I wanted to share an interesting statistic with you. Approximately 1 out of every 25 people with a Google Pixel phone is running GrapheneOS right now. While it’s difficult to get an exact number, we can make educated guesses to get an approximate number.
How many GrapheneOS users are there? According to an estimate released by GrapheneOS today, the number of GrapheneOS devices is approaching 400,000. This estimate is based on the number of devices that downloaded recent GrapheneOS updates. Some users may have multiple devices, such as organizations, and some users may download and flash updates externally, but it’s the best estimate we have.
How many Google Pixel users are there? Despite Google’s extensive data collection, this one is surprisingly harder to estimate, since Google hasn’t released an exact number. There’s a number floating around that Google has 4-5% of the smartphone market, which is between 10 million and 13.2 million users in the United States. I can’t find the source of where this information came from. That number is problematic, too, because Japan supposedly uses more Google Pixel phones than the United States. The Pixel 9 series was also a big jump in market share for Google. I couldn’t find any numbers smaller than 10 million, and it made the math nice, so that is what I went with.
Putting the numbers together, it means that 4% of Google Pixel users are running GrapheneOS. That means in a room of 25 Google Pixel users, 1 of them will be a GrapheneOS user. If you include all custom Android operating systems, that number would certainly be much, much higher.
To put it into perspective, each pixel in this image represents ~5 Google Pixel users. Each white pixel represents that those ~5 people use GrapheneOS:
Even with generous estimates to Google’s market share, GrapheneOS still makes up a large portion of their users.
Considering that if you use a custom ROM, you’re a pro user, the 1% of the users, this means only one of this two cases:
-
The Google Pixel line is a complete failure and failed to reach mainstream status, nobody knows the brand and buys the phones in a store, they’re moving 1000x less units than Apple
-
There’s some error in your numbers
- The Pixel is easily unlockable, so one can install custom firmware without being a “pro”, its hardware is (or was reverse-engineered to be) compatible enough to make the experience seamless, with a whole firmware project / community that it’s exclusively dedicated on that specific range of hardware devices, making it a target for anyone looking for a phone where to install custom Android firmware on.
But I’d bet it’s a mix of 2 and 3.
I bought my mom a pixel and installed graphene on it and gave her. She is by no means a power user. Never underestimate the will of nerds to go a step further :)
I wouldn’t consider myself a pro user but graphene was so easy to install. One click of a button while it’s connected to my computer!
-
One one hand, a superior ROM choice
On the other hand, subpar crappy Google hardware
Totally agree processor wise. But can you give me a phone that has bigger camera sensor (+telephoto) than Pixel 9 Pro that has a screen smaller than 6.3 inches?
deleted by creator
Yeah 4% is big enough to get on Google’s radar as a threat. Especially if it’s trending upwards.
This is more than just a few tinfoil hats now.
And yes they’re working on locking bootloaders and also making AOSP less useful
c/dataisbeautiful :P
I had no idea the share was so large.
1 in 25 is a very odd way to say 4%…
If you actually read the source, you’d know it’s closer to 2 in 50.
It’s not, it’s easier to visualise one person out of a group of 25 than it is 4 out of a group of 100.
Said 0.1% of people
Hi, Google Pixel user here, wtf is GrapheneOS? And why should I get it?
deleted by creator
GrapheneOS is a privacy and security focused operating system for your phone, based on Android. It provides much more security than stock Android. If you want a more private or secure device, then GrapheneOS is the go-to recommendation for Pixel devices.
It’s barbones Android, without the Google. You can add the Google stuff if you want, but by default, it comes completely de-Googled.
It also comes with some extra features, like granular app-level permissions, sandboxed Google Play Services (which a lotta apps use), duress PIN, and more.
Widely regarded as the safest and most private “commercial” mobile operating system.
Disclaimer: I run SwapMyOS, a GrapheneOS/custom ROM installation service.
The lead Dev of graphene has a very bad history. Just Google Daniel Micay
I recommend avoiding it.
Removed by mod
Pixels are dirt cheap because Google is harvesting massive amounts of data from Pixel users, so they give them away.
GrapheneOS lets you have a cheap Pixel without Google knowing everything about you, and those near you.
Give them away? Not really, Samsung S series are the same pricing as pixels here where I live. The pixel a is different of course, it’s more like a Samsung FE.
Can I install it on a pixel that bricked during an upgrade?
One of my ideas for increasing GrapheneOS market share is to market GOS as the minimalist phone so many crave.
In recent times, I’ve stumbled across a handful of articles about how dumbphones are back, and how people crave more minimalist phones to curb smartphone addiction or otherwise.
GrapheneOS is a great minimalist phone that’s still “smart,” yet secure and private.
GOS is a way better option than dumbphones because:
- Chances are you’ll need some sort of smartphone functionality. For example: Digital “live” tickets that you can’t screenshot and need to be opened on your phone directly (Ticketmaster, MLB, etc.)
- Using a dumbphone reverts you to older technologies and protocols, like cell towers and SMS. These are inherently insecure and shouldn’t be used anymore. So even though you might “feel” like you’re better off, your communications (text, audio, video) take a huge leap backwards in terms of privacy and security.
deleted by creator
