I'm back with a new project, something simple this time. I want to update the project very often but I need a tester because the project is still UNTESTED on any rom and I want to make it very good.
Info :
This is a package of apps that are essential to an Android fresh-installed user and are very useful but not included in Android. The apps are not games or anything like that, this is a pack of most used social networks and messengers and some apps that can help you with a lot of things.
Apps included :
Facebook
Yahoo Messenger
Yahoo Mail
Yahoo Weather Widget
SMS Backup & Restore
Youtube ( Latest version - 6.3.9 )
Changelog
# Version 1.0 @ 19.03.2013
- Initial Release
Status : UNTESTED ( I will update the status when someone will test the package, and be sure that if you test it you must be on a fresh-installed Android and you must make a backup before flashing the zip )
Download : Version 1.0 UNTESTED
This is like me going to the movies and while I am sitting in the chair you come and ask me if I want a ticket. Thank you for clogging the forums, this is why I never find anything.
Nice work man, but why people use this if they can find the apps easily in play store and why twitter is not included?
Sorry for my bad english
This is a package of apps that are essential to an Android fresh-installed user and are very useful but not included in Android. The apps are not games or anything like that, this is a pack of most used social networks and messengers and some apps that can help you with a lot of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's easier for newbie or fresh user to download from playstore rather than flash the package through CWM, am i right?
since i prefer many alternative
- i don't use facebook, i use friendcaster or fast
- i don't use yahoo messenger, i use whatsapp
- i don't use yahoo mail, i use gmail and k9]
and easier to download from playstore
I know a lot of people who don't have have 15-16 mins ( for 3G download ) and want to have some apps directly.. and flashing the zip right after installing a rom would be quite simple and less time.
EDIT: I'll include Twitter and What'sApp and a tool that can delete the programs if you don't use or like them.
So... I've searched for a similar thread, but I didn't found any so I decided to make a new one.
As I don't want to use any google services on my telephone I had to purge Play Store also. I've searched for alternatives. I came across Fdroid - actually the store I've searched for. The only problem I've faced is there are no proprietary apps. I try to reject using of proprietary software as much as possible, but many of my friends use proprietary chat apps like WhatsApp, Viber etc.
So I've searched a solution to get this proprietary apps without much tricks...just keep it simple. I came across Aptoid - another android store, but I didn't liked the idea behind very well - you can find lots cracked apps etc. and that is not what I am looking for. Second point is - all apps are outdated - so you are missing the new version of the apps and their security and performance fixes. It didn't suited my needs so I decided to purge Aptoide.
So... after a bit of research I founded another two solutions:
APKmirror - it is a website - there is no app for it. So If you want to use it you have to go to the website and download and install .apk manually (you also need to enable Untrusted Sources in your security settings). The website has very nice interface and it looks exactly as a normal appstore. I've bookmarked it and placed it on my homescreen - so it is usable - no pain in the *** at all. The packages seems to be "trusted" as the packet signature is checked with the one of the original developer. All apps are updated - you can even download beta versions (before they hit PlayStore) and if it goes wrong... you can easily downgrade to previous verions - very nice feature. This site is related to Android Police - as it is a good source in my opinion, I think the packages there are trust-able. Is there anyone who has additional info about APKmirror?
APKpure - the second solution I came across. I wasn't able to find any additional information about this source or any review so I really have no idea who is standing behind this project. Anyway... I downloaded several apps and I checked the app signature and it seems fine - every app I checked matched the original signature of the developer. There are also "Trusted" marks same as APKmirror. All of the apps are updated. It looks pretty much like APKmirror - there is no app, just website. You can easily update your applications too so it suit all my needs. Anyway... I would like to get some additional information about it... it seems to me like mirror of PlayStore but... anyone who knows more maybe?
Apkpure has a app that you can download. Just have to watch certain apps such as play games will update to the 038 version when I am completely updated to the 030 version in the play store. Apkmirror describes this on their website when you download certain apps. Just though you should know about the app.
One thing I miss Fromm the Google play store is Google games for backup of games data and achievements. When cyanogen finishes partnership with the social gaming network, play games or whatever it's called, I'll hopefully be able to get away from the Google play store. Course devs would have to enable those servers for achievements etc, which is a long shot. Till then helium is my best friend I guess.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Hi all.
