this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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I have been convinced to switch from apple, and i am soon purchasing a pixel 7 pro. I would then like to put a custom rom on it because i would:

  1. like to use foss more
  2. like to maintain better privacy than apple offers
  3. would enjoy the control over the system
  4. not like to ever touch google chrome

There are some limitations to what i can choose though, as i need the following to work:

  1. google apps like sheets/docs/classroom/youtube
  2. banking app (usaa specifically)
  3. play store (could be replaced)

Additionally i would like to keep the flashy camera stuff google talks about with the camera as i use the camera a fair bit. I have also heard that androids can have different UIs, so i would appreciate a nice looking one (i use gnome on my desktop for this reason alone). What ROMs would you guys recommend i choose?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

LineageOS is always a good bet, but using a custom ROM will require you to root, which breaks most banking apps.

From what you are looking for, I would say you might not need a custom ROM, as you have much greater control over your system compared to an iPhone already, and unlike iPhone where all browsers are variations of Safari, Firefox is available as an alternative without using a custom ROM.

UIs (called launchers) in Android are a matter of personal preference, a lot of people do like Pixel experience though.

I'd say get the P7P and use it as is for a couple of days before you decide if you want to use a custom ROM instead.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This is good advice, i will wait a few days. That being said, if i can get all my apps working and i do decide to go for it, how would lineageOS compare to something like GrapheneOS for example? what other kinds of things might i lose if i choose to use a custom ROM?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

You will lose Google services and will have to replace them with something called MicroG, an open source implementation.

I personally haven't done much custom ROMs, you may want to see if someone more knowledgeable on the topic will chime in here.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I've been using Lineage since it was called CyanogenMod (was maintainer for Samsung Tab S2). It is the cleanest rom I found. You'll need a gapps (google apps) source, but there is Nickgapps that gives a core set that only gives google store and the required services, so you can add whatever you want from the store.

I don't know GrpahenOS, but the only one even less bloated I know is AOSP, on which Lineage is based. You can add whatever you want, root is available via Magisk, which gives even more options. (Ad blocking via LSposed and MinMinGuard spring to mind)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

lineages is focused more on customisability and features and device longevity

grapheneos is focused on security and privacy

many features implemented in grapheneos has been upstreamed in aosp(base) android

one disadvantage of grapheneos' approach is it stops updating after vendor(google) stops updating the firmware as it considers the device depricated

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Will it receive updates after reflashing the stock ROM? Or is there another way? Through updating GrapheneOS?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't understand, can you clarify?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, I think I misunderstood your comment. I thought what you said was that after installing GrapheneOS, you wouldn't receive firmware updates from Google. What you actually said was, correct me if I'm wrong, that GrapheneOS will only be able to release updates for a device as long as Google itself does so, because they're based on Google's updates, right? Does this mean that other custom ROMS that are based on a different approach will be able to keep releasing updates for a device after Google stops at "EoL" after 7 years?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

yes, there are hardware security fixes and os security fixes

google only releases updates for 3-5 years, so grapheneos also supports that device for the same period

but others like lineageos just keep porting the os to older devices which no longer receive hardware security fixes as they also focus on device longevity

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Graphene os does not require root

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

but using a custom ROM will require you to root, which breaks most banking apps.

this is misinformation

installing a custom rom doesn't require root in fact, some custom roms advice you against it like divestos, grapheneos, calyxos and some more

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sorry if this is really basic, but what is rooting? What are the positives and negatives of it?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

rooting means gaining root access of android device

in Linux file systems, root is the base folder called / and then comes other folders

like(simplified) /Downloads/boku_no_pico means boku_no_pico is in downloads folder which is inside root

so now, in traditional android based os, there are some folders which are not permitted to be accessed like system folder and rooting means gaining access to that folder, which gives you access to modifying any property of the system

some negatives are that there are some crappy services who think rooting is only/mostly done by bad actors who are trying to abuse their services (basically Netflix, bank apps) so they try to block rooted users from using their services

but these dumb big tech employees can't even do one thing properly, hiding root is really easy once you get used to it, so now bad actors can still abuse their system and honest users suffer

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

basically, its like gaining superuser access on Linux (sudo su)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oops. You're right, my mistake, guess my information is a bit out of date.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

no problem :)

just accepting this made me happy

have a nice day!