Switching Phone to BraX3 Setup Example

Mycenius · September 23, 2025, 7:34am

I have been working through switching from an iPhone to my BraX3 and I’ve noticed a few other iPhone users commenting at times here about figuring out what to do. So thought I might share (primarily for other iPhone users changing who may be just starting out, or a bit daunted, or not especially confident about Android) what apps I have gone with initially and where from, and any relevant notes. This guide (of sorts) will apply for non-iPhone people too - just need to replace the original iPhone app in left column with the equivalent one from your previous phone OS (e.g. Google or Samsung Android, or such like).

These are not the be all and end all, they are just what I’ve decided on as (hopefully) good choices initially just so I can get up and running - in the future I may change some or even remove them (as redundant) or take a different approach. But the idea is someone new to the BraX3 coming from an iPhone, with a limited knowledge of Android (or even Privacy 7 Security in general) might find this helps make the change a bit quicker and easier… That’s the intent anyway.

So I am hoping this will be of use or interest to someone in future… This list is a work in progress at time of posting; I expect to complete my BraX3 set up sufficiently in the next few days that I’ll finally transfer my SIMs in and start using it as my daily driver shortly… (and finally retire my iPhone!). So some less critical items are still marked to be determined or no as I haven’t decided on if they are needed, and if they are what the best options are…

I will occasionally edit this, as long as it’s feasible or practical (and/or as long as the forum allows me to edit the post); to just update anything not yet confirmed, or amend anything I subsequently change my mind about (if there’s anything significant).

Sometime in near future I will try and do a follow up post of similar/related things, in this thread, about any other special setup aspects like settings or permissions for key things; or other iPhone to Android idiosyncrasies. But for general advice there’s generally a lot of good info (or links) elsewhere in this forum on general settings, key apps and privacy, security, etc..

Finally Items listed under App Used on BraX3 (or in the notes column) is the app I am using. Everything listed is either what I am using, or would be using as an alternative (as I’ve not listed it exactly as I have done it, just for extra privacy/security around my phone’s config) - but for each category I am using something that’s listed here (where there are multiple apps in BraX3 and/or Notes column).

Note: I have also focused on FOSS apps wherever possible, as they are nearly always the best place to start.

(*) Marks an app that is not open source and/or requires a paid subscription - in case people want to stick truly FOSS or avoid anything needing a paid subscription.

(FYI - if you haven’t seen a table before here, and are on a desktop (not mobile) you can mouse over it and click the expand icon to enlarge it to full screen - icon will usually be at top right of the table).

iPhone App	iodéOS Default	App used on BraX3	App Source	Other Notes
n/a	OpenEUICC	OpenEUICC	default	Manage SIMs
n/a	iodé Updater	iodé Updater	default
n/a	iodé News	iodé News	default (F-Droid)

App Store	F-Droid	F-Droid	default (F-Droid)	Primary App Source (FOSS)
App Store	Aurora Store	Aurora Store	default (F-Droid)	Secondary “Non-FOSS” App Source
App Store		Obtainium	F-Droid	To access apkpure.net if needed (instead of APKPure app)

(VPN)		Proton VPN	F-Droid	or Mullvad (F-Droid)
(security / adguard)	iodé App	iodé App (+ Trebuchet)	default (F-Droid)	Security, Firewall & Home Screen/App Launcher, etc.
n/a		Shelter	F-Droid	Further lock down your Work Profile apps
Passwords		Bitwarden	Aurora Store	or Proton Pass (F-Droid) or 1Password* (Aurora); or KeePassXC for offline

