What is Reddit's opinion of
microG?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
➔ microG website
By popularity on Reddit, this Service is:
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
No.
It would have been hypocritical if Google, for instance, sued https://microg.org/ and demanded that they do not build that. But Google doesn't do that.
Additionally Google has been a good player when it comes to software patents, and hasn't taken people to courts over e.g. basic software patterns. That issue is a bit more complicated though. Here's a link I found after a quick search. http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Google
If you haven't already, you should really consider trying out microG. It's an open source replacement for the proprietary Google Play services. The vast majority of applications work perfectly fine using microG, including push notifications and location services if you need that, and battery life even winds up getting a bit better on the phone. You can even get Play Store apps through a front-end like Yalp or Galaxy. I was in a similar position to you a while back. I decided to try microG as a last-ditch attempt, expecting it to feel sort of hacked together, but it's been phenomenal. Check out xda-developers for your phone, or feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it.
There is a subreddit for it /r/Vanced, they will be better at answering your questions, but you will indeed log in like you would Google.
Micro G is open source, which is like one base of the App. The other base is just YouTube.
FYI: OpenGApps is just Google's proprietary binaries wrapped into easily installable APKs. If an open source implementation of Google's Android services is what you want, check out microG instead:
I replaced Play Services with microG and have a less bloaty experience overall without having to make too many compromises.
I could still run Google apps if I wanted to; push notifications are working, and I can now enable or disable them for individual apps; the location services are actually superior since I can install multiple backends, including ones that work offline, and there are no arbitrary location checks in the background as would otherwise be the case (and NO, this is not only because other apps are querying the Play Services API).
The only real non-Apple option you have is buying an Android phone that can be flashed with a rom that doesn’t have Google Play Services installed. Any apps that rely on google APIs will likely not work (microG exists, but is incomplete) as well as anything that checks for safetynet (banking apps, many media apps, some games).
Yeah maybe you're right. It depends a lot on what you actually use your phone for.
Re: notifications - For chat and stuff? I can't say I've had any issues. Even my fears of worse battery life haven't really come to pass.
If you really need it though, MicroG provides a pretty decent drop-in module that hooks you up to GCM.
One thing that I think does suck vs GAPPS is the location. I use radiocells and collect data etc but it's never going to beat the database google has built with their streetview cars.
Well, technically it's the other way around: it never was installed in the first place.
If you install an open-source version of android it won't come with any of google's stuff preinstalled. You can download the google apps separately and install them afterwards or you can install replacement software like MicroG if you need some of the same functionality but still don't want any google services running.
In those cases you'd usually download the apks outright or with a thirdparty store like Yalp.
Really, the kind of people that would do this likely wouldn't install an app that would have been on the list, but I think it would do a lot more help to name and shame those apps.
excellent list
they didn't mention the microG project for Android (https://microg.org)
personally I don't miss any Google product for over 2 years now, only still using YouTube but I replaced the official app with YouTube Vanced (https://vanced.app) and NewPipe
Google is not passionate about most of their products anyway, they're just created to collect more data
> no Google services
That's the issue.
Try microG with unifiedNLP
>Unified Network Location Provider (UnifiedNlp) is a library that provides Wi-Fi- and Cell-tower-based geolocation to applications that use Google’s network location provider. It is included in GmsCore but can also run independently on most Android systems.
That's around the same as F-Droid right?
But the amount of apps could be a bit worrying for me.
Also if you only use such things, why have you decided to go with GApps and GServices? You know that there's MicroG available which is OpenSource and provides the functionality of GServices without Google stuff. https://microg.org/
> Google will then make Android closed-source
Google would literally never do this. It would be an absolute nail in the coffin for their OS.
Plus, even disregarding the Linux kernel licensing, which I highly doubt will ever move to a BSD license, Google cannot close the Android source per agreement between it and other members of the OHA
What Google will probably do is begin charging phone manufacturers a licensing fee to use their proprietary blobs on third party devices that give access to the Play Store and other Google Services, which I also think would cause a push for projects like microG to expand their functionality, or for manufacturers to push their own services and frameworks.
Hi
Freut mich dass immer mehr auf diesen Zug aufspringen. Man muss ein paar Abstriche machen aber was tut man nicht alles für die Freiheit.
Zuallererst möchte ich dir microG ans Herz legen. Damit muss man auf nicht mehr ganz so viel verzichten und kann trotzdem Google Services "so ein bisschen" benutzen.
