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:
- like to use foss more
- like to maintain better privacy than apple offers
- would enjoy the control over the system
- not like to ever touch google chrome
There are some limitations to what i can choose though, as i need the following to work:
- google apps like sheets/docs/classroom/youtube
- banking app (usaa specifically)
- 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?
Android 14 Beta 5
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.
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
Sorry if this is really basic, but what is rooting? What are the positives and negatives of it?
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
Oops. You’re right, my mistake, guess my information is a bit out of date.
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?
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)
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
Will it receive updates after reflashing the stock ROM? Or is there another way? Through updating GrapheneOS?
as the other commenter said, you don’t need
USAA bank app works on grapheneos here is a report - https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
gcam can be downloaded via play store or aurora store
about ui of apps, none of them are as good as ios
I mean, I’m always gonna recommend GrapheneOS. With sandboxed Google Play Services available in a work profile using Island, I’ve not yet found an app I can’t run.
Something worth mentioning is that android auto will not work for graphene. I was so on board until that. It’s understandable why that’s the case though.
This is exactly my dilemma. I’m trying to completely degoogle, but not having android-auto kinda screws me with my cars current audio unit.
Tap to pay too. I was on Graphene and I tried to set up GPay, which is the point I realized Graphene couldn’t do that (something something Google security services not compatible something something)
I use calyxos personally since 6 month now and it work perfectly
What’s better/different about calyx from grapheneOS or even stock android?
I just installed Calyx and I love it, the biggest difference for me is.
1 MicroG instead of sandboxed play services.
2 You can relock the bootloader, which got some of my banking apps to work again.
I don’t know if Graphene has these features but some other things I like:
You can revoke fine network access (revoke all or jikust background/mobile/WiFi data per app).
Seedvault can backup your phone over webdav. Unfortunately it uses abd backup so it doesn’t backup all apps.
It adopts some Lineage features like snoozing notifications
