Do not really understand how Android sandboxing works for system apps.
So these are the permissions google service has.
- network (didnt had enough space on screen)
Thanks. Wouldn’t be able to check it myself, because of using microG :D
Everyone talk about GrapheneOS. But CalyxOS is very good too.
“Good” really depends on what you’re after. Do not use CalyxOS if you care about security. They are significantly behind in implementing security patches, regularly. You are in some way more vulnerable with CalyxOS than regular android on a pixel because you would get security updates faster on pixel. Additionally, the network permission of GrapheneOS is a paramount security and privacy feature. Also, GrapheneOS takes over all location services requests even if you use google services, making sure that even if google services are installed, google only gets location info whenever the location request is for the google services, not all/any services or apps on your phone. There are additional points too, but CalyxOS, while I don’t want to bash them, should not be considered a secure OS the same way GraphemeOS is.
The problem with Graphene os is that it is unethical. I want my device to be fully free or as free as it possibly can be. Graphene doesn’t see to care about that.
Calyx is a bit better because it is a little stricter on software. Probably the best solution is to only install a apps you need and only get them from F-droid.
How is GrapheneOS unethical? How isn’t it as free as CalyxOS? Basically everything they add to the OS can be disabled. Personally, I’d say GrapheneOS and CalyxOS are the same in this regard.
How is CalyxOS stricter on software? With GrapheneOS, a user can opt to only use F-Droid to install everything too if they wanted to.
What about DivestOS? Only option for a private system when you don’t have a Pixel
Divest os is much more free in terms of software freedom. They minimize binary blobs and keep everything clean. They also maintain mull browser.
Also just inrcedibly well-documented
And very good with security patches
The only problem I have with it is one I have with Custom ROMs in general:
The Camera API to make use of all the lenses modern phones have. There is one single app that can somewhat hook into it for me to use my second lens, and it’s extremely unstable to the point of being functionally useless.
Everyone talks about custom ROMs, it’s so fucking annoying not a single one is supported on my Motorola g73. Next phone I’m getting is a fairphone, and I’ll dual boot a custom Android ROM and postmarket OS.
Excuse me, dual boot? Is that still a thing?
still a thing for postmarketOS, not regular Android
I recommend checking this table out.
CalyxOS misses the mark imo. It does a couple things well (such as its improved Dialer app, and the ability for hotspots/tethered devices to be able to use the phone’s VPN/Tor) that I hope to see other projects adopt, but beyond that, it just doesn’t seem to stack up.
I’m not trying to bash them or anything because at the end of the day, they clearly have good intentions which I can respect, but I do hope they improve on a lot of things, because in its current state, CalyxOS just doesn’t even compare to GrapheneOS or DivestOS.
The only thing which stop me to install Graphene is that I need some apps that I’m not sure will work with this os
GrapheneOS has pretty much perfect app compatibility. I don’t think I’ve ever ran into an issue in around a year of using it as my daily driver.
Most apps function without Play Services, but you may lose some functionality like notifications, and a couple apps do very rarely genuinely break. But, that’s where Sandboxed Play Services comes in, which you can even put in an entirely separate user profile if you want to, so that you can still safely use those apps.
But yeah, I’ve personally had no issues with app compatibility. Even my bank app works perfectly on Graphene (didn’t even require Play Services either!).
Ok thanks! Let’s try Graphene then
definetly :)
In order to have google apps and google services on an android installation that doesn’t have them yet, you need to sideload them. LineageOS has a list of GApps zips and here’s an example of how to install them for a FairPhone running LineageOS.
If you look into the zip
/system/system_ext/etc/permissions/privapp-permissions-google-system-ext.xml, you can see all the permissions given to it a system application.android.permission.RECOVERY, android.permission.MANAGE_USERS, android.permission.INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS stand out the most. These permissions allow the phone to be started, arbitrary apps to be installed and users to be created with new permissions.
Google Services doesn’t need to have access to camera or any other component as it can install whatever it likes that has access to those.
Let’s not kid ourselves, if you have Google Services installed, you have a rootkit installed with a bunch of proprietary code.
Here’s the entire file for reference and you can look up each permission individually to see what access will be given.
How well do you think Graphene’s sandboxed play services alleviates these concerns?
Entirely. On GrapheneOS, Google Play services run in the normal Android app sandbox, just like any other app you install. That way, they only have the permissions you granted them using the permission manager. GrapheneOS doesn’t grant any extra privileges, and you can remove the Play services app at any time. Read more at https://grapheneos.org/features#sandboxed-google-play
Thanks for the detailed response. Creating/interacting between new users is a serious opportunity for permission bypass. Content of the file won’t load for some reason, but still :)
I am still not sure if sandbox is completely disabled for system applications. No comments with real arguments. But thank you, guys :)
