This post is going to be a bit personal (and maybe a little bit out of context, it’s not just Google software I want to remove) but I’m tired of not knowing what to do about it. I want and have wanted to get rid of a bunch of proprietary software in my life, including but not limited to Google’s software, for quite a while now, and I even got a Pixel 7A with hopes of installing GrapheneOS. But there are a few problems. First, my parents are understandably concerned and need me to use Google Maps’ location sharing whenever I go to school. All my classmates use Instagram and we have that as our only messaging platform. I currently use DFInstagram, but I feel that it is not free from spyware. Finally, I also own a DJI Mini 3 Pro, and the associated DJI Fly app just refuses to work under GrapheneOS (I tested). Is there anything I can do to replace or limit the access of these aforementioned proprietary apps?
What do I do?
Suffer
Learn to use this, disable all the apps you don’t want but cannot uninstall, download apps from Aurora and Droid.
This allows you to return to the stock OS (too much stuff is missing on Graphene), and still maintain some level of control of your privacy and the security of your device
I like Graphene, I use Graphene, but it does strip too much of the cool stuff you get on stock android for pixels
The trick is to find what you need, what you want and what you’re ok without, then decide how to proceed.
If you have more questions along the way, feel free to ask.
Now, let’s see how many people blast me for suggesting this 🤣🤣
Good luck.
Instagram - I don’t know of any FOSS instagram clients that are actively maintained. Can you use it on the web with uBlock Origin enabled to minimize trackers, and try to get the contacts you care most about onto a less invasive platform?
Location tracking: there are other options that you could use, though they generally requires you to set up your own server in addition to installing the app.
- OwnTracks
- Hauk
- https://github.com/azomDev/PrivacyPin
- NextCloud + PhoneTrack
You could also use an OsmAnd integration to avoid the need for a server, e.g., using their Telegram location tracker or regularly sending lat/long via SMS (though I couldn’t find an existing solution for this).
At least as of October the DJI Fly app was reported working under GrapheneOS, see https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/2527
My understanding from https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/904-grapheneos-pixel-6-dji-fly-app-compatibility was that it requires broad storage access to work. Did you try adjusting the Storage Scopes configuration to get it to run?