Car Play	Android Auto Stub	Android Auto (+G stubs)	Aurora Store + manual	Update AA in Aurora then manual download 3 G Stubs APKs from https://github.com/rik-shaw/aa-stubs & install to phone
Siri				SherpaTTS best option (F-Droid) - may also do STT - to be verified.
iCloud		NextCloud	F-Droid	or Proton Drive* (Aurora), or other FOSS option.
Notes	Carnet	Carnet	default (F-Droid)	no encryption and need NextCloud to sync. Or StandardNotes (F-Droid), but need subscription for rich text iOS style notes
Files	Files	Fossify File Manager	F-Droid	FFM has better functionality than default Files app.
n/a		Save Locally	F-Droid	extra option to save a file from the ‘Share’ function, if no save/download option is showing.
Keyboard(s)	HeliBoard	Heliboard	default (F-Droid)	for Emojis add custom dictionaries from: https://codeberg.org/Helium314/aosp-dictionaries/src/branch/main/emoji_cldr_signal_dictionaries and follow How to Add Emoji Dictionary to HeliBoard . Otherwise Fossify Keyboard (F-Droid) but HeliBoard is better.

Phone	Telephone	Fossify Phone	F-Droid
FaceTime		(use Signal via Molly below)
Messages (SMS)	Fossify Messages	Fossify Messages	default (F-Droid)
Messages (iMessage)		Molly (Signal)	F-Droid (manual)	replaces iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. Molly improves on Signal’s privacy: Molly F-Droid Repo (FOSS)
Messages (iMessage)		Session	F-Droid or Aurora Store	considered more complex to use & less features than Signal (above) but is even more anonymous and more decentralised.
Contacts	Contacts (AOSP)	Fossify Contacts	F-Droid	Can also sync contacts from other sources with DAVx5: DAVx⁵ \| F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Mail	Thunderbird	Thunderbird	default (F-Droid)	or K-9 Mail (F-Droid). Or use Proton Mail* (Aurora) or Tuta (F-Droid)
Calendar	Calendar	Calendar	default	or Proton Calendar* (Aurora) or Tuta (F-Droid)
Reminders		tbd or n/a		not needed (or find a FOSS task app)

Camera	Camera	Open Camera	F-Droid	not “Open Camera iodéOS version of Open Camera” due to infrequent updates
Photos	Gallery	Fossify Gallery	F-Droid
Maps	CoMaps	OsmAnd	F-Droid	or CoMaps (default) or Magic Earth* (Aurora) or Organic Maps (F-Droid)
Safari	Iodé Browser	Iodé Browser	default (F-Droid)	(note Iodé Browser is a Firefox fork)
Safari	Iodé Browser	Brave Browser	F-Droid (manual)	Add repository: Brave Browser

Music	Music	Musicolet	Obtainium	APK Repository to use in Obtanium: https://apkpure.com/musicolet-music-player/in.krosbits.musicolet/download
iPeng (LMS Squeezebox / Squeezelite)		Squeeze Client	F-Droid	or Squeezer (F-Droid) but no client only player manager. For Lyrion Music Server.
Podcasts		AntennaPod	F-Droid	Import OPML File from iOS Podcasts, see: How to Import Your Apple Podcast Subscription List into Other Podcast Apps - Harold's Blog
Voice Memos	Recorder	Recorder	default
n/a	FM Radio	FM Radio	default
n/a	AudioFX	AudioFX (or no)	default	(audio equaliser)
Shazam		(possibly Audile or Audire)
AppleTV		tbd or no
Books		tbd		(ebook reader FOSS options to come)

Weather	Breezy Weather	Breezy Weather	default (F-Droid)
Clock	Clock	Clock	default
Calculator	Calculator	Calculator	default
Compass		tbd or no
Health		Gadgetbridge	F-Droid	https://gadgetbridge.org/
Find My Phone		Find My Device(?)	F-Droid	Trialling: Find My Device (FMD) \| F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Pages		tbd or not needed		word processor
Numbers		tbd or not needed		spreadsheets
Keynote		tbd or not needed		presentations

Microsoft Outlook		MS Outlook*	cloned Aurora Store	install inside Shelter sandbox in Work Profile
Microsoft Teams		MS Teams*	cloned Aurora Store	install inside Shelter sandbox in Work Profile

