Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google to provide software on thier smartphones like Nexus which is now re-branded as Pixel, this is why Pixel devices are first to recieve latest Android updates before any other device out there on market, however Google unlike Apple didn't made Android operating system a closed software instead they created a project named AOSP aka Android open source project.

AOSP - Android open source project is officially and publicly available for free on source.android.com which developers and companies use to build thier own version of Android OS software with custom skin, features etc including that they can also remove or add certain apps and files in process to make Android OS software adaptable on thier smartphones.

While, the issue with most smartphone manufacturers is they only provide latest Android software updates with security patches to new devices and ignore old devices after 1 or 2 years which makes them outdated thus compromise security and privacy of users, including that some users concerned that few manufacturers adding surveillance technologies to track, spy, collect details of users anonymously.

Even Android operating system itself use and has numerous proprietary blobs which can be problematic to privacy and security of users with loop holes and security flaws which will become advantage to hackers, virus and malwares etc to exploit devices, easily, that's why people who want better security and privacy use and depend on Apple's iOS closed eco-system.

Even though, Google is always working to improve security and privacy of Android operating system even developed a project named Treble which manufacturers can use to provide fast new Android version updates to old smartphones yet the issues exist and smartphones manufacturers not even using treble to give latest Android updates to old devices.

So, fix this outdated software issue and provide latest software updates on old Android powered smartphones, there are numerous third party developers around the world especially from XDA portal who are using Android open source project to build latest Android software updates to many old devices through custom roms.

But, In order to Install custom roms on your smartphone you have to unlock bootloader and flash custom recovery like TWRP aka Team win recovery project using specific guides that are specifically created for your smartphone on trusted portal like XDA, if you do anything wrong then it can soft or hard brick your device which is sometimes irrepairable.

Anyhow, usually most custom roms that are created by developers either build  using AOSP or LineageOS which is fork of AOSP with extra features so you will get same privacy and security protection offered by Android operating system which is unsatisfactory.

However, we do have few Android OS custom roms that provide better security and privacy build by third party developers which are better then AOSP and regular custom roms, recently we found an non profit open source custom rom project named GrapheneOS which is best alternative to DivestOS.


GrapheneOS has numerous features and deploys technologies to prevent exploits and vulnerabilities to make them more difficult to occur to improve privacy and security of both Android OS and apps running on it, including that GrapheneOS also develop security and privacy focused open source apps like Auditor, PDF viewer, Seedvault, Vanadium a hardened variant of chromium browser and webview created specifically for GrapheneOS to further extend protection of users.

Remember, GrapheneOS mentions that they won't bundle and re-implement very incomplete and integrate poorly secured third party re-implementation on OS, but they aren't against using Google play services or Micro-G another implementation of Google play services, it is possible to install Google services as a set of fully sandboxed apps without any special privileges via Sandboxed play services comparability, so do you like it? are you interested in GrapheneOS? If yes let's know little more info before we explore more.

• GrapheneOS official support •


Website : grapheneos.org

• How to download GrapheneOS •

It is very easy to download GrapheneOS from these platforms for free.


Note : GrapheneOS official custom rom is currently seems only available for Pixel smartphones, but there are alot devices which doesn't have official custom rom, so if you didn't find GrapheneOS custom rom for your device then don't get dissapoined as you can use GrapheneOS custom rom build guide to create custom rom on your own which require skills but it's ok if you don't know how to build an custom rom as you may ask or pay custom rom developer of your smartphone or GrapheneOS team to build one for your device for free.

• GrapheneOS key features with UI / UX Overview •

- More coming soon, stay tuned!

Atlast, screen shots credits goes to grapheneos.org and this are just highlighted features of GrapheneOS custom rom, there may be many hidden features in-build that provides you external benefits to give the ultimate usage experience, so if you want privacy and security oriented Android custom rom then GrapheneOS is fabulous choice for sure.

Overall, GrapheneOS custom rom has strong baseline of AOSP with numerous  privacy and security oriented features and improvements, so on GrapheneOS you will get stock android's well designed user interface which ensures user friendly experience but in any project there is always space for progress and improvement so let's wait and see will GrapheneOS get any major UI changes in future to make it even more better as of now so exciting.

Moreover, it is definitely worth to mention back in 2018 GrapheneOS is know as CopperheadOS but permanently name changed in 2019, and GrapheneOS is one of the very few custom roms available out there on internet with privacy and security focused features, yes indeed in case if you're searching for an alternative to DivestOS then GrapheneOS has potential to become your new favorite choice.

Finally, Kudos to lead developer DanielMicay and for primarly focusing on the privacy and security research engineering work and who team for GrapheneOS, and you can donate this project on PayPal to support, are you an 
existing user of GrapheneOS? If yes do say your experience and mention why you like GrapheneOS in our comment section below, see ya :)