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.
You are comparing worldwide numbers to US-only numbers.
I’m one of those people who use GrapheneOS every day, I love my Pixel 9a.
Graphene explicitly says the 400k are worldwide. You cannot then go ahead and use the US numbers for your comparison. From your own source, Google shipped 10 million Pixel 9 devices in 2023 alone. This does not account for other/older pixel models, or the sum total of sales before that point, or since.
Why not just share the actual number: worldwide, there’s 400k users.
How could they know the actual user count? All they can see is number of downloads, right?
The number of recent updates, it seems. Which is probbaly an OK metric.
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:
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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
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There’s some error in your numbers
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!
- 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 :)
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Like and subscribe and SLAM that “press x to doubt” button so we can grow awareness that there’s literally no way this is true in any universe.
That image is a horrible way to represent any ratio. I love it!
I actually do like it. I don’t see it as trying to show an actually accurate ratio, or for you to be able to make an informed decisions from it. I read it as a vibe check, just a quick “what would a room fu LLM of pixel users” look like.
I’m not sure if that’d be what it’d look like… distributions are hardly ever that heterogeneous.
I’d bet all the GrapheneOS users would get together in their own corner and nerd out about their customizations.
For the record: 1 in 25 is 4% …the image gives (intentionally?) the illusion of the proportion being higher.
Hello fellow criminals, anyone get up to any good crime lately?
Just doing my best to avoid surveillance capitalism and government surveillance. Is that illegal yet?
I didn’t do the legally mandated number of "Hail Corporate!"s yesterday.
Nice try FBI
🏴☠️
Crimes are free and you can just do them as much as you want.
The government doesn’t want you to know this.
LTT beat you to the joke.
Maybe This Phone ISN’T Just for Criminals - Trying Graphene OS for a Month.
LTT did not make that joke though? He also copied it.
That is in fact the reference
Who cares about toxic LTT?
Google sold 40 million Pixels between 2016 and 2023, and that number has grown rapidly in the last few years. I think an estimate of around 40 million active Pixel phones is reasonable, which would give GrapheneOS a relative market share of 1%; certainly less than 2%.
I’m certain that most people between 2016 and 2023 bought multiple devices to upgrade old ones.
I’m on, I think, my 3rd Pixel. All of them were chosen because of the possibility of putting a third-party firmware on them, but my current one is the first I’ve actually done it to.
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Do you walk up to every stranger with a Pixel and ask if they run GrapheneOS? No?
Lol I talk to family, friends, colleagues, people I play ports with. Have literally never once seen a Graphene phone.
I literally cannot think of anyone anymore who even roots their phone, let alone installs a third party OS.
Y’all are honestly deluded if you think it’s remotely close to OPs numbers.
I doubt OP’s numbers, but your experience is not representative data of anything except your friend group.
Friend group, work group, sports groups, friends of friends met at parties etc. It’s a sample size in the hundreds, and includes dozens who used to root their phones and install third party OSes in the early days of Android. It’s not insignificant to see zero usage when OP is claiming 50%. If their numbers are to be believed there should be regions where there’s close to 100% usage.
I never would have guessed anywhere near 400k, that’s wild!
I’m surprised it isn’t more.
Pixels are the reference platform for a lot of open-source phone operating systems. A disproportionate number of people who purchased Pixels are the type of person who did believe Googles motto of “Don’t be Evil”, even after Google abandoned the motto.
Now that Google is inarguably Evil (not Musk Evil, but definitely more Evil than Apple), these people are searching for solutions. They are gun-shy and are not likely to get an Evil iPhone, have a large investment in the Android ecosystem so are unlikely to pivot to Linux Phone, and the niche Android variants are more likely to be assassinated by Google.
GrapheneOS is the obvious choice. I’m surprised it isn’t a higher percentage.
I’m sure it’s a mix, but I would expect fewer people that have GrapheneOS because they have a Pixel than have a Pixel because they are the only devices supported by GrapheneOS.
That is exactly right. But the demographic of Pixel owners likely to install GrapheneOS (or Sailfish or Ubuntu Touch or whatever) and the demographic of GrapheneOS users likely to buy a Pixel probably has a fair overlap.
I mean, I still buy (used) Pixels even after knowing Google is evil, because they’re still the least-bad option because of things like Graphene OS.
