IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. RCS – a useful but controversial upgrade
Many commenters note that RCS solves real‑world problems (especially group chat compatibility in the US) but worry it gives carriers and big tech too much control and lacks true end‑to‑end encryption.

  • “It makes group messaging work a lot better, too… you can make a functional group chat across platforms and you don’t have to convince anybody to install something new.” – annzabelle
  • “After getting several family group chats finally converted over to RCS, one day my phone just started absolutely refusing to verify my connection to the RCS servers… I’ll never turn RCS on again, I can't trust that it won't just start silently failing.” – Dusseldorf
  • “What is the point of RCS though? It seems to be strictly inferior to Signal… I fail to see any value in it.” – exceptione
  • “Yes RCS is a pig with lipstick… It was always meant to be a walled garden. Exactly what an open system shouldn't be.” – wolvoleo

2. GrapheneOS’s openness vs. inclusion of non‑OSS apps
The project’s permissive‑licensing philosophy clashes with proposals to bundle apps whose licenses are not truly open source (e.g., FUTO keyboard, Refra Gallery).

  • “Their license is invalid due to being GPLv3. GPLv3 cannot be included in GrapheneOS as that would necessitate GrapheneOS give up their permissive licensing.” – HybridStatAnim8
  • “You may modify the software only for non‑commercial purposes… It is a ‘source available’ license, not Open Source.” – mrob (on FUTO keyboard)
  • “Right, they are adhering to a definition of open that includes free as in liberty, so licensing matters. What good is it to read the source if I don’t have rights to modify and redistribute?” – jazzyjackson
  • “It is not open source. They use a custom source available license. There's no way any Android distribution would include it.” – idle_zealot

3. Deep distrust of carriers and big‑tech motives
A recurring sentiment is that RCS is viewed as a tactic for carriers (or Google/Apple) to re‑assert control over messaging, echoing past SMS‑era pricing abuses and privacy concerns.

  • “I don't really get why so many Americans want RCS to succeed… Why on earth would you want to give any power at all back to those [carrier] people?” – IshKebab
  • “I don't ever want to give my provider the chance to do that again. And I don't trust Google either.” – wolvoleo
  • “Anything first party from Big Tech is a lost cause privacy wise.” – exceptione
  • “The carriers being involved in any capacity deeper than providing dumb pipes alone was enough to make [RCS] pointless, but no E2E in the base spec makes it extra pointless.” – cosmic_cheese

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

OpenRCS Bridge

Summary

  • Provides RCS‑like rich messaging (high‑res images, group chats, read receipts) over a decentralized, carrier‑independent protocol (Matrix) with optional end‑to‑end encryption.
  • Core value: gives users the convenience of RCS without carrier lock‑in or Google/Apple control while working with the default messaging app on GrapheneOS.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Privacy‑conscious Android users, especially GrapheneOS adopters who want rich messaging without carrier dependence
Core Feature Unified messaging app that sends/receives RCS‑style messages via Matrix, falls back to SMS/MMS, supports E2EE rooms, group chats, media
Tech Stack Kotlin/Android Jetpack Compose, Matrix SDK (matrix‑android‑sdK), OpenMLS for E2EE, WorkManager for sync
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN commenters complained about RCS silently failing and carrier dependence (e.g., Dusseldorf’s silent outage); this would give them a reliable alternative they already trust.
  • Could spark discussion about federated messaging vs proprietary RCS and provide practical utility for group chats across iOS/Android without requiring new apps.

PrivacyBoard

Summary

  • An open‑source, privacy‑first keyboard for GrapheneOS that eliminates aggressive autocorrect, offers learning‑off mode, gesture typing, and optional heat‑map prediction.
  • Core value: delivers a smooth typing experience without sending data to servers, addressing the autocorrect complaints and licensing issues of existing third‑party keyboards.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience GrapheneOS users and privacy‑focused Android enthusiasts who replace the stock keyboard
Core Feature Customizable keyboard with gesture typing, user‑controllable dictionary, learning disabled by default, heat‑map prediction (optional), MIT license
Tech Stack Kotlin, AndroidX, Compose for UI, LatinIME base, SQLite for user dictionary
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Commenters highlighted Heliboard’s awful autocorrect and FUTO’s non‑OS license; PrivacyBoard would give a truly open alternative they’d love (see mrob, idle_zealot).
  • Could be integrated into GrapheneOS as a default keyboard, improving usability while staying permissive‑licensed.

GrapheneVault

Summary

  • A reliable, end‑to‑end encrypted backup solution for GrapheneOS that replaces Seedvault, using restic/rclone for deduplicated, verifiable backups to self‑hosted or cloud storage.
  • Core value: gives users confidence that their device data is safely backed up and restorable, fixing the broken backup experience noted by subscribed.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience GrapheneOS users who need trustworthy backups (especially those dissatisfied with Seedvault)
Core Feature Scheduled, encrypted backups of app data, settings, and media; integrity checks; one‑tap restore; supports local, Nextcloud, S3, etc.
Tech Stack Rust core (restic) bundled via Android NDK, Kotlin UI, WorkManager for scheduling, optionally using OpenSSL for encryption
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Subscription $2/mo

Notes

  • Subscribed complained Seedvault is “worse than nothing”; GrapheneVault would directly address that pain (see subscribed).
  • Provides a concrete tool that could be discussed on HN as a trustworthy backup alternative, encouraging adoption among privacy‑conscious users.

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