Brax.Me		Brax.Me	PWA
Mastodon		Mastodon	F-Droid	or use browser or PWA
Bluesky		Bluesky	Aurora Store	or use browser or PWA
YouTube		GrayJay*	manual (or add to Obtainium; or add FUTO repository to F-Droid for GJ, KB & Voice)	Install apk from Grayjay App - Follow Creators Not Platforms; or use Brave or DuckDuckGo browsers and RSS feed
Discourse		Discourse or no	Aurora Store	If you use in-app browser then disable automatic font sizing in the iodé browser to keep font at 100% to display correctly. Or use browser or PWA.
Reddit		no		use browser or PWA
Discord		no		use browser or PWA

LinkedIn		no		don’t use, use on a computer in a privacy browser if needed (Microsoft’s “Facebook”)
Any Other Microsoft Apps		no		don’t use unless unavoidable, and do so in work profile with shelter, etc…
Any Google Apps		no!		don’t use even in a browser

WhatsApp		no!		don’t use (see Molly, Signal & Session above)
FB Messenger		no!		don’t use even in a browser (see Molly, Signal & Session above)
Facebook		no!		don’t use even in a browser
Instagram		no!		don’t use even in a browser

Telegram		no!		don’t use (see Molly, Signal & Session above)
X		no!		don’t use (even in a browser)
Snapchat		no!		don’t use even in a browser
TikTok		no!		don’t use even in a browser

Note for Password Managers if you don’t want to use a cloud based one (I will only use any of the three listed myself, no others); then the best alternate option (or if you want offline solution) is a KeePass variant, like KeyPassXC - which is usually the preferred offline one. This is where you manually maintain updates to the encrypted vault between Phone and Computer yourself and/or you sync the encrypted vault via NextCloud or similar private and/or encrypted cloud service.

And big thanks to forum member @rik for providing the consolidated AA G-Stub archive on GitHub.

Lastly, these aren’t hard and fast recommendations, just suggestions - obviously - as just my opinion.

If I’ve made any errors around app privacy or other mistakes my apologies, and if anybody more knowledgeable than me spots any; or is aware of any issues or significant risks with any of the above apps - please feel free to provide feedback so I can correct where appropriate.

Hopefully this helps someone in the future.

plamen · September 23, 2025, 1:10pm

Great article. Thanks for sharing!

pizzalinux1 · September 23, 2025, 3:53pm

Good information to keep on my Quick Notes. Thanks!

Haley · September 24, 2025, 7:27am

FYI - I use KeePassXC on all my laptops, and phones, Keepass2android.
As I also have my own Nextcloud instance running, I have that file synced accross devices.
Under Android, I use the webdav target database file. This makes sure that Keepass2android always verifies you have the latest version on your device.
Webdav seems to work better then using the Nextcloud client application file sync in this case. Really happy with it - and my entire family uses it that way (All linux users, even though 2 are literary historians and one actor/artist).

Mycenius · September 24, 2025, 8:14am

Nice. I currently don’t actively use NextCloud but it’s next on my list of things once I have everything else running Linux or AOSP; and am tentatively planning to eventually move to KeePassXC then. Will be a bit of a homecoming as I used original KeePass for a long time 15-25 Years ago (on my Windows PCs) - until iPhones became the norm at least…

romluk · September 24, 2025, 12:36pm

I use KeePassXC too. Great software.

romluk · September 24, 2025, 12:48pm

Good post @Mycenius
Have you tested Find my Device on F-Droid to replace Apples Find my phone?

Mycenius · September 24, 2025, 4:40pm

Thanks romluk, I hadn’t come across that as yet (it was last in my list of priorities TBH) - looks interesting! Will definitely look at it! App looks OK being open source and features look great on first glance - does it solely rely on SMS (so cellular connection) and doesn’t track location 24/7? So eliminates any concerns on where location data is stored?

romluk · September 24, 2025, 5:09pm

According to what I can find, it doesn’t track location 24/7. See below.

Find My Device can use SMS for communication, which is helpful when internet connectivity is unavailable, but it does not track location continuously. Instead, it accesses location services only when the app is in use or when a request is made.

SMS-Based Functionality

Location Requests: Users can send SMS commands to their device to request its location.
Control Features: Commands can include locking the device, ringing it, or taking pictures to see the surroundings.

