For the vast majority of users, the Android operating system is probably inextricably linked to Google, and many do not even know that there is also an Android without Google services. A relatively young project wants to change that and has now announced that it will soon be launching its own smartphone with full Android, which, however, is free of Google products.
Android is basically a free operating system and can be used by all users and manufacturers, but in most countries outside of China, the masses have no interest in smartphones or tablets without Google services (Apple users excluded). For this reason, Android smartphones without Google services are very difficult to obtain and are not at all in the portfolio of mass manufacturers other than Huawei.
Will the Android changes you make for this device be open source too?
— Aaron Dewes 🏰 (@AaronDewes) February 7, 2022
The only exception is the Amazon Fire Tablets, which are sold based on price and many users are probably not even aware that Google services are not preinstalled. Nevertheless, the relatively young GrapheneOS project is now trying to launch its own smartphone that is free of Google services. Instead, the custom ROM of the same name maintained by the project will be used.
The custom ROM has been available for a long time and does not necessarily belong to the top tier of the already small market. Lineage is still at the top and has not yet had the idea of bringing its own smartphone onto the market. In contrast to the previous ROM with the name CyanogenMod, which is known to this day, failed due to its own big plans.
We’re going to be collaborating with a hardware vendor to get a device produced with comparable security and support for alternative operating systems as Pixels.
We can’t publish details right now but we’re optimistic about it and hope to have real news about it in a few months.
— GrapheneOS (@GrapheneOS) February 7, 2022
The announcement of GrapheneOS is well received, but for understandable reasons, it is not a big deal. It has been announced that they have found a manufacturer with whom they want to bring a smartphone onto the market together. No name is mentioned and will only do so in the next few months.
It will probably not be the first group, but rather a small or even nameless manufacturer. Some observers are betting on Huawei, but I think that’s unlikely.
We can’t wait to see what comes of it. I’m very pessimistic, but as we all know, all dominance comes to an end at some point. One day there will come a project that will end Google’s dominance on Android or all Android dominance. Maybe it will be GrapheneOS, maybe not.