0x7 Brax Guide/Hype

0x7 · July 20, 2025, 10:05pm

Celebrating the BraX3: Let’s Get Hyped: Our Devices Are Shipping!

Hey BraX3 Community,

The BraX3 is shipping, and I’m pumped to share my research, software picks, and plans for this privacy-first powerhouse! As a tech enthusiast who’s researched the BraX3 extensively, I’ve crafted this guide to help new users unlock its potential.

== Why I Chose the BraX3 ==
I picked the BraX3 for its unbeatable mix of privacy, repairability, and mobile computing power. It’s not just a phone—it’s a tool for digital freedom, perfect for secure browsing, torrenting, scripting, and bypassing Apple/Google restrictions. At $299 (pre-sale), it outshines older flagships like the iPhone X, with hardware built to last (parts guaranteed until 2032) and a de-Googled iodéOS that keeps your data yours.

== BraX3 Hardware: Built for Privacy and Endurance ==
The BraX3 is a beast for technical tasks without breaking the bank. Here’s the rundown:

CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 6300 (octa-core, 2.4GHz) rocks for pirating (think fast torrenting) and scripting, with low GPU needs—gaming’s not its thing, but coding is!
Display: 6.56" HD+ (720x1612, 90Hz) saves power for the 5,000mAh battery, lasting all day for secure apps or media. It’s crisp for 720p videos and scripts, though not 4K-sharp.
Storage: 256GB (expandable to 512GB via microSD) handles big files and is a great starting point for technical projects.
MicroSD: Add extra storage for offline files or backups.
Connectivity: 5G, dual SIM (1 physical + 1 eSIM), and a 3.5mm headphone jack make it versatile for “off-grid” use.

== iodéOS: Your Privacy Shield ==
Brax chose iodéOS (based on Android 14/LineageOS) for its privacy and ease. It blocks ads/trackers automatically, uses MicroG (runs apps without Google tracking), and offers a beginner-friendly installer. Key perks:

Privacy Scoring: See which apps access your data.
2025 Features: Private Space for secure apps, Android Auto, and eSIM support.
Sustainability: Extends device life, reducing e-waste.

== My Plans for the BraX3 ==
I’ll use the BraX3 for:

Secure Torrenting: LibreTorrent + ProtonVPN for safe, fast downloads.
Scripting: Termux for Python scripts to automate tasks.
Remote Access: aRDP to control my PC securely.
Privacy: Tor Browser and Shelter to stay invisible online.

== Let’s Get Started! ==
The BraX3 is your ticket to digital freedom. Try my app picks, tweak iodéOS, and share your favorite app or privacy tip below! Got questions? Drop them here—I’m excited to see how you use your BraX3!

== Brief Software List ==
Security & Privacy

Utilities & Tools

Productivity

Note-taking
Notesnook | - | Note-taking app
Markor | - | Markdown editor
Omni Notes | - | Note-taking app
Obsidian | - | Knowledge base
Standard Notes | - | Secure note-taking
Notion | - | All-in-one workspace

Task & To-Do
Tasks org | - | Task manager
Minimal-Todo | - | Minimalist to-do app
Swiftnotes | - | Quick notes
Todoist | - | Task manager

Calendar & Reminders
Etar | - | Calendar app
Simple Calendar | - | Lightweight calendar
Remindly | - | Reminder app

Sync Tools
DAVx⁵ | - | CalDAV/CardDAV sync

Files & Storage

File Managers
Material Files | - | File manager
Amaze File Manager | - | File manager
Fossify File Mgr | - | File manager
Solid Explorer | - | File manager

Document Viewers
Secure PDF Viewer | - | Secure PDF viewer
Librera | - | Ebook reader

Document Scanners
Open Note Scanner | - | Document scanner
Simple Scan | - | Document scanner

Sync & Backup
Syncthing | - | Decentralized sync
Nextcloud | - | Cloud storage

Encryption
Cryptomator | - | Cloud encryption
VeraCrypt | - | Disk encryption

Media (Audio, Video, Images)