Es existiert außerdem eine Play Store alternative, die man ohne Google Account benutzen kann, namens Yalp Store. Es empfiehlt sich diese als system app zu installieren um sich die vielen clicks bei updates zu ersparen.
Und zu Guter letzt natürlich /r/fossdroid
> If he's referring to Google apps being closed source, guess what his company is doing: replacing them with just-as-closed, less useful, less popular Microsoft apps
Indeed
The people at microG are doing exactly what most people would understand unter "Open Android"
Allow to use Google Services with free and open source apps
I've been running a Google-free android for about two years now.
To replace Google altogether, one must get rid of Play Services. There is a FLOSS replacement called microG, of which I've implemented in OmniROM. However, microG does their own version of LineageOS with microG built in, if one prefer that ROM.
So no Play Services, no gapps, etc. Which means you'll have to get your apps elsewhere. F-Droid is a good place to start. From there you can download FLOSS alternatives for most apps. But if you desperately need your paid apps, you can download Yalp Store from F-Droid, which supports the Google Play Store API.
My contacts and calendar are synced to my own Nextcloud instance with DAVdroid, which is also available on F-Droid. My photos are also automagically uploaded to my Nextcloud instance.
You'll need a few tweaks, if you want to have a valid SafetyNet phone. Depending whether or not you want root access, microG has a DroidGuard Helper, which can validate it with SafetyNet.
You'll also need a few location providers. Mozilla runs an excellent one but there are more than one, so you have a choice there which is nice.
I'm pretty happy with my phone, and it's a great feeling knowing that Google hasn't got its nasty trunk down in my business.
Good luck!
microG is an opensource project, so anyone can see and modify its code and redistribute it. And that's what YouTube vanced team did to make it work well specifically with YouTube vanced.
So, vanced microG is derived from microG project. By this relationship, microG project is considered upstream.
I'm not good at explaining stuff, so maybe take a look at this article too.
MicroG is a stripped-down FOSS Google Play Services clone that lets you sign in and get notifications and comment. You can check their website here https://microg.org/
If you also wondering, what is Vanced MicroG? Vanced microg is a stripped down microG and is the minimum required for Vanced to work. It will (probably) not work with any other apps. You can check that here https://github.com/YTVanced/VancedMicroG
what's stopping Huawei from maintaining their own branches of android (AOSP) for their devices (like people in the xda community do all the time for all sorts of devices)? AOSP has an Apache 2.0 like license which is pretty permisive (IANAL though).
they'd probably have to reimplement play services and the Google maps API but Huawei's got the resources. if the MicroG people can do it why not Huawei?
Lineage is an Android without Google's & manufacturer's proprietary services. So you aren't leaving Android. Without Google Play Services & Play Store (both of them are Google's proprietary services which most of the apps needs to work correctly) you need to use an alternative method to get apps like F-Droid. These apps does NOT need proprietary services to work. At least these apps works without Google Play Services:
Slide for Reddit (Unofficial Reddit client)
Signal
ProtonMail
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser
If you wan't use apps like Whatsapp, you need to spoof Play Services existence with microG.
> microg ... still has ... the Play Store
Technically not;
> Store (Phonesky) is a frontend application providing access to the Google Play Store to download and update applications. Development is in early stage and there is no usable application yet.
They are working on using the play store API but don't have an app for it yet. The difference is if one controls the client side code, then one can select what to share with the servers.
microG and Yalp Store (or a selfhosted Repo containing the needed apps) will cover most of it.
Most Android APIs are nowadays closed source and within the Google Play Services.
That's why some hobbyists have to reverse-engineer them and recreate the APIs within microG.
Without Google Play Services (binary blob, very large in size, auto-updates and has permissions for everything) many modern Android applications can no longer run.
Sure, there's F-Droid, but this is only for open source applications and there are people which might want to use something different (even though personally I only run applications from F-Droid, since I need nothing else).
But you insist that Android is a true open source system, so I'm sure it is ...
Not really. There's some politics to it. On mobile so can't easily or cut link my saved references, but basically there's an unsanctioned, unofficial fork that uses websocket rather than gcm. Moxie (who has been very opposed to allowing non-Google Android builds to connect to Signal) has recently stated a list of requirements to pull a websocket-based implementation into the official code base, but they're quite stringent, and would be partially opposed by strong FOSS advocates, e.g. earn a couple of red marks on F-Droid.
If you're dead set on using Signal on Copperhead, you have these options:
- sideload or build Google services into your build.
- sideload or build MicroG + pre-reqs into your build
- use the unsanctioned, unofficial websocket fork (a good place to start reading is here)
None of these are great options, all involve some kind of risk, flakiness, unsupported complication, or compromise. Whether taking these negatives to be on the Signal network is worth it is your call.
Buy a tablet supported by LineageOS. Here's the list:
https://download.lineageos.org/
They have a good number of supported tablets. I don't see how you could be compromised by any of these vendors if you use a custom ROM, they should all behave the same. If you must use Google Play services, preferably use microG.
Not sure if this helps at all in the context of emulation, but on my actual Android phone, I'm using microg instead of the proprietary Google Play services, and Aurora Store to download apps from the Play Store.
Well, I suppose Lineage OS without GAPPS on a supported device: https://download.lineageos.org/ would bring you as close as possible to what you want still having a usable device.
Without GCM (Google Cloud Messaging; a part of gapps) you will not have notifications, MicroG: https://microg.org could fix this to the extent of unreliable notifications.
Not under control of Google, but under control of a company that had Gov backdoors before Google even existed.
Just use MicroG. It works great, and you don't need -any- Google (besides Android), but can use play store if you want.
OpenGApps is not "the open source bit of Play Services". They are the regular GApps for systems which come not pre-bundled with GApps, such as LineageOS. On a system you want to keep free of Google, you never never never want to install them.
What you might looking for is called microG: https://microg.org/
XPrivacy Lua and AFWall+ help with that. XPrivacy Lua sends fake data to most Apps that have no permissions - thinking they have the permissions enabled, including every System app if you want to. AFwall can block most traffic trough iptables, it's a bit bugged on Android 8 < but it still works most of the time (the GUI is bugged, not the iptable rules of course).
If you're really paranoid flash an Community Rom without GApps and flash the free open source alternative to Google Apps "microg": https://microg.org/ - tought I'm not sure if that's still maintained ... I've looked at XDA and it seems like there are some more active forks out there:
https://github.com/NoGooLag/android_packages_apps_GmsCore
Thanks for mentioning Bitwarden, I was in search for a good solution for low/medium security passwords on the go, seems pretty nice.
Nothing digital, is 100% private or secure. So, you cannot completely secure anything on the internet. Even Tor is not 100% anon.
So, the best thing you can do is to get a Xiaomi phone [Note 4 mostly], as it offers value for money.
Root it [on XDA you can get detailed instructions on how to root your phone. They have separate section for almost all the Xiaomi and other phones]
Flash a custom ROM like LineageOS
If you are bothered about Google services, do not flash it.
Instead, try microG
For email, use Proton
For messaging, use Signal [over Telegram, as the former is 100% opensource]
You can get Yalp Store as an alt for Google Playstore.
For extra privacy, use some of the best Xposed modules.
And by default, LineageOS has Privacy Guard which is a great feature to restrict apps from unwanted permissions.
People have exactly zero tolerance for phone issues relative to computer issues. I sincerely think I would question whether or not id be able to dial 911 if I ran a full linux distro on my phone - thats quite literally life and death right there.
I mean, even the long time Android enthusiasts (myself included) are just opening up to the idea of Microg.
And just another thought - Android enthusiasts tend to be tremendously critical of the look of the OS. I cant imagine Debian or Arch on a phone looking good.
Wyłączanie personalizacji w ustawieniach + dobry adblock (na telefon szczególnie) pozwala na pozbycie się większości zabieranych danych. Istnieją również otwarto źródłowe bezpieczniejsze pośrednie rozwiązania np microG czy Whoogle Search bo bez niektórych usług google ciężko żyć ale warto szukać alternatyw a jest ich coraz więcej. Istnieje lista zbierająca takie alternatywy nazywa się degoogle (oczywiście po angielsku)
If you're asking if apps from google play store works after you've flashed rom then here is the answer.
It depends on if the OS has microg. I'm pretty sure CalyxOS has microg built-in and you can get microg on lineageOS. You can't get microg on grapheneos though. Some apps might work without microg.
Play services provides various APIs for developers. Among these are push notifications (the very big one), maps api (lets developers stick maps in their apps), play games api (single sign on for games using a google account). The microG project is attempting to make a version of the play services that is open source and doesn't spy on you (I personally have them on my phone via lineageos4microG and can confirm that microG is generally usable for a daily driver (just double check that Amy apps you need work with microG)
The problem isn't Android itself, Android is a fantastic FOSS phone operating system. The problem is Google Play Services (including the Play Store) and the licensing agreements surrounding it. We need to advance projects like microG that reimplement these few proprietary components as FOSS, and we also need to make it illegal for an OEM or reseller to retain control over the software (signing keys for the boot chain of trust) in mobile devices that are purchased outright. There is absolutely no reason why it is acceptable for me to have root on my own PC, but not on my own phone. Ironically, Google is one of the few hardware makers that allows this.
MicroG is a free, open source reimplementation of Google's proprietary android libraries. Its still in development, but can be used successfully by some apps. MicroG can be installed by users of custom ROMs to get Google app functionality without actually installing Google apps. OpenGApps is an example of repackaging Google's proprietary apps for use in custom ROMs.
Huawei can still use AOSP (Android open source project). They can relatively easily build their own app store.
​
The Play Store, as in an app store, missing, isn't that big of a deal. Yes, people won't be able to use Google Maps anymore, Youtube anymore etc. BUT, even if developers like Whatsapp decide to publish their apps on the Huawei Store, it won't work perfectly.
​
Though Android is open source, it is described as "look but don't touch". That is because a lot of apps rely on proprietary Google services, the infamous "Google Play Services" (I switched to microg, which removes that, and got 1 hour more screen on time). This includes Google Cloud messaging (without it lots of notifications don't work), and the Network location provider (finds location with wifi/bluetooth points.
​
For more info check this out: https://microg.org/
Solution (android, root/magisk required):
MicroG and no GAPPS
iPhone (jailbreak required): ??? (PMP/Firewall iP if you're on iOS10 and lower which you probably aren't)
The issue is that maps is so useful that its hard to stop it from gathering data.
Have you considered simply not installing the google stuff and only using the ASOP base? There's a lineageOS fork that replaces GAPPS with microG, a FOSS implementation. Note that it's not fully featured and not all google functionality is there (which is either a pro or con, depends on your needs/wants).
There's also SailfishOS but I have no idea if your phone is a supported/ported device or how stable it is, assuming there's a build for it.
Open Source replacement project for Google Play Services. It's mostly for people that want to move away from Google but since some apps rely on GPS/GCM, it tries to replicates that function.
>or can I get MicroG by itself?
Yeah, you can get MicroG by yourself. Just don't forget to patch signatures in the ROM, else it won't work. Check how to install it here.
>Is it known if this technically can cause any legal issues?
Not really, worst case scenario would be termination of your Google account. Just use a throwaway if you think something will go wrong. AFAIK nobody has been arrested or lost their Google account due to it, and the code itself is FOSS, so you can see how it works.
Also you'll probably want to use Yalp Store for downloading apps, it's an open source store that parses Play Store and downloads APKs for you + telling if there are updates. It's also a good way to keep your paid apps if you decide to use your old Google email to log in instead of their provided one. You can find it on F-droid.
I also recommend you to read /r/fossdroid too, it's a subreddit of people dedicated to use Google-less Android and FOSS alternatives wherever they can.
Yes it's possible. Keep in the mind, you will lose your warranty when you unlock your Moto G5+'s bootloader.
If you're okay with that, then go ahead. (there's plenty of instructions online) When you unlocked your bootloader, flash a custom recovery on fastboot. From custom recovery, flash the latest LineageOS build for Moto G5+.
Custom ROMs almost never come with google integration, so if you wanted it: you'd flash gapps package. Of course, you don't want that don't you? Which means you're looking for the MicroG project. Download apks from them then you should be set.
Obviously, this is rough idea of what you are going to do.
Go to this site, scroll down and download Service Core and Services Framework Proxy.
When you installed both APKs, go in the microG settings that you just installed, enable Device Registration, Cloud Messaging and SafetyNet. Make sure that under Cloud Messaging - - > three dots - - - > "confirm new apps" is turned off. This way every app registers automatically and you don't have to enable it manually.
After that, go back to the main menu screen and click on the top setting that should be called "self check" or something similar (I only have the app in German so I don't know the real translation). Make sure that all these boxes are checked.
Retstart the device and then maybe you have to reinstall the apps you still don't get notifications from.
Sometimes the notifications are very delayed (up to 30 minutes), but it is better than nothing I guess. It can also happen that an app doesn't work at all. If that happens there is sadly now way to fix this.
I hope this helped.
