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  • What to do about apps that watch where they've been installed from

Pavestone2734 How could I circumvent this? Is there a way?

Not really. It's up to the app developers if they want to deny users access based on the install source.

      Pavestone2734

      Use adb.
      adb install --user USER_ID YOUR_APK

      Mandatory Disclaimer : it is not advised to mess with phone using adb.

          fid02 If I log out of Google then reset the service and play apps after making these apps work, will said apps be able to detect that?

              NetRunner88 Mandatory Disclaimer : it is not advised to mess with phone using adb.

              Well, yeah. So I'm not sure why we're advising users to do so?

              https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/2904-is-it-possible-to-uninstall-vanadium-and-apps-repo-client/8

              Using adb opens up a large security hole. adb gives highly privileged access and could be highly problematic If the device or app performing adb is malicious or compromised. If security is important adb should be avoided.

                  Pavestone2734 If I log out of Google then reset the service and play apps after making these apps work, will said apps be able to detect that?

                  If you install an app from Play Store, the install source for that app will say Play Store even if you uninstall the Play Store app. Although apps can be programmed to mandate that you are signed into a Google account; Only way to know if that is the case is to try, I guess.

                    NetRunner88 Would this need to be from a connected terminal outside a Pixel or can adb be used inside Pixel too?

                      fid02

                      Because, it is easy to f*CK things up with adb.
                      Buuut, that's the only way for an app the believe it has been installed from playstore.
                      If I can find the source of that I will paste it after.
                      I have read it here from the Officials ( G OS devs )

                          And I made a mistake it is

                          adb pm install --user USER_ID -i "com.android.vending" -r YOUR_APK

                          NetRunner88 Because, it is easy to f*CK things up with adb.

                          You misunderstand me. I was wondering why adb was brought up at all, and why a command was presented. Because I'm assuming that the OP cares about the security of their device, which might contain sensitive data!

                              I had no issue ADB-ing out crappy apps when I had a generic non-Graphene phone but that came with way reduced security and thus way reduced threat model too. I could achieve better privacy with ADB with minor loss of security (had basically none to begin with). But with a Graphene device I would not use ADB. I should have probably mentioned that from the beginning.

                              fid02

                              To achieve the goal asked by OP.

                              If it is a problem, flag all my messages above so a Moderator can remove them.

                              Like do it, I cannot remove my previous posts..

                              In any case I don't have an answer not involving adb.

                                While its clearly not ideal and some people won't want to do this, it is a method that can be used to get some apps working.

                                It's a shame some app developers add checks to their apps like this.

                                There's some more info here