Google Pixel & GrapheneOS | Answering Your Questions

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Google Pixel: amzn.to/3SJJ6Yc

[@lol_vevo]

Imagine thinking caring about privacy is being paranoid. If someone were to follow you around everywhere you go writing down everything you do you'd tell him to stop. This is exactly what's happening except the stalker is invisible

[@trer04]

Extremely well-mannered response to the peanut gallery. The worst is when dummies have huge egos preventing them from intellectual honesty.

[@WitchMedusa]

Many of thr comments sounded like they were written by people without brains. I'm not a fan of these defeatist positions so often propagated by those with no understanding of privacy

[@gr86er]

I feel like the youtube algorithm is creating these videos as I get more interested in this stuff. I am glad you are making these. I used to joke as a sales rep that I already signed my life away to google a long time ago and customers would just laugh it off not knowing im not entirely joking. We never read the terms or know the full extent of the tracking that they are doing and I watch too many times where people just hit accept to get whatever box out of the way. These things are listening to us learning everything about us and its hard to put that trust into any corporation seeking to profit.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

You've hit the nail on the head there!!

[@ChancySanah]

Privacy aside, the idea of control of how your system runs and what it runs is a useful feature, it has benefits for battery life and performance as well as a reduction of tracking and telemetry. Android is built on a linux kernel, kinda like macOS was built on a BSD one. Should be noted that regardless of operating system it is possible to track cellphones because...duh transmitter, just can't see what kind of porn they may have stored on them.

[@paulmcclaskin362]

Your right, nothing is guaranteed 100% but graphene gives you back control over your device. If you like the services on the phones you own and privacy is not an issue then by all means go for it. If you want privacy and security while using similar services on graphene that is also a personal choice. Were not paranoid, just being realistic about what is actually happening on your phone without consent.

[@notreallysureaboutthat2015]

Like you, I work on the other side of tech, I am very (and increasingly) privacy focused, and it is NOT paranoia. When the most knowledgeable people are the ones who are degoogling, everyone else with a decent IQ really should take notice....

[@digitalrecon724]

Solid responses! Good job explaining things without getting too technical.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Thank you! I still really appreciate your comment on the other video where you explained in great detail everything. It would have been fantastic to include had I seen that prior to filming this video! Thanks again!!

[@jefersonguerrero8898]

I loved how professional you were while answering these comments. Keep it up champ 🏆

[@mrcvry]

Strange how many people do not get how much they are influenced already. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@privacypodcast]

2:53 This is like saying there is no point in voting because I am just one person voting against / with millions of others. People need to shift their thinking from the nothing to hide argument, to the right we have in taking control of our OWN data.

[@0mnicris]

I feel like most of the people commenting what they did are just misinformed or don't understand how GrapheneOS really works before commenting. If they read through the documentation from the official GrapheneOS site, or simply watch your videos again you can clearly see that most of the things that people are complaining about can be done. Many people just dive head-first into the comment section withing being properly informed. I've been using GrapheneOS for several weeks now on my Pixel 7 Pro and I absolutely love it and feel I haven't had to compromise on a single thing!

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Agreed. I think it's definitely one of those things where folks don't want to read the website, documentation, forums, or even fully watch the video! I agree, I don't think there are really any compromises that I care about one bit!

[@rajambavane9164]

Good explanations and answers. I really feel that people don't understand and watch/read stuff before commenting away..As of this moment I do not ok now anything that is open source like grapheneos! Good videos.

[@heinzkitzvelvet]

It's possible to use a Pixel with GrapheneOS installed and not have it tied to your identity in any way. The phone itself will be tracked by cell towers it's true, but the ISP will have no clue who that phone belongs to. Complete anonymity is the true (potential) power of GrapheneOS.

[@ErikMcKenzie]

You must meditate a lot. You dealt with the trolls (google employees) with zen temperament.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

I appreciate that!