Music Players
Auxio | - | Music player
Vanilla Music | - | Music player
Music Player GO | - | Lightweight music player

Podcast Clients
AntennaPod | - | Podcast player
Podverse | - | Podcast player

Image Viewers
Aves Gallery | - | Image gallery
Fossify Gallery | - | Image gallery

Camera Apps
Open Camera | - | Camera app
Secure Camera | - | Privacy-focused camera
GrapheneOS Camera | - | Secure camera

Photo Editors
Image Toolbox | - | Image editor
Simple Gallery Pro | - | Photo gallery/editor

Media Players
MPV | - | Media player
VLC | F-Droid | Media player

Media Servers
Jellyfin | - | Media server

Streaming Clients
Grayjay | - | Streaming platform
Cloudstream | - | Streaming client

YouTube Frontends
Invidious | - | YouTube frontend

Browsers & Media Clients

Email & Communication

Communication & Social

Federated/Matrix
Element | - | Matrix chat client

IM & Chat
Delta Chat | - | Email-based chat
SimpleX Chat | - | Secure chat
Session | - | Private messenger
Signal | - | Secure messenger
Telegram FOSS | - | Telegram alternative
Conversations | - | XMPP chat client
Briar | - | Peer-to-peer messaging

Forum Readers
RedReader | - | Reddit client
Infinity | - | Reddit client

Video Conferencing
Jitsi Meet | - | Video conferencing

Office & Documents

LibreOffice Viewer | - | Office document viewer
Collabora Office | - | Office suite
PDF Converter | - | PDF conversion tool
MuPDF | - | PDF viewer

Games

Emulators
Lemuroid | - | Multi-platform emulator
Dolphin | - | GameCube/Wii emulator
PPSSPP | - | PSP emulator

Board & Card Games
Simple Solitaire | - | Solitaire game
DroidFish | - | Chess game

Puzzle & Word Games
Lexica | - | Word game
Sudoku | - | Sudoku game
1010! Klooni | - | Puzzle game

System & Customization

Development

Git Clients
MGit | - | Git client
GitNex | - | GitLab client
LabCoat | - | GitLab client

Code Editors
Turbo Editor | - | Text editor
Acode | - | Code editor

RSS & Reading

RSS Readers
FeedMe | - | RSS reader
Flym | - | RSS reader
Nunti | - | RSS reader

Ebook Readers
KOReader | - | Ebook reader
Book Reader | - | Ebook reader

Health & Fitness

OpenTracks | - | Activity tracker
FitoTrack | - | Fitness tracker
Paseo | - | Pedometer

Maps & Navigation

Offline Maps
OsmAnd | - | Offline maps
Organic Maps | - | Offline maps

Transit Apps
Transportr | - | Public transit
Offi | - | Public transit

Navigation
Waze | - | Navigation app
Magic Earth | - | Navigation app

Privacy & Security Tools

Shelter | - | Sandboxing app
Scrambled Exif | - | EXIF metadata remover
Clip Stack | - | Clipboard manager
personalDNSfilter | - | DNS ad blocker
RethinkDNS | - | Ad blocker, DNS, firewall
TrackerControl | - | Tracker blocker
1Password | - | Password manager
Proton Pass | - | Password manager
OpenKeychain | - | PGP encryption tools

0x7 · July 20, 2025, 10:17pm

I’m going to continue my posts when i receive my Brax3 here instead of my original thread

jcaceres · July 22, 2025, 8:49am

Good morning,
What a great contribution! I’m adding it to my favorites!
Taking advantage of your kindness, I’d like to ask if you could help me. I need an app to securely sync both an iCloud account and calendar with an Exchange account and calendar.
Which app would you recommend?
Thank you very much.
Best regards.

0x7 · July 22, 2025, 8:33pm

That will likely be challenging especially if you are not in control of the exchange server in question.

A quick search online shows https://www.syncgene.com or https://www.akruto.com/ may help you. But i would be skeptical about having someone in the middle of a calendar event that may know my location.

