You seem to be greatly misunderstanding what is actually happening.
You are conflating default OS domains with google play services. Google play services is not bundled or installed by default, and is not given any kind of privileged access when it is installed. It does not handle OS domains or functionality, and GrapheneOS does not proxy its connections in any way.
As for the default domains of the OS, most are to GrapheneOS servers, not proxies. The only default OS connection that is proxied to google is remote key provisioning.
As for non-default connections, the only google proxies are widevine, for apps that use widevine, and SUPL, for location locking. SUPL can be disabled, and GOS is considering removing SUPL if network location is effective enough, or if they can host their own SUPL server viably.
> every app installed is known to the proxy since each app has a unqiue key
GrapheneOSs proxies do not collect and send any "unique keys" from apps. That is made up.
> They mention no proxy of RCS data, but in theory, an RCS message requires location data. So, the proxy knows when a message is sent and received, at a minimum.
They dont mention a proxy of RCS data because there isnt one. RCS messages do not require location data. None of the GrapheneOS proxies are related to RCS and the proxies do not know if an RCS message is received or sent.
> So, based purely on the FAQ, if you use the sandboxed services and enable RCS, Graphene knows every app you install and has your location data, but they erase it after a couple of weeks.
You did not read the FAQ at all.
> There is some vagueness regarding the RCS implementation message content. People claim Google can't read it, yet they specify they can read it in the client terms, and offer a managed RCS archiving service that works regardless of messaging client or supposed encryption. Is the RCS query proxied? Graphene does not mention it, but the simultaneous location data to use it is.
RCS is end to end encrypted on Google messages. The RCS spec also includes end to end encryption. There is no RCS proxy and RCS is handled by google messages. No other client for it exists at this time. The location data provided by SUPL is not given to apps, it is used for OS location that can be reported to apps. An app must have the location permission to have location data provided by the OS.
> every app installed is known to the proxy since each app has a unqiue key
No such proxy exists in GrapheneOS. GrapheneOS does not intercept or proxy connections made by Google apps or other apps.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Mobile Services. Sandboxed Google Play is not part of GrapheneOS. Users can choose to install Google Play services, Google Play Store and other Google apps on GrapheneOS. Unlike a standard GMS Android device, those are installed as regular sandboxed apps with no special access. The feature provided by GrapheneOS is a compatibility layer coercing those to run as regular sandboxed apps if installed by users. It doesn't involve intercepting or proxying any connections.
> location data is proxied
Location request rerouting is an entirely local feature of the sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer. By default, it replaces the Google Play location library used by many apps with another implementation using the local OS location service instead of the local Google Play location service. This isn't intercepting or proxying connections.
Google Play has an optional network-based location service that's opt-out for a GMS Android OS although it's opt-in for sandboxed Google Play and people would also need to grant the required permissions to Play services which aren't normally needed.
GrapheneOS has an opt-in network-based location using Apple's service either directly or via a proxy. We'll also eventually have our own service with offline database download support as another option. We have to build our own database to use for this first.
You're misunderstand what location request rerouting means. It reroutes apps which normally request location from Play services to ask the regular Android location API for it instead. This doesn't involve servers other than optional network-based location for apps which support using the network or fused providers. Network-based location is opt-in for GrapheneOS.
> They mention no proxy of RCS data, but in theory, an RCS message requires location data. So, the proxy knows when a message is sent and received, at a minimum.
GrapheneOS doesn't proxy things in the way you claim in the first place. It doesn't proxy any connections involving carriers and doesn't proxy any connections made by Google apps. It doesn't come with Google apps and those would need to be installed by users.
> So, based purely on the FAQ, if you use the sandboxed services and enable RCS, Graphene knows every app you install and has your location data, but they erase it after a couple of weeks.
This is all completely untrue. GrapheneOS doesn't include with sandboxed Google Play. Sandboxed Google Play compatibility doesn't make any connections to GrapheneOS servers. It doesn't proxy anything through our servers. RCS via Google Messages doesn't involve our servers either.
You're misunderstanding our approach to all of these things. Location request rerouting means replacing the local Play services location API for apps using it with the OS location API. That means asking the OS for location rather than Play services. That isn't a connection to a server. It means that by default, apps using the Play services location SDK will work without Play services needing to be granted Location access based on the OS satellite-based location. If users enable network-based location for the OS location service then it will work for apps normally using the Google Play network or fused location providers. It's an entirely local compatibility layer as with the whole rest of it. Sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer has 0 connections to our servers and there's no reason it would need to connect to our servers.