I am considering to replace my vanilla LineageOS with the MicroG version.
I aim at prolonging the battery life and get rid of Google's Play Store Services, while keeping a bunch of Google apps: Gmail, Hangout and Maps.
Any experience? Anything relevant to report?
I am asking as the installation will likely require me a full reinstall (nothing I fear of, though).
https://github.com/microg/android_packages_apps_GmsCore/issues/467 You can't sign into google accounts in apps using the modern API. Google maps should work since you don't need to sign in and some gapps not updated to the new apis like google inbox too.
Hi I am using Nlos with microg for sometime now . whats not working out of my experience .Gmail ,google maps(need to use older version) alternatively use maps go ,backup on viber WhatsApp(if you want to use a backup you need to use older version again) some apps that use map api from Google
You will gain some battery but I believe microg has to do with getting free from Googles abusive practices and collecting personal information.
Google is collecting info of your location without your consent scanning your Gmail etc . (move away from Gmail that's my opinion)
Do a research of the apps you are daily using if and how they work under microg.
Note: The lists below are not necessarily in rank order. Choose the best products and services based on your own unique needs. Credits
Sven Taylor
Google search alternatives
When it comes to privacy, using Google search is not a good idea. When you use their search engine, Google is recording your IP address, search terms, user agent, and often a unique identifier, which is stored in cookies.
Here are ten alternatives to Google search:
Searx – A privacy-friendly and versatile metasearch engine that’s also open source.
MetaGer – An open source metasearch engine with good features, based in Germany.
SwissCows – A zero-tracking private search engine based in Switzerland, hosted on secure Swiss infrastructure.
Qwant – A private search engine based in France.
DuckDuckGo – A private search engine based in the US.
Mojeek – The only true search engine (rather than metasearch engine) that has its own crawler and index (based in the UK).
YaCy – A decentralized, open source, peer-to-peer search engine.
Givero – Based in Denmark, Givero offers more privacy than Google and combines search with charitable donations.
Ecosia – Ecosia is based in Germany and donates a part of revenues to planting trees.
*Note: With the exception of Mojeek, all of the private search engines above are technically metasearch engines, since they source their results from other search engines, such as Bing and Google.
Gmail alternatives
Gmail may be convenient and popular, but there are three major problems:
Your inbox is used as a data collection tool. (Did you know Google is tracking your purchasing history from the receipts in your inbox?)
Rather than seeing just emails, your email inbox is also used for ads and marketing.
The contents of your inbox are being shared with Google and other random third parties.
When you remain logged in to your Gmail account, Google can easily track your activities online as you browse different websites, which may be hosting Google Analytics or Google ads (Adsense).
Here are ten alternatives to Gmail that do well in terms of privacy:
Tutanota – based in Germany; very secure and private; free accounts up to 1 GB
Mailfence – based in Belgium; lots of features; free accounts up to 500 MB
Posteo – based in Germany; €1/mo with 14 day refund window
StartMail – based in Netherlands; $5.00/mo with 7 day free trial
Runbox – based in Norway; lots of storage and features; $1.66/mo with 30 day free trial
Mailbox.org – based in Germany; €1/mo with 30 day free trial
CounterMail – based in Sweden; $4.00/mo with 7 day free trial
Kolab Now – based in Switzerland; €4.41/mo with 30 day money-back guarantee
ProtonMail – based in Switzerland; free accounts up to 500 MB
Thexyz – based in Canada; $1.95/mo with 30 day refund window
Chrome alternatives
Google Chrome is a popular browser, but it’s also a data collection tool – and many people are taking notice. Just a few days ago, the Washington Post asserted that “Google’s web browser has become spy software,” with 11,000 tracker cookies observed in a single week.
Here are seven alternatives for more privacy:
Firefox browser – Firefox is a very customizable, open-source browser that is popular in privacy circles. There are also many different Firefox modifications and tweaks that will give you more privacy and security. (Also check out Firefox Focus, a privacy-focused version for mobile users.)
Iridium – Based on open source Chromium, Iridium offers numerous privacy and security enhancements over Chrome, source code here.
GNU IceCat – A fork of Firefox from the Free Software Foundation.
Tor browser – A hardened and secured version of Firefox that runs on the Tor network by default. (It also does a good job against browser fingerprinting.)
