What are /r/MicroG's favorite Products & Services?

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Uh, microG is only meant to replace the Google Mobile Services, so that the ones among the apps you use that require those proprietary services can run anyway despite the absence of them. It doesn't provide anything "cool" or additional. You cannot "do new things" with it. It just lets you be free from somewhat privacy-intrusive proprietary components, while still being able to run most proprietary apps when/if you do need them.

Many people who who install LineageOS for microG will prefer to use free and open source apps from F-Droid, however, and that is why F-Droid is installed by default in it. I encourage you to look at the applications available in it, although its search feature is not always the best (you can also search for apps on their website or this alternative frontend, and there are alternative F-Droid clients available withing F-Droid itself, if you don't like the default client). Then if you have certain proprietary applications that you just can't do without, that's what microG is there to help with.

BTW, /e/ is now supporting/funding Marvin Wißfeld (https://e.foundation/e-foundation-announces-official-support-of-microg-development), maybe because the /e/ ROM is in essence a LOS for microG.
Now, even is microG has stalled new development, leaving version 17 particularly unsupported, that hasn't stopped LOS to progress, and for those phones that are still stuck at LOS 16 officially, I still see no reason for them not getting upgraded on LOS for microG. Any ways, might be devs on LOS for microG also stalled all their great effort, until seeing more active development on the microG side, which is sad if that's the case, given there are still upgrades on 16...

Mapbox is a map provider, it uses openstreetmap under the hood, openstreetmap is the data, mapbox is the framework or something like that. MicroG replaces Google Maps in all apps to a mapbox map. On previous microG builds the map didn't show up for a lot of people using android 10. This bug was fixed in the new build.

LineageOS itself doesn't support MicroG as it lacks "Signature Spoofing".

Look at Lineage for MicroG and find your device and flash.

If you want a different ROM altogether make sure it supports signature spoofing.

Hello,

congrats to your decision! This interview with microG's creator Marvin Wißfeld might help to clear up some of your questions. With microG, every connection to Google is opt-in.

PS: As you like Freetube, you might enjoy NewPipe!

Google Maps didn't work out of the box on mine, but that might be because I didn't allow the necessary permissions. I didn't bother though, since I found Magic Earth to be a really good drop in replacement for Google Maps, with even some added feature like AI assisted dash cam, etc.

I've been running now for a bit with LineageOS with MicroG along NanoDroid to "update" the MicroG layer found in the builtin version inside the LineageOS version found at https://lineage.microg.org/. It doesn't fix the FCM issue. The one app I don't get any notifications is ProtonMail which is a bummer but I can live with.

MicroG can just be updated from its F-Droid repo or from direct downloads.

The only confusing thing is that in F-Droid, if you also have the main F-Droid repository enabled, microG will actually be called "UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)" due to conflict with a very old package. You can temporarily disable the main repo to update, or just update anyway to the latest version of that package, knowing you're really getting microG.

It is also possible that LineageOS for microG will actually keep being updated, at least for a while, and at least if someone is interested in doing that: this possibility has been tracked here.

A) 1. Recovery: Yes both are essentially the same but download MicroG one just for the sake of it.

1. TWRP is not required for flashing MicroG Lineage OS. Linease OS recovery is sufficient. Look at your phones XDA forums and installation guided there will be some Roms to check which recovery to use for flashing anything with android 11 and use that.

2. Make a backup of everything using a custom recovery of your choice and then start wiping your phone.

B) 1. Nearby Share is not available on MicroG as Nearby Share is directly implemented in Play Services. Would be useful on MicroG but probably is not the priority rn.

I don't know where you are from. If your from India, there are multiple alternatives like PayTM, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and more.

But we have 2 great FOSS alternatives. Snapdrop and TrebleShot. You cans share files without even installing the app for snapdrop directly over the internet if you want an app you can find one on F-Droid or check out TrebleShot which works very similar to NearbyShare but needs an App.

1. Yes, they work.

C) 1. Depends on your device. On my OP5T, Its fairly easy. Flash your favorite custom recovery, wipe the partitions and install LOS4Mg. 2. Adb sideload shouldn't stop at 47%, it must be some sort of fault from your side. Please check the your device screen to see the error message its outputting.

