Poll : number of users who dont have google play services in any profile

ACuriousFellow

Like this first message to vote yes, i don't have google play services on my phone at all

ACuriousFellow

Actual post. Interested to know how many people have completely degoogled their phone and kept it without play services. Also how have you worked around it, interested in how youve gone fully no google in GOS.

DeletedUser495

ACuriousFellow the truth is, if you keep lying to yourself and secretly download apps containing google and various other ltracking ibraries, your phone is not truly degoogled. (They could come from many sources like Aurora Store, sites like APKyounameit, even Github) Use apps like LibChecker or AppManager to inspect them before deciding they're okay to use.

https://github.com/LibChecker/LibChecker
https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager

gravatron

ACuriousFellow

I do not have Google (play) services on my smartphone. I came to graphene OS from iOS. I got tired of iOS updates turning on the, Find my iPhone settings, along with other settings. I had an android smartphone about 15 years ago for two weeks. Capital One was able to turn on the location settings from their remote location while I was on a call with them. I went back to iOS not paying off the new galaxy smartphone I had just bought. When I found out about graphene OS, I switched over immediately. I have no issues being de-googled because I was never googleized to begin with.

xxx

DeletedUser495 Use apps like LibChecker or AppManager to inspect them before deciding they're okay to use.

https://github.com/LibChecker/LibChecker
https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager

Thanks I will give them a try.
I looked my apps up here https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/

mrn

DeletedUser495
It's not a matter of lying to yourself.
If you use your phone "normally": checking your bank account, listening to music on Spotify, learning a language on Duolingo, watching YouTube from time to time on the web, obviously you still "rely" on Google.
For most people, de-googling is not about going pure to the point where you don't use any app that could contain a single line of code coming from Google.
The activities I mentioned, you can absolutely do them without using Google apps or services (except YouTube), but you cannot do them by going 200% Google free.
In the end, it's all about being reasonable, removing Google from your life where you can.
I use GrapheneOS without Play Services and I can tell you that it's already painful enough as it is, it requires way too much maintenance time that most people do not have.
It would be much more useful if you warned people about that aspect instead of calling them liars, honestly...

gvprtskvni

DeletedUser495 Sorry for the noob question, but how do I know if a Google service is ok or not? Even Vanadium seems to have certain Google services like "com.google.firebase.components.ComponentDiscoveryService" according to LibChecker.

Also, I have Sandboxed Google Play Services on a secondary profile because it's required for a banking app. Is that really a problem if I'm not logged in, don't allow it network access and don't allow the profile it's on to run in the background?

DeletedUser299

I have no problem using GrapheneOS, without g@@gle anything installed. I have encrypted email and messaging without third party interference. My device, my choice, my rules. Thank you very much GrapheneOS, for allowing me to do so...

Psyonico

Maybe this question lies more in the realm of philosophy, but if you're using an OS based on AOSP or a browser based on Chromium, are you really google free?

When I get my new phone I will likely attempt to not install google play services, but when I stopped using gmail I switched to Proton, since they offer a wide suite of services. And while Proton Pass and VPN are available outside of the google store, Mail, Drive, and Calendar are not, so unless I can find a way of connecting to those services outside of google, I will likely have to install play services again.

tree-barker

Psyonico Mail, Drive, and Calendar are not,

Yes, they are, all can be found here https://protonapps.com/

i update them via obtanium with following links

https://protonapps.com/protondrive-android
https://protonapps.com/protoncalendar-android
https://github.com/ProtonMail/android-mail
https://github.com/ProtonVPN/android-app

DeletedUser459

But I use a hardware from Google...

xxx

DeletedUser459 hardware from Google..

We're all doomed. ;-)

Using a P with Graphene without Play or Googleaccount should save us for now.

DeletedUser495

I understand this is kind of off topic, but to put things in the right perspective, one does not need to use Play services or install even a single app to still be sufficiently tracked across web browsing sessions, potentially even between profiles or having their location tracked from their SIM and WiFi use. Also using a quality always on VPN is essential and this is what I mean when I say that when one doesn't use play services, it doesn't yet mean they're properly degoogled.

xxx

gvprtskvni I have Sandboxed Google Play Services on a secondary profile because it's required for a banking app. Is that really a problem if I'm not logged in, don't allow it network access and don't allow the profile it's on to run in the background?

It's a minor problem. You can use you're bankaccount and google knows nearly nothing about you.

DeletedUser495

gvprtskvni unfortunately I do not possess technical expertise to answer your questions. It is up to everyone to decide how many holes in their boat people can tolerate to keep it afloat, but I wouldn't call such environment degoogled.

gvprtskvni

xxx That's great. I not too worried if Google has some minor insight into that particular profile. If that's the case I'd still consider the phone sufficiently de-googled.

gvprtskvni

DeletedUser495 Sure, but clearly an app having a service with "Google" in it's name means nothing in it self, since even GrapheneOS's official recommended hardened degoogled browser has a bunch of them.