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Will GrapheneOS still be a thing after Google requires developers to be approved? (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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I remember something about Google asking developers for verification in 2027, will this affect GrapheneOS? Is a Pixel phone really worth buying still?

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[–] 6 points 9 months ago (3 children)

It seems to be a concern to the people behind GOS, enough that they are looking for an OEM to make phones to their specs, but I haven't heard anything to the effect of "Google will stop all support or brick devices that aren't verified." Maybe existing GOS Pixels will be fine, maybe they're sandbagging, I don't know. It'll definitely suck for me with a Pixel 9 Pro XL that I expected to keep into the 2030s if that happens.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    New to the graphene scene, why would it matter exactly? My understanding is that installing graphene takes the Google stuff off the phone the same way Linux takes the windows off the tower.

    I imagine this might mean that you won't be able to do it on phones made after '27 but wouldn't existing graphene installations and non updated Google phones from before the cut still function the same?

    Does Google have some sort of hardware kill switch I'm not privy to?

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Google is still the one that provides the hardware/security updates to my knowledge. They could choose to cut that off based on the "legitimacy" of your OS or other arbitrary reasoning. It wouldn't brick the phone but it would lose all future support, making GOS much less compelling.

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago

    I do see that as being a big con for the security side of things. I'm not too worried about it personally, I'm moving too graphene to degoogle and security is just a plus. My current phone hasn't gotten a security update in 2 years, if the potential of vulnerability is the only worry I'm still more invested in the longevity and control.

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