I have done a lot of pixel repairs and GOS installations . Pixels are glued shut. It is repairable but it is quite sure to say that the screen will break if removed , it’s kind of like removing two eggshells glued together. Requires a lot of patience and luck to do it without breaking it. Once in it’s not harder than any other phone. That said my own has a a 40 euro case to avoid the issues of repairs, I recommend that. Screens are 100 + euros nowadays. So repairs is rarely worth it. Depends on the price you can get the parts for it.

Batteries can be replaced but takes some work and hot air gun to remove glue.

For GOS yeah that’s what you want it’s the best. And I do everything from debian distros.

Don’t use aurora. Instead install GOS implementation of google play on a separate user profile if needed. The user profiles are a lot better sandboxed than regular user profiles and the gapp implementation better than aurora. And most things work without it also.

GOS gets more support than regular pixels but are recommended to not trust after pixel official updates end. For the new ones it’s 7 years. Usually GOS gets a year extra of minor updates. Check the FAQ and device support on https://grapheneos.org/faq

I use mine for nearly everything. And there are either FOSS apps from FDroid (and additional repos) or just use the mobile website for non Foss stuff like banking. There are a few exceptions , like Whatsapp that I need but it have fewer permissions and no access to contacts ( there’s a Foss app as helper for that as well) . Your headphones will work fine.

Literal best phone I’ve ever had. Never had any problems getting apps to work. That said, idk whats going to happen now with the changes to the aosp

I switched to it this past winter, same time I moved from Windows to CachyOS on my desktop, and I haven’t looked back on either device since.

Debloats the hell out of the thing, and personally I love how deeply documented everything is. Reasons and justifications are given for every design decision, but it’s also not an extremely opinionated ecosystem - if you need a google app or w/e for any reason, the option is there. there are some limitations like the integrity API dogshit, but for the most part, it’s a near flawless experience.

(you may want to post this to !privacy@lemmy.ml or a similar community… I suppose GOS uses the Linux kernel technically but I think this community is for desktop Linux lol)

GOS is really nice. It’s very seamless and user-friendly, whilst still being very unbloated and minimal. You still have everything you’d expect to have on a phone but the environment is nicely minimal and lets you only install the software you want.

I’ve been using GOS as my exclusive mobile OS for many years, never had any technical problems with it.

You can use bluetooth headphones or usb-c headphones. Including the bluetooth headphones google sells. Afaik they are still just bluetooth headphones.

How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?

Easy: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Media_Transfer_Protocol

The only thing stopping me from jumping is proper work profile support

About 2 years for me. It’s a better experience than vanilla Android except that tap to pay doesnt work.

Other than that one downside it’s been nothing but an improvement. so much more control over what apps can access, and what Google services to use (if any). Google services are treated like any other app, and can therefore be easily sandboxed.

If you have a compatible device i highly recommend GrapheneOS. I’m pretty unhappy with the build quality and camera on my Pixel (7 Pro), but that was all the same on Android.

I really wish GrapheneOS supported another brand of device. Pixels are way overpriced for how cheaply put together they are, but i’d rather have a meh phone with real security than a nice one with just security theater

It works great with Linux for me, i expect Debian will have no issues

Most people say they have problems with banking apps and android auto. But you can run google play services and store sandboxed. I don’t know if it than still has these problems. I don’t have graphene for now but maybe in the future.

is it something you’d recommend for a privacy worried user?

Absolutely

I assume google headphones would cease to work if I degoogle the device

They’ll work perfectly.

Is there a pixel device with a jack port?

No.

Are batteries inside pixel devices glued to the frame or can they be easy to change?

They are glued, like all modern devices.

My main OS is debian. How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?

Very easy with KDEConnect/GSConnect.

Overall if you run GrapheneOS on a pixel, how many years running it and what do you think about it?

