How much do I actually lose with a cutsom ROM?

nolight@lemm.ee to Android@lemmy.world – 51 points –

I have a Pixel 7, stock Android 14. It is my only phone and I love the stock system. But I am trying to gradually ditch Google and its services, for reasons well-known in this community and Lemmy in general. How much would I gain/lose using a custom ROM with/without GApps?

Update: Switched to GrapheneOS, no regrets :)

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Thank you for the extensive reply! This covers the question perfectly. Your comment made me realize that I am not ready to ditch some services at this point in my life. The good thing about privacy is that your decision is very rarely black or white. You can gradually flow towards more private solutions over time, giving up and replacing things you use little by little.

If you still want to improve your quality of life you can take the middle ground, which is to keep the stock ROM but unlock bootloader and install one that includes Magisk, which in turn will give access to root and Magisk modules that can do all kinds of interesting things.

Some examples:

  • Backup and restore apps and their data.
  • Low-resource firewall and controlling network access for apps.
  • Faking permissions for apps (like allowing contacts but giving out an empty list).
  • System-wide adblocking.
  • Interface customizations.
  • Call recording.
  • Automation (Tasker).
  • All kinds of other tweaks and features too many to list, like using Mozilla or Apple's location services instead of Goggle's, or adding undo/redo to the long press menu etc.

Thanks! I've tried rooted stock for a while, but gave it up because the updates weren't showing up. I didn't know you could use any FOSS solutions to location services, I'll have to research it more. I'll give it a try once I finally decide to unlock the bootloader (I've relocked it afterwards, a big mistake).

The location solution is also part of MicroG, it's an apk called UnifiedNlp that takes modules that can do all kinds of cool location things. Alternative online services like Mozilla and Apple are just one example, you can also download offline maps for wifi hotspots or mobile cells, or create your own mapping as you go by using GPS (when available).