[@michaelchatfield9700]

You can "theoretically" switch off sensors through "Developer" settings. Also, though I can install sandboxed Google services, I'm assuming that Google still has access/digitise your voice using voice-related services.

[@Munky332]

One thing with installing GrapheneOS -- make sure you have another cable just in case. For whatever reason the cable that came with the phone (a USB-C to USB-C) did not work with my laptop and its USB-C port. I had to play musical chairs with the USB driver (between default windows and the google driver) after it did a bad flash, then I had to use an older USB-C to USB-A cable in a USB 2.0 slot. Overall I'm fairly pleased with it, though it is a bit of a shock at first when a lot of the apps most people are used to just being installed by default, just aren't there, like a calendar app, so then you need to go an download something. as the design of the phone goes, the stupid bump is annoying as hell, and its entirely too damn slippery without a case. I hate new phones so much.

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

I actually like the bump, it makes the most sense to have a bar to avoid table rocking.

[@Munky332]

I'm not usually putting my phone on the table for anything other than to charge it, so I still don't see the point. Its completely unnecessary and makes the phone extremely unbalanced. I had to put a big ass case on it just to not notice it, but it still throws the entire weight of the phone off.

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

@@Munky332 you'll come round to the cult of pixel dude, in time my friend, you will believe. 😃

[@jaysunkreuze1466]

There are people who are paranoid and people who just value their identity and personal data. It's not paranoia to put a price on your data. If Google wants my data they need to pay me for it. It's called personal value. I value what I have to offer and if you want it you must compensate me for it. I wouldn't just let anyone into my home and search my files and business data. I do however, require some apps for work that require certain permissions, but grapheneOS allows me to sandbox and have full control. Furthermore, going with a full OEM Android OS uses more data and costs me money. Again, I value my time, data, and money, and it's not paranoia to place a value on personal data and my wallet. The end benefit is ALSO privacy and greater firewalls from hacking, plus adding a quality VPN set to deny network access if it goes down for any reason. Now, my Google Pixel 7Pro battery lasts 2 days on average, thus telling me just how horrible the OEM Google OS really is.

[@charliesmith6743]

The biggest issue I have with Graphene is it does not support Andriod Auto. I want that in my car as having maps/streaming is something I'll trade some privacy for but not willing to trade safety for. As for this being paranoia; it doesn't have to be, but it can. Your grocery store collects the same information when you buy with their loyalty card to collect gas points. Same is true with Amazon. Just switching your phone's OS won't eliminate much of what the commenters seek. It's a far more pervasive issue.

[@ybenax]

I've never understood why some people get so defensive when your bring the topic of "privacy" to the table. It's like if mentioning you can actually take active steps in favor of your privacy made them feel sort of guilty for not taking care of it themselves, so denying makes it easier to digest. "It can't be helped so it's not my responsibility" kind of thing.

[@robins3352]

Anyone know how to make call recording work on Graphene OS (pixel 7 pro)- It has the options and I gave it all the permissions but all I can get is blank audio files... As a blind person it is very useful for note taking! And stitching up corrupt politicians!

[@WesleyLawton]

