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Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

fxaguessy.fr

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Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#21

Post by a3n »

known wrote: post #10

G play services sucks phone battery

I actually don't use my phone much, and not at all for entertainment. Consequently my battery usually lasts three or four days. (Motorola G4).

Vaguely within the last week or two, no change in behavior, no new apps, that's been cut at least in half. One day it lasted less than a day.

I've got things like location and bluetooth turned off. I haven't been able to track it down. I'm wondering if it's a recent google or other app update. It's pissing me off.

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#22

Post by shostack »

fxaguessy wrote: post #14
known wrote: post #10

G play services sucks phone battery

That's completely true, on my previous phone (Nexus 4), as soon as I used Android Stock, without Google Play Services, my battery life increased by around 30%!

I have my Nexus 4 still until my Pixel XL arrives sometime mid March. It has gotten unbearably slow lately (navigation taking literally 1 min. or more to open up.

I tried to narrow down the cause via battery usage and OS Monitor but since all the tracking and ad related stuff apps use goes through Google Play Services I can't identify the culprit.

I assume routing ad and tracking related stuff and core functionality through there was so Google could lock down their open garden and prevent ad blockers from really blocking them. Bummer that iOS notifications are unusable for me.

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#23

Post by JulienSchmidt »

nebulous1 wrote: post #19
JulienSchmidt wrote: post #8

Time to mention https://microg.org/ / https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12864429 again. It's a FLOSS re-implementation of Google Play Services. It offers e.g.: * Optional completely offline geo location service via an on-phone database which often preserves battery and even works when no internet access is available. Online backends using e.g. Mozilla Location Service are also available * The often unavoidable Pus…

Anybody have the lowdown on what currently does/doesn't work with this? Specifically, which sort of apps work and which don't? Does this clone the google services framework or just google play services?

https://github.com/microg/android_packages_apps_GmsCore/wiki...

Wearable and Cast are often missed APIs. Contacts and Calendar sync is also not implemented yet. I can't think of any app that I personally used that doesn't work. That includes Google Maps and the Play Store. There were some crashes in the past, but microG became a lot more stable since then. However, I completely rely on my own infrastructure for mail and contacts / calendar sync (using DAVdroid).

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#24

Post by a3n »

home_boi wrote: post #15
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Strictly speaking Google Play Services is a rootkit. One that can be used remotely. And it contains heaps of invasive user tracking code. Is is pretty much malware.

Genuine question, what user tracking is there that isn't opt out?

How would I know for sure?

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#25

Post by trendia »

necessity wrote: post #13

Uber, Tinder, and other apps I use require Google Play Services in their latest version. They simply refuse to work without it and there is no web alternative. It's either downgrade to a bug-prone version or use Google Play Services. There is really no privacy on a fully functional Android Phone that isn't just email and phone services - though I guess if you're using Uber and Tinder there is no privacy one way or th…

The Economist magazine not only requires Google Play Services, but also access to your microphone. There is no way to disable that.

I cannot figure out why they would need such intrusive access -- there is no "speak" feature in their app that I'm aware of.

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#26

Post by codebeaker »

trendia wrote: post #25
necessity wrote: post #13

Uber, Tinder, and other apps I use require Google Play Services in their latest version. They simply refuse to work without it and there is no web alternative. It's either downgrade to a bug-prone version or use Google Play Services. There is really no privacy on a fully functional Android Phone that isn't just email and phone services - though I guess if you're using Uber and Tinder there is no privacy one way or th…

The Economist magazine not only requires Google Play Services, but also access to your microphone. There is no way to disable that. I cannot figure out why they would need such intrusive access -- there is no "speak" feature in their app that I'm aware of.

I've no evidence this is being used by The Economist's app - but this is "usually" the reason for this feature:

- https://www.wired.com/2016/11/block-ultrasonic-signals-didnt...

(not trying to spread FUD, endorse this practice or criticise in anyway, just trying to help the parent comment understand one potential "excuse" for an app "needing" this functionality for a non-obvious use-case.)

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#27

Post by JulienSchmidt »

xkxx wrote: post #11
JulienSchmidt wrote: post #8

Time to mention https://microg.org/ / https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12864429 again. It's a FLOSS re-implementation of Google Play Services. It offers e.g.: * Optional completely offline geo location service via an on-phone database which often preserves battery and even works when no internet access is available. Online backends using e.g. Mozilla Location Service are also available * The often unavoidable Pus…

> * Optional completely offline geo location service via an on-phone database which often preserves battery and even works when no internet access is available. Online backends using e.g. Mozilla Location Service are also available Sounds really cool! > * The often unavoidable Push notifications via Google Cloud Messaging while only sending minimal identifying data Can you elaborate, please?

> Can you elaborate, please?

Are you asking how it is unavoidable or how it is sending only minimal identifying data?

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#28

Post by Animats »

I use an Android phone without any Google services or a Google account. When I got the phone, it brought up a demand to sign in with a Google account. But there's a "Later" option to bypass that temporarily. Disabling "Google One Time Setup" made that go away.

Mail is the built-in IMAP client. Browsing is with Firefox. Apps come from F-droid. Maps come from ZNavi. It's OK.

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#29

Post by ocdtrekkie »

pjmlp wrote: post #9
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. Strictly speaking Google Play Services is a rootkit. One that can be used remotely. And it contains heaps of invasive user tracking code. Is is pretty much malware.

Yet on geek kingdom, bad Microsoft pushing W10 telemetry on us, but Google is cool and doesn't do no evil.

To be fair though, it is important that we continue to pressure Microsoft about their telemetry practices as well. Microsoft's business doesn't depend on data collection, and they could very easily return to not mandatorily collecting it, but our voices on the issue have not been loud enough yet. (And actually, as I recently discovered, Microsoft won't allow you to submit feedback about their apps unless telemetry is enabled at the Enhanced or Full levels on their OSes.)

But, I do agree that Google gets naturally positive response and Microsoft gets automatically negative response, even though many of their practices are quite similar.

Re: Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

#30

Post by baq »

shostack wrote: post #22
fxaguessy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's completely true, on my previous phone (Nexus 4), as soon as I used Android Stock, without Google Play Services, my battery life increased by around 30%!

I have my Nexus 4 still until my Pixel XL arrives sometime mid March. It has gotten unbearably slow lately (navigation taking literally 1 min. or more to open up. I tried to narrow down the cause via battery usage and OS Monitor but since all the tracking and ad related stuff apps use goes through Google Play Services I can't identify the culprit. I assume routing ad and tracking related stuff and core functionality…

It can be simply internal storage wear.
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