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.
r/MicrogG r/F-droid
https://microg.org https://f-droid.org/
I recommended G-droid over the F-droid client since it has better UI in my opinion.
Aurora store is downloaded from f-droid repo to download apps from Google.
Not OP but never heard of this before so am posting my Google search.
>A free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.
re: Android
Also, if possible, try to use something like LineageOS as an android replacement. It's not completely impossible to de-google your devices, and find replacements.
I highly suggest a combination of LineageOS without Google and using the F-Droid store to replace the missing Play Store. If you want to still somehow use some Google services while not giving them free reign over your phone, you can use MicroG.
Per tutti quelli che come me senza Google su android non riescono a stare, di recente ho scoperto microG, che un po' come wine, è una implementazione open source dei google play services. Lo sto usando da un mesetto e funziona perfettamente, ovviamente alcune cose non funzionano, ma se vi limitate come me a Maps, Play Store, YouTube e Drive non ci sono problemi.
A solution might be microG, an open source reimplementation of the google play services. I have it installed on my device, and i'm really happy about how it's working. It took some time to setup correctly, and it requires a custom rom that supports signature spoofing (i'm using a fork of lineageOS), and not everything works correctly, but i'm ok with that. Also, you get an amazing battery life. I don't know if a manufacturer could ship his phone with microG installed, both for legal reasons and for usability (some functionality is still missing), but in the future it might become an option.
Hmm. Well, here is a thread I found from May 2017. Fakestore, blankstore, gms, microg, unifiednlp - what's best for Android without Gapps?
This is kind of a rude solution, but I would consider if there is an alternative way to complete the task without that specific app. That is to say, "I love GarageBand on my Mac ... but I guess I can get the same work done in Audacity." Or maybe you can go to Le Monde's website.
Beyond that, if the apps really do depend on the "Google Services" application, then the linked thread above indicates that microG is probably the best bet. From what I read on their site, they basically are providing the functionality of Google Services but from a FOSS application.
Lineage OS with microG(https://microg.org/)
I use the Yalp Store and F-Droid for app stores with the occasional Aptoide usage (country specific stuff).
- Firefox Klar (quick browsing) and Firefox (ublock origin)
- K9 Mail (Material)
- Open Camera
- Document Viewer
- OsmAnd~
- Slide (reddit)
- AntennaPod (Podcasts)
- Omni Notes FOSS
- Voice (audio books)
- Signal Messenger
- Magisk
- AFWall+
- AdAway
- Xposed Framework
- OpenVPN for Android
- Net Monitor
- Greenify
- Newpipe (youtube)
- Tutanota (email service)
- Maps.me (backup)
- Amaze File Manager
I would love a good dictionary if someone can suggest one. I currently use the dictionary.com app, but it is super creepy. I have it pretty locked down, but I could use a better option. I tried a few in F-Droid, but they were simply not as good.
I don't log into anything Google and only have MicroG to help with location services and set them to Mozilla. Not super privacy, but a damn good start IMO.
Man får mange flere muligheter med root, blant annet en skikkelig adblocker (AdAway) og muligheten til å endre emoji-fonten fra stock til f.eks EmojiOne. I tillegg kan man installere xposed, som har en rekke modules til en del apper (Instagram, Snapchat, Messenger etc) eller til operativsystemet generelt. Det jeg brukte xposed til før var til å blokkere en rekke wakelocks for å optimalisere batteritiden. (Kunne gå opp til 3 dager uten å måtte lade telefonen, rundt 8 timer SoT, 0,001% battery drain i standby).
Kort fortalt får man flere muligheter til å tilpasse telefonen sin slik man selv ønsker.
Jeg har ikke root (ei heller xposed) lenger etter at microG begynte å publisere modifiserte Lineage OS roms med signature spoofing inkludert. Før krevde det enten root+xposed for å bruke microG, eller så måtte man modifisere kildekoden til OS'et for å inkludere signature spoofing.
Heldigvis fungerer Vipps med microG, men jeg er fortsatt ikke fornøyd med hvordan Vipps gjemmer seg bak "sikkerhet". Som nevnt over fører disse "sikkerhetstiltakene" til at brukere utsetter seg for faktiske sikkerhetstrusler for å omgå sperrene deres.
> One note: if you want to use different UnifiedNlp plugins than the default one (MozillaNlp), you'll have to install them as a system apps, which is not possible from F-Droid (as FAQ suggests). This is because LOS silently disallows usage of non-system location providers. There are patches to allow them but this build doesn't include them.