Love your videos, man! There's a lot to learn to protect my privacy, and I'm trying. I want to have real, practical convenience -- don't need every single new, fancy feature available, and privacy usually wins over convenience for me. I'm impressed by Apple's recently-released Advanced Data Protection (ADP) option, and wish I could see a graph of privacy and convenience (which I know is multifaceted and unique to each use case), created by someone who understands the elements of smartphone privacy better than I do, comparing stock Pixel, iOS w/o ADP, iOS w/ADP, and Pixel w/grapheneos. In my mind, at this point, it seems like: - Stock Pixel: privacy 2/10, convenience 10/10 - GrapheneOS Pixel: privacy 9/10 , convenience 7/10 (both dependent on how much Play Services is enabled) - iOS w/o ADP: privacy 3/10, convenience 9/10 - iOS w/ADP: privacy 7/10, convenience 9/10 Only about 55% confident this is accurate. Would love to get input. My privacy needs aren't extreme, but I do take it seriously. Honestly a little on the fence about whether to go refurb iPhone or Pixel for my next phone, largely based on this issue.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Thank you!! And interesting points here... If I had to give my own evaluation, I would have to grade on an average and if you've installed Facebook on any of these, you're probably screwed lol but vaguely: -Stock Pixel: Privacy 0/10, Convenience 9/10 (some bugs, nothing is perfect) -GrapheneOS: Privacy 9/10 (best you can ask for currently), Convenience 7/10 (great for my uses, Android Auto would be nice) -iOS w/o ADP: Privacy 1/10 (there's no telling what they're doing with your data at all), Convenience 10/10 (only because I'm so used to iOS interfaces) -iOS w/o ADP: Privacy 1/10, Convenience 10/10 - this entirely based on my understanding of a function that I've not yet used. I don't think that people generally access their backups and such, and if I had to judge iCloud as a separate service as Apple sees it: Non-ADP: 4/10, some E2EE ADP: 8/10, still some metadata and no anonymity options I understand why Apple deems it necessary to segregate products out the way that they do, but I wish every product was treated with the same expectations of privacy across the board. I'm biased here, but I like the interface and hate their policies. I would say that every single phone today basically does the exact same thing. You have a slight tradeoff of few integration features that you're (potentially) giving up in some OS variants, like GrapheneOS, but with one added benefit: Freedom and privacy. If you weigh out what you need, it has never been more convenient to choose freedom with such little compromise, so for someone like myself it absolutely aligns with my principles and value system. For others, they may not care. I'll take freedom and liberty over easy any day of the week.

[@WesleyLawton]

@@CozyLivingMachine Thanks for taking time to reply! I do appreciate your input. So, even with Analytics turned off, and 3rd party apps aside (I do NOT have Facebook installed), there’s a large amount of iPhone use data that still gets sent to Apple? Not being facetious here, their marketing does a great job making it seem like, well, what happens . . . stays. I know it’s closed-source, so we can’t know for sure, but it seems like it would be against their own interests to straight up lie about how much data they get, no? I am naturally skeptical towards corporations in general, but just trying to figure out how they can so clearly give the impression that, barring web traffic and backups, iPhone activity stays on your device, if that’s not the case.

[@WesleyLawton]

Would be very interested in a video with relatively plain language explaining iPhone privacy concerns from someone who knows what they’re talking about! No expectations, especially since I know this who area isn’t the focus of your channel, but you are skilled at talking about these issues in what seems like a balanced, non-sensationalist way, and that’s kind of hard to come by.

[@RodrigoSimões-g9i]

Is it possible to mirror screen with miracast or similar using graphene OS?

[@wedontsimp]

I hate the internet sometimes. These are the same people who would probably call Edward Snowden paranoid. Google, Apple, etc is like having a cool home with the latest features but they don't allow you to close the window curtains. GrapheneOS simply gives the people the option to close the curtains with no attachments. And no, there's nothing nefarious going on. It's simply my personal privacy and it's worth protecting.

[@kingvinoda3896]

Question: what sort of files would you recommend backing up before switching to graphene os? Do you delete everything in the phone when you install it?

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Yep, everything is formatted, it's a complete erase!

[@kingvinoda3896]

@@CozyLivingMachine thank you for replying quickly I need to back up some things.

[@kingvinoda3896]

@@CozyLivingMachine update. I forgot to back up my contacts...

[@apurvz5466]

Will you try Ubuntu touch? Pixel 3a is an excellent device for Ubuntu touch sorted by stability.

[@93MM483N50N]

Do you have a privacy focused laptop/computer setup? I think that'd be an interesting video, if you have one

[@CozyLivingMachine]

I use software on my Mac, though I used to run a Linux distro for a while. I'm a simple guy, so I'm down to just one system! Good video idea!

