Should I bother installing another OS on my Pixel 4a?
I have a Pixel 4a which has just reached end of support for Android. However, I love this phone and the only hardware issue is that the battery doesn't last me scrolling social media all day, so I am not looking to upgrade to a newer handheld just yet.
I've been looking into Graphene OS and Lineage OS as perhaps alternatives I should consider, at least just so I can keep getting security updates. However, looking through GOS, they say that their 4a build is an "extended support" build different from the main OS which is described as a "stopgap" before upgrading phones. LOS says it's supported but through an automatically generated page which doesn't leave me with much confidence about the attention and stability of the build on my particular phone.
I'm asking y'all's opinion on whether I should even bother. Security upgrades are important, but my phone is a secondary device at best, one which I always use with the same apps and websites and honestly not really that much of a security risk. Watch hubris get me.
I've had great luck with LOS in the past. Their wiki is auto-generated for every device and isn't a great indicator of how much support they get. They are volunteers so the level of support varies by device.
Looking at git it seems there was an update as recent as August: https://github.com/LineageOS/android_device_google_sunfish/activity
They are very active in Discord and IRC. I'd encourage you to go ask them if they are still actively supporting your phone.
It does seem that most of those commits correspond to the security updates Google released recently and which I did get (despite Google saying support ended in August). I do also see others that are minor tweaks which I guess it's fine. It's an old phone after all and whatever bugs were caused by it being this model specifically are probably ironed out by now. Thanks!
Jep, as far as my experience with custom roms goes things should mostly be fine for an older device. Just be cautious when a new Android version comes out and wait a bit to get that. It's no fun beta testing an os when it's your daily phone.
And with being cautious I mean read the discourse around that phone's custom rom. Xda developers used to be the go to forums for that, nowadays discord and telegram could be sources but it depends on the particular developer.
The last time I tinkered with custom roms was with the OG Oneplus One and Nexus 7. So maybe a lot has changed since then. But back then it felt like a hobby, as it can quickly become a timesink. While the latest android includes security updates for sure, your system as a whole could get a bit less secure and/or less stable (unlocked bootloader, maybe some root access, unforeseen glitches etc.). Also, safety net could become a problem for stuff like banking apps, and while there are probably workarounds, it’s probably a bit scary if you can’t audit the code (like I couldn’t), to just trust that that’s okay. Magisk seems to be still around though, which was revolutionary back then.
Last but not least, sometimes proprietary stuff stops to work. Pixel phones are known for their vanilla android flavor, so maybe that is less of an issue, but it held me back tweaking my last android phone - it would’ve made the camera quality worse, while that was one of the main features.
Something to consider and research: There are probably some tweaks to increase battery life (underclocking (can be a bit dangerous), better battery management apps that require root etc.)
All in all, the time it costs, the instability and the marginal security and feature improvement should be considered. I would do it, only if you enjoy the process and learning - or have some experience with it already.
A good starting point would be XDA. Good luck!
Thank you. I used to tinker a lot with this stuff back in the Nexus 7 era (also had one!) and the landscape was definitely different back then.
I did stop caring about it because Android started getting really good and I got busy with Linux in desktop instead :P It looks like nowadays, the major alternative OSes seem super streamlined and easy to use. Of course, there will always be tinkering, as that's the nature of the beast. I do have enough knowledge to be dangerous. ;)
But I'm inclined to agree with you, for now, that the instability might not be worth it in my case.
According to this page, it looks like the only Pixel devices supported are the 3a and 3a XL.
I had looked at that in the past, I wanted to try it out. Im still using my P4a as my daily driver, but ill need to upgrading it soon. I was hoping to try it out after i get another phone.
I did watch a few videos here and there and to be honest I don't think Ubuntu touch is ready for daily driving.
CalyxOS is another option to consider, although your model seems to be on "Extended support" with them as well, as with Graphene. I've had good luck with LineageOS in the past. It's not always updated the fastest, depending on the model, but at least it gets updated. Since you say your phone is a secondary device at best, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Thanks, I didn't know about that one! I will take a look as well.
Your device is extended support (and will be the case for any rom you try) because the manufacturer of the chip your phone has (qualcomm) no longer provide the firmware updates.
So... what does the extended support mean?
Depends a little bit on the specific rom but in general it means that you get updates for the software provided by the rom but NO updates for the proprietary software blobs provided by the chip manufacture like Qualcomm. Which means no security updates at all for the proprietary software stack.
I am in exactly the same boat as you btw. Still love my Pixel 4a, it's the perfect phone for me. I am still not exactly sure how to proceed either. I refuse to throw away a perfectly working phone. It's really insane if you think about it.
My biggest problem is migrating my existing apps/data to a new rom without a second phone and also not knowing with 100% certainty if certain mandatory apps work on a custom rom. Bank transaction verification apps for example.
There is also /e/OS/ btw. https://e.foundation/ Company which offers an open source rom based on LOS. They also sell refurbished and new phones with the os preinstalled. Probably one of the best out-of-the-box experiences with a custom rom you can get.
The most likely path forward for me is probably buying a second refurbished/used phone, install /o/OS/ on it and check if all apps work. At least this way I don't create any more e-waste and don't support companies that turn perfectly functional hardware into junk.
I mean, I completely agree with you that software should be getting updates for way longer but to be fair the phone is still perfectly functional even if it never gets another update. As long as I don't do anything sketchy it shouldn't be compromised either. It's not ideal, but honestly I don't consider it junk.
