[deleted] Yep, I use the Aurora Store for Play Store-only apps (Google Camera, Gallery, Gboard, financial apps, etc.), and I typically download the APKs for all other apps directly from their Github repositories; though Neo Store and Droid-ify are popular options for off-Play apps too.
I do use GSF (for Google Camera and a few other apps), but I give it zero permissions so I'm not too concerned about it.
mythodical okay that's nice to know! Do you happen to know if email apps like proton get notifications at all if they are not using google play services, that is something I am kind bummed about
[deleted] That I don't know, sorry. I do have a proton account, but rarely use it and haven't tested it on GOS yet. I use K-9 Mail for multiple accounts however, and it works great without Play. It supports IMAP Idle for push notifications, which is pretty much instantaneous. Signal of course works great too without Play.
[deleted] The Proton Mail app requires Sandboxed Google Play for notifications. It works without it for everything else, though.
matchboxbananasynergy Does it give notifications eventually just slower or no notifications at all?
mythodical do you know if k-9 can get microsoft 365 emails say for work?
[deleted] Without Google Play Services, Proton Mail receives no notifications at all.
matchboxbananasynergy that is a bummer
[deleted] I've never had need of it myself, but a quick online search suggests it can be done.
matchboxbananasynergy You said that apps can share information by "mutual consent", but the HUGE question is how do I, as Joe User, determine which apps share information by "mutual consent"? Is this done with specific request to me to grant rights or that since they both have the Network App permission, they can share data?
dcd-graphenediscuss how do I, as Joe User, determine which apps share information by "mutual consent"?
There is no easy way to verify this, as far as I know, which is why I typically err on the side of caution.
It seems logical that any apps that feature advertising or in-app purchases will potentially sideload information to/from Play Services/Store via IPC (inter-process communication).
It also seems logical that apps made by the same developer will mutually share information with each other via IPC; for example, Meta's Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram apps, or Google's Play Services/Store with any one of the many Google apps.
In my opinion, iOS and Android are both inherently hostile to user privacy. A multi-billion dollar industry has been built around knowing what we do every minute of the day. GrapheneOS does an excellent job of mitigating this right out of the box, but the threat to privacy increases with each additional app that we ourselves install.
Does graphenos help keep trackers at bay in apps?
