I have been wanting to use Graphene for sometime now but with google
changing the rules of AOSP graphene has been struggling especially now they
have to do more work to figure out the kernel diff. google is no more using
pixel as the reference device instead is using a virtual device for their
target built for AOSP which takes away the git tree. Graphene guys have to
now be real engineers which is cumbersome to figure out the patches for
newer build for each device. That said i am waiting for the graphene OS
phone they will come out probably in 2027.
much of the list looks similar except i still use gmail need to figure that
out. another i use Immich as my photo backup service. fantastic project
support by Louis Rossman (big time advocate for Right to Repair)
On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 at 15:18, Trevor James via linux <linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org>
wrote:
> I installed Graphine on a Pixel 4a-5G (no longer supported as the phone
> tells me every boot). For a few reasons. First higher out of the box
> security. Secondly the ability to easily create isolated accounts (eg, one
> for Google Play, a different one for my banking, a different one for emails
> etc). Third it could do eSIM (my phone could not). I went to Ecuador,
> added an eSIM and turned on Bluetooth teather, my phone is now on mobile
> data.
>
> For email I will probably move over to Proton Mail service, allows more
> encryption of emails out of the box, for a client I have used google mail,
> but when I migrate to my next phone will probably use proton client
>
> Web I have been a big fan of Brave.
>
> The rest of your software list is similar for me.
>
> T.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lucas Fryzek <lucas [ dot ] fryzek [ at ] fryzekconcepts [ dot ] com> On Behalf Of Lucas
> Fryzek via linux
> Sent: January 28, 2026 1:10 PM
> To: linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org
> Subject: [linux] Using de-googled android and Linux mobile devices
>
> Hello All,
>
> I'm curious if anyone in the OCLUG has tried using de-googled android or
> linux based phone OS like PMOS? How has your experience been?
>
> I'm interested in switching especially with the current political climate
> to try and use tech that doesn't depend on US companies.
>
> I've been doing a test to try and use f-droid for most of my apps on my
> pixel (haven't fully migrated to a fully de-googled ROM), but my experience
> trying to use FOSS apps that don't depend on google servers:
>
> * E-mail
> - K9 mail works great for anything I need
> * Web
> - I've been using firefox on android forever and fennec in fdroid
> works great, you can use unified push for notifications as well so
> you don't even depend on google's notification serers
> * Files, notes, and pictures
> - I've setup nextcloud on my personal server and it works okay for
> file storage.
> - Image sync is not as great. All my images get auto uploaded but
> viewing them on the server can be quite laggy. I've heard better
> things about immich for images but I really like the nextcloud
> ecosystem besides these problems
> - Quilpad is a really great notes app, and can use nextcloud/webdav
> for sync. Supports things like markdown formatting as well
> * Contacts & Calendar
> - With nextcloud I have caldav and carddav for calendar in contacts
> and I can use them on Android using DAVx5. I'm still using the
> default calendar and contacts app on my pixel phone but the data is
> coming from my server
> * Passwords
> - I have a Keepass password DB I keep synced between devices using
> nextcloud and then I use KeepassDX on android to access it. Works
> great for me
> * Authenticator
> - I use Aegis for TOTP, and it works great
> * Notifications
> - I have unified push setup with Nextpush which can use a nextcloud
> server as a Webpush endpoint. This works great for any apps that
> support unified push, and allows you to have push notifications
> without depending on google's Firebase cloud messaging platform.
> - There are other unified push distributors that I tried like ntfy.sh
> & sunup that also work, but like I mentioned before I'm a bit sucked
> into the nextcloud ecosystem.
> * Maps
> - This is the biggest pain point. OSMAnd I've found really annoying to
> use. Co-maps/Organic maps are nice to use but don't support public
> transit. I recently found out about the e-foundation Cardinal map
> app which works alright. Navigation for driving isn't as good as co-
> maps/organic maps but it does support public transit through
> transitous which has OC transpo data.
> - There is also Bimba, a dedicated public transit app that can use
> transitous for public transit routing. It works okay, but I find the
> UI a bit off putting.
>
> I'm curious about other people's experience, have you been able to use a
> de-googled phone? I'm especially interested if anyone is running post
> market os or some other linux phone. What device do you use, how's the
> experience for receiving calls, get notifications, battery life, etc.
>
> I'm interested in buying a device that has decent linux support to try out
> a dedicated linux phone device. So if others have experience I'm keen to
> here it.
>
> Thanks & Regards,
> Lucas
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