GrapheneOS and Motorola partnership for next privacy-protecting phone
(piunikaweb.com)
from xav@programming.dev to world@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2026 11:25
https://programming.dev/post/46567323
from xav@programming.dev to world@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2026 11:25
https://programming.dev/post/46567323
#world
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Moar, please.
Don’t think I have ever owned a Motorola phone but it seems I just might in 2027.
My last one was in the naughts. When Nokia was still a market leader.
It’s been my main brand for a while now. Pretty good hardware with very few changes to base android. There are not many options in my country so from what’s available, Motorola is by far the best choice.
I had the Razr V3M (the original one): It was a pretty solid phone.
I’ve had a couple and always installef LineageOS. A custom ROM with the ability to keep the bootloader locked will be nice
In my experience, they have always been one of the less painful custom rom experiences, but for some reason, overlooked by the community
Yeah no idea why people are sleeping on the Motos. I love mine
Ads, as of late. Bought my mom one and kinda regret it.
Can I please know which model? As far as I know they can all be uninstalled (not just disabled) and they are the ones like Moto shopping and Moto this and that… all pretty much useless, but thankfully mine were not inbuilt apps.
I forget the model but an especially annoying piece of adware on the phone is Glance, which keeps re-enabling and reinstalling itself.
Uggh… Then there are reinstallers! Highly annoying.
On my phone I disabled the google play store, installed FDroid and then Aurora (play store alternative of sorts). Blacklisted apps I don’t like, and also disabled auto install. Try and see if that helps if things get more annoying than usual.
Also, get RethinkDNS (firewall) and block the adwares and apps that you don’t need internet for. Great many options in there.
It’s my mom’s phone and I’m a significant bit of distance away from home. So, I want to make changes that are as non-intrusive as possible because she can’t really troubleshoot.
Funny, my carrier just offered a free phone upgrade and I ordered a Motorola at random because I was growing increasingly annoyed by my Samsung. Luck was with me!
StarTAC hand-me-down as my first cell phone.
Motorola Droid as my first smart phone.
I haven’t had many Motorolas, but my limited history with them has been pretty alright!
I’ve had a few moto phones and one edge, in general I was quite happy with them. Motorola doesn’t change the Android UI too much and only adds a few convenience functions.
Price / value ratio is also pretty good.
Lenovo is walking on the razor’s edge. They are still a chinese company and can’t help themselves. My G23 had Lenovo’s adware instaled after a version upgrade, kept pushing for Live Lock Screens. Had to uninstall the crap on the user through adb, just disabling it didn’t work.
You have to think and view this deal as GrapheneOS with Lenovo, not with Motorola.
Razr’s edge
I installed LineageOS on my Motorola. No adware to be seen. With an entirely separate ROM I dont see how it could be a problem
If you can load vanilla graphene on to it without compromise who gives a shit?
Who cares? The people that aren’t technically adept and yet want out of Apple/Android.
Installing graphene is requires you to plug your phone into your laptop running google chrome and:
If you can’t do that then you’re already incapable of operating a phone, and therefore its a moot point.
If the issue is you cant find the information then your skill issue isn’t with tech its with using a search engine.
Stop infantalizing people, and maybe google and apple wont be able to use the widespread expectance of instant convenience to normalize corporate malware like they have for the past 15 years.
I’m so sick of people acting like reading a web page and clicking through an install wizard requires a fucking C.S. degree. Its both insulting to the average user, and those with more knowledge.
I think step two is where this person stops
It tells you on the page which one to click, what’s the issue?
This is like getting mad and calling cars bullshit because you didn’t know to put fucking gas in your car.
I’m calling the user dumb.
They’re not dumb they’re just propagandized into being lazy.
Big tech companies convinced everyone their computers where magic and not machines they can understand if they put the effort into.
Ok, propagandized? Please. They’re just fucking dumb as shit.
Not everything is a conspiracy.
Its not a conspiracy to say companies know they can boil they users like frogs if they dangle the carrot of convenience over them.
Routinely doing this gets people used to it, which pushes the boundaries of what the next company can get away with.
Ah the elitist attitude. “It’s easy for me do then it’s easy for everyone” “if you can’t do it then there’s something wrong with you”
Which ignores the fact that way too many apps and websites have their interfaces totally fucked up. So because of that many people just get really confused and then can’t figure it out.
Yeah maybe graphene might be different. But that is not the point. The point is most sites and apps are almost unusable. So when you tell someone to change their o/s they get the idea that it’s impossible and don’t look. So instead of pulling a crappy attitude try looking at it from the other side.
Either way. Have a nice day. Bye.
Yes it absolutely is and this is literally the problem I’m pointing out.
When you say its too hard it implies its because its difficult, which means it needs to be made easy.
Your issue is not educational, nor accessibility. Its that you don’t want to put fucking effort in. You want it to be done for you.
That’s it. That’s literally what I’ve been trying to get out of you fucks forever. That its not how hard something is. Its that you need it spoon fed.
