CalyxOS
CalyxOS is an operating system for smartphones based on Android with mostly free and open-source software. It is produced by the Calyx Institute as part of its mission to make privacy more accessible and easier to use. Software. CalyxOS includes features and options not available in the official firmware distributed by most mobile device vendors. These features include phone dialer integration with encrypted calling applications such as Signal, integration of Tor, and the inclusion of free VPN services run by The Calyx Institute and other non-profits such as Riseup. The default search is set to DuckDuckGo and  the default web browser in CalyxOS is DuckDuckGo's Android browser. CalyxOS also includes MicroG as a privacy enhanced replacement for some of the functionality in Google Play Services. CalyxOS has also led the development of SeedVault an encrypted backup and restore application for integration into Android based Operating systems and which has been adopted in LineageOS, GrapheneOS and others. The operating system aims to preserve the Android security model by default, taking full advantage of Android's Verified Boot system of cryptographic signing of the operating system and running with a locked boot loader. Reception. In October 2020, Moritz  Tremmel reviewed CalyxOS. A month later, Tremmel explained why he preferred CalyxOS over LineageOS. A year later in September 2021, Tremmel further explained how CalyxOS was different from other ROMs because it did not require as much "fiddling". Rahul Nambiampurath, writing for MakeUseOf in March 2021, termed CalyxOS, "[one of the] best [Android] ROMs for privacy ... offers the perfect middle ground between convenience and privacy". In August 2021, Android Authority wrote CalyxOS "puts privacy and security into the hands of everyday users."