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I installed GrapheneOS on my Pixel 4a after Google deleted the battery life[0], and while the initial move was frustrating with things not working, I've adapted and have a nice feeling of security while using my device again. It feels like it's mine, and I don't have to worry about who will spy on me or rug-pull me next.

[0] https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/113917226566692707

>>OsrsNe+(OP)
> deleted the battery life[0]

Such a bizarre phenomenon to me that people are still griping about a software update that stops a 4-year-old battery from detonating when the same company will also fix the phone for free or just hand you $50 if you prefer that.

>>jeffbe+51
I don't have any idea what the situation is here and whether it's as black and white as you paint it, but regardless, surely something as significant as this should be presented to the user as an option rather than the manufacturer deciding for you that your phone that you own and paid for should now be unusable?

>>jeffbe+51
> or just hand you $50 if you prefer that.

Not really just handing it to you https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/how-google-nerfed-my...

>>jeffbe+51
The fixing offer is only valid in some locations, would require you to be without your phone for some time, and since Android still doesn't have anything that would be considered working backup and restore, I can't imagine many people being comfortable mailing their phone out for a replacement.

The $50 "cash" offer came with so many downsides that just ignoring it would be the smarter choice for anyone who values their time (someone already provided a link).

>>jeffbe+51
They never ack'd the reason why they did it. My wife's phone was basically bricked, and the google offer for "free fix" was functionally worthless because the contracted companies wouldn't repair it. See many articles online (including ars technica editor who personally was screwed).

>>OsrsNe+(OP)
Of all the selling points for GrapheneOS, I don't think battery life is one I'd highlight. Their Google Play services shim smokes my battery. Like 20-30% discharge while overnight idle kind of bad.

>>tengbr+H3
That's not at all normal. Sandboxed Google Play doesn't consume more batter than privileged Google Play in a standard Google Mobiles Services device. It indicates something is very wrong with your setup.

>>jeffbe+51
I just bought a replacement battery from ifixit and replaced it myself as the original battery was worn out only to now suddenly have garbage battery life on a brand new battery for no good reason.

I doubt that they'll give me any sort of money or do repairs on a phone that I opened up.

It's frustrating as I thought I would be able to get several more years of life out of this phone.

>>strcat+R3
Its definitely pretty close to normal. Battery drain is probably the top mentioned drawback in any online post discussing GrapheneOS.

>>jeffbe+51
I was never even notified for my 4a and when I try to check it's eligibility it simply says my pixel 4a "is not eligible for a repair, cash payment, or discount." without any additional information.

Does this mean my pixel 4a battery was unaffected for some reason... or simply that the lawyers managed to weasel out of paying 100% of active pixel 4a owners back and my phone is still dangerous or degraded? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>>tengbr+96
No, it's not at all normal. Here's a poll someone did on Mastodon with 124 anonymous responses from our community:

https://23.social/@mj1982/114210416377875387

54% Battery consumption is lower under GrapheneOS

13% Battery consumption is lower under stock Android

33% Can't tell the difference.

For users with a single profile with sandboxed Google Play installed before other apps, it should be very similar to the stock Pixel OS if you installed the dozens of Google apps they bundle on GrapheneOS and disable the various privileged apps they integrate which aren't usable on GrapheneOS. The stock OS drains more power with a typical simple setup because it has so much more installed and running. If you make it similar, it's nearly the same. If you use a more complex setup with multiple profiles and multiple push implementations on GrapheneOS, that's going to use more power. It still shouldn't drain nearly as much as you said above without something seriously wrong with the setup.

It's very easy to make battery life much worse. Using multiple push messaging implementations simultaneously is inefficient. As an example, using sandboxed Google Play in your Owner user, sandboxed Google Play in a work profile and a Private Space without it with various apps doing their own push would of course be far less efficient than a single Firebase Cloud Messaging push connection shared across the entire device. Having 2 installations of sandboxed Google Play you always keep running would be less efficient than privileged Google Play. Regular privileged Google Play shares the same processes and connections across profiles since it's built deeply into the OS and is implemented that way for efficiency like many OS services. If you compare having a single privileged Google Play vs. multiple sandboxed Google Play alongside apps doing their own push, of course privileged Google Play would be more efficient. You can use GrapheneOS with a similarly efficient setup and battery life will not be worse. You likely just have an inefficient setup. It can still be hard to narrow down what's really draining battery usage despite Android's battery stats getting much better over time.

>>Spunki+h7
Yes, not all 4a's were affected. Of two of mine, one was eligible, but the other was not.

>>OsrsNe+(OP)
Yeah it's really great, before switching to GrapheneOS I used LineageOS for years so battery life is already good in that case. But the whole access control, and checking every few months which apps are hardly used is just super practical. I don't do online banking on my phone though, I guess for people who do it's not feasible. The only thing I don't like is that it only works with Google Pixels

>>tengbr+96
I know, I had the problem when I got the Pixel. Already with the stock Android and then when installing Graphene. It took one or two weeks of tweaking until the battery life was on par with LineageOS. Not sure if I'd be able to reproduce it, but I think a combination of display settings and stand-by/background services. It's a thin line though, also making sure that Whatsapp notifications still work.

>>blabla+1B
Online banking (anecdotally) works great, though may use the sandboxed google play services. At least here in Switzerland with Swiss banking apps I've never had issues with it.

I would recommend people to install the play services and play store in the main profile. Then, install apps in the main profile too but remove all permissions and abilities, restrict and disable them. After that, enable them in a "banking" profile. One can then selectively enable and disable the play store to update these apps which propagate to the other profiles. The disabled apps are still updated normally by the play store.

I do believe that they are working on a feature to limit app intercommunication in a similar vein as the other scopes. This would be cool because it would allow one to allow "point to point" communication of certain apps with the play services but otherwise restrict them. Though I don't know the state of development for this feature.

>>strcat+E8
To back up your survey with a reproducible experiment:

On my 6 pro, I got 2x advertised battery life until I installed one copy of Google Play services. Then I got advertised battery life.

It should be easy enough to uninstall Google’s stuff for a week and measure battery drain, then put it back.

Even with it though, I wasn’t losing 30% overnight. There’s probably some other problem. Maybe wipe + reinstall, then try with and without the 24/7 surveillance daemons?