Also, re: “unlikely to pivot to Linux phones:” that’s not because of any sort of “large investment in Android;” it’s because Linux phones either suck or are expensive (or maybe both). I say that as a desktop Linux user exclusively for almost a decade and owner of a Pinephone. I want to be using a Linux phone, but they just aren’t there yet.
The reason I got GrapheneOS over other alternatives to Android was because I thought it had something like 1% of the overall smartphone market (source: wikipedia).
hmmm, I’d consider Apple and Google to be roughly equal in terms of general overall evilness these days
they both donate to support fascism and genocide, remove anti-fascism apps and anti-surveillance apps from their stores upon government request (even when not legally required), spy on their users, etc
and their software/products seems to be in the final phase of enshittification
the fact that GrapheneOS exists and works on Google hardware at all seems like a plus in Google’s column, however it’s only necessary because default Android/Chrome are not allowed to go so far as to protect users from surveillance capitalism (so it’s a plus only necessary because of a negative)
unless there’s a specific measure where Google does significantly worse?
Considering that they sell Pixels at normal stores, unlike the Nexus devices that came before them. It shouldn’t be any wonder that there’s a lot of normal people using them. Especially when only google was offering long software support for Android phones.
Long-term support is never something that Normies (that don’t want iPhones) contemplate. They would rather buy the cheapest phone; they don’t see the value in a software vendor supported phone. That is why Samsung is more of a household name than Pixel.
Google have also shown that their long-term support is pointless when they pivot and implement their own version of Apples “walled garden” on the Play Store and the Android ecosystem.
Their implied guarantee of openness is just as facetious as Apples implied guarantee of privacy.
I wonder how accurate it is. I have run Graphene off and on over the years but keep going back to stock.
What makes you go back to stock?
One one hand, a superior ROM choice
On the other hand, subpar crappy Google hardware
I am a freak who would die happy if this OS somehow made it onto my Unihertz Jellystar
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?
1 in 25 is a very odd way to say 4%…
4% is a very odd way of saying 1 in 25
1 in 4% is a very odd way of saying 25
4% of 25 is a very odd way of saying 1
If you actually read the source, you’d know it’s closer to 2 in 50.
Come on now, it’s actually 0,333… in 8,333…
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
cool. that’s actually way more than i expected.
the fact so many people distrust phones gives me some unironic faith for humanity, this also explains why they are trying so hard to kill custom roms.
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.
Is there a theydidthemath lemmy community lol I’d like to be one of those reddit posters who link communities because funny lol
Hi, Google Pixel user here, wtf is GrapheneOS? And why should I get it?
essentially grapheneOs is just plain android, with additional security features/ hardening. It is said to be the most secure (normal) Os in the world.
And one of the nicest feature in my opinion is, that all the google stuff is optional. So play store and play service is just another app. (Instead of a system level privileged process)
And in my opinion, it is just the better operating system.
https://grapheneos.org/features
I think you, the question should be “why should i not get it” and the answer to this is if, you either need NFC payment (does not work (depending on bank)), or you dont want an app to ever not work, because some apps dont work on it (google play integrety check is the reason)
And it should be mentioned, that grapheneOs has one of the best web installer out there, it is easier to install then any linux distro. It was a dream really.
(and for switching the data transfer might be annoying)
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.
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.
Pixels cost around the same as any other phone from Samsung, Oneplus, or whatever.
Maybe if you’re buying them outright?
Where I am, you can get them (with a contract obviously) for 0 dollars up front and like 4 bucks a month for 2 years. And no other similar phone has the same deals. So it could be between Google and the cell provider.
Sure but if Google wanted to push the devices onto people because of tracking purposes wouldn’t they also make them cheaper to buy outright?
I don’t think so. Better to have captive customers on contracts if that is their goal, no?
For the ISP sure, but for Google? I don’t really think they would care all that much.
I guess what I’m getting at is if you buy a phone outright, you have no incentive to keep using it…other than of course wasting your money. But there’s no additional penalty keeping you from leaving the Pixel ecosystem, the financial damage is done.
On a contract, you have a financial penalty for the act of leaving early. So it disincentivizes leaving before 2 years or whatever the length of the contract.
So Google can say to carriers "Hey, we will subsidize our phones for you so you can give them away on contract. You get a captive customer, we get good odds of 2 years of valuable data.
I don’t know if I’m right about any of this, but it explains a lot of questions I have about why Pixels are far and away the best value you can get on contract with any provider, where I am anyway.
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.
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