this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2024
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[please... something other than Pixel....]
Pixel 9
The problem is that (as far as i know) only pixels fulfill their security requirements, for example that the bootloader is not only unlockable but also lockable. But I also would like to have more devices supporting it
Fairphones should be supported imo. CalyxOS relocks the bootloader and they supported the FP5 right after launch.
CalyxOS is not a hardened OS, and GrapheneOS requires more than than just relocking the bootloader.
Ref: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7208-8y-security-updates-on-fairphone-5-will-the-devs-consider-porting-grapheneos
Thanks for the info!
Fairphone should sell phones outside of Europe
Unfortunately neither of us get what we want
Oh they dont? 0.o I didnt know that, weird
Mmmhm. I've been eyeing them since their first phone. I'm sure they will offer even the most basic "international shipping with no warranty or support" any day now...
my skeleton, 64 years from now, in front of a computer with the website loaded, waiting for the global debut
Idk where you are, but looking at their shipping info they list some authorized resellers that ship to the US. As you said, they will have varying levels of warranty etc but yiu also have to check hardware stuff like mobile network compatibility etc
Unfortunately, it's only murena that I can see (https://murena.com/america/products/smartphones/?wcpbc-manual-country=US), which only has the FP4. It's quite frustrating, I want to support the project and FP is just uninterested in doing so for NA. Even when the 4 came out, it was going to be a downgrade from my Pixel 5, but like 3y (?) later with no sign of the FP5 is oof.
(I forgot too that it's only compatible with 1 of the 3 nationwide networks here, which I don't currently use... but baby steps, just having availability here would be nice)
I can understand your frustration but there are probably reasons. Also the FP5 only came out exactly 1 year ago.
Yeah, the 5 is much newer than the 4, but the 5 is unavailable here. I assume this is all because they simply lack the staff/resources (and customer base) for a NA operation, it's just :(
You can get the previous model (FairPhone 4) in the US through Murena.
Paying full price for a phone that was weak when it released 3 years ago that is also missing most US cell bands and is locked to T-Mobile.
Oh and also the parent company doesn't ship anything to the US, so parts are aftermarket only.
That's not available in the US: that's you can hack together a workaround.
Yup, I looked into them because so many people talked them up, but due to all of those issues you mentioned, I crossed it off my list. I ended up going with Pixel 8 due to long software support, GrapheneOS compatibility, and acceptable repairability, though I would have preferred a PinePhone Pro (if it had better speakers and software support) or FairPhone (if it had better support in the US).
I guess we'll see what happens when my phone goes out of support (so, 6+ years?) or I break it.
gos is open source. If the fairphone people wanted to maintain a fork of GOS for their phones, they could.
And they could discuss w/ GrapheneOS devs about upstreaming changes and collaborating on longer-term support. I highly doubt GOS project has the resources and desire to support another phone line.
https://grapheneos.org/faq
if fair phone wanted to, they could, but gos will not volunteer for the work.
And that's completely fair IMO. If FairPhone did do the work and supported US customers as first-class on their platform, I'd probably buy my next phone from them.
Fairphones aren't even anywhere close to meeting the security requirements of GrapheneOS. Daniel Micay explained this many times, most notably in this Reddit thread (before they left Reddit and switched to their own, self-hosted forum) https://redlib.nohost.network/r/GrapheneOS/comments/10b5x4n/has_anyone_managed_to_install_grapheneos_on_a/j67pbny
I think some op phones also meet the requirements.
What does a lockable bootloader mean? Is it just encrypted so the kernel never gets loaded without the user?
They will only support Pixels for the foreseeable future, as these are the only devices that meet their hardware security requirements https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices