How to reinstall Google Play Store after it was uninstalled via adb?

StoneRings

I had some problems with the Play Store not being able to connect to internet, despite other apps working fine. After the next GrapheneOS update failed to solve it, I looked up some other solutions. One post mentioned it being fixed after uninstalling and reinstalling Play, so I did that (and restarted). It didn't solve the problem, so I tried uninstalling via adb, hoping the complete uninstall would fix things. After doing so, I am now unable to reinstall Play, as it is simply gone from the Graphene App Store.
How do I get it back?

Log, if helpful: https://pastebin.com/aDfzsPEk

I checked, and a new user profile does have those apps, so the capability isn't gone from my phone.

other8026

StoneRings One post mentioned it being fixed after uninstalling and reinstalling Play, so I did that (and restarted). It didn't solve the problem, so I tried uninstalling via adb, hoping the complete uninstall would fix things. After doing so, I am now unable to reinstall Play, as it is simply gone from the Graphene App Store.

Just a wild guess, but did you just uninstall Google Play and not Google Play Services? You'd need to install both. If you have Google Services Framework installed in that profile, but not in any other profiles you may want to uninstall that too.

And I'm not sure why you used ADB. Last I checked it was possible to uninstall them from within Settings.

Upstate1618

My suggestion is to reset your phone. You can also wait for the next system update.

NetRunner88

Again someone messed with adb and boom nothing work as intended

Fay_Wilmont

de0u Reading back, I think I was emotionally reacting to the discouragement of using ADB, as someone who values the possibilities it provides to interact with a device and learn about Android, and who has been using it for years without any issues. I was also triggered by NetRunner88's comment:

NetRunner88 Again someone messed with adb and boom nothing work as intended

And what I said was maybe more of a reaction to this than to your remark. The point I wanted to make is that ADB is just a tool, and usually if there is an issue that was preceded by the use of ADB, the issue lies with the user, not with ADB. With great power comes great responsibility, as my computer used to say when I was about to elevate my privileges...

Now for an actual reaction to what you wrote:

Overall, please recall that Google expects that developer options including adb are used on development devices that contain no private data and are wiped after testing

Where exactly does this notion originate? I have never encountered it before coming here. I don't see Android's developer documentation say anything like it in these pages on the topic:

You'd think it would be important to mention to people new to developing Android apps, if it were true.

And it is the case that many people manage to use adb in ways that lead to lasting trouble, which could be avoided by trying out a usage on a test device or just not using adb.

Fair point. It pains me to often see people pass around a bunch of ADB shell commands and recommendations while obviously having no real understanding of what it is they are doing. But also: what better way to learn than screwing up royally haha. Usually the only real issue is storing precious data on a vulnerable device and not doing backups... that's the ultimate user error that I've already seen reported several times since I signed up here over a month ago.

Upstate1618

or you can reinstall App Store here https://github.com/GrapheneOS/AppStore/releases
Here is also a related post https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/10258-how-to-reinstall-google-play-services-after-uninstalling-it-with-adb

StoneRings

other8026

I uninstalled both, yes. As for my reasoning, I thought a more complete uninstall could fix the issue. I... won't do that next time.

StoneRings

Ah. Well, I'll know not to mess with it next time. Thank you for the links!

I'll try to reinstall the App Store, though the warning about needing to obtain updates through the store for verified boot is concerning. I hope I can still install it.

other8026

StoneRings did you uninstall GmsCompat too? It's very strange that you're not seeing Google Play there anymore.

de0u

StoneRings Before wiping the device I would probably try resetting cache & storage for the GrapheneOS App Store app.

Overall, please recall that Google expects that developer options including adb are used on development devices that contain no private data and are wiped after testing. So if it seems that adb might solve some problem on a production device I think it would be prudent to first recreate the situation on a debug device and then test the adb "fix" there first.

StoneRings

other8026 Yes. I figured I might as well try to uninstall it, in case it was corrupted and causing my issue. I figured I could simply reinstall it along with Play and its supporting app.

de0u I tried that. I wish that fixed it.
Your adb comment is a good suggestion. I've never had anything so messed up by adb before, but I can see that I shouldn't be so cavalier about it.

I can see that the similar referenced issue from early 2024 was before version 26 of the App Store was released. Previous versions say that they can be updated manually by GrapheneOS users, but later versions do not, so I'm lead to believe that trying the same fix will ruin verified boot.
I'm going to wait for the next GrapheneOS update to release (it's been a week since the last one, so I bet the next one will happen soon), and hope that fixes it. If not, I'll try to install the App Store manually. If it ruins verified boot, well, I'd have to reinstall the OS anyway.

Fay_Wilmont

de0u Overall, please recall that Google expects that developer options including adb are used on development devices that contain no private data and are wiped after testing. So if it seems that adb might solve some problem on a production device I think it would be prudent to first recreate the situation on a debug device and then test the adb "fix" there first

Isn't it usually user error though? I mean, how is adb the issue here?

de0u

de0u Overall, please recall that Google expects that developer options including adb are used on development devices that contain no private data and are wiped after testing.

Fay_Wilmont Where exactly does this notion originate? I have never encountered it before coming here. I don't see Android's developer documentation say anything like it in these pages on the topic:

Configure on-device developer options

Run apps on a hardware device

Android Debug Bridge (adb)

The Android web pages you cited that provide step-by-step instructions for developers are not festooned with stern warnings. I might think they should be, but I don't work at Google.

