I have been convinced to switch from apple, and i am soon purchasing a pixel 7 pro. I would then like to put a custom rom on it because i would:

  1. like to use foss more
  2. like to maintain better privacy than apple offers
  3. would enjoy the control over the system
  4. not like to ever touch google chrome

There are some limitations to what i can choose though, as i need the following to work:

  1. google apps like sheets/docs/classroom/youtube
  2. banking app (usaa specifically)
  3. play store (could be replaced)

Additionally i would like to keep the flashy camera stuff google talks about with the camera as i use the camera a fair bit. I have also heard that androids can have different UIs, so i would appreciate a nice looking one (i use gnome on my desktop for this reason alone). What ROMs would you guys recommend i choose?

  • SynapseEnglish
    6•1 year ago

    GrapheneOS will fit your bill. I am using it on my Pixel 7. With the sandboxed google services installed, there is only few apps that do not work (most notably Android Auto). I didn’t face any problem with banking apps.

    Installing GrapheneOS is super easy, but you will have to install Chromium webbrowser on your computer.

    Once installed, I like to get my apps from F-droid (FOSS app store) and I go to Google Playstore only if I can’t find what I need from F-droid. There is also Aurora-store that is a sort of proxy for playstore that doesn’t requie you to login with a google account, buy I’ve never use it myself.

    If apps are not behaving properly, they probably require more permission, and if those depends on the google services you must check the permissions for it as well. One example Google maps was not calculating routes properly until i grant google services the location and sensors access.