I don't believe that is correct. The thing that needs to be installed as a system app is UnifiedNLP itself (which is part of microG's core, although it can optionally be used on its own by those who don't want the entire microG), but then the UNLP plugins aren't something that the system knows or cares about, as they simply talk to either the microG core, or UnifiedNLP. Those do need to be system apps.
So, you can just install the plugins you want as a normal user, then you will go into the microG settings (or the UnifiedNLP settings, if you have that installed instead) and enable those specific plugins, as well as configure them if needed, also granting them any requested permissions.
I personally use Copperhead OS. However they don't support many phones and it is very close to stock android.
To get apps from the android store, you can get the Yalp Store app from Fdroid.
Check out the microG project. I havent't tried it yet personally, but the idea is creating a their own open service core to replace google's. I believe they also have their own version of lineage with it preinstalled. Could be worth a look.
There's an OSS alternative for almost any app on F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/ If you want a smoother move, you can checkout MicroG, which basically does everything that the Google Play Services do while reducing the amount of data that is sent to Google: https://microg.org/
I'm getting the services core from here: https://microg.org/download.html
It just says
Package com.google.android.gms signatures do not match the previously installed version
when I try installing with adb install.
To elaborate, I have also tried messing with this to get it to work. You can install MicroG which attempts to fake your device into thinking you have Google Play Services.
Project FI still won't work. I would be curious to know if anyone else has tried to experiment and get the Project FI app and Hangouts to work without the official Google Play Services installed.
The best middle ground I've found is to install a ROM like LineageOS and use PrivacyGuard to strip the permissions of Google Play Services. Everything functions as normal, but Google can't get my personal data / location etc via the play services app
That's not true either. GCM is only used on android for push notifications. It works fine without anything google on iOS. You can also spoof GCM with microG and it also works fine on Android.
It also works fine on chromium (without any google involved) though I'd love to see a Firefox or ~~electrum~~ electron option.
I have it set up, but haven't tested it outside of grabbing my current location at my house. I use osmand~ (Open street map android) w/ Mozilla's location service. Seems like it'll work just fine
Go to this site, scroll down and download Service Core and Services Framework Proxy.
When you installed both APKs, go in the microG settings that you just installed, enable Device Registration, Cloud Messaging and SafetyNet. Make sure that under Cloud Messaging - - > three dots - - - > "confirm new apps" is turned off. This way every app registers automatically and you don't have to enable it manually.
After that, go back to the main menu screen and click on the top setting that should be called "self check" or something similar (I only have the app in German so I don't know the real translation). Make sure that all these boxes are checked.
Retstart the device and then maybe you have to reinstall the apps you still don't get notifications from.
Sometimes the notifications are very delayed (up to 30 minutes), but it is better than nothing I guess. It can also happen that an app doesn't work at all. If that happens there is sadly now way to fix this.
I hope this helped.
Tecnicamente li dai a microG, vanced da solo non permette login. Non è pericoloso, ma non sappiamo se Google possa svegliarsi tra 10 anni e dire "tu nel 2011 hai usato Vanced quindi ora ti banniamo" or something
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.
You can make your own services. This is like complaining you can't use a private road or going to someone else's house demanding the use of their pool. Like the person above said, Amazon has made their own services. If Google doesn't want their apps on a phone containing other app stores why should they be forced to put them there? It's their work, their copyright. For reference, people who make their own Android builds can use https://microg.org/ to improve their privacy and remove Google from their phones. Google services are not required for a working Android phone.
If you mean microG, that's just open source implementation of minimal Google services. It's generally considered safe to log-in to the microG, but I can't say you did anything wrong.
Consider visiting https://microG.org
I use Tasker with microg without issues. There are some actions for integrating with Google Drive that I personally have no use for, and therefore haven't tested, but I'm fairly certain they won't work.
That is correct, unless you root the phone (which I won't because it's an additional security risk).
If you install the F-droid app you can add repositories, this is the MicroG repo: https://microg.org/fdroid.html
Oh, very interesting! But wasn‘t GPS essential for 5G? I might remember that wrong tho. Still, even if it is, that doesn’t mean that it will work in android. However, using this as a replacement for the gplay services might actually fix something. Dunno. Just an idea.
>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.
The microG project had a way to pass (at least some levels of) SafetyNet checks, but it stopped working a few ~~weeks~~ months back. This issue report has some details, as well as a recent commit that might fix it.