If you didn't install root, you don't have it. Magisk is the most popular root method (see r/magisk). You can check to see if root is working with a root checker app.

https://apkpure.com/root-checker/com.joeykrim.rootcheck

I don't like Google, but honestly "degoogling" can get into the realm of diminishing returns. Gauge how much time you want to spend going after those last little scraps of Googliness on a phone that, for the most part, doesn't use Google.

Having said all that, you may also look into the /e/ Foundation project at https://e.foundation

Signal can send notifications without Google Play Services or microG, but it uses more battery and requires a permanent notification. You can have notifications through Google with microG which use less battery but go through Google.

ProtonMail requires microG (or Google Services) to send notifications.

LineageOS does not support microG so LineageOS for microG exists, https://lineage.microg.org/. Although it is possible to migrate from LineageOS to LineageOS for microG I would not recommend it as it can lead to issues. Instead wipe your phone from recovery and then flash the LineageOS for microG zip like you did the normal LineageOS one. Lineage for microG updates weekly and all of the changes regular Lineage has. Occasionally there are issues or delays (I exepect when Lineage 17 is released there might be a delay before Lineage for microG 17 is release) but normally it is fine.

I would recommend that you take a look at our wiki, it should explain everything. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

microG is a set of programs that run on any compatible ROM. The list of compatible 3rd party ROMs are here:

https://github.com/microg/android_packages_apps_GmsCore/wiki/Signature-Spoofing

Lineage for microG is a complete ROM, closely based on LineageOS but bundling a functional microG, that supports a large number of devices, that you can find here:

https://lineage.microg.org/

Since microG runs on more than Lineage, there are more compatible devices than just those supported by Lineage.

Standard questions for a phone recommendation...

What country are you in?

Do you need CDMA? Can you attest GSM band compatibility?

Do you need a 64-bit CPU that can address over 4gb of ram?

Hey, thanks.

I already added the microg repo in F-Droid

https://microg.org/fdroid/repo

It does not give me an update - only open.

Looking at the Version the last listed is: 0.2.7.17455 added 1/6/19

That seems old!

Looking at the microg website it says

last update 1/12/2021, 9:03:05 PM with the latest apk as version 0.2.17

None of that makes sense!

System updates should generally contain updated versions of microG, but it's also very easy to get more timely updates simply from microG's F-Droid repository. That'll get installed into data rather than system, but that's fine, it has the same signature so everything will work out alright.

You just need to add microG's repository to F-Droid, because it's not contained in the main F-Droid repository. That's basically it, then depending on whether you have auto-updates enabled or not in F-Droid, it will either get updated automatically, or it will be obvious what to do.

https://microg.org/

>privacy-caring users can reduce or monitor data that is sent to Google

No where on the project website does it give any indication that one is 'Google free' by installing microG. The project duplicates Google's closed source libraries with open source so that one can see what is being sent if they know what to look for. Most people have no clue the goals of the project.

OP here. I have the microG repository on the F-droid app but don't see GmsCore or Mapbox. Should be labelled as microG Services Core or Services Core? Don't see these in F-droid either, just found the name in microG settings. I have the mapbox version now but still have the same issues as outlined at the top. Wish I can downgrade. Tried to install previous version of Services Core from https://microg.org/download.html but wouldn't install. Strangely count five apps on the download page but the repository is listed to have four.

Openvpn works, but you'll have to do some research on which servers you want since all of them are titled US15263 or whatever. Check out Nord's tutorial for more info.

I'm not so sure about maps.me. Maybe have a look at Magic Earth instead?

I managed to get Authy to work by installing this version : https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/authy-inc/authy/authy-20-0-3-release/authy-20-0-android-apk-download/ .

Once you have the app working its safe to update it to the latest release.

And the last option won't do anything neither? No matter where I touch get to the same settings.

You could also install this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut

Go to com.google.android.gms and then org.microg.gms.ui.AccountSettingsActivity, select it and try to launch it, for me this works, I get to the same window it opens from the Account settings.

YMusic is just a different client for YouTube (YT music specifically I'm assuming). I don't know much about it. It could be that google can still identify you and YMusic just pulls recommendations.