Ungoogled Chromium – Just as the name says, this is an open source version of Chromium that has been “ungoogled” and modified for more privacy.
Brave – Brave is another Chromium-based browser that is rather popular. It blocks trackers and ads by default (except for “approved” ads that are part of the “Brave Ads” network).
Waterfox – This is a fork of Firefox that is configured for more privacy by default, with Mozilla telemetry stripped out of the code.
Of course, there are other alternatives to Chrome, such as Safari (from Apple), Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi – but these also come with some privacy drawbacks.
Google Drive alternatives
If you’re looking for a secure cloud storage option, you can check out these Google Drive alternatives:
Tresorit – A user-friendly cloud storage option based in Switzerland.
ownCloud – An open source and self-hosted cloud platform developed in Germany.
Nextcloud – Nextcloud is also an open source, self-hosted file sharing and collaboration platform, based in Germany.
Sync – Based in Canada, Sync offers a secure, encrypted cloud storage solution for businesses and individuals.
Syncthing – Here we have a decentralized, open source, peer-to-peer cloud storage platform.
Of course, Dropbox is another popular Google drive alternative, but it’s not the best in terms of privacy.
Google Calendar alternative
Here are some Google Calendar alternatives:
Lightning Calendar is an open source calendar option developed by Mozilla, and it’s compatible with Thunderbird and Seamonkey.
Etar, an open source, basic calendar option.
Fruux, an open source calendar with good features and support for many operating systems.
For those wanting a combined solution for both email and calendar functionality, these providers offer that:
Mailfence
Kolab Now
Posteo.de
Mailbox.org
Tutanota
Google Docs / Sheets / Slides alternative
There are many solid Google Docs alternatives available. The largest offline document editing suite is, of course, Microsoft Office. As most people know, however, Microsoft is not the best company for privacy. Nonetheless, there are a few other good Google Docs alternatives:
CryptPad – CryptPad is a privacy-focused alternative with strong encryption, and it’s free.
Etherpad – A self-hosted collaborative online editor that’s also open source.
Mailfence Documents – From the Mailfence team, this is a secure file sharing, storage, and collaboration tool.
Zoho Docs – This is another good Google Docs alternative with a clean interface and good functionality, although it may not be the best for privacy.
OnlyOffice – OnlyOffice feels a bit more restricted than some of the other options in terms of features.
Cryptee – This is a privacy-focused platform for photo and document storage and editing. It’s open source and based in Estonia.
LibreOffice (offline) – You can use LibreOffice which is free and open source.
Apache OpenOffice (offline) – Another good open source office suite.
Google Photos alternative
Here are a few good Google Photos alternatives:
Piwigo – Piwigo is a great option that you can self-host. It is also free and open source.
Lychee – Lychee is another self-hosted, open source photo management platform.
Cryptee – Mentioned already above, Cyrptee is also a great option for securely storing photos.
Shoebox was another alternative, but it closed operations in June 2019.
YouTube alternatives
Unfortunately, YouTube alternatives can really be hit or miss, with most struggling to gain popularity.
Peertube
DTube
*****ute
invidio.us
Vimeo
Bit.tube
Dailymotion
Hooktube
Tip: Invidio.us is a great Youtube proxy that allows you to watch any Youtube video without logging in, even if the video is somehow restricted. To do this, simply replace [www.youtube.com] with [invidio.us] in the URL you want to view.
Google translate alternative
Here are a few Google translate alternatives I have come across:
DeepL – DeepL is a solid Google Translate alternative that seems to give great results. Like Google Translate, DeepL allows you to post up to 5,000 characters at a time (but the pro version is unlimited). The user interface is good and there is also a built-in dictionary feature.
Linguee – Linguee does not allow you to post large blocks of text like DeepL. However, Linguee will give you very accurate translations for single words or phrases, along with context examples.
dict.cc – This Google Translate alternative seems to do a decent job on single-world lookups, but it also feels a bit outdated.
Swisscows Translate – A good translation service supporting many languages.
If you want to translate blocks of text, check out DeepL. If you want in-depth translations for single words or phrases, then Linguee is a good choice.
Google analytics alternative
For website admins, there are many reasons to use an alternative to Google analytics. Aside from privacy concerns, there are also faster and more user-friendly alternatives that also respect your visitors’ privacy.
