I know that grapheneos has additional security measures compared to calyx, but does it include a similar app to datura firewall, which controls what apps are allowed network access, and I also like some of calyxos’ other features like including aurora store and the panic button, grapheneos feels very barebones, but I have not used either of them yet, so I don’t think I can make a definitive decision
Honestly: try both! Install them on your phone have fun. They have their pluses and minuses. I think graphene gives you a cleaner more pure experience, and calyx gives you a more curated ready to go experience.
Things I like in calyex that aren’t on graphene: being able to share your hotspot VPN connection. On a graphene phone you share the raw internet even if you have a VPN running.
But I very much appreciate graphene being crystal clean. And I can choose exactly what I want to run. Fairly easily. Full disclosure I’d donate to the graphene project monthly. So I may be biased because that’s where I’ve invested my time and money.
they’re both good. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with either
I never tried calyx, but graphene is great for me. As to your two comments:
- Graphene has network acess as a standard permission, so you can just deny network access by not giving permission
- Yes, graphene intentionally does not ship with anything but barebones apps so you can install the ones you like. I like this approach a lot more than having bloatware I don’t want pre-installed but it is a matter of preference
If you want more in depth control on google services, CalyxOS supports microg in various combos (https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/microg/#options-for-running-microg-in-calyxos). While it has some limitations compared to the official google services, it also allows better privacy control and is fully open source.