[HN Gopher] Swappa.com for GrapheneOS compatible devices - Stay ...
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Swappa.com for GrapheneOS compatible devices - Stay Away
Author : OsrsNeedsf2P
Score : 46 points
Date : 2026-04-01 21:59 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (discuss.grapheneos.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (discuss.grapheneos.org)
| djhope99 wrote:
| Uh oh. I just brought a pixel 6a from Swappa, was hoping to use a
| different os. Not arrived yet though.
| laweijfmvo wrote:
| Swappa became a no-go for me when they started making exceptions
| to their rules for commercial sellers, justifying it by saying
| they were inherently more reliable. For example, using stock
| photos for multiple devices instead of the device you actually
| receive. All of three of these phones, based on the seller names,
| were those reliable sellers.
| glhaynes wrote:
| Bummer of an experience. About a month ago I bought an unlocked
| 8a from a seller on Swappa and had no issue getting GrapheneOS
| (which works well!) on it.
| hmry wrote:
| > we are unfortunately not able to guarantee bootloader
| unlocking, as it is not feasible for us to search through
| thousands of devices in order to find one that is
|
| Ohhhh, is that how it works? Maybe I should try that next time.
| Instead of selling broken hardware as "NOT TESTED, AS IS, PARTS
| MACHINE" I should sell them as "100% working!" and when someone
| asks, I'll tell them "sorry, it's not feasible to search through
| all devices and find the working ones"
| deeplowdock wrote:
| I wonder why almost no one in these GrapheneOS praise topic
| mentions that you won't be able to pay with your phone, and often
| even bank apps refuse to install on it - it was a deal breaker
| for me personally, and now I'm back under Google umbrella :<
| cyanydeez wrote:
| Paying with your phone just seems like one of those separation
| of concerns problem. I'm sure you have backup forms, and cash,
| etc, but there's something about not having to worry about the
| multinefarious capabilities of my phone if it's not in my
| posession.
| deeplowdock wrote:
| You could then separate the audio system from your car and
| drive around with a boombox
| NewJazz wrote:
| Difference is a plastic card that is lighter and smaller
| than the phone is just as effective as the phone is for
| payments. When it comes to audio, a car stereo is going to
| be much more convenient and brtter quality than a boombox
| or bluetooth. That said, i did know someone with an older
| car who used a bluetooth speaker instead of their stereo,
| so they could connect their phone audio.
| zephen wrote:
| I forget. What are the security implications of having your
| car play your music again?
| thejazzman wrote:
| Pretty sure Jeep was hacked via their infotainment system
| and remotely driven (by researcher Charlie Miller)
|
| So it's actually kind of a real thing
| ramon156 wrote:
| Fair point, but how much extra effort is it to put a credit
| card between your phone? I'm still under the Google umbrella as
| well, but this would be my first issue solved.
| Pacers31Colts18 wrote:
| Not every banking app is that way. Mine worked.
|
| I also dont think everything needs to be an app.
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| I gets mentioned on every GrapheneOS thread I've read.
| hnuser435 wrote:
| Limitations are on the website -
| https://grapheneos.org/articles/ I don't care about google
| pay/wallet or android auto. My credit union's app does work
| fine, but even if it didn't, I'd still use GOS. It's great.
| McDev wrote:
| FWIW I've tested Android Auto before with sandboxed Google
| Play, works fine.
| throawayonthe wrote:
| this is the main point of discussion under every grapheneos
| thread though...
|
| also my bank apps install, but yes, no tap to pay
| convexly wrote:
| Did you try disputing through your payment method or is that not
| an option with how Swappa processes things?
| erelong wrote:
| Swappa has been "ok" in my experience
|
| I had issues with receiving incompatible "variants" of compatible
| devices when shopping for used phone for custom roms
| yogthos wrote:
| I just bought an official Pixel 9 to install GrapheneOS, and the
| process couldn't be simpler. Their webusb installer is extremely
| polished. You just plug your phone in, click through a few steps,
| and you're done. There's absolutely no reason to bother looking
| for a phone with GrapheneOS already preinstalled.
|
| As a side note, I've been using it for a few months now, and it
| works great. All the apps I use run on it just fine. Battery life
| is great, and you don't have a bunch of cruft from Google running
| on your device. Can highly recommend for anybody looking for a
| phone you actually own.
| NewJazz wrote:
| As a note, swappa isn't selling phones with grapheneos
| preinstalled. It is selling used phones, you would still have
| to install gos.
| kay_o wrote:
| This is not the related of preinstalled. Swappa is selling
| bootloader permanently locked forever phones as bootloader
| unlockable
| OsrsNeedsf2P wrote:
| I'm trying to go through Swappa to help reduce waste and save a
| bit of money. Unfortunately, when I decided to go second-hand,
| I didn't expect issues like this.
| beej71 wrote:
| I was just about to buy something from them, but maybe not now. I
| want a used pixel--where is the best marketplace for that?
| troyvit wrote:
| I've gotten used pixels off of ebay more than once and never
| had a problem. I feel like if it was that simple swappa.com
| wouldn't exist though. Maybe I've been lucky?
| rglover wrote:
| I've had good experiences with gazelle.com for used devices but
| never tried to load GrapheneOS on anything from them.
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(page generated 2026-04-01 23:00 UTC)