Use clients like Invidious or Piped which offer a proxy.

Also a VPN like Mullvad or Windscribe.

For maps, OsmAnd is a good choice and does not require play services (it uses open street maps).

I don't think this has anything to do with MicroG.

Try this to change back the QS tiles similar to a11 ones. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drsants.eggproject

BTW you can just try to update every singular microg packages and see if it works. For safety reason make sure to do a nandroid backup first

I think there are some banks that have their own mobile payment apps. For example I use this app from my bank in Germany which works flawless with microg. Don't know about other banks/apps tho.

My feeling is this is going to be as much about DRM and remote sites / applications ensuring "compliance" of the "user terminal" (not unlike SafetyNet; yes, I know it's not the same thing as SafetyNet, but SafetyNet uses remote attestation, they're all pieces of the puzzle), as it is going to be about companies like yours being able to lock down their own terminals better.

So I think even if there will be computers without this built in, or ones where you can install Linux, if internet services start requiring remote attestation of varioous kinds, it may become mandatory for all intents and purposes. If this does happen, of course, as usual, it will happen slowly, and first it will be say Netflix, and people will say "what's the big deal? vote with your wallet and don't use Netflix", but then it will extend to Pokémon Go, and people will say "what's the big deal? they need to ensure people don't cheat", but then it will extend to banking apps, and people will say "what's the big deal? Security is very important with banks", but eventually I won't be able to consult the list of the hospitals with the best availability around me, and by then that will just be considered "standard" (this example is taken from real life: I'm not really sure if it uses SafetyNet or blunter methods, but my region's ER-finding app refused to work as it detected my phone was rooted).

APKs can be sideloaded or downloaded by other means, but Aurora store is the best and most direct way. Maybe try uninstalling it and then manually selecting a previous version in Aurora. 835 is the previous one. This is the app's version history. Do not download anything from here, that's your own risk. I'm just telling you to read the version history.

I still don't see anyting other than this? Installing XposedGmsCoreUnifiedNip ? Where is Untappd? and how do I get it flashed or installed on my ROM?

I downgraded the app one version and it's working again. But this means that, at most, we have a workaround until July 16th.

Also, Installing XposedGmsCoreUnifiedNip seems to have fixed the issue for now even for the last versions of the app.*

Well, at least it lets you start the app. ~~The location services might or might not work.~~ Worked for me after uninstalling and reinstalling the location services backend.

Funilly enough, as I wanted to test a bit further I tried to install Snapchat (as it was the only App I hadn't been able to run on LineageOS + MicroG as it complained about Google Services) and it works. Now if only I had a reason to use it :P

That's why I was asking which OS you are on. If you installed MicroG yourself ontop of Lineage, a lot of apps won't work. The Lineage team specifically doesn't want to support signature spoofing for some reason, so you've got to install the fork that has MicroG built in. It's fairly trivial to install the fork over another LineageOS install, as long as the one on your phone is older or the same version.

https://lineage.microg.org/

Ah right, I see.

You're correct, sorry, Nanodroid MicroG is outdated, in fact that's why I ended up switching to Lineage-for-MicroG.

I think this is the .apk you need, taken from the MicroG website.

I saw that there is another McDonald's app for some reason. The icon has a red background instead of white. This one worked fine, no need for Magisk hide either

I was in the same boat you were (I have a pixel 3) until I stumbled upon smali patcher on XDA devs. Now I am running lineageos 17 with full micro-g. Just follow the tut on there.its pretty easy as It uses ADB to patch the file and then you install it with magisk.

Ask the Dev on XDA.

Smali Patcher is an .exe . It draws in some files, and puts a modified .zip on your pc. Then you flash that .zip (on a clean install on your phone). I'll be honest, I haven't looked into the files produced before flashing, but they don't seem encrypted.

I might have missed a important info. I've flashed microG with NanoDroid through TWRP after installing my rom. Your above solution worked as I turned every other repo off except microG I found the updated version. But whenever I try to install the update the phone gets stuck for a while and gets restarted. Maybe because the microG located in the /system partition! Idk. I guess I'll have to update it with my Recovery or via ADB. Thanks again for your valuable information. I really appreciate it <3

Find another maintained LOS 16 ROM, preferably with Signature Spoofing, then use Nanodroid to install MicroG https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/module-nanomod-5-0-20170405-microg-t3584928.

