Signal of all things requesting Google Play, doesn't that defeat the purpose?

whew-zee

Hey all,

On my GrapheneOS phone I have Signal running swimmingly without evil Google Play Services.

I am a big proselytizer of GrapheneOS, and my good friend recently got it. But he's running into an issue that I never did - Signal is asking to use Google Play Services.

The Error:
"Permanent Signal communication failure! Signal was unable to register with Google Play Services. Signal messages and calls have been disabled."

Isn't that weird? Also, doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of using Signal in the first place?

Any ideas or workarounds would be greatly appreciated!

-W

Probably9857

whew-zee Isn't that weird? Also, doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of using Signal in the first place?

Weird, yes; but it hardly defeats the purpose of using Signal.

Since Signal is designed to work with or without Play Services, the error suggests some weirdness with your friend's setup. Signal seems to think Play Services is installed, but when it tries to use it, it doesn't work.

A few possible causes that come to mind:

Play Services is installed, but disabled
Play Services has been denied Network Permission
A DNS filter is blocking access to a domain needed by Play Services