GrapheneOS is an operating system for your Google Pixel phone which has been thoroughly de-Googled by people who also analyze each new release of the Pixel for shifty hardware.  That’s why it’s only available for Google-manufactured phones.  That’s why I bought one — to run GrapheneOS.  My current iPhone is “secure” in the way that only a government could love — Just turning the damned thing on requires an Apple account.  Apple may (or may not) be better at protecting your privacy from external snoops, but this just means that Apple can charge a higher price for information derived from your use of their hardware — if you are an Apple user, they have a monopoly on you.

So Google is the Devil and Apple runs its own private Hell — what’s a privacy-minded individual to do?  That’s where this GrapheneOS thing comes in.  Android is just Linux (here we go again!) customized for a phone platform, which means that it isn’t quite proprietary to Google — they are required to publish the core system, although their applications are not necessarily included in that deal.  SWEET!  I don’t want your damned apps anyway, and would rather not even have them on my phone.