Clicky is a great alternative to Google Analytics that truncates and anonymizes visitor IP addresses by default. It is lightweight, user-friendly, and fully compliant with GDPR regulations, while also being certified by Privacy Shield.
Matomo (formerly Piwik) is an open-source analytics platform that respects the privacy of visitors by anonymizing and truncating visitor IP addresses (if enabled by the website admin). It is also certified to respect user privacy.
Fathom Analytics is an open source alternative to Google Analytics that’s available on Github here. It’s minimal, fast, and lightweight.
Get Insights – Another privacy-focused analytics platform, with a full analytics suite. The front-end client is open source and available here.
AT Internet is a France-based analytics provider that is fully GDPR compliant, with all data stored on French servers, and a good track record going back to 1996.
Many websites host Google Analytics because they run Google Adsense campaigns. Without Google Analytics, tracking performance of these campaigns would be difficult. Nonetheless, there are still better options for privacy.
Google Maps alternative
A map alternative for PCs is OpenStreetMap.
A few Google Maps alternatives for mobile devices include:
OsmAnd is a free and open-source mobile maps app for both Android and iOS (based on OpenStreetMap data).
Maps (F Droid) uses OpenStreetMap data (offline).
Maps.Me is another option that is free on both Android and iOS, but there is a fair amount of data collection with this alternative, as explained in their privacy policy.
MapHub is also based on OpenStreeMap data and it does not collect locations or user IP addresses.
Note: Waze is not an “alternative” as it is now owned by Google.
Google Play Store alternative
Currently the best Google Play Store alternative is to use F-Droid and then go through the Yalp store. As explained on the official site, F-Droid is an installable catalog of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform.
After you have installed F-Droid, you can then download the Yalp store APK, which allows you to download apps from the Google Play Store directly as APK files.
I have tried alternatives for all Google products, the only ones i miss are Google Map & Google Duo and Google Family Link, remaining are already covered.
Amazon Photos or Piktures is a good alternative to Google Photos
Perfect List,
Is there a list of apps that can handle google hosted stuff like contacts, calendars and gmail ?
I'm using the Microsoft Office suite:
- Outlook for mails accounts, agendas and contacts
- One Drive for storage and pictures
- Translator
Others :
Opera browser with privacy and VPN.
Tubemate for Youtube
Google Maps is working fine without account
youn54 said:
I'm using the Microsoft Office suite:
- Outlook for mails accounts, agendas and contacts
- One Drive for storage and pictures
- Translator
Others :
Opera browser with privacy and VPN.
Tubemate for Youtube
Google Maps is working fine without account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you sync your outlook contacts with the Phone?
Does a Free outlook account support this function ?
Hello! I have installed Yalp Store but unable to login by trying both ways, i.e. Yalp store builtin account and my own google account. Please help me
JazonX said:
How do you sync your outlook contacts with the Phone?
Does a Free outlook account support this function ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am deciding between outlook and yahoo .. both look very nice and a nice change after a long time with google.
JazonX said:
How do you sync your outlook contacts with the Phone?
Does a Free outlook account support this function ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just migrated my gmail - emails, calendar and contacts to outlook. So far it works great.
JazonX said:
How do you sync your outlook contacts with the Phone?
Does a Free outlook account support this function ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.bettercloud.com/monitor/the-academy/how-to-import-migrate-gmail-contacts-to-outlook/
Hi,
good work, this topic, here's my (little) contribution :
Youtube Alternative :
- NewPipe
- Skytube
All available on F-Droid.
Good post. Best list of google play 'Application'.
I use nextcloud for cloud and office.
Mailcow as emailserver, syncing Contacts amd Calendars with exchange sync.
I use digital as a calendar, I think it was one of the first ones to have a dark theme on android
Enviado do meu CLT-L09 através do Tapatalk
Anyone knows a proper authenticator app? Like Microsoft Authenticator, Auty or Authenticator Plus (all not available (yet) in Central Europe) available in the AppGallery?
In My Opinion And Usage.
Vanced Is Best Alternative For YouTube.
Mega Is Superior In Space And Management From Google Drive.
usdy said:
Anyone knows a proper authenticator app? Like Microsoft Authenticator, Auty or Authenticator Plus (all not available (yet) in Central Europe) available in the AppGallery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
you can find a lot of authenticator apps with f-droid.
Good and sure open source appmarket.
