Firewalls are a great way to tell if new apps are secrely installed
Btw what is the key verifier thing?
So glad I moved to GrapheneOS last month.
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
11 points (100.0% liked)
Privacy
35469 readers
773 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Got myself a Pixel 9 pro just to go Graphene... Sold my s24 ultra
Yeah I'm super keen, but my lower-tier Samsung isn't supported. I really wish FairPhone would offer a cheaper option :(
I already have a pixel. Is it just as easy as installing Lineage OS on the phone?
Absolutely the easiest phone OS installation I've ever done. Completely web-based and easy enough for anyone to use. Even easier than flashing LineageOS.
The big hurdle to GrapheneOS is can you do without Google Wallet and other apps that won't work. The flashing process isn't something to worry about IMO.
Does lichess work on graphene os? How is compatibility with classic stuff line firefox, signal, ...?
I had zero problems with either FF or Signal after the first weeks though I migrated over to Fennec and Molly as alternatives since then. Sorry, I can't help with lichess though I can say that my nonograms work fine. =P
There are functional firewall apps for android? Is Rethink good?
Rethink is better than good. It's great.
Yes, it also let you change your DNS and block websites. There's also invizible pro which also adds tor and i2p but rethink have a better UI.
Note: The "Key Verifier" one is supposed to be tied to E2EE on Google chat platforms or something on those lines, although you shouldn't be using those and go for a safer chat instead though
These are usually installed as core Google apps on Android, and most flavours have them hidden since they're really just background daemons/libraries.
Gf had the same happen on her Huawei P30 which clearly wasn't set up to have the apps hidden by default.
If youre degoogling obvs not what you wanna have on your device but technically they shouldn't be doing much on their own.
Bit out of the loop. What am I looking at?
Google's secret app that scans your photos for CSAM, but my firewall is configured to autoblock newly installed apps from internet access, thus the notification alerting me an app is trying to access the internet.
Nothing about the app is secret, Google openly advertises it
It often feels like I am just a user of someone else's device.
Even from the stuff that is shown like "Your device has new features" and "Settings changed by carrier". And how Motorola tried forcing updates by using non-dismisable (they would re-appear immediately) full-screen notifications, and trying to disable the app led me to "Blocked by your IT admin" (I returned that phone).
Also when I connect any modern phone to Wi-Fi not manually set as metered it starts downloading a bunch of random shit automatically.
It keeps killing apps I want running (I had to use a cheap dumb phone as alarm clock with the past 2 smartphones), but keeps all Google services conveniently spending data and battery.
Provides a single process that can be used by all message apps so that they don't need to implement backdoors into all of them?
Which FW (Firewall) could be recommended?
TrackerControl