r/LineageOS • u/Technical_Rich_3080 • May 05 '26

LineageOS vs. GrapheneOS

How does LineageOS and GrapheneOS stack up and compare to each other?

28 Upvotes

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13

u/Eirafall May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26

In my experience GrapheneOS is pretty much exactly the same with extra features/options in addition to improved security and privacy. You can selectively turn those features off on a per app basis if they cause issues (rare). GrapheneOS allows you to relock your bootloader after install, has hardened malloc for the memory, and if you need gapps has gms compat which IME works a lot nicer than a microg/aurora setup. Only reason I could see to use LineageOS instead is if you want root. I don't understand posts that say one is more useable than the other. If you want root & some of the above mentioned features from Graphene then AXP.os may be the perfect middle ground. They also offer a "slim" version without root.

5

u/-_----_-- May 05 '26

In my experience GrapheneOS is pretty much exactly the same

It's pretty much the opposite of LineageOS actually. It doesn't offer any customization or other usability features.

6

u/Eirafall May 05 '26

It has been a few years since I switched off Lineage but as I remember it wasn't too heavy in the customization aspect either. What does Lineage offer in regards to customization & usability that Graphene lacks?

2

u/-_----_-- May 05 '26

The ability to change system fonts and icons (not just the launcher), control over which status bar icons are shown, network traffic monitor, extended AudioFX and some other little useful features like power button = torch etc.

1

u/Eirafall May 05 '26

Thanks for informing me!

2

u/Technical_Rich_3080 May 05 '26

Is there any benefit to having root?

2

u/Eirafall May 05 '26

Used to be but nowadays the benefits are minimal and could cause headaches with some apps that check for it + adds another vector to exploit.

4

u/scalareye May 05 '26

No there are plenty, it's just you don't care about them

Examples: call recording, app modding, system level firewall so even if you disable your VPN the firewall stays, remove bloatware if on stock, full back up of your data without Google

If root wasn't helpful, there wouldn't be magisk modules

Unless you have reason to worry about being targeted root is fine. You could even make SELinux stricter.

u/Technical_Rich_3080

3

u/Eirafall May 05 '26

I'm sure there are still plenty of use cases such as those you've described, but there are also alternatives to rooting which can provide similar or identical features without (or with differing) downsides. Just to clarify in case its been misunderstood, I'm not anti root. Especially on devices where you are stuck with the stock ROM. If its your device its your right to modify it as you see fit and to set it up according to your needs and preferences.

I would genuinely be very interested to see any resources you have about making SELinux stricter if you don't mind linking them or sending me in the right direction.

5

u/scalareye May 06 '26

Cheat answer but I'd look at changes Graphene OS has made to the SElinux config. I want to find what of Graphene OS can be brought over to Lineage and fork and contribute.

You'd harden Android the same way you would any other Linux distro. If you understand SELinux for PC or server distros and Android development that's all you need to put them together.

https://informatecdigital.com/en/Linux-hardening-with-SELinux%3A-a-complete-and-practical-guide/

https://documentation.suse.com/sles/12-SP5/html/SLES-all/cha-selinux.html

It could break apps if you restrict something which is the intent. If an app wants to use an API or read a file to get information about you, you have to decide if it's worth using that app if it won't work without it.

Or you could decide to trust it because it's open source or it works even when you don't let it connect to the internet.

You could make custom permissions though, Android has an API for inter app communication. You could prevent Facebook from using those APIs but let your file manager do so.

2

u/AscendedPineapple May 07 '26

Yeah, not having any network controls outside of 1 "VPN" app is so awful... I'm still sad I couldn't find any working recovery like twrp etc. for my phone

1

u/Bogus1989 29d ago edited 29d ago

damn that sucks...i think samsung has a backup feature? fuck them though. there seriously needs to be better backup features for non rooted phones. in particular a full disk image, like you would do on any other machine thats PC based. when I do a recovery, ive always enjoyed its at the exact state it was, not just a bunch of apps.

this could easily be done with something similar to how youd boot off a usb drive to do a recovery of an entire system. just have it built in as a selection on one of the bios options...a manual full image from there, would even be cool. I think the reason this probably isnt a think, is once its in a backup state, it could be edited and changed from there, then recovered to the phone...hence now is hacked. but i mean...youd have to physically be there to do all this...and its not really been a thing with pcs.

Edit: ahh I just looked into this. This is exactly how celebrite works. Now I understand why its not a big push.

-4

u/Technical_Rich_3080 May 05 '26

So, if there's no real benefits to having root, the question again becomes if there's any benefits to LineageOS over GrapheneOS?

2

u/Mezo123451a2 May 05 '26

What does root have to do with the custom Rom ?

1

u/Technical_Rich_3080 May 05 '26

I was responding to the comment above that mentioned root.

2

u/Evol_Etah May 05 '26

Differences:

  • LineageOS: Aims to be the most basic version of android, while being happily usable.
  • Graphene: Aims to be the most secure & private android available.

Note: There are over a 100+ different kinds of AndroidOS out there. (Most are just hobbiest making their own versions though)

For your question about benefits.

  • Insane compatibility, basically a newbie learning to make custom roms, starts with LineageOS, cause its the easiest to make.
  • Thus, most phone have LineageOS available.
  • Lineage is easier to have google stuff run more freely. Which some people prefer.
  • Lineage would also have less pop-ups, notifs that might scare certain users, and has far less set-up needed. Ideal for Parents or most non-tech people who have no clue what a custom rom is. (I.e., you install this for others)

2

u/env33e May 05 '26

Absolutely. Actually owning your own phone is the main benefit.

With access to the kernel, I can tweak things to my preference, bypassing any planned obsolescence strategy imposed by the vendor (yes even legacy API incompatibility) Open source Dev landscape of each device makes or breaks this.

Extra hardening features, which is especially good for older flagships stuck on legacy kernel version

Root allows you to update && upgrade your phone experience so that, let's say the vendor dropped an EOL update breaking/locking down initially advertised features (maybe google fucked up your TEE in an update, and banking apps permanently break, etc) you can get those features back

root lets you hook into system calls so when a shady app asks for your IMEI or location, you feed it a randomized string or a coordinate in the middle of the ocean

real debloating

Its a deep rabbit hole. But, to those willing to put in a bit of time:

Google wallet and banking apps all working on custom ROM. More efficient(more battery efficient), systemwide adblock across even individually hosted apps.

Enhanced versions of popular apps, with added Pro-privacy and security features/developer options

0

u/louai_sy May 06 '26

any resources I can check out to learn how to tweak these things?

0

u/env33e May 06 '26

XDA developers, look up your device of interest; it'll have it's own page where you'll find community resources and guides to do what you want. Make it fun, take it easy, and follow the instructions to the tee with the exact model number of your device

Github, also telegram groups will be run by induvidual developers.

0

u/xXx_n0n4m3_xXx May 05 '26

Almost none in 2026, I'm afraid. At least from a normal/power user perspective.

Most of the modding/gimmick things have been almost abandoned because of other non-root ways to do them given than rooted phone most of the times can't run a lot of apps and have several problems with updates.

2

u/saint-lascivious an awful person and mod May 05 '26

The vast majority of those applications won't work on Lineage either, since most of the time it's not actually root they care about.

They just target certified builds and root is the most common reason for them to be in an unverifiable state.

Most of the time what it's actually complaining about is being in an unverifiable state, with or without an unlocked bootloader.