I assume it not completely locked down, but does it mean Google doesn’t have access to everything like I assume it does with Android?
Its not really meant for privacy. Its a great rom for keeping an old phone up and going but you should consider divestos or grapheneos if privacy is your main concern.
I’ve heard graphene isn’t maintained any longer than Google pixel updates. So 5 years.
This is for security concerns, because all the firmware and driver are maintained by first party, so once the first party stopped maintaining firmware, there is no way for graphene to make the device as secure as a phone that is still in its support period.
At that point, you can try to switch to lineage to increase the life of your device.
That being said, graphene do offer extended support for some devices like pixel 4(XL) is still supported right now, but it made it very clear that it is “extended support”, and it exist only to help user transition to their next device.
At that point, you can try to switch to lineage to increase the life of your device.
Which basically brings me to my question, how is LineageOS for should I call it basic privacy.
It is okay for privacy, especially if you dont have google app installed, but it is not security and privacy focused.
If you have google app installed I imagine it is probably as private as stock os on a pixel, but less secure. Graphene/calyx will definitely have better security and privacy than lineage with or without gapps.
But I understand there is other tradeoffs besides just security and privacy, like minimizng ewaste, cost, availability, etc.
It’s good for general computing, and if it’s off the internet it’s good for anything. But if it’s networked don’t trust it with things you’re not comfortable being at higher risk.
So watch YouTube fine, banking maybe not
From Kuketz - “Overall, LineageOS leaves neither a privacy-friendly nor really secure impression”
It is good for privacy as long you do not install Google Play Services and also do not download any apps that is bad for your privacy. However GrapheneOS is a better option which additional security benefits.
Even without explicit installation of GApps, Lineage still uses and connects to quite a few Google services in the background.
It’s a great way of keeping older devices up to date, but not much more than that.
Yes, this is the crux of LineageOS. There is a fork called DivestOS that is more libré and reduces dependence on Google services, as well as having bootloader re-locking for some devices.
Divest is pretty great, I use it myself
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It’s a trade-off, everyone needs to decide for themselves
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Divest doesn’t officially support MicroG or Sanboxed Play Services though, which can be an issue depending on what apps you need.
Lineage will still be the better option for most people because of this, unless they actually need to buy a new phone anyway
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After reading up on it on the DivestOS page, it mostly seems to work, with the exception of SafetyNet
https://divestos.org/pages/faq#microgOptions
Some apps require SafetyNet to work, while the option to enable it currently exists it will not work in the unprivileged mode that DivestOS uses and will be removed in a future update.
But then again, the whole point of the DivestOS project is to remove as much Google and other proprietary code as possible.
So if someone wants to use DivestOS specifically, they likely don’t use any apps that need microg.
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I’d say neutral. Since you can install gapps (e.g. Playstore, gmail) for convenience and less privacy. Or microG instead of gapps.
You can’t rely install that. There can be microg (not sure if it’s in the distributed rom), but there is no system integration with microg, so G apps cannot work. Neither a lot of apps based on play services.
Microg however offers a modified LineageOs rom where they have installed the system integration for micro G. On that rom, the G apps and apps requiring G services do work.
Maybe it could be a bit more privacy friendly than using the direct Google services, but it still connects to Google to get some services for some apps.
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It’s only less secure in a rare circumstance that a bootloader compromise happens by theft or advanced malware. If you’re not doing stupid stuff on your phone you probably won’t get advanced malware on it, and most thieves probably don’t even know what a bootloader is, so IMO the security is good enough.
So the practical benefits of improved privacy and removal of bloatware etc are a much more significant benefit over stock android. I won’t use a phone with stock android at all after getting used to Lineage and Graphene
From what I get, if your phone is anything other than a Pixel still within supported lifetime, then LOS is decent. At that point it’s mostly a hardware tradeoff (use a phone that all of has active lifetime support, is bootloader-relockable and has Custom ROM support) than a software one.
It’s good as long as you don’t install Goole play services but doesn’t have some of the extras privacy centric roms people will recommend you (only usable on a Google Pixel) have.
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