Expand more on your use case, and what you really need, maybe i can think of better solutions

jcaceres · July 23, 2025, 7:27am

Thank you very much for your help with this matter. The Exchange account (mail and calendar) is my company’s work account, and it’s very important to me. The iCloud mail and calendar account is more personal; the email is used for minor matters, but I have all my contacts (personal and professional) and shared calendars with my wife, family, and friends there. It’s true that, in a second stage towards complete privacy, I’m considering moving everything to Proton or a similar service, but for now I need to migrate as I currently am.

When I use Android devices, in order to have the entire ecosystem together, I use MS Outlook for emails and contacts, and an app called OneCalendar for calendars. This is the best combination I’ve found, since although Outlook is supposed to sync iCloud calendars, in practice it only does a good job the first time. OneCalendar acts as a CalDAV synchronizer.

I’ve been an Apple user for many years, occasionally trying Android, and now I want to take this step towards greater privacy, but for the moment I need to balance it with not losing essential functionalities I need today. Most likely with iodeOS, I could use the combination of Outlook and OneCalendar, since 90% of Android apps work on iodeOS. However, since many of you know more than I do, I wanted to ask if you know of any email, calendar, and contact aggregator that can sync third-party accounts and is as privacy-friendly as possible.

Thank you very much! Regards!

0x7 · July 23, 2025, 9:48pm

That’s exactly my concern—corporate environments often come with strict IT policies. If you’re not an admin, your Exchange account (especially calendars) will be tightly controlled, which means options for outside syncing and sharing are usually very limited. By contrast, you have far more freedom with your personal iCloud data.

For context, I previously worked in Apple enterprise support—even before iCloud and MobileMe existed—so I’ve seen how CalDAV syncing was the go to for bridging ecosystems when nothing else worked. If you’re looking for privacy, your mention of Proton got me thinking: you could—in theory—set up a Proton Calendar and BCC or CC it on invites from your other accounts, which would copy events into your Proton calendar and let you see a “shadow” of your schedule on your privacy-backed device.

Real-World Caveats

Your employer may see Proton account involvement in company logs, and some organizations might have policies that prohibit linking work calendars to personal or privacy-forward services.
Calendar platforms sometimes handle BCC’d invites unpredictably, so synced events might not always display perfectly.
Syncing meeting info with a personal, encrypted calendar can raise security flags and might breach corporate rules.

Contact Sync Reality

Syncing personal contacts tends to be straightforward unless you rely heavily on your company’s global address list, which is subject to frequent changes and sometimes strict permissions.

Recognizing the Trade-Offs

A fundamental truth I’ve learned in both tech support and privacy circles: security and privacy always require compromise. As Ben Franklin put it, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” You’ll rarely find privacy that’s convenient—or convenience that’s truly private—so aim for a balance that matches your priorities.

##notes while searching

Outlook + OneCalendar (Android/iodeOS): Use Outlook for Exchange mail/contacts, and OneCalendar as a CalDAV aggregator for iCloud and Exchange calendars. This is ideal for consolidated, read-only calendar views—don’t try for full two-way merges.
SyncGene: Links iCloud, Exchange, and Google accounts for calendars, contacts, and tasks, with one-way or two-way sync options and some control over what gets shared.
OneCal: Real-time sync between iCloud/Exchange/Google, lets you customize direction and limit share details (“busy/free” instead of event text) for privacy.
CalendarBridge: Enterprise-grade sync between Exchange, iCloud, and Google; doesn’t store events permanently and supports scheduling tools.
Jorte and Similar Apps: Good for informal use or diary aggregation, but not designed for business-class controls.

What Doesn’t Work Well

Native iCloud ↔ Outlook calendar sync (especially on Windows): Frequently unreliable and often problematic for privacy or compliance, especially in Exchange-controlled environments.

Recommended Best Practices

Keep work calendars exclusively on corporate platforms and avoid blending company and personal data, especially with automated two-way syncs.
Aggregate for reference only: Use apps like OneCalendar or SyncGene to see all appointments on your privacy-focused device, but stick to read-only for work calendars.
Use Proton or Tutanota for future, private events—avoid linking current work or personal invites there.
Regularly audit permissions for calendar and contact apps, revoking any that aren’t needed.
Don’t try to force two-way sync between work and personal: Build a workflow that allows you to reference all your events without risking policy violations or undermining your privacy migration plans.