> Graphene proxies all the Google services connection. They take over the connections that would go to Google. They then, supposedly, only forward the ones you wish.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Play services. Unlike LineageOS, GrapheneOS replaces all of the standard Android Open Source Project (AOSP) connections with our own servers. Also unlike LineageOS, GrapheneOS adds toggles for these connections providing a way to disable the ones which didn't already have a way to do it. See https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm for a comparison across AOSP-based operating systems covering what's done with most of the standard AOSP connections. It doesn't cover everything such as the Certificate Transparency (CT) log list downloads added in Android 16 which are now used by default for enforcing CT for apps targeting Android 17.
> Graphene proxies what would go to Google on regular Android.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Play services. It has a compatibility layer enabling running Google Mobile Services apps including Google Play services and Google Play Store as regular sandboxed apps, but it doesn't come with those. Users can choose to install those in specific profiles.
> I am getting downvotes on this, but that is how their Google Play sandbox works. It is proxied on their server, not your phone.
>
> A non-Google copy of your Google pointed traffic is made. That is a fact. It is identifiable to you or they could not individually forward this or that. That is a fact.
GrapheneOS doesn't include sandboxed Google Play. It does not come with it. It's possible to install those apps on GrapheneOS and it provides a compatibility layer to make it work. The compatibility layer doesn't involve proxying anything to our servers.
> Extricating from Google is the answer. Not relating your RCS chats et al through a third party then to Google then to that third party and back to you.
No such thing exists in GrapheneOS. It doesn't include any Google apps and doesn't proxy any of the connections made by Google apps elsewhere if people install them.
GrapheneOS has low-level support for RCS but doesn't have an RCS app yet since the only one for Android which exists in practice anymore is Google Messages and Google apps aren't included in GrapheneOS. Google Messages can be installed by users on GrapheneOS and set as the SMS/MMS/RCS app instead of using our fork of AOSP Messaging but that's definitely not a default. We'll have our own RCS implementation in the future in our fork of AOSP MEssaging.
> They wrote an article on it a while back.
No, and it's definitely not how sandboxed Google Play works for people who choose to install it.
It sounds like you're misunderstanding what our sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer handles location requests made to Play services. For users who install sandboxed Google Play on GrapheneOS, our compatibility layer redirects apps requesting location from Play services to request it from the OS instead. This doesn't involve making any connections, it happens locally on the default. By default, only GNSS (satellite-based location) with A-GNSS (SUPL and PSDS) is used. GNSS is a receive-only system. We add toggles for configuring SUPL and PSDS with choices between GrapheneOS, Google or Off. PSDS are static database downloads covering the whole world so that's just another form of update download. We also add a toggle for opting into our network-based location implementation which uses Apple's service either directly or via a proxy. You seem to be confusing our location request redirection with intercepting connections and running those through our services which isn't what it involves at all. Our location request redirection avoids needing to grant Location access to Play services by making it use the standard Android OS location service instead as many apps already do. There's a toggle for this in case someone actually wants to use Google's location service with their network-based location instead of Apple such as if the Apple data for their area is awful.
> Graphene with Google Services is like calling up an Intel Agency and signing up to use them as your VPN.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Mobile Services, and our sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer doesn't work that way at all.
> Without Google Services, it is a way to degoogle a phone with an SD card slot and 3.5mm phone jack if Motorola continues on track, but I would prefer regular Lineage support than Graphene for that purpose in case the middle man aspect expands to non-Google Services apps later.
There's no such man-in-the-middle system in GrapheneOS as you claim. LineageOS does not replace the Google servers for all of the standard AOSP services as we do and doesn't provide similar settings to control all of those. GrapheneOS does not intercept/redirect Google services used by Google apps as you claim. It doesn't come with Google apps as you're describing either.
> I want straight no-google android with the chipset drivers so that calls and sms/mms messages work without Google getting a copy of every message sent and received, and I want it on phones with sd card slots and 3.5mm headphone ports.
GrapheneOS only includes support for using SMS/MMS via the carrier. There's no involvement from Google unless Google is your carrier or your carrier is using GCP to host their servers or something similar. Using Google's RCS services would require that you go out of the way to install Google Messages after first going out of the way to install sandboxed Google Play followed by setting Google Messages as your carrier-based messaging app and granting the required permissions to use RCS (Phone permission for Google Messages and Play services along with the ICC authentication toggle in the sandboxed Google Play settings).
You're talking about it as if us supporting installing these apps as regular sandboxed apps somehow makes that the default approach. That's not how any of this is supported at all. You have to go out of your way to install sandboxed Google Play or especially Google Messages. Those don't come with GrapheneOS.
GrapheneOS does not include Google Mobile Services or Google Messages. It does not intercept or proxy connections made by Google apps installed by users. None of that is part of how it works.
You seem to be greatly misunderstanding what is actually happening.
