Need help - Pixel 8A ( Stock OS ) (lemmy.today)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey there all.

I have recently had my Phone repaired by EE.

It had a Black screen of death.

The phone is a Pixel 8A. I Would rather not flash any other custom rom onto this phone, and I'd rather just stick with plain android, that it came with.

I already went through e/os and failed to install, but used GrapheneOs & Calyxos for a while.

I found. agood DNS service online. The DNS service is DeCloudJs .

I want to know if I stick with this dns what other methods can I use to make this phone a Hardened phone. A privacy friendly phone. A safe phone.

What are my best options, and settings, etc?

With DeCloudUs DNS is this enough? Even if on stock?

Thank you.

https://decloudus.com/

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[-] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

That would be no. Even if you use ADB to remove bunch of packages that make connections you still can't be sure if you will have privacy since stock ROM is proprietary. DNS can block some connections but Android and apps can use their own DNS if they want so it also depends.

If question was about security then yes, sticking with stock ROM is usually more secure although many argue that GrapheneOS holds highest security standard. DNS can also improve security since it can block malicious domains, that depends which DNS provider you're using.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

In this vein, Google LOVES to hardcode their DNS into their apps. So, like you said, even if you use a different DNS provider, your phone will still be hitting Google servers.

Graphene is the way.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

My Chromecast will ignore my network DNS and use 8.8.8.8.

Google's services will also ignore the system CA certs and use their own, so it's really difficult to inspect what it's transmitting.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

@AmbiguousProps what vpn should I use in this phone ( Pixel 8a ) if I flash Grapheneos onto it?

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

People have said Mullvad and I'd agree with them despite never having used it. Only thing it lacks is port forwarding, but if you don't plan to torrent much that won't matter.

I use Proton, it works great and has port forwarding. A board member has created controversy (praised Trump), but the company is non-profit so there's that.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Another vote for Mullvad.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I use Mullvad.

this post was submitted on 19 May 2025

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