Hi, exists any alternative to use Google Chat and Google Meet?. I use this apps to work, and cant live without this....
Assistant and music
Is anyone able to tell me if it's possible to change the default assistant app to say alexa? As well, do music subscription services work?
You can't live without gsms because we have apps paid in Google store and without Google services P40 pro can't read them
IntroductionAs the title says. We'll remove as many google things as we can. We'll replace missing functionality with microG.
This is not meant to be an extensive guide. Just a quick write up of my experience de-googling the device.
I bought this device without doing much research and was a bit bummed when I realized there's no custom ROMs for it. One unofficial build of lineage is on here, but a little known feature, called the phone app, did not work for me, so that wasn't an option. I used it with google for a while but I wanted control of the device back. I didn't find many comprehensive tutorials on how to do this without using custom ROMs, so I thought I'd make a quick and dirty one.
What's the goal?
Remove google services from the Nord CE 5G without installing any custom ROM
Get full microG functionality (all the checkmarks)
Replace sync functionality for calendar, contacts, photos, etc with NextCloud.
What's not the goal?
Fully pass safetynet
Get special google functionality such as chromecast and google pay
Verify play store purchases
Who is this for?This is basically for me 2 days ago. You have some experience messing about with android, but you don't really know what you're doing most of the time.
What you need
Oneplus Nord CE 5G already rooted with Magisk (I won't explain how to since there are plenty of guides)
A file manager with root access. I use fx file explorer
f-droid
Step 1: Disable all google things (or as many as you would like)There are ways to fully remove google apps over adb, but I wasn't sure if this whole thing would work and moreover, I couldn't be bothered. I took the simple and safe way out and recommend you to to the same. Just go to [settings -> apps & notifications], then disable google play services and all other google apps you want to remove. Surprisingly I was actually able to fully uninstall google play services after disabling it.
I disabled every google app on my phone, but you can pick and choose. Some might not work as expected.
Step 2: Install microGUnfortunately there are too many apps that depend on some part of google play services to function, even if they have nothing to do with google. Luckily people have recognized this problem and we have migroG, which aims to replace at least the basic features of google play services.
This is where I started to be confused. When visiting https://microg.org/download.html you'll see a bunch of apk's without much explanation. I was under the impression you'd have to install this as a system app or something, but apparently not. You can just install the apks using the normal installer. I also though you'd need to install all of these, but you really only need Services Core. It seems it has all the others baked in. You can choose to install this through their f-droid repo as well as explained on the microg page. Choose your poison.
Step 3: Making sure microG actually worksAfter installing microG, you'll have an app called microG settings. It has a fun little button on top called self-check and if you click it you'll see a bunch of boxes, only some of which are checked. This is where the fun starts, because we will start to increase the number of checked boxes.
PermissionsSome of these boxes are just permissions that are missing. So we jump to [settings -> apps and notifications -> microG Services Core -> Permissions] and grant all of them (or some). We also want to allow microG to always run in the background, so in app info we also click [Advanced -> Battery -> Battery optimization] and select Don't optimise. OnePlus' battery management is the absolute worst so let's hope that will do what it says.
Account and device registrationmicroG allows to register a google account. This will allow you to use google login in apps like youtube. My personal goal is to not use any google service in the long run so I skipped this.
Google device registration means that your device will be registered with google. I enabled this to get access to google cloud messaging. Some apps need this for notifications. If you leave this off, I believe microG does not talk to google at all.
Signature spoofingNow we're missing some checkmarks related to something called signature spoofing. I don't fully understand it, but it's basically the ability of microG to act as if it is the real play services (or any app to act as if it's any other app). By default this is made impossible because of obvious security risks. There are many ways of getting signature spoofing to work, and therefore plenty of ways to get lost in the weeds.
The method I used is as follows
Install LSPosed zygisk release module using Magisk Manager.
There are zygisk and riru releases. I don't know what these are. If you can't find zygisk in your magisk settings (gear icon top right), you probably need to install riru and use the riru release.
Now navigate to /data/adb/lspd/ and you'll see a file called manager.apk. Install it and open the app.
Now click the download button on the bottom left and search for fakegapps. After clicking it you can click the up arrow on the top right to go to the website. Here you'll find an apk that you have to install.
back in the LSPosed manager, click modules -> FakeGapps. Enable for microG Services Core. It is recommended not to enable any other apps.
