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Effectively Using Android Without Google Play Services with Gplayweb in Docker

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

#31

Post by glogla »

Animats wrote: post #28

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.

Sure, but sometimes you want app that's only in play store - maybe Signal (if you trust the creator), maybe e-banking app, or local transport app, or Waze, or whatever.

Some bigger apps are on apkmirror.com, but smaller ones aren't uploaded very often, so this might be a way to get them.

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

#32

Post by bishnu »

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…

Uber has a web client. I used it a few times from a laptop when I was without a phone (coincidentally, left it on an uber). Does it not work from mobile devices?

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

#33

Post by ocdtrekkie »

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…

You'll find this the case with most location-dependent apps like Uber (to find you) and Tinder (to find people near you). Google nudged most of these apps over to using the proprietary Google Location Services API for this sort of stuff, because of their Wi-Fi triangulation feature.

Whether or not these apps work with MicroG, I don't know.

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

#34

Post by crdoconnor »

hoschicz wrote: post #2

What is the worst thing about G Play Services you can't turn off?

I blocked mine from using body sensors, microphone and camera and it now complains that it needs them whenever I fire up the gmail app.

It doesn't. Gmail works fine. It still whinges though.

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

#35

Post by trendia »

codebeaker wrote: post #26
trendia wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.)

Thanks for the link -- that would explain why so many apps need access to the mic.

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

#36

Post by deep_attention »

Or you can just install Yalp Store from F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.github.yerio...) and download the apps from the Google Play Store directly to your device. You can also easily update your apps with Yalp Store.

Another possibility is to use the Java software Raccoon on your Desktop, available here: http://raccoon.onyxbits.de/

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

#37

Post by bruce_one »

bishnu wrote: post #32
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…

Uber has a web client. I used it a few times from a laptop when I was without a phone (coincidentally, left it on an uber). Does it not work from mobile devices?

The desktop version doesn't (iirc) but they have a mobile website version, but you have to raise a support ticket manually to get access (or else you get an indistinguishable "permission denied"-like error). It's an odd requirement.... And infitely frustrating :-p

The mobile website works fairly well :-)

I actually thought this might be an avenue for someone like Lyft to excel, but alas they didn't seem any better, iirc...

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

#38

Post by [deleted] »

JulienSchmidt wrote: post #23
nebulous1 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

[deleted]

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

#39

Post by deep_attention »

JulienSchmidt wrote: post #23
nebulous1 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

HERE WeGo (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.m...) is a good alternative to Google Maps. Does not need Google Services installed and you can download the maps to your device, even to an external sd card.

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

#40

Post by ycmbntrthrwaway »

deep_attention wrote: post #36

Or you can just install Yalp Store from F-Droid ( https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.github.yerio... ) and download the apps from the Google Play Store directly to your device. You can also easily update your apps with Yalp Store. Another possibility is to use the Java software Raccoon on your Desktop, available here: http://raccoon.onyxbits.de/

Basically the author created web interface to similar APK downloader. At least Docker is completely unrelated.
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