[@cool2180]

Me personally i would just carry two phones one googled and other non googled and just be conscious of what I put on the googled phone. I already carry an iPhone and a pixel 7pro phone. I am about to buy a second another pixel 7 or 7pro to install Graphene on it. So i will have 3 phones on me all the time. This privacy thing is serious and many people don’t understand what these companies are really doing and i understand how these I.T systems work.

[@joannaconnelly4701]

I am using Calyx OS and it lets me disable wi fi and bluetooth. Can I do the same in Graphene ?

[@nabiliman8076]

If I may add another question. Does the grapheneOS have the swipe left at home screen to get to the google news thing?

[@CozyLivingMachine]

It does not!

[@evilrainbow]

Found your prior video (GrapheneOS+P7) while doing research on flashing custom roms to older pixels to roll-my-own dumbphone. You've inspired me to cast off the shackles of Verizon locked devices after a decade plus so I have access to the Pixel 7 with unlocked bootloader... only to now be cast in to the shackles of the Google Store with the massive amount of store credit rebates I'm getting from a trade in. 🙄 One way or the other, big G gonna get ya. Hilarious response and rebuttal video, subbed for sure. PNW represent.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

You'll enjoy the change, I suspect!! Represent!! 😂🌲⛰️

[@cyberxspeed]

I wanted to go graphene but they no longer supported pixel 3a devices, so I opted for calyx. Been using it more nearly a year and so far, no complaints. It does use microG for the play store apps to work. Just 1 question, how is the battery life for the pixel 7 after using graphene?

[@CozyLivingMachine]

That's awesome, I'm glad there are alternatives when there is no more support for otherwise good hardware! And it's been good, a little better than stock, depending on screen brightness and such! No complaints either way 😊

[@EightSixx]

you heard of Kagi search?

[@Tundra_Guy]

You said you're not running grapheneos on the 7 pro now? What are you running then?

[@CozyLivingMachine]

I had been on the stock ROM for a few weeks and the day after this video I'd retyrned to GrapheneOS for comparisons. There's not a single feature that I can't get on GOS that I care about on the stock pixel ROM!

[@quicksilverb12]

I have a problem with setting up different ringtone from the a user profile. I can set it up on the owner profile but not in any other profile besides the owner. Any solution ? (I've tried searching the problem extensively and nobody seems to have a solution so far. I have pixel 6 pro with grapheneos android 13 the latest stable version)

[@chr433]

what is the difference in battery life between pixel 7 pro vs pixel 7 pro grapheneos?????

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Not a big difference at all, nothing noticeable!

[@Gustavo-wt4qq]

I need to know how to unlock 5g on my pixel 6a on unsuported countries by Google. Any answer so far?

[@WILFREDBROUSSARD]

Can you connect a smart watch to pixel on grapheneOS?

[@kyyuhl]

You could but there is no version of Graphene to lock down the permissions of the watch the same way you can the phone, at least not currently. Even less private than having a stock google phone because now they get all your mic and location data + body data. Would not be surprised if they use your exercise frequency or heart rate patterns to advertise gym memberships or health foods more precisely.

[@buck6068]

Can you disable 5g and stick to 4g only on graphene OS?

[@CozyLivingMachine]

You sure can! Or 3G, 2G, etc.

[@utubepunk]

Does GrapheneOS support desktop mode? How hard is it to transfer your contacts into GrapheneOS from your old phone?

[@CozyLivingMachine]

It does support desktop mode, and transferring contacts is really easy. Just export from your old phone and import to the Pixel, or you can use any cloud service if you trust them. There are a lot of options.

