GrapheneOS quick start tips
Congratulations on installing GrapheneOS! I hope you felt as excited with this little act of rebellion as I did. To ensure the smoothness of the switch I recommend the below two quick start tips.
First, head over to the App Store. GrapheneOS is designed to be as neutral as possible which implies that no Google services are installed out-of-the-box. Whilst this has its advantages, if this is your first time using GrapheneOS I highly recommend to keep using some Google components for now. Install Google Play Services, Android Auto (if you use it) and Google Play Store. You might recieve some permission pop-ups and unless you know exactly what you are doing, I recommend to grant all permissions for now to ensure that everything works smooth. After installation, your device should function exactly like any ordinary Android, albeit faster given the absence of all the bloatware.
Second, install your favorite apps through the newly installed Google Play Store. If you enjoy taking pictures, I recommend installing the Google Camera app as this vastly increases the quality of your camera. To ensure your privacy, please do not give this Camera app Network Access (there will be a prompt for this when you install the app). Unfortunately, you cannot directly open your photo gallery with the Google Camera app as this requires the installation of Google Photos. To solve this, I put a shortcut to the pre-installed Gallery app on my homescreen and use this if I want to view my photos. It’s a minor inconvenience I am willing to accept for the superior picture quality.
That’s it! As with any new device, you might spend some time figuring out where everything is. Take a step back and savour the moment: you managed to accomplish what is widely percieved as being a complex thing to do!
If you experience any issues, let me know and I will help resolve them and update this post accordingly. I will also periodically share some other little acts of rebellion if you want to relive this feeling of excitement.