Some of you asked me an opinion about a secure and private smartphone.
IMO a smartphone will never be decently private nor decently secure and it's usually less private and less secure than an average pc. A self-evident fact.
This said, there are obvious reasons to look for a phone that offers better privacy and security. If this is what you are after and you are rather techie there are good news.
Very recently I had the chance to recreate something similar to the famous Nitrophone 3 and it was simple, compared to what was required just a few years ago on LineageOS and OnePlus (although the final result is not exactly the same and this makes it hard to compare)
This is my first experience with GrapheneOS, the hardened Android operating system running on the Nitrophone, and Android version 13.
For what I've seen so far, I like a lot its features (must be read, word by word), especially the sandboxing and the rootless experience, its FAQ (must be read, word by word), the philosophy behind the project, the meticulousness and the coherence shown by the development team.
If you want to give it a try, all you need is:
- a recent Google Pixel smartphone
- a Linux pc
- this extremely clear and concise step by step guide
- a few free hours (or days)
WARNING-1: if you fuck up BIG during GrapheneOS installation, there is a chance that you brick the phone and you'll have to throw it away
Once GrapheneOS is running, you'll have to install F-droid or Droid-ify apps-store in order to be able to install additional applications.
Eventually you might want to try the sandboxed Google Services offered by GrapheneOS which looks awesome on paper but I didn't try because I don't need it.
WARNING-2: even when you succeed to configure the phone properly and after you tune it to your best, mind that there are many more elements to privacy and security than the smartphone itself, starting with your network connectivity and the applications you choose to install.
I'm super happy with the final product that the GrapheneOS team has delivered in my hands, now it's up to you to decide if you want to give it a try and, if you like it, please consider to donate to this extraordinary team (crypto accepted).
WARNING-3
There is an imprecision in Nitrophone datasheet:
Firewall: Granular network and sensors permissions (e.g. GPS) toggle for each app.
GrapheneOS does not come with a firewall. It has a granular permission system for network connectivity per-app but it's not a kernel-level firewall.
Ciao!