Location Tracking

Background Location Access: FMD can access the device’s location in the background, but it does not track the location continuously.
User Control: The app requires user permission to access location services, and it can only determine the device’s location when actively requested via SMS or when the app is in use.

FMD does not continuously track location 24/7. It uses SMS for commands and can access location data when needed, ensuring user privacy and control over when the device’s location is shared.

pizzalinux1 · September 24, 2025, 9:53pm

Nice review, good information. Thanks

Mycenius · September 25, 2025, 4:59am

Further to original Post #1 I thought I should probably provide some extra context to the source column meanings for anyone not familiar. So when looking at the table in Post #1:

default
Means this app is a default app included on BraX3 as part of iodéOS by default. It’s always there and even if you ‘remove’ it using the default apps section in Settings you can always easily add it back from the same place. I haven’t double checked if all these apps are freely downloadable independently from F-Droid or similar - but would assume most or all are (that aren’t unique to the iodéOS).

default (F-Droid)
Is the same as above but also means you can definitely download the app independently of iodéOS if desired from the F-Droid store.

F-Droid
Means exactly that - available from the F-Droid store.

F-Droid (manual)
Means the app has it’s own repository, but you can manually add the URL of the repository to your F-Droid store app on the phone, then download and install the app through F-Droid just like you normally would with any other app. To find out how to do this if unsure: Adding Repositories to F-Droid by romluk.

Aurora Store
This is the anonymous Google Play Store to get proprietary and non-FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) - never log into here with a Google Account, always use it anonymously. You can get all your ‘regular’ apps from here, but be circumspect about which ones you install…

cloned Aurora Store
If you use the Work Profile (to have a second separate isolated profile) and you install Shelter app to ensure each individual app is uniquely sandboxed and can be disabled (frozen) at any time, you need to clone a (second) copy of Aurora Store into this Shelter Work Profile environment, and then install the apps you want in there from the cloned copy of Aurora, not the original Aurora pre-installed on your phone. I’ve put some additional notes on these profiles and such at the bottom of this post.

PWA
Progressive Web App - the best way to use most websites, forums, and similar - if they support it (especially if you log into them). Lets you save a ‘bookmark’ essentially to your phone desktop, then it acts as a surrogate app but using your web browser (such as Brave or the iodé Browser/Firefox) to drive it - so gives you the benefits of your web browsers security features and ability to limit privacy and security invasive activities a conventional app could do. These have been around for some time (10 years?) but not that many people are familiar with them.

Additional Notes on Profiles & Sandboxing
Essentially your BraX3 and iodéOS will allow you to have multiple profiles. These are brief descriptions of what they are:

Main
Sometimes called admin or other terms. Basically your primary profile and what you have when you first start the phone up and start using it. For most people this will be the primary profile they use the most, at least initially.

Users
These are additional profiles you can create for additional ‘people’ but also for different tasks or purposes that essentially have similar rights and full access. The main challenge with using these is you have no real control over the apps in them so when active all the apps are running (although in theory they can’t see the apps or data in other user profiles (including the Main one above) but I have not tested this to verify). There are some potential issues however, such as possibly not being able to have some apps (like F-Droid) installed in multiple profiles at once, as its designed to be used with Google profiles…

You can read a basic general introduction to these (non-Brax3 specific) here: Enhance Privacy with Multiple User Profiles @ DPS. I would not initially recommend trying to use these and to leave these to play with later if you really need them. They may be useful if you need to loan your phone to a child for a while to play a game or something, to have a separate profile for that with just the game installed (if you can install it successfully and safely).

Work Profile
This is a standard Android function introduction fairly recently. This is a separate profile similar but different to Users above. You can install a special FOSS app called Shelter and then lock down the apps in this space tightly. As the name implies the basic function was designed for people with work apps on their device (especially where their company or corporate also had remote access to the device those apps were on) - but in our deGoogled Privacy World of FOSS the Shelter app lets you take this another step and also use it for other things. More information at the bottom.

