this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026
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[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 26 points 1 day ago (6 children)

The Graphene devs explicitly only support Pixels. Sticking with Graphene means continuing to give Google the profits from your hardware.

/e/OS is not bad as an alternative. The system wide ad and tracker blocking is nice.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sticking with Graphene means continuing to give Google the profits from your hardware

GrapheneOS only supports Google Pixel because they are the most secure Android phones, with open-source images and 5+ years of security updates.
You don't have to give money to Google. I got my Pixel 4a and my mother's 6a from second-hand sellers.

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 0 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Sure, but then you are also not funding Google's competition in order to help improve choice.

Buying second hand might make you feel better because you didn't directly fund Google, but you're still helping them maintain their position.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 0 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

«Funding competition» means giving money to Chinese state companies, for most consumers.

[–] Routhinator@startrek.website 1 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Most of the american companies are using Chinese manufacturing for much of the devices. Fairphone is European, but same manufacturing sources.

In 2026, as a Canadian... Choosing between a country that is adopting nazi practices and threatening us with annexation, and one who has a questionable history but is overall doing more for climate change and global stability right now than the other... The choice is easy. Anything but american.

[–] kilgore_trout@feddit.it 1 points 6 hours ago

No, it's choosing between giving money to a company or to no one at all, in the case of a 2nd hand.

[–] mal3oon@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is a big issue that the fairphone doesn't have its dtb open yet. It's not easy to build ROM for it. Despite their core claim of sustainability, without addressing the blobs, it remains just a tad more convenient for green minded people. We need a full Fairphone.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago

That's fair and all, and I see your point. A 100% "fair" phone is the end-goal.

Butin the battle against corporate douche-baggery, if we keep making perfect the enemy of good, we'll never get anywhere.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

/e/OS is not bad as an alternative. The system wide ad and tracker blocking is nice.

I switched to e/os on a couple of motorolas that supported it and it's great so far.

The comparisons to GrapheneOS are fair to some degree, but also not. Graphene is meant to be privacy and security hardened, whereas e/OS, while it is more secure than regular android, is more concerned with privacy hardening. The biggest misconception people have seems to be thinking that privacy and security are the same thing; and while that is true on the surface level, security (a la GrapheneOS) goes much deeper.

So while my phone may not be as "hack resistant" as a GrapheneOS, it's degoogled and very protective of tracking, which is what I'm primarily concerned with. So I'm happy.

I just wish I could afford a fairphone in Canada.

[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

FYI, I think your third mention of Graphene was meant to be /e/OS.

[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

Whoops. Thanks for the catch.

[–] noname_no_worries@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I just bought a refurbished (as new) Pixel 9 to use Grapheneos.

Saved ~50% and didn't pay Google.

[–] artyom@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago

They said "possible someday", not "possible currently".

Google makes way more on services so I don’t think they are making that much off the phones.