[imzadi]

I got a Pixel 10 during prime day and installed GrapheneOS with Cape for the provider. So far, it's been mostly great. The only setback, for me, is the lack of support for tap to pay. I haven't been able to get any wallet app to work. I keep my iphone with minimal service mainly to still have tap to pay and do facetime with my book club.

[handedness]

I've tried two things. The free version is, I've stuck a card which supports tap to pay inside my phone case. Big brain time, I know, but it actually works reasonably well. Many modern card phone cases now put shielding in (they didn't used to), which on one level I appreciate, but it limits its utility in this particular use case. I haven't tried one of the current cases to see if the shielding can be easily removed. A thin, flat card with etched/printed numbers is better than one with stamped/raised numbers.

Beyond that, I've been quite happy with Garmin Pay. The watch itself doesn't have a mic or LTE radio, I leave it on airplane mode the vast majority of the time, and it works without the phone nearby. As privacy-hostile-device privacy policies go, Garmin has one of the less offensive ones. I run the Garmin apps in the Owner profile's private space.

I've never had it not work for payment in years of using it, and in fact, at one one payment kiosk I tried to use Apple Pay for a particular large purchase when it made sense to, the kiosk refused repeatedly, but then accepted Garmin Pay.

Their lowest-end devices still don't support it, but I think you can get into it for an MSRP of about $250, and they tend to discount at all of the predictable times. Also, eBay.

Re: FaceTime, there's a way to do it from Android if you're invited (I don't think you can initiate it), but I haven't messed with it in years. See if you can get a good privacy book for normies on the agenda and suggest moving to Signal during the discussion.

[imzadi]

I have a Garmin watch, but my banks don't support it for tap to pay. I can add cards to Garmin wallet, but not to my watch.

[handedness]

That's a shame. Have you tried raising it with them at some significant level?

For any others wondering, here's the list of participating banks: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garminpay/banks/

[ramgine]

I switch between an iPhone and a GrapheneOS phone. I have a garmin watch and never thought to use it for tap to pay. I’m dumb. Setting this up this evening

[anonymousiam]

I got a new Pixel 10 Pro a few months ago and immediately installed GrapheneOS. It's all been good, but I can no longer use Strava on that phone and I'm looking for a Strava replacement.

As far as tap-to-pay goes, I still carry around a few credit cards with RFID chips, which I trust more than any mobile payment method.

[mendelmaleh]

I used to use OpenTracks to record, then upload to Strava API with an app called HTTP Shortcuts. But now Strava wants me to pay to use their API lol.

[jp191919]

If you use a case you could put a card behind your phone. I still use google wallet for various cards, just not tap-to-pay.

[rambojohnson]

place your debit card on the backside of your phone via a case pocket. a lot of cards these days support tap to pay.

[fullstop]

I have a Pixel 7 Pro and I've been considering reflashing with GrapheneOS. I bought a Garmin watch which does tap-to-pay to deal with the loss of that feature.

How is the camera on GrapheneOS compared to the stock Pixel 10? Do your banking apps work without playing cat-and-mouse games?

[mschild]

Default camera app is decent and has imo all the basic necessities. You could obviously install the Google camera app and use that if you're after the software features like AI enhancement etc.

Got 3 banking apps (Europe) and they work without a hitch or complaint since installing over 3 years ago. I still use physical cards though so tap-to-pay is a no but I was never interested in that.

[grepex]

What I've seen many people do is install the Google Camera app and turn off network permissions for the application so it cannot send any data to Google.

[imzadi]

I have a garmin but my banks don't suppose it for tap.

There are a few settings you have to adjust for the camera to be any good. I thought it was trash until this weekend when I found the settings. The default has quality at 95% and has "highest photo resolution" toggled off. The stock camera app doesn't seem to let you set the resolution specifically.

I use Varo and Sofi. Both apps work on my phone. The only app I have had a specific problem with was the MyQ app, but there is a workaround for that one.

[fullstop]

I added a ratgdo to my garage door opener and use that with Home Assistant (and wireguard to my phone) instead of MyQ, so that wouldn't be a problem.

It's probably worth doing, but I have about three and a half years of data / setup on my phone and I'd have to wipe that all out. I wouldn't permanently lose data, but I did spend a good amount of time setting up my home screen, etc. It's a big leap! :-)

Is your battery life better?

[imzadi]

I haven't noticed the battery life being bad or good. So I guess it is fine. My other phone is an iphone 17 pro max. I feel like the battery degrades at about the same rate on both phones, but I use the pixel more.

[nvme0n1p1]

You can install google's camera app if you want, and it works exactly the same.

I also use a garmin and haven't bothered with banking apps (all banks have a website and I avoid closed source software when I can), but it looks like quite a few are supported: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compa...

[gertop]

I find it hard to believe that you'd carry two devices with you just to pay, why not carry a card with your pixel?

[imzadi]

I do have the cards in my purse, but I like the convenience of having it on my phone. I'll eventually leave the iphone behind though.

[kikkia]

Similar experience, so i just use my garmin watch to pay. Similar compatibility as google pay, but since it runs entirely on the watch it does not check against play integrity.

[ThePowerOfFuet]

Why not just tap a card instead? No battery to worry about, much more durable, much more portable.

[dgrabla]

Paypal works for payment, at least in Germany

[giantg2]

Why Cape instead of Phreeli?

[handedness]

As honeypots go (I'm only joking, well, half-joking), Cape's pretty great on a lot of levels.

I'm glad Cape has competition and hope Phreeli succeeds, but the time when I'd happily contribute to anything he starts is long gone. The substantial credibility he genuinely earned has finally been fully spent, at least for me, but I do hope it becomes a viable option.

[johndoyle]

I appreciate this joke :)

John CEO of Cape

[handedness]

Half-appreciated it, I hope.

Is there any hope of Verizon's network being added to your coverage? I spend a lot of time in pretty remote places and Cape's coverage is up there with its pricing in terms of being a major barrier to retention.

[imzadi]

Cape has SIM swap protection and IMSI rotation. As far as I know, Phreeli doesn't. Phreelie just promises not to collect, use or sell your data but doesn't seem to have any actual privacy tools like Cape does.

[raybb]

Any thoughts on silent.link ? It seems a little slow but otherwise fine.

[goda90]

I do have to say that if you're interested in privacy, tap to pay or even a credit card is the opposite of that. Cash would be the way to go for private transactions.

[pocksuppet]

Threat modelling, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, etc. What are you defending, and from who? You have to consider that.

For real though just bring your actual card instead of trying to load it onto your phone. Why give Apple and Google your card's private key?

[vitally3643]

Because it's graphine and the entire point is that google is not involved in any transaction between you and your banking app.

[pocksuppet]

You don't want tap-to-pay to work because tap-to-pay requires a bunch of proprietary shitware in order for banks to trust it. It's basically like saying Netflix won't work because of Widevine DRM. Just tap your actual bank card, it's more secure anyway. Or your other, non-secure phone.

[JoshTriplett]

> You don't want tap-to-pay to work

Stop doing this. Yes, I want tap-to-pay to work. I don't want to be told I don't want that; I want it to work without the proprietary attestation garbage.