If the ROM doesn't have Signature Spoofing you can manually enable it in the ROM. Check the Nanodroid documentation.

Android 10 MicroG is under development, and that is stopping the LOS 17.1 MicroG ROMs from being built.

Hey there. LOS17 Star2LTE User here. I've just finished MicroG Setup few days ago. Sadly Signature Spoofing ain't as easy as just flashing a zip.

However, you can with Magisk. Following the Wiki here, and specially the install instructions for Nanodroid (which I cannot recommend enough, trust me, it's worth it!) Once I finished them, I ended up using Smali Patcher to do the Signature Spoofing.

Once you've patched via adb, it'll generate a zip, which you could flash, but I opted to load up in Magisk Manager instead. This might take a try or two. I messed it up the first time, dunno how tho. (Maybe wrong zip?) But once I got it, when I checked MicroG self-check, the signature spoofing checks were marked.

I know it's not the best way to go about it, (That would be via Nanodroid Patcher, which I believe is also included in the large package) but it works.

Thank you for the first part, GCM didn't work for me on the rom I installed today, but with this code it works correctly!!

For Safetynet: if ctsProfile reports false while basicIntegrity reports true, you can use this magisk module: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/module-magiskhide-props-config-t3789228 It happens on some custom rom/kernel.

Download "Signature Spoofing Checker" from f-droid. If it's not green showing sig spoofing is enabled you may want to check out https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/module-nanomod-5-0-20170405-microg-t3584928

They are "Google" because the entire AOSP is made by Google, ultimately (well, they originally purchased it from a small company, but that was long ago). One thing is being made by Google but available as open-source software in AOSP; what microG tries to eschew are the proprietary parts, variously called Google Mobile Services or GApps (as well as "Google Play Services" specifically for the part that implements the API without providing apps).

Phone and Contacts as provided in LineageOS (whether "for microG" or not, as long as you don't install GApps) are open source apps made by Google, like most of the pre-installed apps.

Yalp tells me to update MicroG from 0.2.4 (a MicroG version) to 12.6.85 (latest Play Services version, according to apkpure).

Since MicroG is just a system app, I don't see why Yalp with either root or system privileges can't overwrite MicroG with Google Play Services.

If microG Services Core is still on 0.2.4 (or very close to that), or Yalp still wants to update MicroG, then it seems that Yalp has a safeguard that simply stops installation. It certainly perceives microG as an outdated "Google Play Services".

Edit: Here's what Yalp shows for microG Services Core

If that doesn't work, I reccomend you switch to crDroid, it is based on Lineage and Android 10 and supports the K20 Pro. It defernitley supports signature spoofing, I don't think you're unofficial Lineage ROM actually does unless something happens when you touch on the settings.

All LineageOS for MicroG builds are paused because Lineage 16 is no longer being maintained. The project is apparently not dead, but they are waiting for upstream MicroG to fix some issues (notably, Unified NLP not working) before resuming builds. You might want to consider OmniROM, which has a MicroG build for your device: https://omnirom.org/#devices

Note that the Omni OTA updater has issues with updating the MicroG builds, so if you use this ROM, install updates manually.

Nah :'( I've installed OpenGApps! which is basically the Google Services Framework :| I'll clean flash soon! But this time with minmicroG Standard! and see how it goes!

>1. Rooting has nothing to do with flashing LineageOS or microG

I thought maybe I needed to root to install an "official" firmware variant of android before converting over to LOS/MicroG

>2. The instructions you linked are the official instructions for LineageOS, not for microG

I found the instructions here: https://lineage.microg.org/

>3. I am not sure what you mean by flash android 9 on your device

Sorry if I'm not using the correct terminology, as I said, I'm completely new to this and learning. I was hoping to update my firmware manually, officially Motorola didn't push android 9 to the AT&T Z2F (Nash), only the Verizon branded version.

