Motorola is the granddaddy of the mobile phone world. In 1983 it unveiled the world’s first commercial handset: a brick-like wodge of a thing that took 10 hours to charge enough for 30 minutes of call-time.
Four decades and several changes of ownership later, Motorola’s mobile division – now owned by Lenovo – made an intriguing announcement last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
For those worried about online privacy and data sovereignty, Motorola unveiled just the thing for them: a new handset running the privacy-focused software GrapheneOS.
The operating system is a so-called fork of the Android operating system that runs 72 per cent of mobile phones worldwide.
RM Block
Behind GrapheneOS is a Canadian non-profit foundation founded a decade ago to strip back Android, owned by Google, to its origins as a sleek, privacy-respecting open-source operating system.
A GrapheneOS spokesman said Motorola has committed to manufacturing a new, high-end “flagship” smartphone that meets the stiff security specifications the nonfoundation seeks in hardware.
The deal is a “significant milestone” for expanding the reach of GrapheneOS, the spokesman said, adding it was “not fully decided yet” whether the alternative operating system will be pre-installed on devices or available afterwards as a download.
After conversations with several OEM smartphone-makers, GraphenOS were convinced by the scale and resources Motorola, as part of Lenovo, can pull goether through in-house development teams and third-party suppliers.
“They approached us, we didn’t approach them,” said the GrapheneOS spokesman. “It makes sense for Motorla to deliver as it’s great marketing for them: `Did you hear GrapheneOS, this super-duper operating system is coming to Motorola phones?’”
In line with its privacy philosophy, GrapheneOS says it has no precise information about users but has recorded some 400,000 downloads of its software.
The foundation has a core group of around two dozen working around the world, with around 10 developers and the others with other tasks from administration to community management.
`Personal security’
Though active online, GrapheneOS team members have learned to be cautious with their public profiles after their lead developer stood aside in 2023 amid repeated harassment. Which is why the community manager willing to talk to me calls himself Dave Wilson. The pseudonym, says “Dave”, is “for personal security”.
“A lot of people,” he says, “don’t want us to succeed.”
The GrapheneOS/Motorola announcement comes at an interesting time, as shock spreads in Europe over how Trump administration sanctions saw staff at the International Criminal Court cut off from their web-based Microsoft web services.
But as European institutions pivot to European-based software and servers for computers, finding a usable smartphone alternative to the US tech giants Google and Apple is less straightforward.
There are European options – /e/OS, marketed by French company Murena, and the Nokia-derived Sailfish system – but tech experts give GrapheneOS top marks for balancing security with usability.
Rather than wait on Motorola you can already test out GrapheneOS today. Ironically enough for a de-Googled version of Android, however, the only devices GrapheneOS runs on are Google-owned Pixel smartphones.
The GrapheneOS developer team says this is a vote of confidence in the Pixel security hardware, which remains intact even with their new software.
Full disclosure: I am a GrapheneOS user, currently on my second Pixel device after nearly 20 years on successive iPhones.
This wasn’t my first time trying to escape US tech concerns. A decade ago I pivoted away from the ubiquitous Gmail to the German alternative mailbox.org, which doesn’t scan your messages and stores everything on encrypted servers in Berlin.
But de-googling my life meant Android was never a realistic alternative to my iPhone. To run Android, Google obliges all users to install Google Play Services, software that turns your phone into a data mine and where you are the mineral.
Google say its software is necessary for apps to access its useful services, in particular security certification that is important for things like online banking.
Critics suggest the main reason for the software is because large-scale data collection is Google’s main business.
Tellingly, when Google introduced new privacy features on Android, allowing users to limit apps’ data-collection permissions, it excluded its own services.
As a result Google has access to almost everything on your phone – including microphone, camera, contacts, passwords and call logs.
Even when idle, your Android device “phones home” its location to Google servers – one reason why your phone doesn’t last more than a day on a single charge.
Data gold rush
In recent years Apple has joined the data gold rush while new AI services, increasingly embedded into smartphone software, have ramped-up still further data collection of unwitting users.
Though GrapheneOS is uncompromising on privacy, getting it running on a Pixel device is simplicity itself thanks to a user-friendly web installer that walks you through the job in less than 10 minutes.
The minimalist, monochrome home screen that greets you on installation looks daunting: the ultimate dumb smartphone using open source apps.
But even GrapheneOS developers know most people have real-world needs – maps, banking, social media apps – and offer the option to install Google Play Store and Play Services.
Unlike regular Android where Google retains super-snooper privileges, however, GrapheneOS puts manners on Google Play by isolating it in a software “sandbox”. This allows you turn on and off its sensor and data collection permissions as you need them, similar to all other apps.
As popular YouTube vlogger Veronica put it in a recent video: “Basically, GrapheneOS lets you choose the trade-off between privacy and convenience instead of that decision being made for you. And that’s awesome.”
Though the GrapheneOS installation is quick, it’s worthwhile taking your time – days or even weeks – with the transition, perhaps even running two phones simultaneously until everything is as you like it.
Any questions – or problems – you encounter will find answers, or assistance, on user forums and a dedicated Reddit group.
And sometimes you will find that it is the simple things, like transferring your online calendar to the new phone, that will drive you up the wall. This is no accident: the ease of joining Apple’s iCloud or Google-backed Android services is in stark contrast to the – intentionally difficult – migration away.
For anyone contrarian enough to escape big tech Stockholm syndrome – who embraces small difficulties as part of the reason to escape – GrapheneOS is a rewarding, usable and intriguing alternative.
Among those who have already made the leap to GrapheneOS are privacy activist Edward Snowden and online influencer Pewdiepie. And though the software is popular among online tinfoil-hatters, GrapheneOS developers insist their main aim is to create an operating system that returns a smartphone to full ownership of you, its user-owner.
GrapheneOS community manager “Dave” suggests that – online as offline – it is never a good idea to have your eggs in one basket. If you use one Google account for everything – and they decide to just pull the plug on you for whatever reason – “you might be screwed”.
“With GrapheneOS you get almost 100 per cent compatibility with the official Google Play Store, but sandboxed so you can enjoy its benefits without being afraid of data collection. You get the best of both worlds.”