Now signature spoofing related features should work.
LocationAfter all of this, location in OpenStreetMaps wasn't working and I thought there was no way to get it working.
It turns out I was just an idiot...
Apparently microG takes FOSS seriously enough to give you a choice of location backend. Simply search f-droid for "nlp" and you'll find a bunch of different options. I used one called Local NLP Backend Location since I see no reason for my location service to communicate with any server. After installing, you can enable the provider in microG location settings.
Step 4: Getting back some functionalityPlay store appsNow we would all like to ditch the play store altogether, but it's just a little too convenient. Luckily there is the Aurora store, which allows to download google play apps without the google play store. If you also install Aurora Services through Magisk, it will be as convenient as the real play store.
Cloud syncingI like to be able to cloud sync photos, calendars, contacts, and notes, so I'd like a solution that is tied to google. I've found that nextcloud works quite well for these purposes. NextCloud is an open source cloud solution with plenty independent providers and the ability to host yourself. I made an account at thegood.cloud, but will probably create my own host at some point.
The nextcloud app can take care of syncing photos and files from your phone.
To synchronize calendars and contacts, there is an app called DAVx5 from f-droid. This app allows you to log into your nextcloud account and you can tell it to sync your contact and calendar. This app is based on the open DAV standard, which is supported by most calendar and contact apps.
To synchronize notes over nextcloud, I use an app called Quillnote. This was actually how I discovered nextcloud in the first place.
ConclusionThis whole process was a lot less painful than I anticipated at first. There is some lost functionality but most things really work fine. Lots of apps will start bothering you and send notifications that they are broken without play services, but I have not seen any of them have any issues. The notifications can be turned off, but unfortunately only one by one.
Updates will probably be a pain since you'll have to go through this whole process again, but who's really expecting major updates for this phone anymore?
Security is likely compromised but not to an extent I'm worried about.
Notnearlynovel said:
IntroductionAs the title says. We'll remove as many google things as we can. We'll replace missing functionality with microG.
This is not meant to be an extensive guide. Just a quick write up of my experience de-googling the device.
I bought this device without doing much research and was a bit bummed when I realized there's no custom ROMs for it. One unofficial build of lineage is on here, but a little known feature, called the phone app, did not work for me, so that wasn't an option. I used it with google for a while but I wanted control of the device back. I didn't find many comprehensive tutorials on how to do this without using custom ROMs, so I thought I'd make a quick and dirty one.
What's the goal?
Remove google services from the Nord CE 5G without installing any custom ROM
Get full microG functionality (all the checkmarks)
Replace sync functionality for calendar, contacts, photos, etc with NextCloud.
What's not the goal?
Fully pass safetynet
Get special google functionality such as chromecast and google pay
Verify play store purchases
Who is this for?This is basically for me 2 days ago. You have some experience messing about with android, but you don't really know what you're doing most of the time.
What you need
Oneplus Nord CE 5G already rooted with Magisk (I won't explain how to since there are plenty of guides)
A file manager with root access. I use fx file explorer
f-droid
Step 1: Disable all google things (or as many as you would like)There are ways to fully remove google apps over adb, but I wasn't sure if this whole thing would work and moreover, I couldn't be bothered. I took the simple and safe way out and recommend you to to the same. Just go to [settings -> apps & notifications], then disable google play services and all other google apps you want to remove. Surprisingly I was actually able to fully uninstall google play services after disabling it.
I disabled every google app on my phone, but you can pick and choose. Some might not work as expected.
Step 2: Install microGUnfortunately there are too many apps that depend on some part of google play services to function, even if they have nothing to do with google. Luckily people have recognized this problem and we have migroG, which aims to replace at least the basic features of google play services.
This is where I started to be confused. When visiting https://microg.org/download.html you'll see a bunch of apk's without much explanation. I was under the impression you'd have to install this as a system app or something, but apparently not. You can just install the apks using the normal installer. I also though you'd need to install all of these, but you really only need Services Core. It seems it has all the others baked in. You can choose to install this through their f-droid repo as well as explained on the microg page. Choose your poison.
Step 3: Making sure microG actually worksAfter installing microG, you'll have an app called microG settings. It has a fun little button on top called self-check and if you click it you'll see a bunch of boxes, only some of which are checked. This is where the fun starts, because we will start to increase the number of checked boxes.
