I know exactly as much as you do about it. Just quoting the lead dev.
noxy
I'm too afraid of Helvetica
ask again in a week and then again in three months
so is amazon
bhphotovideo has been very good to me
It's unfortunately really not that simple. But for a short answer, I use Aurora Store for anything I can't get from F-Droid., and even tho I have the Google Play Store installed (as some apps require it for stuff like notifications or location) I'm not ever signed into it and I don't use it to install or update apps
Which payments don't work?
I do, yes. First on a Pixel 5 and then (and currently) on a Pixel 8 Pro.
The purely emotional icky feeling of giving Google money is far less important than the tangible security, privacy, and usability upsides of GrapheneOS on a supported device. But if that's important to you, just buy a Pixel secondhand, Google gets no money from that.
I wish more devices were supported too, but my understanding is that only Google makes devices that are both secure and open enough.
Article in German, but the relevant points from the GrapheneOS lead are all in english: https://www.kuketz-blog.de/weshalb-grapheneos-aktuell-nur-google-pixel-geraete-unterstuetzt/
One point about Samsung:
Samsung takes security almost as seriously as Google, but they deliberately cripple their devices when you unlock them to install another OS and don’t allow an alternate OS to use important security features
Two credit union apps work fine, venmo and paypal work fine. YMMV with other financial institutions but it's not been a problem for me so far.
To answer your last question, there's way too many differences for a lemmy comment, so I suggest reading their features page for a broad overview: https://grapheneos.org/features
One feature that's closest yo your question, though:
Google Play receives absolutely no special access or privileges on GrapheneOS as opposed to bypassing the app sandbox and receiving a massive amount of highly privileged access.
extremely pedantic whining over the term "ROM", but when has a custom android distribution ever dealt with "read-only memory"? is or was there some immutable component of Android that could be interpreted as read-only?
also I switched from iPhones to Google Pixels running GrapheneOS four years ago and I've never looked back, it's really solid and gives me the amount of control I expect and demand over hardware I've purchased upfront. Pedantry aside, I strongly recommend GrapheneOS
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Their ~~chief weapon~~ ~~two weapons~~ ~~three weapons~~ ~~four~~... no... ~~Amongst their weapons~~... Amongst their weaponry... are such elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope
What the hell is "3D Secure"?