I have not any prior experience with installing custom ROMs, but after trying it out (and getting stuck, and googling and finding answers) I successfully did it. Below is my home screen if anybody is curious:
I use OpenBoard for my keyboard. Unfortunately I am still dependent on Play Store since some of the apps I need can only be found there. Sometimes it feels meaningless committing to this whole thing because I’m not perfectly private; then I think this is better than using a regular iPhone or Android phone.
So far I’m liking it. I am naturally inclined to feel hesitant about using this as my main phone and plugging in a SIM since it’s custom, but I’m slowly making the transition.
Feel free to share any beginners advice or your own experience using GOS for the first time. Cheers!
It is really similar to stock android in terms of functionality. It’s just degoogled and hardened. It’s designed to be user-friendly and not for tech-savvy people (though tech-savvy-friendly—which is part of being user-friendly imo). I promise you you can use it out of the box once installed just like a stock android install. The only thing to be aware of is to install some kind of package manager like fdroid or aurora store, or even grapheneos’s unprivileged google play store, to get apps, unless you just want to use the stock apps it comes with i guess in which case you probably shouldn’t waste money on a smartphone.
Really? That’s awesome! I think I’ll check it out. :)
Edit: …Seriously? They only support Pixel devices? Wow. Fuck this.
Yes, only Pixels are officially supported. If you want to add support for other devices, it’s a foss project and you’re welcome to write the code yourself. For other devices there are other degoogled OSes you can use. Graphene is generally considered the most secure but if you have another phone you can install one of the other AOSP forks or turn it into a linux phone or something