Private Space
Is another newer Android feature - it creates another quasi-profile space that like the Work Profile is completely isolated from everything else and you can lock this space quickly or automatically at will. it’s intended for having your banking apps, password managers, critical or confidential documents and photos, etc, in; and being able to have them secured and locked at anytime, even if your device is unlocked and stolen or such like. The downside is unlike the Work Profile (with Shelter installed) when unlocked all the apps in the space can run in the background and you can’t control them individually - its everything on or everything off - but they are isolated from the other profiles and data on the phone. Again more info below.

At this stage I suggest people look closely at the Work Profile and potentially also the Private Space function. Depending on how much isolation and separation of apps and data you require you will likely definitely want to use the Work Profile with Shelter, and may find a use for the Private Space profile/function also. I have.

More On Work Profile & Shelter, Private Space, Sandboxing and Compartmentalisation
Several community members and I have been discussing this in a couple of threads, and also sharing experiences and testing results, so to learn more about these options check out these additional threads:

Mycenius · September 26, 2025, 11:05pm

Hi All - just a brief update that I’ve done quite a bit of editing to the original post at start of thread, primarily updating the table with minor changes over the last couple of days numerous times. I’m finalising the last of the apps I’m going to go with (at least for now) and installing them this weekend, and this table reflects that. I plan to install SIM(s) to start using it as my daily driver from tomorrow (rather than as a secondary device I’ve been testing things on with just wi-fi that it has been up until now)…

The second change is I have re-titled the thread - from Switching iPhone to BraX3 Setup Example to Switching Phone to BraX3 Setup Example - because while I am doing it primarily from an iPhone user perspective it obviously is just as valid for someone coming from another phone type too (such as the various commercial Google Android variants). And thinking about it more I didn’t want the title of it to put off people who were new to BraX3, iodéOS, or Privacy phones or similar, and who weren’t iPhone users, from reading it and having a hopefully useful resource.

Anyway - hopefully some logic in that. Again just reiterating this is just based on my journey and preferences, so these are all just suggestions but should point new people in the right direction hopefully and get them started quickly with ‘safe’ apps…

P.S. Hope to try and do another post later in weekend with more of the related set up stuff I’ve done and links to good related material already here other people have posted.

Haley · September 27, 2025, 12:09pm

You don’t go from an iPhone lock-in environment to a Brax. That doesn’t compute.
People used to Apple will never (or very rarely) be able to have the guts and will to move to an ecosystem where you control your privacy.
Apple targets its customers specifically to keep them and use them as golden goose.

The Brax3 and privacy is a prototype setup. It is something for geeks

Mycenius · September 27, 2025, 10:26pm

I don’t think that’s the case @Haley, and this forum proves it IMO. There are a lot of ex-iPhone people on here, I am one of them. But I do agree its very hard for life-long Apple people to escape the walled garden (e.g. if you’ve used a mac since the 90’s and have iPhone, etc) - it’s a huge change and a lot of effort to extract yourself and all your data.

Also I originally went with Apple and iPhone (rather than Android) around 2009 because of the perceived privacy Apple offered then, and the desire to avoid Google. As well as the quality of the hardware over the Android equivalents (at least around that time); and I only added a personal macOS device many years later (as I had worked extensively in corporate Microsoft environments so tended to use Windows at home, and some Linux a long tine ago) - again having an Apple MacBook Pro was mostly due to hardware quality (and compatibility with phone). Obviously the former (privacy) was proved wrong with both time (and the advent of current AI), and the changes Apple has made over the last 15 years; and one has to wonder what the company might have been like if Steve Jobs was still in charge, would the increasingly privacy invasive behaviour have been less?

Anyway would prefer this thread didn’t get hijacked with a philosophical discussion over Apple iOS vs. Android and the nature of Apple users and people’s bias about Apple users vs. Android users, etc, etc. As that’s not it’s purpose. But happy to discuss some of this in a separate thread if you wanted to start one…

That’s certainly true to some degree - I think you do need a certain level of intelligence, and/or tech skill or experience, and/or an innate ability to learn and be intuitive to do it. But that’s the reason for this thread - I wanted to provide something to help people who had the willingness to try, but perhaps didn’t have the previous background or experience to do so easily, get started.