>4. You did not tell us the variant of your device. If it's not listed, it probably won't work (in the best case)

woops: XT1789-05

>>There is a red box right under the table instructions telling you
>Warning: If you follow these instructions on a firmware not explicitly listed as supported for your variant, or a firmware not intended for your variant, you are very likely to damage the device.

OK, I was under the assumption that firmware was the software, and hoping that could be changed as long as the hardware accepts it.

Thanks for your response.

Are you running LineageOS with or without MicroG? Locking your bootloader won't do anything to the apps that you said aren't working, and it's not advised to do so on most custom roms anyways.

Did you root your device? If so that could be one reason why. What apps are not working on your device? There's a LineageOS for MicroG build here https://lineage.microg.org/ . You could try that.

Hopefully this would work. I did a clean install, but in step 6 I guide you to follow the migration steps instead.

1. Go to https://lineage.microg.org/ e.g. "LineageOS for microG homepage"
2. Click Installation
3. Notice that there is a link to "LineageOS wiki" in the text, open that in new tab
   1. Find your model on the LineageOS wiki, click it
   2. On the top of the page you see a heading like "Info about FP3" or "Info about maguro" etc, which is the "technical name" of the phone or something.
4. Go back to the top of the "LineageOS for microG homepage" you opened in step 1 and open the "Download" link in another new tab
   1. Find the directory with the "technical name" of your phone (hopefully it's there), click it
   2. There are often multiple releases available. Each release has a bunch of files available. For example one release might start with "lineage-18.1-20210811-microG-FP3" and there might be for example 4 files available; for example:
      * lineage-18.1-20210811-microG-FP3-recovery.img
      * lineage-18.1-20210811-microG-FP3.zip
      * lineage-18.1-20210811-microG-FP3.zip.md5sum
      * lineage-18.1-20210811-microG-FP3.zip.sha256sum
   3. Pick the release you want to try and download all files for that release.
5. 15.1 and 16.0" for validating the release integrity.
6. After this follow the "Migration from LineageOS" steps on "LineageOS for microG homepage"
   1. The steps how to "reboot into recovery" etc can be found on the "LineageOS wiki" page for your device that you located in step 3. The page also contains installation steps in general.
7. After completing the migration in one way or another, remember to go thrugh the "Post-install" steps on "LineageOS for microG homepage"

Hope this works out for you. For fresh installation from stock android, just follow the installation steps from step 3. in full, using the images you loaded in step 4.

1. The MicroG developers provide a LineageOS ROM that comes with MicroG built-in. I would recommend installing that one. You will then get MicroG updates along with OS updates.
2. Google Maps has been working fine for me for years, so I suppose it should for you, too.

Yeah, I understand that. Maybe a second maintainer would result in quicker response times / status updates?

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But FYI: 3 hours after your post your device got a fresh build, too. :)

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I have no clue how I could take the original LineageOS without sig spoofing and patch in everything necessary to have microG & Aurora working. Any tutorials?

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So even with months of downtime lineage.microg.org is my daily driver now, as the OEM's updates were even more infrequently.

The problem is that if you just install it either manually or through a root-based installer, it will go away next time you flash a newer version of your OS. That's why most people use flashable ZIPs: because they come with an addon.d file that makes sure microG doesn't get deleted through ROM upgrades.

At this time I'm using LineageOS for microG myself, so I've lost touch a bit with the "world" of microG flashable ZIPs: another one I know of is NanoDroid, but I really don't know which one(s) of them use(s) the official microG, sorry. Others may have this information, but I hope it was useful anyway to explain what's going on.

You could try to install a fork of Lineage that is packaged with MicroG from here.... https://lineage.microg.org/
There are threads here and elsewhere (xda/blog/youtube) that explain how you could keep the current Lineage and implement signature spoofing by installing microG with other necessary modules using magisk/nanodroid etc.... upto you...
i loved the simple experience of installing a clean LOS4microg from the link above...

Signature spoofing is already built-into LOS for MicroG, so no worries about that.

If you plan to not wipe your device but want to keep your user data intact instead, there's the need to migrate signing keys that are used to check validity of the installed system software, since the guys from LOS for MicroG use other keys to sign their builds than the guys from LOS vanilla.