You should feel shame for that.
Everyone who expects that should.
You’re an adult, you should be able to put effort into the machines that run your daily life.
Elitism means I think I’m better than you because I’m smarter, I don’t. I think you’re being a lazy fuck, and are capable of doing basic things, but don’t want to, its right here in your comment:
You’re capable, you just don’t.
This is like bitching you didn’t know your car needed gas or an oil change, then blaming it on the people who knew.
That’s great, if I was going to pick a phone brand for Graphene it would be Motorola.
Gotta have that shake flashlight
I miss that on my x4
My Moto Edge has it. It’s so natural and I love it.
I’d prefer programmable button(s) like my current phone has.
Now, it’s a Ulefone, so in the full Ulefone spirit the software is bugged out due to power saving and often breaks with locked screen (only for the large flashlight).
I really, really miss the fingerprint scanner navigation from my Moto G5s Plus. Unfortunately, nowadays phones have minimal bezels, so it’s not possible.
And yes, I would prefer bezels and 16:9 screen. It’s much easier to hold it that way. Or at least enough to get rid of cut-outs and curved corners. Give me all my pixels!
But also there was volume button music control, so I could skip songs without using the screen. Very useful at night, but also when just having the phone in a pocket.
Tap to adjust volume, hold to skip.
Shake flashlight and twist camera, I use both every single day.
What’s a twist camera?
You twist/rotate the phone sharply left and right on it’s long axis and that brings up the camera app.
Sounds very convenient. I’ll look up to see if my phone has it
Once you use it and the shake camera they are very intuitive. I had a Moto G and it was great (other than the camera). I do like my current double press power for camera too, but options are nice.
Im pretty simple. I’d like decent cameras and microsd card expansion.
Well, well, well, my next phone might just be a Motorola!
motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions…
Its probably gonna be their Thinkphone, currently they are about 500€ a piece, with a subscription for various business things
Wasn’t the last thinkphone from 2024?
Would be nice, but the last think phone had mediatek instead of Qualcomm so I don’t know if that will be the case (mediatek seems a lot harder to make custom ROMs for and there aren’t too many).
But modeled after the first think phone would be awesome. USB 3.1, wireless charging, decent camera for its time, but no SD card slot or headphone jack…
Here’s hoping they’ve got a larger version of phone for whatever they end up with. The price gap for the pixel 9 XL (i got big hands, i couldn’t type reliably on a base model size) was kinda nuts
If it ain’t got a jack, I gotta send it back.
I hope it’s a flip phone with 12 buttons on it
I will take any trash at this point, considering to hell hole that the smartphone market is now.
How dare you call this trash?
Looks like I misinterpreted your comment. I was a bit groggy when I replied.
it’s okay I’m not actually offended i love you bb I don’t actually have one of these phones I hate them
Prob my next phone.
Please don’t have a shit camera and I’m all in
Yeah that’s a worry eh. My phone I have now has a phenomenal camera. It’s the main reason I bought it.
I’m quite happy to have zero AI integration and pay a premium for an amazing camera.
I want this to be great but I worry they are going to have to make too many compromises AND it will still be expensive.
This is obviously all conjecture so I’m looking forward to seeing the specs
Don’t expect anything fancy in the beginning. They will get there eventually, but only if we incentivize them initially by backing their efforts with our wallets. Or in others words, we will have to make some sacrifices in the beginning like in any good long-term investment. It’s not like owning such a phone excludes you from having a decent camera. You’ll just have to buy an external add-on camera or an entire separate camera.
Dear Santa…
That’s all I want. Thank you.
I would also take a headphone jack if we could swing that.
And sd card.
This is my grown up Christmas list
Moto G Stylus is pretty crazy in that it has all that plus a stylus. Now something like that with GrapheneOS and long term support would make it amazing.
Have it running LineageOS but would switch if an image comes through.
A functional NFC payment check would be welcome. Hoping Motorola would have the pull to implement that either by getting Google Wallet’s blessing or forcing them to. I really don’t see why it is not considered a monopolistic practice since it gives Googles official OS an unfair advantage.
That’s the thing - Android is not Googles official/private OS. They just help maintain it. In their distribution, they ship it with Google products. The EU is strongly against this practice, why there is a EU version without preinstalled apps. The maker of the phone then has to solve the problem of how to solve certain problems. Samsung solved it by providing their own wallet solution. Motorola would have to do the same.
I love my razr 2024, but I’ve been patiently waiting for graphene to support a decent non-google phone. Looks like I’m about to get the best of both worlds!
If it has expandable memory, I’m in
Memory or storage?
Storage
I hope they make a razr with it. I’ve thought about switching but am unsure how well it handles foldables.
Slightly concerning given Motorola is owned by Lenovo, a huge Chinese company… Hopefully the Chinese state doesn’t get involved with the project somehow.
And black rock
This is the thing that will 100% get me to leave my iPhone behind.
Wonderful. Motorola is one of the few phones that did a stylus like Samsung.