Nerding out with Android handsets can be great fun because you don’t have to run Android on them.
Android’s open nature means plenty of forks let you play outside the lines of traditional Android builds.
Colloquially known as “custom ROMs” (although some developers object to that term), these are built on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), so they’re still technically Android — they’re just not Android as we know it.
The most interesting of these is GrapheneOS, a mobile operating system that strips out Google services by default and implements deep low-level security hardening.
GrapheneOS has traditionally been limited to Google’s Pixel phones due to their Titan M2 security chip and other hardware-backed security features, although that’s expected to change next year.
For now, though, it’s still a Pixel-focused solution. I decided to take it for a spin on my Pixel 6 and see if it truly is possible to escape today’s web of endless digital tracking.
Going full ‘monk mode’
The delicious irony of keeping Google off my Pixel
Out of the box, GrapheneOS runs lean and mean. No Google services means even the Android mothership isn’t tracking you.
It includes a minimalist App Store, a basic SMS Messaging app, and the Vanadium browser, which defaults to DuckDuckGo as its search engine.
You also get Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Files, Gallery, Phone, a PDF Viewer, and the Settings app.
The built-in app store will let you install Android Auto, Google Play, the stock Pixel OS Markup image editor, and the Accrescent app store.
You can also check out F-Droid or the Aurora Store for more apps, or grab APKs from pretty much anywhere. There are no real sideloading restrictions; you’ll need to turn on the switch to accept unverified apps, but a pop-up notification will take you there from your first APK download.
If unimpeachable privacy is your goal, you can leave Google Play out of the mix, and you’ll be 98% of the way there.
There’s not much you can do about carrier tracking if you want cellular access, but you can grab Signal for messaging, Proton Mail for e-mail, OrganicMaps for navigation, and stick with Vanadium or swap it out for Mull if your tastes lean toward Firefox.
However, this level of privacy comes with high costs:
- No push notifications: You won’t get push notifications from apps that rely on Google Cloud Messaging (now known as Firebase Cloud Messaging) — which is most all of them.
- No RCS support: The GrapheneOS team is working to build RCS support into its stock Messaging app, but until that happens, you’ll need to install Google Play Services.
- Banking and other financial apps: These require Play Integrity checks and other security validation features that GrapheneOS can’t natively provide.
- Limited Location access: Many third-party apps rely on the Google Maps API for location services.
- No Google Wallet: Most North American contactless payment apps won’t work. European users may have more luck with Curve Pay, PayPal, or standalone banking apps that implement their own NFC tap-to-pay functionality.
GrapheneOS also only prevents tracking at the operating system level. Many third-party apps have their own way of tracking users — and they can still do so when they’re running.
A more balanced compromise
Letting Google’s services play in a sandbox
While GrapheneOS can be run in an extremely minimalist mode for hardcore privacy enthusiasts, the real killer feature is that you can run Google Play Services as if they were any other app — without the root-level privileges that stock Android elevates them to.
You can install Google Play Services from the built-in app store, though this will bring extra Google baggage along for the ride: Gmail, Drive, and Calendar.
You don’t have to use these apps, or even open them. You can uninstall them right away without impacting anything else.
But the most important part of this is that you’ll get the Play Store. From there, you can install the same apps you can on stock Android, and most should work right out of the box.
Apps that glitch on the default GrapheneOS, like Uber, DoorDash, and banking apps, typically run seamlessly after Google Play Services is up and running.
While most of my financial apps worked fine when they called up the Play Integrity API to verify everything, TD Canada Trust required me to enable Exploit Protection Compatibility Mode for that app in the main GrapheneOS Settings app.
Other categories of apps that might have similar issues include government ID, enterprise security, connected car, and some anti-cheat apps.
Again, all bets are off on how individual apps might track you, but you can rest assured that Google can only track you when you use apps that rely on Google Play Services, rather than tracking your device at the OS layer.
Does true mobile privacy exist?
It’s an unfortunate truth that mobile privacy is no longer something we can take for granted.
GrapheneOS proves that absolute privacy is almost achievable, but you have to be willing to put in some effort to get there — and make a few trade-offs along the way.
Whether that work is worth it depends on your needs, but it risks dumbing down your smartphone a bit.
For me, running Google Play Services on a leash hits the sweet spot: it delivers 99% of the functionality I need while drastically reducing the amount of data tracked at the core operating system level.