About 4 years. I like everything about it. The only thing I don’t like is that it can’t solve problems inherent in Google’s monopoly. So some Google Play apps will not work and notifications won’t work without Google’s proprietary Google Play Services or one of the super rare apps that support unifiedpush. The vast majority of developers don’t publish their apps outside of the Play Store, and almost none of them support anything other than Google’s FCM for notifications. Google Pay simply won’t work at all.

I have used GrapheneOS on and off for 3 years or so.

I used to be on LineageOS with root. I did that so I could run a firewall, and have complete control over every aspect of my OS.

I tried GrapheneOS before they had ability for android auto. But lacking that, caused me to switch.

While my ultimate goal is to ditch big tech, Google, Microsoft, apple, etc I have to compromise a bit for some functionality.

That being said, having sandboxed Google Play has helped. Something I didn’t have on LineageOS.

Getting data to and from Debian won’t be an issue. Plug it in, and copy files to and from. Ezpz.

I use Arch BTW. And have had zero issues. So Linux compatability isn’t an issue.

As far as getting a Pixel with a headphone jack, that May be an issue. Security updates and software updates for a model with one may be an issue.

I have had GrapheneOS on a Pixel 7 Pro, and now an 8 Pro.

As much as I hate Google, I do like pixels. The 7 pro was miles better than my 8 pro.

I want to add, without Google play, you can still use Accrescent and Obtainium. While Accrescent is good, it has few apps. Obtanium you can pull from GitHub, F-Droid, Gitlab, and more and will check for updates.

I use both.

Pixel 5a 5G was the last Pixel that had an audio jack. I held onto mine forever, until Graphene stopped support for the model.

I upgraded to the 7a, and then bit the bullet and bought a separate DAP for music.

The biggest adjustment to using Graphene is often just having to finding open-source app solutions that don’t require Google Play, assuming you don’t want to run the sandbox. I found the process cathartic, personally.

I’m a week into using GrapheneOS and its been great. It is a little restrictive in that I seem to have to explicitly allow apps to run and apps like my Bank app or Spotify don’t work.

However, most apps are just Web Apps at this point and I’ve noticed very little difference in the use of the app versus the pinned browser version.

I’m also trying to curb a phone addiction so Graphene + Lemmy + Mastodon + Jellyfin is all I’m using on this thing.

I assume google headphones would cease to work if I degoogle the device

I’m using my Pixel Buds. They work just as well. Remember, its just a Bluetooth device just without all the QOL stuff like voice control.

I recommend trying it. Graphene OS install also has instruction ions to revert if you change your mind. And it’s pretty easy. Maybe a touch harder than installing Linux generally, but if your dailying Debian, you’re fine.

It’s overall a pretty good experience, but there’s occasional weirdness you may run into. For instance, up until a month or two ago I was encountering a bug that caused my phone to basically slow to a crawl after running Android Auto for 20 minutes or so, with a reboot being the only solution. This happened once while I was driving somewhere unfamiliar and it took about 5 minutes to start back up due to app optimization (which, incidentally, I don’t remember being a thing on other Android flavors after 2018 or so) so it turned into a whole adventure.

There’s also a fairly persistent issue I’ve run into where GrapheneOS starts very aggressively killing background apps, like as soon as another app gains focus. Not sure what that’s about but I haven’t really encountered it on other Android versions to the same extent, so I’m inclined to think it’s GOS-specific.

pixel is meh

GrapheneOS is fucking amazing

Graphene is great! Highly recommend.

Is there a pixel device with a jack port?

None that are still supported by GrapheneOS. But you can buy a USB-C to 3.5mm jack dongle.

My main OS is debian. How easy is to transfer data from GrapheneOS to debian and the other way round?

Pretty easy, either by cable or using an app like LocalSend (they have an apk on their Github).

Overall if you run GrapheneOS on a pixel, how many years running it and what do you think about it?

Haven’t used it in a while. I think it was cool, but was definitely more of a hassle than regular Android. The default apps are pretty barebones and feel old. Though I do still dream about replacing my iPhone with a device with GrapheneOS.