Dear reader,
In 2021, I found myself in the middle of a privacy dilemma. Apple had announced it would start scanning users’ photos for CSAM, and all the talk and marketing they had done for privacy lost all its meaning in my eyes. After receiving strong pushback from users and security and privacy experts, Apple eventually abandoned its plan.
This was an eye-opening moment for me since I realized how dependent I had been on Apple’s hardware and software, when at any moment, Apple could just come and take away my privacy. The incident was the biggest reason behind my choice to switch to GrapheneOS; an Android-based operating system focused on security and privacy. I ended up using it for three and a half years, but last year I moved back to iOS. This blog post will tell you why.
What I liked about Android and GrapheneOS
GrapheneOS had many things I enjoyed using, starting from its strong privacy and security features that come enabled by default. It’s also open source and developed by a non-profit, which is a stark difference when compared to iOS and Apple. The minimalist in me also appreciated the low number of pre-installed apps, but this required time to research the best ways of installing more apps. This aspect ended up being one of the best and most frustrating parts of using Android, since there are many options beyond the Google Play Store, and the endless debates surrounding them didn’t make my choice any easier. Google Play Store, F-Droid, and Obtainium were the options I used the most. While having so many choices felt overwhelming sometimes, I still enjoyed the freedom to install my apps the way I preferred. This is something that isn't really a thing on iOS.
GrapheneOS and Android also benefit from a lively open source app ecosystem, which allows you to find open source alternatives for pretty much anything. Two of my favorite apps were AntennaPod and HeliBoard: a podcast and a keyboard app that both offered a superior experience over the options on iOS. NewPipe is also great and allows you to watch and download YouTube videos in the app. This is great if you don’t want to visit YouTube directly. These days, I’m using Play to manage my YouTube playlists and watch most of the videos, but I can’t browse YouTube with it, while NewPipe allows this.
App compatibility was one of my biggest concerns when I was considering GrapheneOS. In the end, most apps worked as expected, but after I enabled sandboxed Google Play services, things improved to a point where I could even imagine regular people being fine with using Graphene. I can only remember a few app issues, but those were usually temporary, and I could fix most of them myself.
GrapheneOS also gives you ultimate control over app permissions. If an app doesn’t need a certain permission, I can remove its access. While iOS gives you some control over this, it isn’t enough. For example, you can’t control the network permission, so if your keyboard app requires that for whatever reason, you’re out of luck.
The browsers are also better on Android. On iOS, Apple forces all browsers to use WebKit, which means that browser developers aren’t able to bring all the features they want to iOS. Brave has often mentioned how its privacy features aren’t as effective on iOS when compared to other platforms.
On Android, VPN kill switch implementation is also more robust, and GrapheneOS further improves it. On iOS, VPN providers cannot guarantee a strong kill switch because of platform limitations.
There are certainly even more cool features GrapheneOS adopts, so I encourage you to visit their website to learn more.
Things I like better on the Apple side
While Android and GrapheneOS have many attractive features, iOS and iPhone have their benefits.
Advanced Data Protection (ADP) is one of the best privacy features Apple has released in recent years, and since our family has an iCloud subscription, I’m able to take advantage of that. To be clear, if Apple didn’t offer ADP, I would store my stuff elsewhere. The implementation is so smooth that even my non tech-savvy family members don’t notice it being turned on. It just does its thing in the background without affecting the usability of the phone. Just save the recovery code in your password manager or add a recovery contact.
On GrapheneOS, I was using Ente for storing my photos and videos. While Ente is great, the slow video loading times made my experience quite frustrating from time to time. On iOS, videos load instantly even with ADP enabled.
Being able to use Apple Pay is another benefit of iOS. With GrapheneOS, I didn’t have access to similar NFC payment options that once backfired when I had left my wallet at home. I had to leave everything at the store and was almost ready to give up on GrapheneOS then and there.
While I don’t use my phone for intensive tasks, it is still ridiculous how far behind the competition the Pixel's performance is. My iPhone 16e is more powerful than any Pixel device, but that's not all. An iPhone 11 Pro that I had before moving to the Pixel 6 has similar performance to the Pixel 9 even though there are 5 years between them. I would like to use my phone as long as it receives security updates, which can be around 7 years now, so buying a device with comparable performance to a phone released over 6 years ago doesn’t feel tempting. Pixel 10 with its Tensor 5 chip improves things, but is still playing catch-up.
My reasons for switching
When I was still using GrapheneOS, Apple brought many privacy and security improvements to its operating systems, such as Lockdown Mode and the previously mentioned Advanced Data Protection. Both of them restored much of my confidence in Apple, so it became a choice I could consider again.
I knew I would lose some convenience features with GrapheneOS, but I wasn't expecting the phone itself to be my biggest annoyance. The problem was the fingerprint scanner that barely worked outdoors. Even the new Pixel 10a is still sticking with the same old optical scanner, while the Pixel 9 was the first Pixel to introduce an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that should offer a much improved experience over the previous version. After moving back to an iPhone, it was not surprising that Face ID has been one of the best things about the switch.
People have also been concerned about Google’s plans to further restrict Android by requiring developers to identify themselves to have their apps available on Android. While the situation is still developing, the future doesn’t seem bright. Turns out that having one of the biggest advertising companies in charge of the world’s most popular operating system isn’t the best idea. The situation isn’t any better on iOS, but if Android loses the freedom that has historically been its biggest strength, it becomes harder to see reasons to use it over iOS.
Finally, the concerns related to GrapheneOS’s communication style have certainly affected how I view the project. This video by Louis Rossmann is a great watch if you’re unaware of some of these issues, but many prominent figures have made similar findings. In short, hostility and unprofessionalism describe too often the way the project interacts with people online. While GrapheneOS is probably the most secure smartphone operating system a regular person can install on their device, that doesn’t justify the behavior. While many would argue that we should just ignore this and focus on the technical staff, or “separate the art from the artist”, I see that as willful ignorance. These are legitimate issues that should get resolved.
Future considerations
My years of using GrapheneOS have given me extensive experience, so I don’t need to worry about things like installation or app compatibility if I ever choose to return. While I’m now back on iOS and take advantage of some of Apple's services, I also feel much better equipped to leave Apple if that becomes something I want to do in the future. While I generally favor open source software that works across platforms, I have noticed that Apple’s ecosystem works incredibly well, and expanding my use of it feels tempting.
I often wonder if I should have bought a new Pixel and continued my life with GrapheneOS. My concerns related to digital sovereignty have only strengthened this feeling, and made me feel like I should move more towards open source software, instead of walking away from it. But as of now, there are too many open questions related to Android’s future, and the current Pixel lineup doesn’t offer a device I would be interested in. Either the hardware is lacking or the phones are too expensive. I also wouldn’t consider an Android phone if I couldn’t install GrapheneOS on it, which only leaves Pixels as viable options. However, the recently announced partnership between GrapheneOS and Motorola should improve the situation in the coming years and give us more options beyond Pixels. If only Fairphone and GrapheneOS could team up, so I didn't have to choose between privacy and ethics. 🌔