Experience with daily driving CalyxOS for a month

Here's my attempt at summarizing what it's like to use CalyxOS after a month, from a standpoint of a user who values privacy, but doesn't want to give up convenience. I'll try to be concise and mostly list which features and apps work and which don't, so you can assess if CalyxOS is right for you.

tl;dr: The system itself is rock solid and the basics work flawlessly, but expect some apps and features to NOT work because of MicroG and alternative apps.

To be fair, MicroG is an extremely impressive effort of escaping Google's tentacles, but it's made by just a handful of developers trying to reverse engineer and catch up with a black box (GMS) that's developed and constantly updated by the world's largest corporation.

So here's what you can expect when switching from a regular Android (OnePlus in my case) to a Pixel with CalyxOS. I'm assuming you'll want to gradually degoogle and therefore will need to use at least some of Google's apps.

What's better than the stock Pixel ROM

  • privacy (obviously!)
  • call recording
  • firewall, which can block any app from accessing the internet
  • you can switch the order of the 3 nav buttons (from ◁⭘▢ to ▢⭘◁)
  • extremely lean, only a handful of apps are pre-installed
  • you can remove the search field from the default launcher

What works

  • all the basic stuff like networking, sensors, cameras, calls, sms, internet browsers, emails
  • no battery drain
  • notifications - had zero issues so far
  • downloading free apps and paid apps via Aurora Store
  • Google apps: Pixel Camera, Maps, Waze, Calendar, Keep, Drive/Sheets/Docs, Meet, Gmail, Calculator, Clock, GBoard (you can block their internet access, where it makes sense)
  • messaging apps (Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Messenger)
  • fast assisted GPS (opt-in, uses Mozilla's servers) works partially with local cache, Mozilla has shut down its servers, MicroG devs are working on adding a replacement https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/issues/2237
  • fancy Bluetooth codecs (AptX, AAC)
  • HW-accelerated video decoding, HDR videos
  • some banking apps work, some of them complain about an "unsafe" system, some don't work, YMMV
  • Netflix - 360p only, this is intentional Widevine DRM bullshit
  • Spotify - premium works flawlessly, podcasts don't play in the free version
  • YouTube Music
  • YouTube
  • Magisk/rooting - this breaks updates, so you need to unroot temporarily when updating

What works with workarounds or extra effort

  • YouTube app - videos with ads stop playing after 30 seconds, even with Premium - fixed in MicroG v0.3.1
  • Google contacts sync doesn't work out of the box - DAVx5 can be set up to sync them, they'll be missing Google avatars, but whatever
  • Android Auto - use https://github.com/sn-00-x/aa4mg (requires Magisk) - this is a major advantage over GrapheneOS for me and it works with blocked network access! (note: GOS has implemented AA support since)
  • paid apps need to be purchased outside of Aurora Store, only then you can download them. In other words you'll need an extra Android phone or a VM.
  • Google 2FA prompt is not implemented and you'll need to use other methods, like the authenticator

What doesn't work

  • in-app purchases can't be used at all, even if purchased elsewhere fixed in MicroG v0.3.1
  • other problems with licensing - for instance PowerAmp full license unlock can't authenticate and doesn't work, but Nova Launcher Prime and FX Plus work fine fixed in MicroG v0.3.1
  • Aurora Store has trouble downloading some free apps (this is fairly rare)
  • some apps don't work or crash, mostly the ones with root detection - see this list https://community.e.foundation/t/list-apps-that-work-or-do-not-work-with-microg/21151
  • some ad supported apps may misbehave if they can't load ads
  • Chromecast
  • Google Pay - this doesn't work with any custom ROM or even a stock rom with an unlocked bootloader

Broken YouTube - fixed in MicroG v0.3.1, but read on why it may break in the future

This is the result of Google's efforts of combating Revanced. Revanced is primarily used for blocking ads for free accounts and sadly uses parts of MicroG, which means when Google targets Revanced, MicroG may also be affected.

The workaround was to use a Revanced-patched YT app (Client Spoof patch) to be able to watch videos with MicroG. This worked flawlessly for a moment, but could break at any time, especially now that Google is cracking down on ad blockers and sure enough, Revanced stopped working after a few months. It needed an update and using the Revanced patcher is a headache.

There's also a more privacy friendly https://newpipe.net/ if you don't care about recommendations.

MicroG and pitfalls of sidestepping Google Mobile Services

As with YouTube, Google can change stuff, causing some apps to stop working until you find a workaround or until MicroG is updated.

Android Auto is another example, where I could happily use it, but it broke down with Android 14 and I had to pester developers of aa4mg to investigate the issue.

Google also broke DAVx5 contact syncing at some point by changing their auth scheme.

All in all, the OS is super solid and usable, but I wouldn't recommend it to non-technical people - you'll likely need to tinker with stuff. The pay off is privacy and a huge middle finger to Google. I feel that MicroG is a bit fragile, as it's a community reverse-engineering project and it goes directly against Google's goals of harvesting and selling your data, so let's hope it'll last for a while yet.

edit: added up to date info