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Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

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Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#31

Post by saagarjha »

pzmarzly wrote: post #22
jmkni wrote: post #6

I'd love to know just how different/bare bones AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is to regular Android. As an experiment, I'd love to compile it, put it on a spare phone and use it as my daily driver for a week.

I was using clean LineageOS for over 2 years, recently switching to LineageOS+microG. I'm using APKPure and F-Droid for apps, Chrome for browsing (as in Firefox, last time I checked, one tap separates you from losing all open tabs). Some apps refuse to work or break (e.g. Bitwarden does not sync), some have degraded functionality (e.g. WhatsApp sometimes does not ring when someone is calling you), many are just spamm…

I’m surprised Chrome runs without Google Play Services.

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#32

Post by Tepix »

shawnz wrote: post #23

I think this is misleading. To me it seems the issue is that app developers are being forced to use the proprietary Firebase service, but they are NOT being forced to use a proprietary library from what I can tell. The library in fact DOES have an open source version available: https://firebaseopensource.com/projects/firebase/firebase-an...

Nope!

firebase-messaging is missing from this open source version.

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#33

Post by shawnz »

icebraining wrote: post #28
shawnz wrote: post #23

I think this is misleading. To me it seems the issue is that app developers are being forced to use the proprietary Firebase service, but they are NOT being forced to use a proprietary library from what I can tell. The library in fact DOES have an open source version available: https://firebaseopensource.com/projects/firebase/firebase-an...

From what I can tell, you need firebase-messaging, which doesn't seem to be on that list. Am I reading it wrong? Edit: seems I was reading correctly: https://github.com/firebase/firebase-android-sdk/issues/125#...

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#34

Post by icebraining »

kbumsik wrote: post #27

I'm not an Android dev, but according to the source in the article [1] this limitation is applied since Oreo, which is released two years ago. Why this problem arises today? [1]: https://github.com/Telegram-FOSS-Team/Telegram-FOSS/blob/mas...

Until April 11, 2019 you could use GCM instead of the Firebase system.

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#35

Post by megous »

Can this fall under system library exception?

For example if you're building mingw32 based GPL C app, you're linking to all kinds of windows system libraries and there's no need for them to be under GPL.

If this notification library is available to anyone on Android and is part of the Android system platform, can it be the same, like some DLL that does notifications on windows?

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#36

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

pzmarzly wrote: post #22
jmkni wrote: post #6

I'd love to know just how different/bare bones AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is to regular Android. As an experiment, I'd love to compile it, put it on a spare phone and use it as my daily driver for a week.

I was using clean LineageOS for over 2 years, recently switching to LineageOS+microG. I'm using APKPure and F-Droid for apps, Chrome for browsing (as in Firefox, last time I checked, one tap separates you from losing all open tabs). Some apps refuse to work or break (e.g. Bitwarden does not sync), some have degraded functionality (e.g. WhatsApp sometimes does not ring when someone is calling you), many are just spamm…

> Chrome for browsing (as in Firefox, last time I checked, one tap separates you from losing all open tabs).

I've been using Firefox on Android for a couple of years now and have literally never had that happen, so I'm intrigued now. Are you referring to "Close All Tabs" being next to "Private Browsing" in the dropdown? I can see how that could be fat-fingered but I've always used the icon instead of the dropdown.

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#37

Post by jeroenhd »

pzmarzly wrote: post #22
jmkni wrote: post #6

I'd love to know just how different/bare bones AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is to regular Android. As an experiment, I'd love to compile it, put it on a spare phone and use it as my daily driver for a week.

I was using clean LineageOS for over 2 years, recently switching to LineageOS+microG. I'm using APKPure and F-Droid for apps, Chrome for browsing (as in Firefox, last time I checked, one tap separates you from losing all open tabs). Some apps refuse to work or break (e.g. Bitwarden does not sync), some have degraded functionality (e.g. WhatsApp sometimes does not ring when someone is calling you), many are just spamm…

In my experience, Firefox with the Bitwarden addon installed syncs well without requiring you to install any Google services. The obvious downside being that you need to open Firefox to copy your password, but that can probably be worked around by adding a shortcut to the Bitwarden addon page to the home screen.

I don't know what you mean with "one tap away from losing all your tabs" though, perhaps you have an issue I haven't encountered yet. I personally never lose any Firefox tabs, even if I manage to make it crash somehow; I suppose what I'm trying to say is you might want to try Firefox again to see if the situation has improved.

As for maps and navigation, you might try Maps [0] or Here Maps [1] (if that runs without play services, I assume so with Microsoft behind it). Of course, an old copy of GMaps works fine, but Maps [0] is open source, which one might likely favour on a Google-less phone.

[0]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.axet.maps/ [1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.m...

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#38

Post by jmkni »

pzmarzly wrote: post #22
jmkni wrote: post #6

I'd love to know just how different/bare bones AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is to regular Android. As an experiment, I'd love to compile it, put it on a spare phone and use it as my daily driver for a week.

I was using clean LineageOS for over 2 years, recently switching to LineageOS+microG. I'm using APKPure and F-Droid for apps, Chrome for browsing (as in Firefox, last time I checked, one tap separates you from losing all open tabs). Some apps refuse to work or break (e.g. Bitwarden does not sync), some have degraded functionality (e.g. WhatsApp sometimes does not ring when someone is calling you), many are just spamm…

Will give that a go, thanks for the info!

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#39

Post by ddrager »

This has been coming for a while. We attempted to create a push-based notification system based on MQTT. It worked well, then the notifications started getting lost. Turns out, the receiver service was getting killed in the background. We found out the best way to get reliable notification was through Google's own GCM (which has now moved to Firebase Cloud Messaging.

We learned its incredibly difficult, if not impossible to build an app (with reliable notifications) that do not use Google services.

You can say its in an effort to maximize battery resources, which I totally understand, but by requiring a Google service (and now library) you are truly tied in to and reliant on their systems.

BTW, as others have pointed out, there are open source Firebase libraries (https://firebaseopensource.com/projects/firebase/firebase-an...)

Re: Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

#40

Post by mehrdadn »

pzmarzly wrote: post #22
jmkni wrote: post #6

I'd love to know just how different/bare bones AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is to regular Android. As an experiment, I'd love to compile it, put it on a spare phone and use it as my daily driver for a week.

I was using clean LineageOS for over 2 years, recently switching to LineageOS+microG. I'm using APKPure and F-Droid for apps, Chrome for browsing (as in Firefox, last time I checked, one tap separates you from losing all open tabs). Some apps refuse to work or break (e.g. Bitwarden does not sync), some have degraded functionality (e.g. WhatsApp sometimes does not ring when someone is calling you), many are just spamm…

Tangent, but can I ask what made you choose 9.69.1? I spent hours trying out a bunch of versions and ended up choosing 9.42.3 as it started up fast and was the last version that didn't have the "explore the city" nonsense taking up half the screen on startup. Curious what sweet spot you found in 9.69.1!
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