Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Android without Google

bytemybits.gitlab.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 102 posts

Re: How to Android without Google

#81

Post by smichel17 »

ren01r wrote: post #39
627467 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What Google services? MicroG replaces most (if not all) Google services.

Wouldn't accessing Google services from an unofficial client violate the Google ToS? I'm also concerned about the Yalp store mentioned in the article which is introduced as a way to install Play Store apps without actually using Play store. Based on my reading, Google bans and locks out accounts without any remedial measures regularly.

I've been using yalp store through a secondary account only for that purpose, in case it does get banned. Hasn't happened yet, though (~6 months).

Re: How to Android without Google

#82

Post by petecox »

krn wrote: post #22
0x6c6f6c wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is Copperheads supports for not using or fully replacing Google Play Services? Microg has built Lineage images so those are fairly accessible. Any word on Copperhead doing anything like that?

This is CopperheadOS lead developer's take on microG: https://www.reddit.com/r/CopperheadOS/comments/77i687/microg...

NB: LineageOS has similar sentiments and did not accept patches to enable microG.

Thus microG maintains its own fork of LineageOS; the microG team would need to fork Copperhead.

Re: How to Android without Google

#83

Post by MajorSauce »

I have made a habit to de-americanize my products and went with a Xiaomi phone (the Mi Mix 2) and installed LOS on it.

The only thing I am really missing is Google Maps and its precise, actual traffic augmented, predictions.

I've tried Waze, Bing and OSM, but there is always something missing.

Re: How to Android without Google

#84

Post by greenhouse_gas »

sigfubar wrote: post #34
d33 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> doesn't do Oreo Well I call bullshit: https://www.lineageos.org/Changelog-16/ As for why the device was dropped, go ask the maintainer. They're probably volunteers and it might be that one of them just stopped having time to do that. I don't think they're actually paid for porting LOS.

Somehow this sort of thing never happened to a recent device like the S7 back in the days of CM, before it became Cyanogen Inc. Between the death of Cyanogen Inc. and the birth of LOS a crucial ingredient appears to have been lost, leaving the project as a whole less vital that it was before.

The secret ingredient is cash.

Re: How to Android without Google

#85

Post by A2017U1 »

rightos wrote: post #12
giancarlostoro wrote: post #5

I'm considering the Essential Phone for my next phone and just putting Lineage OS or something on it. Not sure of another phone that I can get for that price range (under $500) that is unlocked and not bloatware filled. Definitely going to be reading a number of articles like these. Though I might try not installing the Google* apps on it period.

Essential died, I'd look at Android One devices like the Nokia 6 or Xiaomi Mi A1.

The regular security patches on Mi A1 is such a joy to see, especially for a phone in that price range.

They offer an official bootloader unlock too.

Re: How to Android without Google

#86

Post by A2017U1 »

forapurpose wrote: post #75
Animats wrote: post #55

Enable Google device registration Enable Google Cloud Messaging I run Android without Google. I bought a new phone, and when I powered it up, it tried to get me to "sign into Google". I declined. I downloaded F-Droid. Then I disabled every Google thing that could be disabled.After that, all apps came from F-Droid. Mail is via K-9 mail and an IMAP server. Browsing is Fennec F-Droid, which is Firefox minus some unwante…

Last time I looked at it, maybe a couple of years ago, the parent's approach was not nearly sufficient if you don't want your phone communicating with Google. There was so much, including things baked into Android, that it would have been a full time job to identify and find solutions to everything. The only hope was another OS (including Android forks/ROMs), and none of those available at the time seemed sufficient…

>I'm pretty sure Android uses Google's DNS and that is hard to change.

DNS66 from the fdroid store. Doesn't require root either.

Re: How to Android without Google

#87

Post by beenBoutIT »

rightos wrote: post #12
giancarlostoro wrote: post #5

I'm considering the Essential Phone for my next phone and just putting Lineage OS or something on it. Not sure of another phone that I can get for that price range (under $500) that is unlocked and not bloatware filled. Definitely going to be reading a number of articles like these. Though I might try not installing the Google* apps on it period.

Essential died, I'd look at Android One devices like the Nokia 6 or Xiaomi Mi A1.

Android One is the future of Android.

Re: How to Android without Google

#88

Post by procinct »

bitL wrote: post #58
paradite wrote: post #48

It is pretty interesting that people outside China are trying hard to get rid of Google on Android. Whereas people buying phones in China are getting Android without Google by default and trying hard to install Google play services (those who travel or live oversea).

Not that interesting TBH. In Germany people are trying to get on Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn right now, when people in the US are trying to escape them. It's simply a new thing marketed there.

Germany doesn't have access to FB/Instagram/LinkedIn?

Re: How to Android without Google

#89

Post by beenBoutIT »

As an Android developer I'm biased, but it's important to remember that there literally would be no Android if it weren't for Google. Custom ROMs have lagged behind Google factory images in every way for years now, and they aren't anywhere near as reliable as a customized AOSP image. On a separate note, there's no substitute for Google Maps, and there never will be.

Re: How to Android without Google

#90

Post by Animats »

Couto wrote: post #57
Animats wrote: post #55

Enable Google device registration Enable Google Cloud Messaging I run Android without Google. I bought a new phone, and when I powered it up, it tried to get me to "sign into Google". I declined. I downloaded F-Droid. Then I disabled every Google thing that could be disabled.After that, all apps came from F-Droid. Mail is via K-9 mail and an IMAP server. Browsing is Fennec F-Droid, which is Firefox minus some unwante…

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to have Mozilla as a location provider? I hope i'm wrong here, but as far as I can tell. You need either google services or unifiedNLP from microG to achieve that. I say this, because I run LineageOS without Gapps and I could never make it work with Mozilla's location provider. The lack of geolocation is the only thing bothering me to be honest.

Mozilla UnifiedNLP Backend (no GAAPS) installed via F-Droid.

[1] https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichna...

Post reply on HN