NOTICE TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE PLACED AN ORDER
The G Store has decided to cancel a handful of orders thru their AI determining that I was purchasing them outside of the US, violating their sales terms. This is despite mailing and billing addresses being stateside. Found a different avenue of ordering that will be more effective. Sorry about the delay, you have my email address if you want to cancel, and I’ll refund you in full.
HOW TO GUIDE
For those brave enough to attempt this on their own, it is actually rather simple. Beware, this may brick your phone. However, if you follow this guide, the risk is relatively low. This will also factory reset your phone a couple times, so make sure everything you want is backed up off the device. Only purchase an unlocked device. If you don’t know if it’s unlocked or not, if you can’t complete step 3, then it isn’t. If you know:
1) How to open a command prompt and what “cd” does,
2) What an environmental variable is,
3) or can follow directions,
here is a set of links that are a bit easier to follow than GrapheneOS’s website (https://grapheneos.org/install).
- Install Android SDK platform tools using this guide that is current and has directions for Windows, Linux, and Mac. https://www.lifewire.com/android-debug-bridge-adb-4149410
- Download and unzip the correct version of Graphene for your specific phone. Make sure these are from the Stable Channel and it is the factory *.zip file, not the *.zip.sig or the ota-update.
https://grapheneos.org/releases#stable-channel - Enable OEM unlocking. Enable the developer options menu by going to Settings ➔ About phone and pressing on the build number menu entry until developer mode is enabled. Next, go to Settings ➔ System ➔ Advanced ➔ Developer options and toggle on the ‘Enable OEM unlocking’ setting. Sometimes this is grayed out and a factory reset will enable it. But likely if it is grayed out, the phone is not unlocked.
- Enable USB debugging. Also in Settings ➔ System ➔ Advanced ➔ Developer options.
- Make sure the phone is fully updated. This is in Settings ➔ System ➔ Advanced ➔ System Update Settings.
- Unlock the bootloader. Turn off the phone, then turn it on by holding both volume down and power to get into the bootloader menu. Connect it via USB to your computer. Open a command prompt on your computer and type “fastboot devices.” It should list the device as connected. Then type “fastboot flashing unlock.” Hit the volume up button so it displays that you want to unlock the bootloader, then hit the power button to confirm. Do not unplug the USB until you press the power button to start the phone up (best to just leave it plugged in from here on).
- Boot up the device again. Go thru the setup again. Enable USB debugging again.
- Open a command prompt in the directory of the unzipped file you download from Graphene. The folder you should open it in will have a file called “flash-all.bat” in it.
- Type into the command prompt “adb devices”. This will be followed by a pop up on your phone asking to “Allow USB debugging.” You should allow this. If the command prompt lists your device, then you’re good to go. Type “adb reboot bootloader”. This will restart your phone into the bootloader interface again
- Type into the command prompt “flash-all.bat”. This is installing Graphene. Phone will restart a few times into the bootloader interface, then to the fastboot interface, then finally back to bootloader and the command prompt will tell you to press any key to exit. Press a key. I have had this step fail once. I just tried it again and it worked.
- Type into the command prompt “fastboot flashing lock”. Hit the volume up button so it displays that you want to lock the bootloader, then hit the power button to confirm. Do not unplug the USB until much after you press the power button to start the phone up. Best to wait until you’re in the setup screen for the phone
- Go thru setup again, but this time for Graphene (much quicker)
- Disable OEM unlocking. You will have to enable Developer Options again to do this.
- You are done!
RULES OF THUMB USING GRAPHENE
- Audit application permissions. A recipe app does not need access to your contacts
- If the company has a website that performs the same function as the app, don’t install the app. This includes your bank. Downside is you will be 2 factor authenticated more often.
RECOMMENDED DEVICES
Pixel 3a: from $399
Pixel 4: from $799
Pixel 4a: from $349
Linksys WRT AC3200: $250 https://dd-wrt.com/
Linksys WRT 1900ACS: $120 https://dd-wrt.com/
SG-1100: $190 https://www.pfsense.org/
Pi-Hole: $60 https://pi-hole.net/
RECOMMENDED APPS
- Privacy and Security Based Operating System: ttps://grapheneos.org/
- Open Source App Store: https://f-droid.org/
- Open Source Port of G’s Play Store: https://auroraoss.com/. Download link here: https://auroraoss.com/AuroraStore/Stable/AuroraStore_3.2.9.apk
- G Camera Port: https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/dev-cstark27/. This will not work without microg (next). Go into Settings ➔ Apps & notifications ➔ microg and disable it’s network and location access. Just as a precaution.
- Private implementation of G’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries: https://microg.org/. Use only version 0.2.4-3-g47a61d6 by adding the microg archive repo (https://microg.org/fdroid/archive) to f-droid. Go into Settings ➔ Apps & notifications ➔ microg and disable it’s network and sensor access. Just as a precaution. On the microg website, go to the menu ➔ download, and then click on the repository address. This will take you to a similar looking page. Scroll down below the first QR code and you’ll see the link to the archive repository. Copy the link. Go to f-droid ➔ settings ➔ add a repository, and it should auto populate, otherwise paste the address in. Then search for microg in f-droid. Select services code (usually the 3rd link) and scroll down to version and you’ll see them all listed. 0.2.4-3-g47a61d6 is towards the bottom.
- Anonymized port of youtube with no ads: https://github.com/TeamNewPipe/NewPipe/releases. Only download from github, as it is the most current and youtube tends to change things that disable it from time to time (they’re very quick to circumvent)
WHY PIXEL DEVICES
Here is from Graphene’s FAQ: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
This is a reddit post with more detail: https://www.reddit.com/r/GrapheneOS/comments/htwm9t/why_is_grapheneos_supported_only_on_pixels/fyjjq9z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
CONTACT ME:
If you would still like a professional (or at least a dude who’s done this a few times) to help set you up or have any questions or comments, please contact me here: