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Android without the mothership

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Re: Android without the mothership

#11

Post by iamshs »

privong wrote: post #2

I have been running this setup (Cyanogenmod + f-droid, no google apps) for the past 9 months and have been quite happy. I use owncloud for keeping my calendar, contacts, and files sync'ed. K9mail + APG for (signed/encrypted) email. As the article notes OsmAnd is workable, but the what is available through f-droid is 2 versions behind (apparently with low chance of future updates due to difficulties building it). Many…

This is really informative post for separating Android from Google, to the maximum extent for conscientious people. Location, contacts, wifi access points getting shared with Google very much annoys me. But I was even more peeved of Android when there was no way to store contacts locally. No option to store on the phone, but instead you had to save to google account. I am not doing that. So I went the whole hog and installed CyanogenMod and Xprivacy module (the least I could do). And also disabled Google contacts sync (this enables local storage, did not try it on stock android). So I am annoyed that Google is so invasive in gathering data, but also relish such a beautifully designed OS and the flexibility it provides. And also, appreciate the hard work of developers. Android makes so much possible.

Re: Android without the mothership

#12

Post by XorNot »

privong wrote: post #2

I have been running this setup (Cyanogenmod + f-droid, no google apps) for the past 9 months and have been quite happy. I use owncloud for keeping my calendar, contacts, and files sync'ed. K9mail + APG for (signed/encrypted) email. As the article notes OsmAnd is workable, but the what is available through f-droid is 2 versions behind (apparently with low chance of future updates due to difficulties building it). Many…

I keep looking for a lighterweight alternative to OwnCloud for Calendar/Contacts.

I really want to switchover to a proper CardDav/CalDav setup that actually supports "Tasks" in my calendar, exactly how Google doesn't and continually fails to.

Re: Android without the mothership

#13

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #10
zmmmmm wrote: post #3

I am wondering how long it is before we see an effort to do to Google Play Services what Google did to Java - copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideally one can then choose what to do from just stubbing them out, filling them with 3rd party alternatives, or providing custom implementations. I would th…

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: Android without the mothership

#14

Post by aikah »

zmmmmm wrote: post #3

I am wondering how long it is before we see an effort to do to Google Play Services what Google did to Java - copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideally one can then choose what to do from just stubbing them out, filling them with 3rd party alternatives, or providing custom implementations. I would th…

EDIT : wanted to update my message but deleted it!pasting it here :

the value of Android,for most people, is in Google services... not in Linux.People dont care what os android is running,the fact that it is Linux is irrelevant for them,(but not for google).

> copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideally one can then choose what to do from just stubbing them out, filling them with 3rd party alternatives, or providing custom implementations.

And who's going to copy all that,for you,for free?

> I would think a nice collaboration between Amazon, Microsoft, some Chinese players and maybe even Yahoo could do quite a nice job of this. And now you want to depend on Amazon and Microsoft and Yahoo,is that your vision of independence? And why Amazon or Microsoft would do that when they are pushing for their own closed mobile plateform?

Your message is basically "someone do something",not understanding what the success of the plateform is about : Google Services.And then you are calling to players that are even worse offenders than Google when it comes to closed plateforms. What you say makes no sense.

You cant run all the services Google provides for free , with no string attached ,it cannot work. And that's why mobile oses that dont provide these kind of services will flop,all of them,because people now feel entitled to get them for free.

Re: Android without the mothership

#15

Post by contingencies »

If you value privacy and freedom on your mobile devices, please consider supporting FirefoxOS and voting / rah-rahing over here for ad-hoc wifi and a networking / permissions overhaul to support arbitrary link-layers and granular connectivity. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=945047

Re: Android without the mothership

#17

Post by lnanek2 »

aikah wrote: post #14
zmmmmm wrote: post #3

I am wondering how long it is before we see an effort to do to Google Play Services what Google did to Java - copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideally one can then choose what to do from just stubbing them out, filling them with 3rd party alternatives, or providing custom implementations. I would th…

EDIT : wanted to update my message but deleted it!pasting it here : the value of Android,for most people, is in Google services... not in Linux.People dont care what os android is running,the fact that it is Linux is irrelevant for them,(but not for google). > copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideall…

Honestly, there already are quite a few cross platform solutions that try to copy everything and offer it free or in a freemium manner. I'd much rather right PushWoosh push messaging code then have to write iOS, Google, Amazon, etc. for example, so consider the cost well worth it even when it isn't free.

Re: Android without the mothership

#18

Post by jlujan »

privong wrote: post #2

I have been running this setup (Cyanogenmod + f-droid, no google apps) for the past 9 months and have been quite happy. I use owncloud for keeping my calendar, contacts, and files sync'ed. K9mail + APG for (signed/encrypted) email. As the article notes OsmAnd is workable, but the what is available through f-droid is 2 versions behind (apparently with low chance of future updates due to difficulties building it). Many…

>I have occasionally downloaded apps through one of the APK downloader services mentioned in the article comments -- I've had mixed luck.

One of the biggest issue of running Apps (open source or not) is the inclusion of the Play Store API in the app itself. These apps when not logged into the play store usually crash with NullPointerExceptions. Please... if you are an Android developer... expect your third-party services/APIs to be missing or to crash and handle that case... If you include the Map API or several other Google Services APIs in your app and the Play Store is missing or the user does not have a registered account... calls to those services will most likely result in NullPointerExceptions. Tell me to deal with it, don't crash.

Re: Android without the mothership

#19

Post by zurn »

mkozlows wrote: post #6

It seems notable that trying to run a modern computer without Google is about as quixotic as was trying to run a '90s-era computer without Microsoft.

PCs were for boring suit types in the 90s. Windows 3.1, ugh. Lots of people ran Amigas or Macs at home and RISC workstations at university or work. Then Linux happened and you could run something nice even on a PC. It involved tinkering but advancing by leaps and bounds, certainly not quixotic.
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