Android Recommendations
Android is a highly secure operating system with full verified boot, strong sandboxing, a permission control system, modern exploit mitigations, and more.
Google Pixel phones are the only secure phones as they fully support verified boot, use the custom Titan M2 chip, use the Trusty TEE OS, and can effectively randomize the device's MAC address. There is a reason why GrapheneOS only supports Google Pixel phones. Do not even think about buying a different phone. All other phones are a security nightmare and should be avoided at all costs!
Reading Material: https://source.android.com/security/features https://source.android.com/security/verifiedboot/ https://security.googleblog.com/2021/10/pixel-6-setting-new-standard-for-mobile.html https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/trusty#whyTrusty https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/04/changes-to-device-identifiers-in.html https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html
Android Operating Systems
Most custom operating systems substantially weaken the Android security model. Never leave your bootloader unlocked and do not root your device. If your phone does not support GrapheneOS, use the stock operating system.
Reading Material: https://privsec.dev/os/choosing-your-android-based-operating-system/ https://www.privacyguides.org/android/ https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html#custom-roms
GrapheneOS is a privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility developed as a non-profit open source project. It's focused on the research and development of privacy and security technology including substantial improvements to sandboxing, exploit...
- Mobile OS
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- Android Tablet
Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It consists of a kernel based on the Linux kernel, with middleware, libraries and APIs written in C and application software running on an application framework which includes...
- Operating System
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- Android Tablet
- Android Auto
- Android SDK
- Android Wear
- Android TV
App Stores
You should never use F-Droid as it substantially weakens the Android security model. Most people should only install apps from the Google Play Store. If your threat model requires not logging into Google, you can use the Aurora Store but must understand the risks of using third-party app stores. Source: https://wonderfall.dev/fdroid-issues/
Google Play (formerly the Android Market) is an online store by Google for Android devices. Browse and search for apps, books, and movie rentals from your web browser or Android device.
- App Store
- Free • Proprietary
- Online
- Android
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
Browsers
Use Chromium browsers only. Firefox on Android still does not support site isolation. You should access most websites including YouTube, Twitter, and Reddit inside the browser instead of their apps since websites in a browser are much less privileged than an app.
GrapheneOS users should just use Vanadium. For stock Android users, use one of the browsers listed below. Mulch was considered as it is a hardened fork of Chromium with timely updates, but is not listed here as it is not available on the Google Play Store but F-Droid.
Reading Material: https://grapheneos.org/usage#web-browsing
Supports multiple accounts, syncs across devices, features an integrated password manager, dark mode, and real-time website translation.
- Web Browser
- Free • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- PortableApps.com
Messaging Apps
If possible, convince your family and friends to use Signal as it uses end-to-end encryption by default, can hide metadata, has a good track record, and is recommended by many security researchers. Otherwise, use Google Messages.
Signal is a messaging app with an unexpected focus on privacy, combined with all the features expected from a modern IM app. Signal has received a lot of praise from all around the world for its security and privacy-respecting technologies.
- Video Calling App
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
- Flathub
- Ubuntu
- Debian
Messages is Google's communications app for Android to helps send and receive SMS and MMS messages. You can also send group texts as well as your favorite pictures, videos and even audio messages to your contacts.
- Instant Messenger
- Free • Proprietary
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- Android Wear
Security and Privacy
High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy.
- VPN Service
- Freemium • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Google Chrome
- F-Droid
- Android TV
- Fire TV
- Mozilla Firefox
Shelter is a Free and Open-Source (FOSS) app that leverages the “Work Profile” feature of Android to provide an isolated space that you can install or clone apps into.
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- Android Tablet
- F-Droid
Auditor is an app which leverages hardware security features to provide device integrity monitoring for supported devices. Currently, it only works with GrapheneOS and the device's stock operating system.
- Free • Open Source
- Android
Other Apps
Use stock apps when possible as installing third-party apps gives you another party to trust and increases attack surface. Unless the app is something you need (such as WhatsApp), only install third-party apps either if there is no stock app replacement or if the stock app can be uninstalled from the system. Choose apps that require as few permissions as possible.
Feeder is a fully free/libre feed reader. It supports all common feed formats, including JSONFeed. It doesn't track you. It doesn't require any setup. It doesn't even need you to create an account!
- RSS Reader
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- Android Tablet
- F-Droid
A minimalistic notes app. Notally it's extremely light, minimalistic and elegant. There are minimal dependencies and lines of code. (All without compromising on readability).
- Note-taking Tool
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- Android Tablet
- F-Droid
Organic Maps is a privacy-focused and community-developed GPS navigation app for drivers, hikers, and cyclists.
- GPS Navigation Service
- Free • Open Source
- Android
- iPhone
- HUAWEI AppGallery
- Flathub
- F-Droid
- Linux
- iPad
- Android Tablet
This is a modern camera app focused on privacy and security. It includes modes for capturing images, videos and QR / barcode scanning along with additional modes based on CameraX vendor extensions (Portrait, HDR, Night Sight, Face Retouch and Auto) on devices where they're...
- Camera App
- Free • Open Source
- Android
Simple Android PDF viewer based on pdf.js and content providers. The app doesn't require any permissions.
- PDF Reader
- Free • Open Source
- Android
Reading Material: https://source.android.com/security https://privsec.dev/os/android-tips/ https://www.privacyguides.org/android/overview/ https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/android.html https://github.com/beerisgood/Smartphone_Security
Replace Chrome with brave or bromite (or Vanadium on GrapheneOS) and the PlayStore with AuroraStore for better UX and privacy
Aurora Store lacks important security features including certificate pinning, still requires the legacy store permission, among other security issues.
Bromite is much slower to update than other browsers.
Sources: https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore/-/blob/26f5d4fd558263a89baee4c3cbe1d220913da104/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml#L28-32 https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore/-/issues/697 https://privsec.dev/os/android-tips/#aurora-store https://divestos.org/misc/ch-dates.txt
Reply written Oct 16, 2022