You are conflating default OS domains with google play services. Google play services is not bundled or installed by default, and is not given any kind of privileged access when it is installed. It does not handle OS domains or functionality, and GrapheneOS does not proxy its connections in any way.
As for the default domains of the OS, most are to GrapheneOS servers, not proxies. The only default OS connection that is proxied to google is remote key provisioning.
As for non-default connections, the only google proxies are widevine, for apps that use widevine, and SUPL, for location locking. SUPL can be disabled, and GOS is considering removing SUPL if network location is effective enough, or if they can host their own SUPL server viably.
https://grapheneos.org/faq#default-connections https://grapheneos.org/faq#other-connections
These connections do NOT contain identifiable information. That is false.
Note RCS chats are also not proxied.
[flagged]
> every app installed is known to the proxy since each app has a unqiue key
GrapheneOSs proxies do not collect and send any "unique keys" from apps. That is made up.
> They mention no proxy of RCS data, but in theory, an RCS message requires location data. So, the proxy knows when a message is sent and received, at a minimum.
They dont mention a proxy of RCS data because there isnt one. RCS messages do not require location data. None of the GrapheneOS proxies are related to RCS and the proxies do not know if an RCS message is received or sent.
> So, based purely on the FAQ, if you use the sandboxed services and enable RCS, Graphene knows every app you install and has your location data, but they erase it after a couple of weeks.
You did not read the FAQ at all.
> There is some vagueness regarding the RCS implementation message content. People claim Google can't read it, yet they specify they can read it in the client terms, and offer a managed RCS archiving service that works regardless of messaging client or supposed encryption. Is the RCS query proxied? Graphene does not mention it, but the simultaneous location data to use it is.
RCS is end to end encrypted on Google messages. The RCS spec also includes end to end encryption. There is no RCS proxy and RCS is handled by google messages. No other client for it exists at this time. The location data provided by SUPL is not given to apps, it is used for OS location that can be reported to apps. An app must have the location permission to have location data provided by the OS.
> every app installed is known to the proxy since each app has a unqiue key
No such proxy exists in GrapheneOS. GrapheneOS does not intercept or proxy connections made by Google apps or other apps.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Mobile Services. Sandboxed Google Play is not part of GrapheneOS. Users can choose to install Google Play services, Google Play Store and other Google apps on GrapheneOS. Unlike a standard GMS Android device, those are installed as regular sandboxed apps with no special access. The feature provided by GrapheneOS is a compatibility layer coercing those to run as regular sandboxed apps if installed by users. It doesn't involve intercepting or proxying any connections.
> location data is proxied
Location request rerouting is an entirely local feature of the sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer. By default, it replaces the Google Play location library used by many apps with another implementation using the local OS location service instead of the local Google Play location service. This isn't intercepting or proxying connections.
Google Play has an optional network-based location service that's opt-out for a GMS Android OS although it's opt-in for sandboxed Google Play and people would also need to grant the required permissions to Play services which aren't normally needed.
GrapheneOS has an opt-in network-based location using Apple's service either directly or via a proxy. We'll also eventually have our own service with offline database download support as another option. We have to build our own database to use for this first.
You're misunderstand what location request rerouting means. It reroutes apps which normally request location from Play services to ask the regular Android location API for it instead. This doesn't involve servers other than optional network-based location for apps which support using the network or fused providers. Network-based location is opt-in for GrapheneOS.
> They mention no proxy of RCS data, but in theory, an RCS message requires location data. So, the proxy knows when a message is sent and received, at a minimum.
GrapheneOS doesn't proxy things in the way you claim in the first place. It doesn't proxy any connections involving carriers and doesn't proxy any connections made by Google apps. It doesn't come with Google apps and those would need to be installed by users.
> So, based purely on the FAQ, if you use the sandboxed services and enable RCS, Graphene knows every app you install and has your location data, but they erase it after a couple of weeks.
This is all completely untrue. GrapheneOS doesn't include with sandboxed Google Play. Sandboxed Google Play compatibility doesn't make any connections to GrapheneOS servers. It doesn't proxy anything through our servers. RCS via Google Messages doesn't involve our servers either.
You're misunderstanding our approach to all of these things. Location request rerouting means replacing the local Play services location API for apps using it with the OS location API. That means asking the OS for location rather than Play services. That isn't a connection to a server. It means that by default, apps using the Play services location SDK will work without Play services needing to be granted Location access based on the OS satellite-based location. If users enable network-based location for the OS location service then it will work for apps normally using the Google Play network or fused location providers. It's an entirely local compatibility layer as with the whole rest of it. Sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer has 0 connections to our servers and there's no reason it would need to connect to our servers.