Just consult the Migration Guide in the LineageOS for MicroG FAQ and do as it says. I think you're trying a dirty install without wiping your data or apps, so use that if you want to keep your apps and data while migrating from LOS vanilla to LOS for MicroG.

Yeah, I had the microG repo enabled in F-Droid, but wasn't sure it was necessary to do. Wasn't sure the system updates were also from the LOS for microG project, or just standard LOS updates from lineageos.org. If it was the latter, then I would've needed the microG repo for updates.

But I guess it can't harm to enable the repo anyways.

As far as I know, there is a version of LineageOS patched by microg developer, including signature spoofing, already installed microg and already installed F-Droid.

https://lineage.microg.org/

You are correct in that I did not sideload any gapps after flashing the official Lineage nightly build before flashing the microG fork. I was able to get the microG fork working by following the steps on the official site to migrate via a clean install, https://lineage.microg.org/. I followed the "Clean install (wipe data and installed apps) steps. In TWRP 3.2.3, which is the latest for the mata, I wiped System, Data, and Dalvik cache after the fresh, official Lineage installation, which I never actually booted into. I then went on to side load the microG fork. I did select to clear the Dalvik cache, and just the Cache setting in TWRP when selecting ADB Sideload in it's setting when flashing the microG fork. The only thing I noticed is it said it failed to find the /cache mount point after flashing the microG fork. I am assuming this was due to the device being freshly flashed with the official LineageOS 16 nightly build, and now microG fork, but never actually booted into it. Would this be correct that the system must go through it's first boot post flash to generate the /cache mount point?

Also, I have reviewed the system apps, and do not see any mention of any actual Google apps, or Google Services. Is this type of installation as Google Services free as flashing the ROM directly?

If the Playstore and Google Services Framework are still installed on your phone then you are being tracked by Google. Even if you don't sign in your device is so unique along with your phone number which they can link the identity. I would recommend heading over to XDA for your phone and finding a ROM without google like lineage. Personally, I always get a phone that is supported https://lineage.microg.org/ on this website. They are all codenames so you will have to do some searching to figure out what device. Other than that having lineage with microg already installed is a time saver especially with the problem of lineage not supporting signature spoofing out the box.

https://lineage.microg.org/

>Wait, on their FAQ page I see that they don't want to include the patch for security reasons. Is this ROM unsafe?

>No. LineageOS' developers decided not to include this patch for various reasons. The signature spoofing could be an unsafe feature only if the user blindly gives any permission to any app, as this permission can't be obtained automatically by the apps. Moreover, to further strengthen the security of our ROM, we modified the signature spoofing permission so that only system privileged apps can obtain it, and no security threat is posed to our users.

Actually I install LineageOS for my device from https://lineage.microg.org/ .

Youtube, for example, is working fine with my google's account, but i can't sync my contacts, and the location service isn't working too

i use a xiaomi mi a1, with lineageos-microg-fork (https://lineage.microg.org/). everything works, you just have to connect to your google account once (in settings - accounts), reboot, and after that, you can remove it.

Unfortunately, that build of TWRP does not work. There seems to be an issue with the Pixel 3, among other Pixels, with TWRP and Android 10.

I may end up having to wait for Lineage4MicroG to be buildable for my device.

The issue is that TWRP doesn't work on Android 10 on the Pixel 3. EDIT: Here's a post from TWRP regarding the issue Unless I'm missing something here.

I have no idea... Really.

Maybe Xiaomi was exceptionally open about their vendor image, or they provided some kind of API to add signing keys to the bootloader or something. But I'm just guessing now.

But it's really the only one outside of the pixels: https://calyxos.org/install/

The other famous pixel-oriented security AOSP distribution is GrapheneOS but that really only supports the Pixel series. I think it's because they use some of the features of Google's titan security chip and don't deem it secure enough without that.

In order for most of the microg features to work it needs signature spoofing to be enabled. This isn't really supported or reccomended of you are using grapheneOS. If you need microg I would instead use CalyxOS.

I didn't, sadly.

In the end I used CalyxOS, which is based on GrapheneOS but adds microG and some other FOSS. It's not very known but has an active and friendly community.

So I now also installed the Service Framework Proxy from here : https://microg.org/download.html
The checkmark in the microG settings for GSF installed is now now checked.
The problem persists. Any ideas?

