this post was submitted on 10 May 2026
1269 points (98.2% liked)
Privacy
48499 readers
490 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Don't give money to google by buying Pixel phones. Even buying used, creates demand as people are more likely to keep upgrading every year as they know it will be easy to sell their used Pixels for a good price.
the pixel is a very secure phone from a hardware level, the full list of security features missing from other android manufacturers is in the grapheneos faq
there is no comparable alternatives right now, though something might come out of the graphene and motorola deal
The question is, are those missing features actually meaningful enough to support an evil company?
For me they are not.
What's so secure about it versus a basic $100 phone?
From the grapheneos faq section on device support, which details the kinds of hardware and firmware security features required and present on pixels (but may be missing on other devices):
There is and there never will be a perfect solution and you shouldn't let an imperfect solution stop you from using the best one of these just because buying a used pixel MIGHT urge somebody to buy another new one. You may not want to do that, but it is silly and way too idealistic and impractical to demand others not to switch to Graphene because of that.
Buying a used pixel to degoogle and make your phone more secure and less likely to spy on you more than balances out the potential for there being one more new pixel on the future. There will never be a perfect solution and this one is fine enough for most. You may disagree and that's ok.
There are other ROMs with other hardware that provide a similar level of privacy and more than enough security without giving money to google.
Yes they are also not perfect solutions, but they give you flexibility to support better phone manufacturers
What's the alternative?
e/os, lineageOS, iodeOS
Most GOS users would not consider these replacements
They are not as secure, but are private and more than secure enough in my opinion.
And some can be used with more ethical phones like the Fairphone.
GOS sometimes feel like a cult to me. GOS is absolutely the only good ROM and everything else is terrible. There is no nuance.
Nobody's saying that those other ones are terrible and they are better than stock Android for security and less tracking here. But it is the best one and does things that the other ones don't.
You can use a fairphone with one of those and if you're happy with it, it's absolutely better than what most people do and if it works it works. But people really like GOS for a good reason. The cult comment can be applied to Linux users, so who gives a shit?
First off, that's software when the user asked for an alternative to the Pixel, which is hardware.
Secondly, I don't see how those are an alternative. It's websites locking you out unless you run Google Play Services. LineageOS etc doesn't run the official PlayServices which is what this requires.
I took the question as an alternative to Grapheme, but perhaps you are correct.
And all those OSes you could install. Google Play Services if you want, even sandbox them like Graphene.
How is that an alternative? You still have to buy Android phones and they're wayyyy less secure
There are mch more ethical companies than google to buy phones from, like Fairphone.
And "wayyy" less secure is very debatable. There a some security features missing, but still more than secure enough for the vast majority of users.
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism
Also I don't give a shit about ethics if being ethical means a cop can get into my phone
There are absolutely things that are more ethical than others. Absolute statements like that are unhelpful. Fairphone is not perfect, but a lot more ethical than the alternatives.
That's such a cop out. Good luck to a cop trying to get into my phone. Grapheme is not the only ROM that prevents this.
And as the other comment said, there are companies that are way more ethical. Not perfect due to the system but way better.
And this mubd set of not giving a shit about ethics as long as things work well for you, is what enables companies to be shit and exploit the world.
This 1000 times. I can't understand the logic behind willfully getting a Pixel phone. Isn't it enough that Google spies on you every chance they get, you want actual hardware from them too? lol
It's because in the US pixel phones are one of the only ways to get a phone with an unlocked bootloader. Or, in other words, to actually own a phone.
LOTS of phones other than Pixels come with an unlockable bootloader, just check the list of supported phones for Lineage, Postmarket, Ubuntu Touch, crDroid, etc.and you'll find a multitude of choices - many (most) of which are readily available in the USA as well. (source: me, who has flashed alternative AOSP ROM's and Ubuntu Touch to around a dozen phones & tablets, none of which were Pixel's)
What isn't possible though is relocking the bootloader after flashing an alternative ROM or OS onto nearly all of these, meaning there is minimal security if the phone is stolen, or tampered with while unsupervised. And for those requiring physical security for their devices, that is a big deal.