Put !s behind your searches in DuckDuckGo if you don't find what you're looking for.
If you're on Android, try Youtube Vanced. It rips out a lot of the bad parts of Youtube yet still allows login via the https://microg.org/ project.
The article is misleading. It has nothing to do with Google voice assistant. The author confuses two different things. Voice assistant is just an app with (with too many privileges). It's good to disable it, but it won't stop other apps form spying on you.
What you need to do (at least), is to get Android 6 or higher and then revoke some privileges from apps like Facebook.
The best you can do right now is to install different ROM on your device (I recommend LineageOS) and ungoogle it. https://microg.org/ is very interesting project, they also provide degoogled LineageOS ROMs
You can use micro-g https://microg.org/ which replaces the google services and still offers the same functionalities. Take a look at xda-forums for details. You need to flash a custom rom but do not flash gapps. If the rom does not offer signature spoofing install xposed and the module fakegapps.
LineageOS doesn’t include Google services so it would get you what you want. One issue is that most Android apps rely on google services for functionality such as location services. There’s a project called MicroG that offers replacements for core Google services. There’s also a LineageOS based ROM that includes MicroG, you can find it here.
That is quite some thread. It's obvious most of the commenters just thought "'Google Play Services'? That's a weird way of referring to Google apps, but whatever." Yeah, I'm not sure where one would ask this sort of question. On /r/Android I suppose one should expect that sort of response; if you went to /r/fossdroid it'll be the other way most likely ("who would want Google play Services?").
I suppose I haven't tried the nomicroG route, so I'm not 100% on exactly what would and wouldn't work. I can see in Yalp that lots of apps 'require Google Play Services' - I don't know what happens without GooglePlayServices or microG with those. According to the microG page stuff that needs location services also benefit (assuming one wants those).
No, sorry, I was being a little snarky with that last bit; I've been trying to convince most of the people I know to just stop using it, because there's no reason something like Snapchat needs to use SafetyNet. They seem to think they're a banking app or something.
I don't have gapps installed either. However, that might also explain your problem: you either need gapps (specifically, Google Play Services), or microg. Snapchat (and most software you install from Yalp Store) will need something that implements the Google Play Services API, specifically, well, the SafetyNet API. ;)
(I have zero familiarity with Magisk, so have no idea what options are available to you there.)
Installing and using microg is a bit more effort than just doing regular Lineage updates, and because some things can fail in difficult-to-debug ways, I don't recommend it unless you know what you're doing and can self-diagnose issues. Installing gapps is pretty well-documented; see the wiki for details.
And if you're looking to up your privacy in general I'd take a look at microG. You can just uninstall Google Play Services and most apps will still work okay, but microG is an open source alternative to most of Google's services/APIs so you can use like 90% of apps without problems.
Google collects analytics about a lot of the same stuff (and more), and personally I don't trust Google with access to everything on my phone after some of the shady shit they've done recently :\
My custom build of LIneageOS, microG (instead of GApps), and sigma Kernel gives my N6 the best performance I've seen yet.
yes sir, that is right :)
Signal requires you to use Google Play (for the download) and Google Cloud Messaging (to receive and send messages). Google Cloud Messaging can be replaced with microG on systems like CopperheadOS and CyanogenMod to avoid proprietary software.
Cyanogenmod itself is a pretty secure and private OS, it is open-source so you can view the entire code on github. I don't know how their collaboration with Microsoft is going to impact their OS. You could root your phone and modify the hosts file on your phone (AdAway) in order to block ads. If you will root your phone, keep in mind that it makes your phone less secure. After you are rooted, you will be able to filter the whole traffic through tor using Orbot. You should also uninstall all Google apps including Google Play Services, if you really need Play Store / Google Play Services you can install microG which is an open-source re-implementation of Google Play Services (https://microg.org/).
Check this out. I have been using it for a few weeks and it seems to work pretty well, except for stuff like Hangouts. I just installed Google Voice and the Conversations app on F-Droid separately to solve that issue.
Well there is an alternative and open source version of Play Services called MicroG. It mostly works and will allow you to sign in and use Google Apps like Hangouts and YouTube, and there are even reports of the Google Play Store working with it. The only issue is you would have to have signature faking support, which CM does not include. You can either flash a ROM with signature faking support or use an Xposed module to add it.
They apparently have an F-Droid repo too so you can get automatic updates.
> Their lifeblood is collecting information so if there is some way they can do that through their hardware they will do it.
