I was seriously considering getting an over priced pixel phone just so I could get graphene os, but then I discovered, that rooting it is impossible. Pity
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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Privacy
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GOS is great. Funny, I used to rom hop and distro hop a lot; but on GOS, I installed it once and so far so good (5+ months in).
Just some tips for new users: Just install it and dont be afraid to try things out (Google Store, profiles, Aurora...etc). Oh and dont make it tooooo complicate with many profiles and private space. You can test first but dont over do it if you're not experienced.
And no, I am not a dev from GOS lol. I'm an ordinary user who wants to take control of my phone.
I bought the 10 pro fold when it came out and flashed it to grapheneos right out of the box.
Also, break free from RCS and from participating in group chats with anyone you can't convince to move to another platform.
I daily drive grapheneOS, and wouldn't go back to iOS or Google-ed Android for anything, but it really sucked having to tell friends, family, and others I couldn't participate in our old group chats anymore.
I bought a pixel 10 because I wanted face unlock for contactless payments (level 3 biometric).
But from what I've read in the past, GrapheneOS doesn't work with most banking apps let alone payments.
Just tap the card and check your bank account via browser?
We've been doing electronic payment and banking without smartphones for decades...
If only something more than Pixels was supported.
SOON
™
Another reply did the thinking emoji face at biometrics and that’s good. Here’s why it’s worthwhile to never enable biometrics:
You don’t know when you’re going to be compelled to use them and you don’t drill on turning them off.
The whole point of no knock and other police tactics is to prevent you from keeping them from getting what they want. You can’t expect yourself to just never be surprised, that’s ridiculous. Turn biometrics off so getting surprised by the cops doesn’t immediately give them the keys to the castle!
No one drills enough, but let’s say you’re the one person who does drill enough on turning off biometrics: wouldn’t that practice time be better spent with biometrics off, drilling on shutting your phone down so they have to deal with its much more secure Before First Unlock state instead?
Turn off biometrics and practice turning your phone off.
I wonder is this something to actually worry about outside of the US?
Yes it absolutely is.
Every nation has a byzantine system of laws and codes enumerating different ways for police to violate the “rights” that nation has enshrined in law.
One way to avoid compelled speech (a “right” Americans have but other nations citizens might not) is to simply misremember your lock code as many times as it takes to trigger factory reset.
Americans don’t need to know that because they can’t be compelled to enter a passkey, but people in countries with no qualms about compelled speech like Germany would be well served by disabling biometrics so they have the option of lying and taking that hit instead of giving up their privacy.
Do your own research about your jurisdiction, but go ahead and turn off biometrics because it literally makes any group that can control your movement (which in English common law is the basis for the concept of “arrest”, and so likely a situation many different nationalities will face) access to your devices.
In my country police are known to torture people until they sign a confession written by them. So I don't think disabling biometrics will make a difference. But I've still done it.
Thanks, I plan on doing this when my phone dies. Just some questions:
A computer with a Chromium-based browser (e.g., Google Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi?). Unfortunately, I must recommend Windows 10/11 here, because then you don’t have to mess around with any drivers; it’s the simplest option.
This is the first I've read this, how much of a pain is it to use Linux instead? I don't have any Windows computers.
First of all, we need to make sure that our phone’s software is updated to the latest available version. For this purpose, we go to Settings -> System -> System update. If necessary, we update
How is this possible if the previous step skipped SIM and Wifi setup? I assume, if there's updates, to setup Wifi then proceed?
securing the phone with a fingerprint; I personally am an advocate of this solution...
Recommend not doing this for users in the USA, as police can compel you to unlock biometric locks. Yes, it's fucked up, that's what happens when octogenarian fascists run all three branches of your government.
This is the first I've read this, how much of a pain is it to use Linux instead? I don't have any Windows computers.
No issues at all. Not sure what drivers the author was referring to but using the web installer you pretty much just plug the phone in and click through some buttons.
I flashed my pixel to graphene on Linux without any issue. I used an arch based distro and temporarily installed Brave to perform the flash.
This is the first I’ve read this, how much of a pain is it to use Linux instead?
I flashed it on my 8a a couple of weeks ago using Chromium on EndeavourOS without issues.
I don't remember if I did my phone on Linux or windows, but depending on your Linux install you may or not have drivers pre installed. That's more of a result of Linux installing only what you need, vs windows installing everything someone might need.
As for wifi/updating, I don't see it as a necessary step on a new phone. However, for a new phone it may be worth loading the stock OS, and running with it for a day or 2 just to make sure everything (WiFi, battery life, cell, BT, etc) actually works before you go crazy troubleshooting a problem that was there out of the box.
Once you do get Graphene installed, you'll then want to check for any updates.
While having Finger print on/off is everyone's personal choice, it is pretty easy to lock down the phone. You can spam the wrong finger a few times and it will force the pin requirement or if you press and hold the power button a lockdown button appears, either way it only takes a few seconds.
Despite what the news would lead you to believe, most people aren't talking to police every day. That being said, if you are going to be in an area with high police presence, than turning off the finger print is 100% recommended.
GrapheneOS has guides for installing regardless of platform, here's the relevant page on their official site.
GrapheneOS supports a "duress password" that you can enter to lock up the phone and securely erase any data stored - it's designed for those situations (so just push that pin in if you're in that situation).
CLI installation guide is perfect, thank you.
I feel as though having biometrics installed, Face ID and/or fingerprint, kind of defeats the purpose of a privacy OS. Where as pin and a duress pin would be the choice going forward and managing the phones security.
It depends on your threat level.
For daily use the fingerprint sensor is just practical. I use it with a secondary pin, so finger and a short pin hits the right balance of security and convenience for me. If I cross borders or join a protest, biometrics are removed beforehand.
I put grapheneos on my current phone using my previous phone (samsung s22) and a usb c cable. Wasn't hard at all, just had to follow the prompts.
Smooth installation here with Vivaldi on Ubuntu (or fedora, not sure as I was distro hoppping a lot at the time)