> Graphene proxies all the Google services connection. They take over the connections that would go to Google. They then, supposedly, only forward the ones you wish.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Play services. Unlike LineageOS, GrapheneOS replaces all of the standard Android Open Source Project (AOSP) connections with our own servers. Also unlike LineageOS, GrapheneOS adds toggles for these connections providing a way to disable the ones which didn't already have a way to do it. See https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm for a comparison across AOSP-based operating systems covering what's done with most of the standard AOSP connections. It doesn't cover everything such as the Certificate Transparency (CT) log list downloads added in Android 16 which are now used by default for enforcing CT for apps targeting Android 17.
> Graphene proxies what would go to Google on regular Android.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Play services. It has a compatibility layer enabling running Google Mobile Services apps including Google Play services and Google Play Store as regular sandboxed apps, but it doesn't come with those. Users can choose to install those in specific profiles.
> I am getting downvotes on this, but that is how their Google Play sandbox works. It is proxied on their server, not your phone. > > A non-Google copy of your Google pointed traffic is made. That is a fact. It is identifiable to you or they could not individually forward this or that. That is a fact.
GrapheneOS doesn't include sandboxed Google Play. It does not come with it. It's possible to install those apps on GrapheneOS and it provides a compatibility layer to make it work. The compatibility layer doesn't involve proxying anything to our servers.
> Extricating from Google is the answer. Not relating your RCS chats et al through a third party then to Google then to that third party and back to you.
No such thing exists in GrapheneOS. It doesn't include any Google apps and doesn't proxy any of the connections made by Google apps elsewhere if people install them.
GrapheneOS has low-level support for RCS but doesn't have an RCS app yet since the only one for Android which exists in practice anymore is Google Messages and Google apps aren't included in GrapheneOS. Google Messages can be installed by users on GrapheneOS and set as the SMS/MMS/RCS app instead of using our fork of AOSP Messaging but that's definitely not a default. We'll have our own RCS implementation in the future in our fork of AOSP MEssaging.
> They wrote an article on it a while back.
No, and it's definitely not how sandboxed Google Play works for people who choose to install it.
It sounds like you're misunderstanding what our sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer handles location requests made to Play services. For users who install sandboxed Google Play on GrapheneOS, our compatibility layer redirects apps requesting location from Play services to request it from the OS instead. This doesn't involve making any connections, it happens locally on the default. By default, only GNSS (satellite-based location) with A-GNSS (SUPL and PSDS) is used. GNSS is a receive-only system. We add toggles for configuring SUPL and PSDS with choices between GrapheneOS, Google or Off. PSDS are static database downloads covering the whole world so that's just another form of update download. We also add a toggle for opting into our network-based location implementation which uses Apple's service either directly or via a proxy. You seem to be confusing our location request redirection with intercepting connections and running those through our services which isn't what it involves at all. Our location request redirection avoids needing to grant Location access to Play services by making it use the standard Android OS location service instead as many apps already do. There's a toggle for this in case someone actually wants to use Google's location service with their network-based location instead of Apple such as if the Apple data for their area is awful.
> Graphene with Google Services is like calling up an Intel Agency and signing up to use them as your VPN.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Mobile Services, and our sandboxed Google Play compatibility layer doesn't work that way at all.
> Without Google Services, it is a way to degoogle a phone with an SD card slot and 3.5mm phone jack if Motorola continues on track, but I would prefer regular Lineage support than Graphene for that purpose in case the middle man aspect expands to non-Google Services apps later.
There's no such man-in-the-middle system in GrapheneOS as you claim. LineageOS does not replace the Google servers for all of the standard AOSP services as we do and doesn't provide similar settings to control all of those. GrapheneOS does not intercept/redirect Google services used by Google apps as you claim. It doesn't come with Google apps as you're describing either.
> I want straight no-google android with the chipset drivers so that calls and sms/mms messages work without Google getting a copy of every message sent and received, and I want it on phones with sd card slots and 3.5mm headphone ports.
GrapheneOS only includes support for using SMS/MMS via the carrier. There's no involvement from Google unless Google is your carrier or your carrier is using GCP to host their servers or something similar. Using Google's RCS services would require that you go out of the way to install Google Messages after first going out of the way to install sandboxed Google Play followed by setting Google Messages as your carrier-based messaging app and granting the required permissions to use RCS (Phone permission for Google Messages and Play services along with the ICC authentication toggle in the sandboxed Google Play settings).
You're talking about it as if us supporting installing these apps as regular sandboxed apps somehow makes that the default approach. That's not how any of this is supported at all. You have to go out of your way to install sandboxed Google Play or especially Google Messages. Those don't come with GrapheneOS.
GrapheneOS does not include Google Mobile Services or Google Messages. It does not intercept or proxy connections made by Google apps installed by users. None of that is part of how it works.