zlacker

>>madars+(OP)
Perhaps a newbie question, but since there's a lot of Graphene users here I thought it'd be best to get a human answer.

I have an old Pixel 5 which I stopped using because Google dropped Google Pay (tap to pay) on it. I moved to a new device (Pixel 9) for daily usage but still have the 5 laying around (due to low resale value).

At the time I moved, Pixel 5 was about 1.5 years (November 2023) beyond Android security updates. I still love the form factor (more than the bigger 9 I use now) and it has much more life left in it. I'd quite like to use this as a backup device for basic utility (camera, phone, SMS, basic read-only web use) and to take with me for runs and travelling.

Would installing GrapheneOS on this device likely make it more secure? Do Graphene releases work the same on all devices, or is it sort of device-by-device basis?

>>sjw987+di1
Yes it will make it more secure (and faster!), but it is already receiving only bare EOL updates, but will definitely give it some life extension. See: https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices

>>backsc+Ai1
That's interesting. Thanks for the information.

I'll give it an install tonight. I'm curious to play around with it anyway and if I make minimal use of it, it should be pretty secure by it's use case.

>>sjw987+hj1
Yes definitely more secure than stock, it is actually staggering to compare some of the features like ability to give apps access to only a selected set of contacts/files which as far as i know is still not on base android. whatsapp for example gets ALL of your address book or nothing (limiting usability) on other OS but on Graphene i can give it just 10 whatsapp-only contacts. I dont know how long the 5 will keep getting updates but for all I know it will be some years. the installation process is surprisingly the easiest of any mobile os I have ever encountered, you will be impressed!