[@Dontcopit]

"Don't be [paranoid it makes it harder for us to get you !!! "

[@dregsi76]

Morning Brother, i hope you are well state side. I have a question that is burning my brain and im hoping you have the answer. Obviously we all have a million photos on google photos, one drive etc. How do these integrate, if at all with graphene? im sure you did some magic trick when you showed the install but im old and cant remember :)

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Hello!! So you can install Google Services and sandbox them if you'd like to, then you can use Google Photos to download or upload photos and then OneDrive as well. It may be a lot of work if you're still wanting to automatically sync photos and such, but at least it allows you to limit other things with the operating system! With a fresh install, this isn't an option of course, but you can make it happen!

[@dregsi76]

@@CozyLivingMachine thanks as always 👊🏻

[@g_ravasz]

Hi, Cozy. Apple " so nice " 2 days ago i left my iPhone 11 Pro Max 2019 model for 20 hrs of standby i disable everything about Siri which i don't use anyway. Under battery usage Siri showed up, haven't seen this before. Another thing/issue i realized many times under iPhone storage at bottom System Data from 13-14Gb jumps up to 17.65GB even to 19.8GB without using the device and no apps opened at all two times i tapped very fast on System Data and caught -1Kb on screenshot. 4-5Gb System Data jumps are darn strange using it on iOS 15.7.1 but seen these issues on earlier iOS too. I have the 16.2 iOS but haven't upgraded to it since it came out. On Android can disable things but costum roms not helping since batteries aren't removable ( you know the removing battery and waiting 10sec ). While battery has power theres no privacy. I flashed costum Roms in the past on Samsung Note 3 and 4 as well too. Example in my country carriers recording calls and sms saving them for 6 months. With Costum Roms can block certain things, but since can't remove battery no OS giving full privacy. My Main phone since 2020 Huawei Mate $) Pro without Gms. Everyone dropping on same or similar Huawei's Gspace. I don't get it why did they bought them when they knew it's without Gms I like your phone videos and how you explain certain things. Keep up with the great videos. Ps: photos have watermarks on any kind of OS and device.

[@heinzkitzvelvet]

You can clearly see that every negative poster knows absolutely nothing about GrapheneOS. 😂😂😂

[@hmongmuas1386]

Will Pokémon Go work on this OS

[@CozyLivingMachine]

I've been told it does!

[@Jordan-hz1wr]

As an ethical hacker, I can promise you your phone can be hacked into anytime. Governments are sitting on war chests of zero day exploits. Again, not that they’ll waste them on you but then again nothing is stopping them. I’d use the OS that implements the most mitigations to lower that risk.

[@carstuff4u942]

I think this isn't really any more secure, he's saying google won't be able to use your information for ads.

[@kyyuhl]

@@carstuff4u942 GrapheneOS is as secure, if not more, than the version of Android the phone ships with. From some research I've done, many of the security improvements & features stock Android has gotten over the years has been downstream of Graphene's production. One of note was a bug where if you cropped a screenshot, on stock, you could go back in and revert the file to the original and see the cropped out sensitive info. However, on Graphene this never was a problem because once the photo was cropped, the original was deleted permanently and there was no undoing the changes.

[@krminnnminte687]

What's the best way to buy the pixel anonymously through the google store? Someone please help. Thanks.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Anonymity with an online purchase is quite difficult. Your best option is to go to Best Buy and pay in cash.

[@crimestoppers1877]

@@CozyLivingMachine I did the same at Target. Cash works.

[@catboyneedspets2090]

I feel like it was backwards everyone asking why buy a pixel without the google services the only reason I bought a pixel as because it gave me the option to install grapheneOS otherwise I would have gotten something else mew

[@Headh0t549]

The individuals that call people that value privacy nowadays paranoid is too naive to have an input on the matter and deserve to get their info stolen or getting hacked.

[@wbio]

The only thing what I want to know is, that are there any "hidden" backdoors within GrapheneOS by rhe devs? Hidden in terms of clever algorithms of the devs to steal some data like passwords and sends them to their servers at some time, etc. Yes it is open source. But I have not the capacities to learn into the code base and therefore I have to trust. And devs can be clever. But if there are some scientific studies, papers, this would make it more trustful. And yes, I am aware that also Google sniffs data.

