The Ultimate GrapheneOS Guide: Perfect for Beginners

[Jordan]

Thanks for your lengthy response @mbananasynergy I agree with most of the stuff here but some small things:

@mbananasynergy

It is not clear how sandboxed Google Play is more invasive than installing other apps that run Google Play code and libraries

You’re right that any app utilising Google Play libraries will have some degree of Google code running on the device. However, there are a few key points to consider:

• Scope: Sandboxed Google Play Services has broader access by its very nature. It serves as a hub for these libraries, potentially centralising the data collection process. This is especially true if the user has logged into their Google Account.
• Background Activity: Even with sandboxing, Play Services operates continuously in the background more persistently than a single, purpose-built app.

Maybe there should be some sort of disclaimer idk

@mbananasynergy

This is true, however, implementing microG in this way requires OS work which GrapheneOS doesn’t include, so microG doesn’t make sense for GrapheneOS users. Someone can install the microG app on an OS as a regular sandboxed app, but there’s a lot it won’t do (most functionality, really) without special integration to some degree, so for a GrapheneOS user, there doesn’t really seem to be a case in which it would make sense to opt for that.

Absolutely I agree with everything that you are saying, it’s not really going to work on GrapheneOS, but what was written in the guide is incorrect, it doesn’t require privileged installation to function properly.