Danny Trunk

The reason: these operating systems aren't certified by Google. Now here's the irony. GrapheneOS is objectively more secure than stock Android. Hardened memory allocator. stronger sandboxing. No Google services by default. It's what security researchers, journalists in war zones, and activists under surveillance use when their life depends on their phone not being compromised. LineageOS removes bloatware and carrier tracking. /e/OS strips Google entirely. All three are more privacy-respecting and in many ways more secure than the certified Android Volkswagen is demanding you use. VW locked out the most security-conscious users in the name of security. Now let's talk about Play Integrity. Play Integrity is Google's system for certifying that your device is running an approved OS with approved software. Pass the check: app works. fail the check: you're out. Volkswagen didn't build its own security standard. it outsourced its security decisions to Google. Meaning Google now decides who can access their own Volkswagen. You paid for the car. Google decides if you can lock it from your phone. And this is not new; banking apps have been doing this for years. Barclays. HSBC. Monzo. streaming apps. Netflix. Disney+. now cars. the list of things that won't work on a privacy OS is becoming the list of things you need to function in modern life. remote locking. climate control. charging management. vehicle status. your car is now part of the Google-certified ecosystem whether you agreed to that or not. You just didn't know it when you signed the finance agreement.