[@CozyLivingMachine]

You know, that's a good question! There are quite a few whitepapers out there from folks looking for exactly this, along with researching how the team can afford to work on this project, what the motivations are. There's great info on this whole subject with a bit of searching!

[@wbio]

@@CozyLivingMachine Thank you! I will dig deeper. Maybe would be also a good video idea whenever you have time :)

[@georges4562]

Paranoid man 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I don’t think so

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Hahaha some of these were pretty good. 😂😂

[@georges4562]

@@CozyLivingMachine I certainly thought so geesch

[@georges4562]

@@CozyLivingMachine obnoxious is what they were 😂

[@crimestoppers1877]

@@CozyLivingMachine Just for Shix and giggles, if some of these folks who think that data collection is not dangerous to privacy knew what the Real world is like, they would be very concerned. Here is a thought question to ponder. Fact: USA laws concerning "privacy rights" including pretenders like HIPAA, CFPB, FCRA, FOIA and the 1974 Privacy ACT end at the borders. Most servers legally share their data with Non CONUS servers. What else is there to need to know? If the data is collected, there is a high probability that it can be legally retrieved.

[@chrisdianpatty2263]

Similar os for samsung devices In third world country pixel phone is super expensive

[@chrisdianpatty2263]

Please

[@CozyLivingMachine]

Try LineageOS, though Samsung seems to restrict the ability to override their operating systems. It's worth a shot!

[@kingvinoda3896]

Good thing about living in a third world country is that the infrastructure designed to spy on you is non existent or not as effective as a first world.

[@franshofman7131]

For foreigners who do speak English you talk way to fast. Difficult to follow

[@honkbeforeitstoolate587]

KZbin has a built-in feature to reduce playback speed. If the 25% increments aren't satifactory, you could watch the video stream through your favorite media player at a custom playback speed, such as mpv with yt-dlp.

[@kenobi639]

Skill issue

[@esentries]

Some of these comments infuriated me and I wouldn't have kept my cool if I were in your stead lol! 🥲

[@CozyLivingMachine]

I completely understand that! I think I've been well-conditioned by innumerable comments on other videos that are negative or trolling, as I'm sure a few of these that I've highlighted are as well. I do think these comments say a lot more about the commenter than they do about me, and sometimes I just have to remind myself of that.

[@esentries]

@@CozyLivingMachine For real. The way they belittle privacy is so absurd to me. They probably lock their doors and windows to their houses yet fail to understand why this should be the same case for their devices. Anyway, love your GrapheneOS videos. Planning to get a Pixel because of it. And yes @yusuf8938, I will be getting a Pixel so I could de-google it!

[@honkbeforeitstoolate587]

Some people almost enjoy their shackles. They are so closed minded and boring that they think by no means could anyone else be interesting enough to spy on. Curiously, reality is stranger than fiction, and we are ruled by a shadowy, genetically-connected group of ne'er-do-wells who sometimes wear tiny hats and oftentimes have been at the helm of mass slaughters among other unparalleled crimes throughout history, such as Yagoda, Kaganovich, Marx, Lenin, Béla Kun, etc ad-infinitum, and their bloodline descendants are again at the helm with the same proclivities, only this time, they are also in control of the most far-reaching, invasive spy networks and influence-apparatus that the world could've ever conceived, but NO! NO NEED TO BE ALARMED. Instead, go write snarky youtube comments excoriating actual humans who have sense enough to be concerned about technological nooses and shackles being foisted upon them. Go be content with decreasing rights, living conditions, pay, and go daze off in your coom hovel. I'm very fond of this channel and I hope my view is allowed to be expressed. I also applaud CLM for laying waste to these detractors in a masterful way without even needing to get into the mud.