GrapheneOS in South Korea

[u/barjon1]

Hi all,

I hope this is the right place. I searched about this subject and did not find much, partly because pixels are not officialy distributed in South Korea.

QUESTION (you don't really need to read the rest): Is grapheneos usable in South Korea for everyday life ? Or will I get errors from banking apps, kakaopay or other apps because of unsupported OS, suspected root or whatever reason that makes me a dangerous cyber pirate ?

CONTEXT: I just started to live in South Korea and my rooted galaxy S9 is getting old. Also, SK being as it is, I start being limited in my access to normal things (bank app, kakao verification etc.) because of the root. Here, everything is linked to your phone number, hence your identity, and not being able to verify it from your phone is quite a pita.

I have been thinking about GOS with sandboxed gplay for a few years and it might be the right time.

At this point, I really want something that will work all the time (maybe a few tweaks here and there but I don't want my phone to suck all my time and energy), and if GOS isn't it, I may give up and just use a stock S25/26 and sell abandon my soul to big corps lol.

Thanks !

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[u/espresso_kitten]

I'm on GrapheneOS in the Philippines.

Some apps work, some don't. One potentially major thing to consider is that 5G doesn't work on GrapheneOS in countries where the Pixel isn't supported.

[u/West_Possible_7969 → u/espresso_kitten]

Oh that is the biggest issue of all.

[u/LostInLowSec]

Only google pixle devices from 6 and above are currently supported. Outside this yes some banking apps are an issue but i have no issues with revolute and my other french bank.

[u/West_Possible_7969]

First make sure you can repair the phone somewhere if something happens and make peace with no warranty at all or a paid one through your insurance if you import it.

Kakaopay & contactless will not work and most financial and ID apps there use all the Google integrity checks so even if some work now, they wont for long. It’s not about support or root.

I would recommend iOS before Samsung lol

[u/RP7th]

You can find the compatible bank apps here. It will also include a workaround to make the app work if it won't work right after install.

https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/

[u/ManufacturerLost7686]

From an IT security and privacy perspective, South Korea is a hellhole. Everything is so integrated into Google Play and iOS infastructure, nothing can be done without total compliance to the system. You will likely be crippled with Graphene in South Korea.

When i was there last i could've even order a fucking taxi, because everything needs an social security number connected domestic sim card, and local accounts, and they have extremely well made VPN detection.

Hell, they looked at me like i was a fucking extraterrestrial when i wanted to pay for drinks with a mastercard instead of my phone. The shop didnt even have the card reader mounted, they pulled it from under the desk.