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wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 4 months agoThe graphene camera app is, honestly, hot garbage. At least it was when I switched like 3 years ago. I just use the Google camera with no internet access to it (permission) and bam, great photos, no data sharing.
Tangent5280@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Can you use google camera when you’re running graphene? How? I love the image quality on the pixel but dislike google way too much to use a google phone.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Yeah, it’s just an app, installed from the play store or sideloaded. It detects that it’s a pixel and the extra features get enabled like when installed on stock.
You lose the ability to preview your pictures from the camera when you don’t have google photos installed, but that’s true of stock too - and can be fixed by a stub app that pretends to be google photis, but simply reenables that camera shot preview. Be sure to disable auto updates for “g photos” so it doesn’t complain about a mismatched app.
I used to be all-in on G - devices, software, services. I even got to ride in a waymo vehicle during development and testing (under nda), a friend worked at waymo for several years (I helped him get the job!), and I was participating in studies for both hardware and software for G (also nda). Starting with… 2017, I bought a nas and started migrating to it. It’s not a quick process and there’s a definite learning curve, but I’ve been largely out of the G ecosystem since… 2019? I still buy my phones via the G store, and pay with the store line of credit. Still upload stuff to YouTube, I am a local guide on Maps too. But contacts, calendar, gmail, drive/photos, domains… I’m free, my data is on my hardware in my possession, or at least under my control (domain, email).
GrapheneOS isn’t perfect, but it’s close. My Pixel Watch works with it, they got Android Auto working a couple weeks ago. The only broken app I have is PayPal, and it was working previously, so I think it’s a pp issue and not graphene - regardless it’s a small inconvenience. If you get a day or two and feel ambitious, give it a go. It’s more work, absolutely, but it’s more control and privacy.
Tangent5280@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Thanks for the detailed reply. I am planning to test drive GrapheneOS. The things making me doubt the switch is basically my payment applications (I do nearly all my payments via Gpay or similar apps), my camera, and compatibility with my fitness app (Garmin Connect). Other than that I don’t really have any worries. I suck at changing my routines so the change-over period might be painful but I’m thinking of carrying around two phones during it to reduce the effects, though I don’t know if that is good or bad for quicker transitioning.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Ooh, that’s a showstopper - nfc and other physical card payments through gpay don’t work, as graphene is not recognized as a g partner and is not given the necessary clearance; they are viewed by g as any other custom rom maker, not a manufacturer. One of many: …grapheneos.org/…/9226-graphene-os-features
Android Auto was seen as impossible for several years, and is now available, but I’m not sure if gpay can be handled the same way. Assume that it is never going to be available, and a pleasant surprise if it changes.
I have not tested other nfs/cardless payment apps, so I won’t give you false hope on that front.
If you use the Google camera app: everything works. I have not heard of any camera issues at all, with any apps; that’s not to say “literally everything works” in that category of other apps, but I’d be optimistic. I could install others and report back.
Garmin Connect launches and let me get to the registration page.
It takes me a few hours to switch from one device to another, as I take the time to backup the outgoing, restore to the new, go through all the system settings, setup my watch, install obsidian (foss app using Github etc as the repo for direct from developer updates) and restore+install all apps, open them individually, set all settings for all apps, then do gplay apps, restore, open, check settings…
Which takes quite a while when I’m physically disabled (slow to type in credentials and stuff especially), and run my own server for data and services (example, I need my passwords for X app, I need to install bitwarden first, I need to use my custom domain to connect to the server, I need to login, apply my usual app settings, now I can grab the password…). Switching devices is far and away still the most painful part about leaving stock. But I do it all in one go, because otherwise I’ll forget stuff for the next week or so, and because I use my phone for everything - clock, calendar, email, medications management, maps, location sharing, media consumption, IoT control, banking, network admin… I can’t have downtime, it’d drive me mad and would cause issues.
But once I have that all set up… It’s great. I used to hop between roms a decade+ ago, and that was fun and exciting, but at this point I need it to work, reliably. This fits both checkboxes ☑.