From the microg website:

> The linux-based open-source mobile operating system Android is not only the most popular mobile operating system in the world, it’s also on the way to becoming a proprietary operating system. How is that? > > While the core operating system is still released as part of the Android Open Source Project, the majority of core apps are not. It gets worse: More and more libraries and APIs are only available on phones that run various Google apps pre-installed, effectively locking third-party apps to the Google ecosystem. For these reasons Android is described as being a “look but don’t touch” kind of open. > > At this point, several popular open-source applications already require some of Google’s proprietary libraries to be installed. Increasing demand in the free software community in addition to severe problems in Google’s proprietary software discovered by the Android modding community, have led to the development of a free software clone of Google’s proprietary core libraries and applications - the microG Project was born. > > Although most microG components are far from complete, users are amazed by the results. Free software users got extended application support, privacy-caring users can reduce or monitor data that is sent to Google and especially older phones can expect some battery life improvements. microG is not only used on real devices, but also replaces Google tools in test emulators and is even used in virtual mobile infrastructure.

I generally just install it from f-droid. Add https://microg.org/fdroid/repo as a repo. Search for microG and install microG Services Core. I generally also use fake store and yalp. You do need a ROM that allows signature spoofing.

In f-droid you will need to add the repository for microg. Open this link with fdroid and it will automatically add the repo and you should then be able to update the core services. Keep in mind if you are using lineage os for microg you will need to go to their website and add their repo because the microg service component signatures are different and would cause updates to fail. (On mobile sorry for any errors)

https://microg.org/fdroid/repo

Edit:Added link

Can't tell about Calyx much - I have not researched it further.

You can make Lineage to be slightly more private than Graphene, but I think it's not worth it - Graphene security is much more beneficial. It does not leak much though.

You can browse the sub: r/GrapheneOS (especially developer responses).

In my setup I have a VM on my NAS running pi-hole and dd-wrt installed on my router. In dd-wrt I have Wireguard activated and setup LineageOS to always use a VPN connection.

So wherever I am, my phone network traffic runs via my home router, where pi-hole filters out all tracking, ads (basically also tracking) and unwanted content. Naturally, all my devices at home are also affected by this filter, making it an all-in-one solution.

If you're uncomfortable flashing a router with dd-wrt or similar software, this is obviously not the way to go, but if you run MicroG I'd guess you're not the average user :-). Instead of a VM you can also use a physical Raspberry Pi or similar, of course.

That's because you have to "clone" microg into the work profile too. (And no, all is free software, like, for real, open source and no payment needed, even if I like to send some donations when I support a project) And you can have both microg configured differently (my work profile have no contacts, no network localisation, no nothing). I do not know calyxos, but the main differences between LOS+microG are : * /e/ app store (I do not like it, it is a mix between F-Droid and Google Play Store, and I only use F-Droid, but it can be usefull in work profile) * No link to Google by default (not Google DNS, no call to Google to check conectivity, the app store do not get apk from Play Store directly), the only link is if you add a Google account. * microG is fully integrated (I think they hired microG dev) * /e/ cloud, which is a NextCloud with some tweaks (I have my own NextCloud so no need, but the sms online app works on their fork and not yet on standard NextCloud)

I may hve forgotten many things but you'll fine stuff there : https://e.foundation/

I don't like e for different reasons:

• Attributions are really hidden on the website. e is mostly just other foss tools bundled together, with some minor tweaks. E.g. you have to really dive deep on https://e.foundation/ website to found out that they are using microG. While LOS4Mg is literally called "for microG", it's not hidden, it's in the name. It's the same for other tools, like the "e cloud" is just a hosted nextcloud instance.
• Also they try to sell it if they invented everything. I don't like this approach.
• They use outdated android version. No phone on android 11, while it was released nearly a year ago: https://doc.e.foundation/devices

I know marketing can sell things to regular users, and it's somewhat useful for the foss community as a whole (more users are better), but it's just a bit too much to me.