Your plan sounds like a good one, though.
Sadly that's not how security works. Depending on the vulnerability you don't have to do anything "sketchy" to get compromised. This means you are at a higher risk as soon as you don't get security updated for the blobs anymore. How critical this is in practice is an other question of course since no one can guess beforehand what vulnerabilities will be found.
That being said, I am still willing to take that risk at least for a little bit longer myself, since the phone is still too good.
I'm not doubting what you're saying but I am struggling to think of a way to compromise a device with a security flaw that doesn't involve, idk, opening documents from other people, clicking unknown links, connecting to random public wifi, stuff like that. Most other things I can think of can be patched at the app level, like when sending iOS a specific message was shutting down devices.
I am not an expert by any means, just enough privacy and security conscious to stay informed as good as I can. One example are zero-click-exploits https://medium.com/@Scofield_Idehen/zero-click-hack-d898e3d80213 but I am not sure if those are on the app layer only. Just one example tho. The thing is. You are at risk even with a fully patched device, so using one without the latest security updated doesn't make it any better.
Right, my point is mostly that it's an acceptable risk, at least for my particular case.
Thank you for the link though, seems like an interesting read!
Hey, you might be interested in this video, since it's related to the whole discussion and /e/OS/ i mentioned above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hJ-1243pzE
Thanks, I somehow missed this video before!
It will only get Android security patches, not firmware security patches so not completely patched
I'd recommend looking around for different OS'. Because you have such a mainstream phone there are probably tons of choices available and even lesser-known ones can be better for what you want from a phone. I have had older Samsungs and, even though it was a primary target and was 'officially supported' by LineageOS, Lineage builds always killed the radio and sometimes the WIFI ability, too. They're super-easy to install and have lots of support yet when I googled answers as for why my note 3 and my mom's s5 stopped getting a proper internet connection there were others with the same problem and no answer.
Meanwhile, I installed a build called 'Neon' for my note 3 that was super lightweight (no added stuff), booted & ran super fast, and squeezed out extra battery life from a phone 3 generations out of existence. I eventually settled on a build of viper (I tried 3 different lineage and 2 random other builds) for my mom's s5 that booted somewhat quick, but more importantly added a TON of features that weren't available to her phone without adding tons of stuff. It gave her everything she wanted (slightly better battery life, but marginally so).
The most important thing (and since you have such a mainstream phone you have many options) is to shop around. Your phone will be easy to mod. The first thing is to figure out - do you want a basic rom with software and no extras like a pop-up bar, shortcuts, etc... ; or do you want something will all the bells and whistles + more?
Also please don't immediately discount a ROM just because it doesn't have tons of downloads. My best experiences were from smaller (not small) projects. (honestly, if that neon build for the note 3 existed when I got my phone, I would have installed it from day 1)
That is a good point and if this was a desktop or laptop I definitely would put that kind of effort into it. I see my phone as more of a companion to my main desktop so I'm not as willing to spend the time and effort on it. But idk it might be worth a weekend or so to explore what's out there! After all, I probably don't know what I'm missing.
I understand not wanting to put tons of time into a phone. However, it is really easy to do a quick search. Just go to the XDA site for your phone (just do a quick Google search for 'XDA pixel 4') and go into the 'ROMs, kernels... ' section. I'd stay away from the first 5-10 results as they will be very new and maybe not entirely well-made. It is very easy to determine what the rom is or is like as the first post will always be from the author telling you if it's lightweight (barebones) or what extras it wants to highlight. They usually show some screenshots and have an installation guide. If not, just Google how to install a custom rom for your phone.
My main reason for steering you away from lineage is I spent 2-3 days meddling with it trying to get my internet to work (I did it again with my mom's phone because 'it can't happen to 2 separate phones, right??') before I gave up and tried a different rom. Once I downloaded a different rom, it was maybe an hour total of my time to get it installed and set up.
Great timing on this post as I was considering the same for my Pixel 4a. Since the removal of the headphone jack from the Pixel (and most other) phones, I don't even have a particularly attractive upgrade path even if I was willing to ditch this phone. I was already leaning towards LineageOS since I've used them before as well as CyanogenMod, but like most of you I stopped tinkering with roms years ago.
I'm in the same boat wrt upgrade paths when this one kicks the bucket. My best bet right now is probably the Asus Zenfone line.
Yeah, there were really only a few choices the last time I looked and the Asus was on it:
Lower end: Moto G
Midrange: Asus Zen
High End: Sony Xperia
I got my my daughter a Moto G instead of my usual plan of passing down my current phone and getting a new one. It seems... fine. I don't like it as much as the 4a. I'd half consider going high end and grabbing a Sony since those looks very nice, but the price is just hard to stomach. I'm going to try to get this phone to last as long as I possibly can and hope that there are some good options. Maybe the linux phones will graduate from "fun novelty" to "solid daily driver" and I can jump off the Android/IOS duopoly train.
If you don't need to run Gapps or can live with MicroG's limitations, I'd strongly consider DivestOS. It's a soft fork of Lineage that supports bootloader locking and applies many security related fixes to both the kernel and OS. Many patches are sourced from GrapheneOS.
Note that proprietary blobs are diked out and in some cases this breaks stuff, such as RCS instant messaging.
On a Pixel, isn't it better to just run GrapheneOS directly?
Interesting, thank you for the recommendation. Unfortunately, I am pretty deep in the Google sauce.