Downsides of using Playstore

schweizer

For many paid apps there is no way around downloading and buying them in Google Play store. What do I sacrifice when I log into Play store once? Does it after all matter if I log out afterwards? Assume the Play store account is linked via credit card to my real name.

mmmm

schweizer you sacrifice privacy, potentially. You give the chance for google to create a profile of you. you can mitigate somewhat by using a new email not linked to you and buying giftcards.

other8026

schweizer if you compare to the stock OS, you're not really losing that much since Google Play is a normal app on GrapheneOS, so it doesn't get any special access to anything.

I'd suggest reading through this section of the website: https://grapheneos.org/faq#hardware-identifiers and the one following it on non-hardware identifiers. You'll get an idea of what normal apps can access.

schweizer Does it after all matter if I log out afterwards?

This is unknown since Google Play and other Google apps are closed source, but theoretically they can use ANDROID_ID or some other ID that the app saves to storage which might not be cleared when logging out.

DeletedUser115

schweizer You can mitigate most of the privacy concerns by using Play Store in a different user profile.

One way to do it is to install/update apps via Play Store in the Owner profile, then disable Play Store, Play Services and Play Services Framework apps. Use a secondary user profile as a daily driver where all your apps are installed and used.

N1b

schweizer If you already paid for the apps and don't want to pay again with new anonymous account and giftcards, I'd say just use Google Play Store and log in there with your account.

It's more secure than Aurora Store and Google has the data already. What I definitely would not recommend is logging in with your Google Account in Aurora Store. This is possible, but now you share your data with another party and effectively reduce your privacy and security.

DeletedUser201

And don't forget that most of the apps include a lot of trackers like Google analytics, etc...

So using the playstore with an account/email will link it with these trackers and is one more of the many different ways they link the different ids, metadata & fingerprints to link everything back to you, who you are, what you are doing, what services you are using, who you communicating with, how & when, etc...

Its better to use Aurora store imo.

N1b

DeletedUser115 One way to do it is to install/update apps via Play Store in the Owner profile, then disable Play Store, Play Services and Play Services Framework apps. Use a secondary user profile as a daily driver where all your apps are installed and used.

That's my exact setup, except for the disabling part. Why do you recommend that? I don't use the owner profile (except for installations and updates) and never open the installed apps there (also revoked network and sensor permission for them), so there's not much to track. There's no Google in the user profile for the installed apps to use. Likewise, Sandboxed Google Play doesn't have access to the user profile where all the fun data is. Since I update apps regularly on the owner profile, I would need to enable the Google apps and their internet permission anyway.

So, is there any advantage in disabling the Google apps that I don't see?

DeletedUser115

N1b So, is there any advantage in disabling the Google apps

Not much. I do it because the Owner profile is always on so I don't want Play Services running 24/7 on my device potentially collecting any data they can like battery usage stats.

N1b

DeletedUser115 I just leave them at optimized battery usage for not having them run in the background, more convenient than always deactivating them.

Can all apps collect such information such as battery usage and make a unique profile of you? I thought they would be super limited according to the FAQ...

DeletedUser115

N1b Can all apps collect such information such as battery usage and make a unique profile of you?

They can. There a privileged permission BATTERY_STATS but it's not actually needed to get information about battery levels and charge states.

Also, battery info is not the only data available without an explicit user permission, for example apps can also see network and WiFi connections.

IHD

If Aurora is used, but I want to switch to the Google Play store, how does the play store recognize those installed via Aurora?

AlphaElwedritsch

IHD aurora gets the apps from play store. So the same signature. Switching to play store recognize the installed apps automatically

schweizer

Cool, thanks for the replies.
I try to sum up:

In order to avoid being identified across apps it's a good idea to use a second profile for the sole purpose of installing and updating paid apps.
Preferably you create a separate gmail address with a fake name and pay apps with a giftcard. Never use this account on your primary profile. However even if you use your credit card to buy apps google cannot link your activities to the profile. They just know that you bought apps from you but not how you use them.
You can use Aurora or fdroid on your primary profile to install and update free apps.
In order to prevent google from collecting data and save battery don't allow "running in background" on the update profile or apply strict battery saving on the google apps in this profile.

other8026

schweizer it's a good idea to use a second profile for the sole purpose of installing and updating paid apps.

I think most paid apps from Google Play check with Google Play if they've been paid for by the current active user. If Google Play isn't installed in the same profile, or isn't logged in as the account that paid for the app, then the app may prompt you to pay again.

schweizer

other8026 If Google Play isn't installed in the same profile, or isn't logged in as the account that paid for the app, then the app may prompt you to pay again.

That would mean the whole workflow is futile.

I right now hang on a different issue: While I can install an app from the owner profile on a secondary profile I miss the function to install an app from the secondary profile on the main profile. If that is correct I would need a factory reset because all the apps and setup is now on the owner profile. This would be extremely time consuming.

Can any one confirm if this is going to work or not? Because if it's not working for paid apps I do not have to perform the factory reset.

other8026

schweizer to be honest, I'm not really clear on the setup you're trying to achieve. But, no, it's not possible to push apps from secondary profiles to the owner profile the same way you can owner to a secondary profile.

If the paid apps are very important, it might be easier to install Google Play in whichever profile you usually use if you use those apps frequently. If you don't, then maybe it's better to install Google Play and the paid apps in a separate profile.

schweizer

other8026
I am not trying to achieve a certain setup I am trying to solve a problem. AFAIK when I install Play Store and login with any gmail address that is linked to my credit card google links my ad ID/gmail address to any activities that require play services (almost any app) to my real name. Furthermore they share part of this information (ad ID) to the sellers of the individual apps in the best case only in case of app crashes. Often regularily.

Please note that information that is perfectly legal in western countries may be forbidden in other countries.

On the other hand it's just very difficult or inconvenient to avoid paid apps. And apart from a few exceptions like Threema most paid apps are solely available through Play Store/App Store.