Haley · September 28, 2025, 1:54pm

The apple ecosystem, after I tried it out short in 2009, was using an Mac mini 4,1 and 6.2 afterwards. Funnily, I very fast replaced the OS-X with linux, as it didn’t give me the flexibility I was used to. Also, as soon as I realized that buying a media was in fact not buying it, I stopped using it altogether. This was confirmed when I saw that everything I had bought at apple not only was encrypted, but was also tagged with my apple ID.
I then made some checks (coming from the OS/System/Security world) I noticed it was not more secure, just that it sent the data to different instance than Windows or Google was.
Ok, I admit that nowadays, it became excessive! as it has become a business model.
I always tell my family: If it’s free coming from corporations, it’s your data they want.

The thing about Apple people going over to Brax, I still mean it. The regular Apple user usually is not curious enough to criticize what apple does with his data.
The geeks, that is another brand. But these are about 0.01% - not really enough to make a difference IMHO

arronjr · September 30, 2025, 3:51am

Thanks for the effort. With the expectioin of music I have gotten everthing I need for travel especially. Airlines, hotels, rental cars etc… all work well.

Mycenius · September 30, 2025, 3:55am

Yes - I’m building a list of issues and things to resolve after 3 days daily use incl. in car. Most are likely settings and or permissions, but some may be apps that don’t quite work together perfectly…

jeffrey.koke · October 2, 2025, 6:56pm

I couldn’t disagree with you more. I’m a seven year iPhone user who just switched to the BraX3. I’ll take privacy over complacency any day.

Mycenius · October 4, 2025, 12:24am

Just a heads up - I’ve made a couple more edits to table in post #1, including adding Musicolet as current preferred music player (it only plays local media - no streaming). Currently working on getting Android Auto fully functional with navigation (map apps), calls, SMS (Fossify Messages) and private messaging (Molly), plus media (Podcasts and Music). Then it will be on to the smart watch device connectivity and health apps. Meanwhile will post more lengthy post on some setting thoughts and information and other set up info, tomorrow hopefully.

Barbra · October 13, 2025, 6:12pm

Mycenius:

Is anyone here sandboxjng applications for further privacy. If so, how is it done?

In the Settings app on iodeOS on your Brax3, under “Security & privacy” there is an option called “Private Space”. This Private Space says it’s to keep private apps locked and hidden. On the setup page it claims that you can “Hide and lock private apps in a separate space. Use a dedicated Google Account for extra security.” Also there’s a proviso that “Apps stop when you lock your space.”

In my mind this brings up a few questions. Aside from putting banking and financial apps in the private space for extra security, what about using apps that require a Google account log in? To add context to that question, it is common knowledge in privacy circles that if you don’t want Google to track you, then you shouldn’t install and log into any apps that require a Google log in. Otherwise, as Rob puts it, “You’re Zucked.” They can track you. However, this private space feature specifically mentions logging into a Google account, and that apps are stopped and won’t run in the background when you lock your space. Does this mean that apps with trackers will track you when the private space is open, but then stop tracking you when you lock the private space, or is that false?

Does the private space allow us to use, for example, streaming apps that definitely track you, or Canva, or the Amazon shopping app, but shut down the tracking when you’re done, OR does private space offer a false sense of security where that is concerned? Are you still opening yourself up to being spied on by installing big tech apps to private space, or is there nuance to the use of private space where the spying is restricted to while it is open?

Speaking of Canva, do photos saved to private space stay on private space and become un-viewable when it’s locked? Or are photos still saved to the general memory, can be accessed in and out of private space, and can be used for making a photo album in Canva?

This changeover from iPhone to the Brax is brutal. I don’t even have time for it considering my workload, and I’m not technically savvy. That being said about ability, the education would require how much time and effort? What does it take to at least get my contacts in this Brax?