After years on standard Android with Google services running the show, I took the plunge: GrapheneOS on a Pixel 9a as my daily driver. Here’s what I learned in the first week.
The Setup: Jolla Devices Delivered
I ordered my Pixel 9a with GrapheneOS pre-installed from Jolla Devices. I can’t recommend them enough. Fast service, clear communication, and the product arrived exactly as described. The premium for pre-installation was worth every cent—no fumbling with bootloaders or risking a bricked device. Just unbox, power on, and you’re running GrapheneOS.
If you’re considering GrapheneOS but intimidated by the installation process, this is the way.
Getting Started: Easier Than Expected
I expected pain. I got… a surprisingly smooth experience.
The basics worked immediately: browsing (Fennec from F-Droid), email (Proton Mail), passwords (Bitwarden), and photos (backing up to my self-hosted Immich server). F-Droid and Aurora Store gave me access to apps without touching Google’s ecosystem.
Banking apps? They worked. Signal, Proton, NewPipe for YouTube—everything I needed for daily life installed without issue.
Then I hit the walls.
The Google Play Services Problem
Two apps stopped me cold: Loisto Mariner (marine navigation) and MobilePay (Finland’s dominant payment app).
Loisto Mariner: The Navigation Dilemma
Loisto Mariner is my go-to for marine navigation. It’s excellent software, well-designed, and works reliably. The problem? It absolutely requires Google Play Services—not for functionality, but because the developer chose Google Play Billing as the only subscription option.
This is frustrating. The app could work perfectly on GrapheneOS if the developer had added a simple alternative payment method. Stripe, direct payment, anything. But they didn’t, so here we are.
My solution: I’ve switched to Orca for navigation on my phone. It’s not open source, but it’s free to use and works without Google services. Since I still use Loisto Mariner on a tablet (which I’m less concerned about from a privacy standpoint), I’m not losing functionality—just convenience.
MobilePay: The Nordic Payment Wall
MobilePay is everywhere in Finland. Splitting bills, paying friends, small business transactions—it’s the default. And it flat-out won’t work without Google Play Services.
There is no alternative. Swish in Sweden, Vipps in Norway—Nordic users face the same problem. These payment apps are tied to Google’s ecosystem, and that’s that.
My solution: I don’t have one yet. I’m living without MobilePay for now and using bank transfers when needed. It’s clunky, but I’m not ready to compromise by enabling sandboxed Google Play Services just for one app.
This is a real limitation if you live in the Nordics. Be prepared.
The Messaging Shift: Signal Over WhatsApp
I’ve been pushing people toward Signal, and honestly, it’s the better app. Think WhatsApp without the bullshit — just clean, encrypted messaging.
The problem? Network effects. Everyone is on WhatsApp. Very few are on Signal.
I’ve isolated WhatsApp in a separate user profile (more on that below), and I’m slowly migrating conversations to Signal where I can. It’s a long game, but Signal is genuinely a superior experience once people make the switch.
User Profiles: The Killer Feature
GrapheneOS’s user profiles are brilliant. I set up three:
Main Profile: My clean, privacy-focused daily driver. Signal, Proton, Fennec, Bitwarden, Immich—everything I actually trust.
Meta Profile: WhatsApp (personal number), and eventually Facebook/Instagram if I ever install them. All Meta surveillance contained in one isolated environment.
Work Profile: WhatsApp (work number), WhatsApp Business (shared business number), and Outlook web access via browser. Professional communication separate from everything else.
Notifications work seamlessly across profiles. I can see WhatsApp messages from both profiles without switching, but the apps themselves are completely isolated. Meta can’t see what’s in my main profile. Work apps can’t touch personal data.
This is the feature I didn’t know I needed. It’s changed how I think about phone compartmentalization.
The Hardest Compromise: Physical Payment Cards
Going back to physical cards is the adjustment that bothers me most.
No Google Wallet means no tap-to-pay with my phone. I’m carrying actual credit and debit cards again like it’s 2015.
GrapheneOS does support sandboxed Google Play Services, which would let me install Google Wallet in a controlled way. But I haven’t pulled that trigger yet. I’m testing whether I can live without it.
So far? It’s annoying but tolerable. I’ve re-learned which pocket holds my wallet. The convenience of phone payments was nice, but it wasn’t essential.
If this becomes unbearable, I’ll enable sandboxed Play Services and accept that compromise. But for now, I’m holding the line.
Surprises: What Actually Worked
Some things I expected to be painful turned out fine:
Banking apps: They just worked. No Google services needed.
Photo backup: My self-hosted Immich server syncs perfectly. Automatic backup over WiFi, no Google Photos, complete control over my images.
YouTube: NewPipe is fantastic. No ads, background playback, downloads for offline viewing, and no Google account required. I don’t miss the official YouTube app at all.
Email: Proton Mail works beautifully. Push notifications, multiple accounts, clean interface.
Browsing: Fennec (privacy-hardened Firefox) with Bitwarden integration is seamless.
The things I thought would break mostly didn’t. The things that did break were edge cases—important edge cases, but not dealbreakers.
One Week In: Would I Go Back?
No.
GrapheneOS isn’t perfect. MobilePay’s absence is a genuine limitation. Loisto Mariner requiring Google services is frustrating. Physical payment cards feel archaic.
But the phone is mine again. No Google tracking my location. No Meta analyzing my habits across profiles. My photos live on my server, not in some company’s data center. My messages are encrypted by default, not because a corporation decided to flip a switch.
The compromises are real, but they’re specific and containable. I’ve traded some convenience for actual control, and one week in, that trade feels worth it.
If you’re in the Nordics, know that payment apps will be a problem. If you rely heavily on app ecosystems that assume Google services, you’ll hit friction. But if you’re willing to work around those limitations, GrapheneOS delivers on its promise: a phone that works for you, not for surveillance capitalism.
I’m keeping the Pixel 9a as my daily driver. The experiment continues.