MikeB · July 24, 2025, 8:41am

If I get my head around 1/4 of what you have compiled, I will be doing well. Thank you for your efforts and guidance. Stay safe and well out there. Cheers, Mike

jcaceres · July 24, 2025, 10:39am

I really appreciate your input. Simply by reading your post, you help a lot of beginners like me who want to get started in the world of privacy. I will follow your advice and let you know how it goes! Best regards

Waldorf · July 24, 2025, 8:54pm

great post @0x7 ,
It will take me ‘a couple of days’ to review al the apps you listed LOL
but first i have to receive brax3 to get going

0x7 · July 24, 2025, 9:20pm

Honestly the app listing is a little over kill, i wont use them all but they are all apps i plan on looking into atleast.

0x7 · July 26, 2025, 11:28pm

If you read this, post when you get your tracking information and what region you are in.

xancudo · July 27, 2025, 2:23am

I wanted to bring some realism to your post since I’m not sure if you actually have a brax3 yet.

Unless you have a brax3, then you will find that video has some issues. It performs on par with devices of 2021. The Mediatek is a budget chipset, so keep that in mind.

The battery is pretty awesome. It last quite a while even with heavy use. One of my favorite things about the brax3. It does take a while to charge, but I noticed in one of Rob’s videos, he used a USB-C wireless charge accessory, so that was cool.

Video struggles a bit on some 4k stuff, like 265 encoded files. And writing anything above 2.7k will be a struggle, depending on app. I used GoPro QuiK, and it only detects the ability to convert and write 2.7K files it seems.

There is, I recall some dual Sim issue at the moment, maybe to a unique set of users. There are some WiFi issues at the moment. For most, if not using WPA2/3-Enterprise, or they work fine.

The brax3 supports a 512g sdcard so you actually expand to 768G.

The audio from the 3.5 is mediocre at best, IMO, and audio via USB it just terrible. I’ve logged several issues with powered DAC adapters (I have 3 types) and the USB. Luckily you can work around the USB DAC issues with the USB Audio Player Pro in the Google store (maybe other apps will work as well, but this is how I resolved it.

The radio feature does work. I tested it in the last beta. Cool stuff. Requires cabled headphones.

You list a lot if apps that have not been tested yet, or documented as tested. You should probably refer to the official list that was setup during the beta. There is also a list at Iode’s website. But the list on this site is what has been validated by brax beta users. Those are what beta testers actually submitted as validated apps. I say that because a user has reported issues with WhatsApp. I think that post might be editable, so users can contribute to updating it as they use the apps.

Its a new device, so there will probably be a few items found as a larger mass of users get their devices.

jcaceres · July 27, 2025, 6:01am

@xancudo could you share info about dual Sim issues please? I need this function!

xancudo · July 27, 2025, 10:34am

@jcaceres not really, because I didn’t have a dual sim setup. I don’t believe it was a widespread issue. It’s just something to be aware of if you experience something questionable. It may have been a location-dependent issue as well.

jcaceres · July 27, 2025, 12:04pm

Thanks. I will try and share my feedback. It is mandatory for me

0x7 · July 27, 2025, 12:47pm

Thanks for trying to contribute, we welcome everyone to post regardless of their skills.

Banimal · July 28, 2025, 7:33pm

Does anyone know how I might import all my contacts from my iphone to the Brax3? I don’t want to use google to do it if possible - google will then know all my contacts on my new brax3. Any suggestions?

0x7 · July 28, 2025, 8:17pm

Easiest way is to just move a carddav or csv of your contacts.

jcaceres · July 28, 2025, 8:37pm

After having reading a lot and with @0x7 help I think i wil sync them to the phone using DAVx⁵ app from F-Droid STORE and save a local copy in the phone!

xancudo · July 29, 2025, 1:24am

Thanks @0x7 I appreciate it.

Hey, when you can, could you please share more of your imaginary BraX3 experiences?!?