PermissionsSome of these boxes are just permissions that are missing. So we jump to [settings -> apps and notifications -> microG Services Core -> Permissions] and grant all of them (or some). We also want to allow microG to always run in the background, so in app info we also click [Advanced -> Battery -> Battery optimization] and select Don't optimise. OnePlus' battery management is the absolute worst so let's hope that will do what it says.
Account and device registrationmicroG allows to register a google account. This will allow you to use google login in apps like youtube. My personal goal is to not use any google service in the long run so I skipped this.
Google device registration means that your device will be registered with google. I enabled this to get access to google cloud messaging. Some apps need this for notifications. If you leave this off, I believe microG does not talk to google at all.
Signature spoofingNow we're missing some checkmarks related to something called signature spoofing. I don't fully understand it, but it's basically the ability of microG to act as if it is the real play services (or any app to act as if it's any other app). By default this is made impossible because of obvious security risks. There are many ways of getting signature spoofing to work, and therefore plenty of ways to get lost in the weeds.
The method I used is as follows
Install LSPosed zygisk release module using Magisk Manager.
There are zygisk and riru releases. I don't know what these are. If you can't find zygisk in your magisk settings (gear icon top right), you probably need to install riru and use the riru release.
Now navigate to /data/adb/lspd/ and you'll see a file called manager.apk. Install it and open the app.
Now click the download button on the bottom left and search for fakegapps. After clicking it you can click the up arrow on the top right to go to the website. Here you'll find an apk that you have to install.
back in the LSPosed manager, click modules -> FakeGapps. Enable for microG Services Core. It is recommended not to enable any other apps.
Now signature spoofing related features should work.
LocationAfter all of this, location in OpenStreetMaps wasn't working and I thought there was no way to get it working.
It turns out I was just an idiot...
Apparently microG takes FOSS seriously enough to give you a choice of location backend. Simply search f-droid for "nlp" and you'll find a bunch of different options. I used one called Local NLP Backend Location since I see no reason for my location service to communicate with any server. After installing, you can enable the provider in microG location settings.
Step 4: Getting back some functionalityPlay store appsNow we would all like to ditch the play store altogether, but it's just a little too convenient. Luckily there is the Aurora store, which allows to download google play apps without the google play store. If you also install Aurora Services through Magisk, it will be as convenient as the real play store.
Cloud syncingI like to be able to cloud sync photos, calendars, contacts, and notes, so I'd like a solution that is tied to google. I've found that nextcloud works quite well for these purposes. NextCloud is an open source cloud solution with plenty independent providers and the ability to host yourself. I made an account at thegood.cloud, but will probably create my own host at some point.
The nextcloud app can take care of syncing photos and files from your phone.
To synchronize calendars and contacts, there is an app called DAVx5 from f-droid. This app allows you to log into your nextcloud account and you can tell it to sync your contact and calendar. This app is based on the open DAV standard, which is supported by most calendar and contact apps.
To synchronize notes over nextcloud, I use an app called Quillnote. This was actually how I discovered nextcloud in the first place.
ConclusionThis whole process was a lot less painful than I anticipated at first. There is some lost functionality but most things really work fine. Lots of apps will start bothering you and send notifications that they are broken without play services, but I have not seen any of them have any issues. The notifications can be turned off, but unfortunately only one by one.
Updates will probably be a pain since you'll have to go through this whole process again, but who's really expecting major updates for this phone anymore?
Security is likely compromised but not to an extent I'm worried about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the lineageos thread there is one version of LOS without gapps however its security patch is outdated. I also believe that LOS fan edition doesn't come with gapps by default though I have yet to try that rom.
Fisuxcel said:
In the lineageos thread there is one version of LOS without gapps however its security patch is outdated. I also believe that LOS fan edition doesn't come with gapps by default though I have yet to try that rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and I did install it previously but the phone app stopped working and overall it was a bit buggy for me. Not everyone seems to have this issue so you might want to give it a try.
Doesn"t seem to work on OOS 12
At microG Service Core install I think I must be missing something, it tells me the package is already installed, though I've deleted correctly the com.google.android.gms package (and of course almost everything related)
I've reinstalled the Play Services and Services Framework from Google for now to make my phone work again until a solution is found