It seems there may be some truth about not being able to update some MicroG images automatically via OTA for lack of MicroG signed recoveries. See here https://www.reddit.com/r/MicroG/comments/i6eeo2/how_to_upgrade_to_lineageos_17_with_microg/g146763/?context=3

Hopefully your device is supported via Eelo ROM that has MicroG bundled as well but perhaps they have more maintainers. See here https://e.foundation/

A good starting point would be not linking to YouTube if you say you don't trust Google.

''I dont trust or like Google and apple but here's a link to google''

I recommend https://invidio.us as a youtube frontend or even better would be to import the video into peertube r/peertube https://joinpeertube.org/

I believe Calyx is working on a built-in tracker blocking function (someone mentioned it in the thread I listed above but I haven't found much more about it). But you can also root it as far as I know. I have not tried it however, and if you do root it you will have to keep the bootloader unlocked. So you will lose that benefit.

I personally also hate trackers and ads. There's tracker control which blocks trackers by offering a fake VPN, it works pretty well for me. I also use Firefox as my main browser with uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger.

But neither option is Bromite, of course! I've never tried that so I don't know if it's better.

MicroG is not that big of a deal if your are not logged in, as mentioned earlier.

Many apps still use Google trackers and analytics tools. You can give them a hard time by using tracker control.

https://k9mail.app/2020/06/01/Whats-Up-With-K-9-Mail

> Some features that were available in 5.600 are still missing because we haven’t had the time to restore them. Some have been deliberately removed because we didn’t consider them important enough to justify the maintenance burden. > We would like to release a new stable version as soon as possible. There’s only one feature that we had to remove, but without which we don’t want to ship a new stable version of the app: Push (IMAP IDLE). After it has been added again, we’ll spend some time focusing on fixing bugs reported by beta testers, and then we’ll release the next stable version of K-9 Mail, 5.800.

> Ratio luncher

Link for the lazy.

Is there a FOSS alternative? Not expecting anything the same level, just wondering what's out there.

I'll answer the VPN question:

give AzireVPN a try! They offer anything reasonable you could expect from a VPN service (about 20 locations, no usage logs, no bandwidth limit, P2P allowed, no device count limit, DNS leak mitigation, etc), plus they implemented the new WireGuard norm !

I've been using it for 4 years straight, never had any serious problem. the desktop & phone app are a breeze (http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.azirevpn.android)

The Google Play Services. The stuff that microG is made to replace. I certainly did not make it up. It's pre-installed on almost every Android phone on earth.

If you don't know what the thing that microG exists to replace even is, why are you even here?

It literally says in the app description

> Disclaimer > • Swift Backup requires Google Sign-in to work. Do NOT download if you plan to use this app in a system without Google apps ("gapps"). Standard gapps package with Google Play services is required. MicroG isn't supported, it lacks many components.

push tester but you have to download it from aurora store.

*#*# 2342 546 #*#* is a kind of code to register manually to gcm, but if telegram and whatsapp, normally you don't need to do that.

Without MicroG , signal will works but i think it consumes more battery because Signal always check for a new message.

it's the process I go through with every new installation.

hoping that it helps you

>...take a look at Magic Earth, it isn't open source but they take privacy quite seriously.

We can't verify that without source code. OsmAnd is a better option.

It doesn't defeat the purpose of using microG, but that doesn't mean it doesn't compromise your privacy. If you use microG with Google Maps as a user app (and possibly restrict permissions) you can control what it can do. Without microG by default your locaton history is stored by Google. Google should only be able to find out what you do in maps or what you do in Vanced, not control your phone.

A little warning though: although GMaps works fine on microG signing in sometimes doesn't work.

I would also recommend that you take a look at Magic Earth, it isn't open source but they take privacy quite seriously. It is pretty strong alternative to GMaps, and has features like traffic-based turn-by-turn voice navigation, very smooth 3-d maps and quite a bit more.

Ok, thank you. The app I wish to use is 'Fenix 2 for Twitter' https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.mvilla.android.fenix2&amp;hl=en . I paid it and installed it on my LineageOS phone but it doesn't work, it needs to connect to a play store/google service to check if I paid...I guess...

I have the G6 with LineageOS for microG. Yalp works normal. Spotify works normal. I don't know about Signal or ProtonVPN.

A shame the official updates stopped for the G6. No idea if they will come back with higher android-versions.