The thing is, no matter what phone, they will collect information. The only difference between a Pixel, and say, a Note, is that with the Note you are getting your data farmed by both Google and Samsung, as opposed to just Google. There is no evidence to suggest that Google increases its tracking capabilities via hardware.
> as far as I know there is spotty if any support for a lot of major apps
Both operating systems should have good compatibility with most apps. GrapheneOS uses a sandboxed version of Google Play Services, and CalyxOS uses microG. If you want to check out compatibility with microG or even no Play Services at all, check out Plexus. The only exception to this is banking apps, which may or may not work. It's very hit or miss with those.
> I was under the impression that it creates a fake-id, so it can download apps and use play services
Not really, check theirwebsite for more info.
> I only want my email to be associated with that app and not the OS.
Google loves to associate Gmail to a device, not sure how you're supposed to fix that, sorry. Maybe someone else knows?
Android is, just the Google services aren't. The bigger issue is that most smartphones are locked down in hardware. If you can get the bootloader unlocked on yours, you can just flash an AOSP ROM and use microG instead of Google services and you essentially have a free software phone that is still compatible with proprietary Android games.
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.
Some apps require Google Play Services. Without it, yoi cannot use them.
However, there is something called MicroG. It's an open source app that imitates Google Play Services without spying on you. I believe it should have been included with your OS, so try searching it in you system.
Just watch out with some of the services, I have read that it is possible to mess stuff up.
Safest I think so far is to just install the following.
MicroG aps - https://microg.org/download.html (bottom page, 5 apks)
APKpure - to browse for games
Brave Browser - for them pesky web-login on most games.
Going as far as signature spoofing to get the google account working is a bit of a stretch for me at the moment.
It isn't just the DDG mobile app. It's the same situation with Firefox Focus, and even private browsing on desktop. Nothing is ever truly gone, and it's been like this for years. I once got entire web pages out of Focus's cache (was messing around with an unlocked phone in TWRP).
If one happens to believe this could be a potential vulnerability, they must first remember that Play Services still can (and indeed, does) integrate with and monitor all 3rd party app activity, even with data collection and app activity disabled. It's why I recommend microG if you happen to need Play Services on a privacy-centric device.
Anyways, I'm getting paranoid and off topic again. TL;DR: They're probably not gonna fix this anytime soon.
Please specify model next time.
If you have an Honor 5X LineageOS.
It's easy, fast, and clean. Here is the download.
Additionally, instead of installing MindTheGapps or OpenGApps, consider microG.
Für Smartphones ist man etwas eingeschränkt. Die besten (oder einzigen?) Möglichkeiten, wenn du das ernst nehmen willst, sind
a) Linux-Geräte wie PinePhone oder Librem 5. Funktionieren meistens, hast auch tolle Apps, nur halt Linux apps statt bekannte Smartphone apps.
b) Entgooglete Android Handys mit AOSP und microG. microG ersetzt die Google Services durch deren eigene Stubs. Dadurch funktionieren ein Großteil der apps, lediglich keine Bezahl-Apps, viele Banking-Apps und ein paar andere.
I think you're mistaken, MicroG isn't just for YouTube Vanced. It's just Vanced happens to also use MicroG.
Many custom ROM users use MicroG in order to use Google services and app instead of the proprietary Google made version.
Absolutely. It's all open source. You have to install Vanced Manager. It will allow you to install the app(s) and updates. It installs microG, which is used in place of Google Play Services. You can run microG side by side with Google Play Services, so there's nothing to worry about there.
You can read about the microG project here. It's main purpose is to provide Android users with options outside of Google's API, but it also results in overall better apps.
Step1 : Uninstall google service
Step2 : Install microG from official website "https://microg.org/download.html" and download all apk and install all of them
Step3 : Go to microG framework service and give all app permission and enable auto start
Step 4 : reboot
Step 5: open play store which should be working now...
Step 5 : Dont download any app from Google LLC which do not work as of now as gms service is restricted on some of the mi device which was exclusively launch for china.
Install youtube -vanced from official website as youtube app will stop working by giving some working...
You can escape Google with Android just fine. What you likely can't do is escape Google with all your apps. Google's monopoly isn't on android, it is on the Google Play Services framework used by most apps. Location, instantaneous push notifications, the Play Store....they offer several services that are just too good for Android app developers not to use them, and there aren't competitive alternatives right now. People are working on it with projects like microG.