterial. There's very little competitive advantage to selling a forked OS, and a rather large downside in terms of support costs.
I'm mostly happy with my GrapheneOS device - but it is absolutely not suitable for mass market.