But:

Since Android 4.2, developer options are hidden behind the tap dance. If the developer options were all positive things, or even all safe, why would they be hidden en masse?
Even the developer documents you cited contain occasional warnings (source).
An official Android page about developer options for non-developers says (among many other things) "It’s important to disable developer mode on Android when you’ve finished experimenting to maintain optimal security and stability".
Again, in practice, a fair number of developer options break things or reduce system security. And I kind of suspect Google employees know that.

So... developer options are hidden... The developer documents do include some safety alerts... Google tells non-developers it's important to disable developer options... and developer options actually break things and actually reduce system security.

other8026

StoneRings You need GmsCompat and GmsCompatConfig to install Google Play and Google Play Services. That's why neither are showing up in the App Store app.

Go to Settings > Apps > All apps > *tap 3 dots in top right corner* > Show system, find those two apps and reenable them. After they're reenabled, you should see Google Play in App Store again.

StoneRings

other8026 StoneRings You need GmsCompat and GmsCompatConfig to install Google Play and Google Play Services. That's why neither are showing up in the App Store app.

Go to Settings > Apps > All apps > tap 3 dots in top right corner > Show system, find those two apps and reenable them. After they're reenabled, you should see Google Play in App Store again.

The latest system update didn't fix it, so I came back here to see this message. I was able to find GmsCompat, GmsCompatConfig, and GmsCompatLibrary using your steps, but the first two just saying "Not installed for this user", with no obvious way to reinstall. (The third has no such message.)

I would try adb, but I'm a bit hesitant at this point.
Looking at another profile I just created, they are installed there. Is there a suggested way to just copy those files into my main profile?

Fay_Wilmont

StoneRings I tried to replicate your issue.

$ pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.vending
Success

Restarted App Store, Play Store was listed as uninstalled, succesfully reinstalled it through App Store.

Maybe with -k: keep the data and cache directories around after package removal?

$ pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.vending
Success

Restarted App Store, Play Store was listed as uninstalled, succesfully reinstalled it through App Store.

No problems here.

I think you need to read the reply by other8026 O you did... well, anyway, let's try:

$ pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.vending
Success
$ pm uninstall --user 0 app.grapheneos.gmscompat
Success
$ pm uninstall --user 0 app.grapheneos.gmscompat.config
Success

Restarted App Store, Play Store is gone! Just as Play Services.

$ pm install-existing --user 0 app.grapheneos.gmscompat
Package app.grapheneos.gmscompat installed for user: 0
$ pm install-existing --user 0 app.grapheneos.gmscompat.config
Package app.grapheneos.gmscompat.config installed for user: 0

(These work here because, unlike Play Store, these are system apps and their installers remain on the system partition after uninstalling them.)

Restarted App Store, Play Store is back, just as Play Services, and can be succesfully reinstalled.

So try running:

pm install-existing --user 0 app.grapheneos.gmscompat
pm install-existing --user 0 app.grapheneos.gmscompat.config

It should solve your issue.

de0u

Fay_Wilmont Isn't it usually user error though?

I'm not sure I understand the question. If the question is "Isn't it OK to use adb as long as it is always used to do exactly the right thing in exactly the right way?", that might be true in a certain mathematical sense but not very relevant in practice.

Fay_Wilmont I mean, how is adb the issue here?

Until the problem is solved, it may not be clear what the issue is, so it may not be clear how or whether adb is the issue.

But it is still the case that enabling adb opens up a lot of attack surface and enables configuring things unsafely in ways the regular UI safely prohibits and is expected by Google to be used on non-production devices without private data that are wiped after debugging. And it is the case that many people manage to use adb in ways that lead to lasting trouble, which could be avoided by trying out a usage on a test device or just not using adb.

dc32f0cfe84def651e0e

adb shell pm install-existing --user {id} com.xxx.yyy

de0u

StoneRings I would try adb, but I'm a bit hesitant at this point.

Do you know which adb commands you used the first time? Depending on what they were it is possible that dc32f0cfe84def651e0e's suggestion may be on point. Though it would be prudent if going that route to remember to de-authorize adb afterward, and arguably prudent to nuke the RSA key from your PC as well.

StoneRings Looking at another profile I just created, they are installed there. Is there a suggested way to just copy those files into my main profile?

I believe that at present the owner profile can push packages but no other inter-profile package operations are possible.

StoneRings

de0u I tried directly reverting the adb uninstall command (using the same command as dc32f0cfe84def651e0e 's message), but the install command failed, saying that the package was not found.
Would copying out the package from another profile where it is installed work? I don't know if trying to add a package from outside the system as a system app would mess up something critical.

de0u

Fay_Wilmont The point I wanted to make is that ADB is just a tool, and usually if there is an issue that was preceded by the use of ADB, the issue lies with the user, not with ADB. With great power comes great responsibility, as my computer used to say when I was about to elevate my privileges.

But the Internet is full of "helpful" advice involving developer mode, without any accompanying cautions (for example, plenty of talking people through authorizing adb, but how many examples of reminding people to de-authorize when done?).

And people do end up here having used adb to wreck their devices to the point of needing a factory reset. And there was a recent case of a minor UI tweak causing the lock screen to not fire. There are real risks, and many of them are not obvious.

Some people show up with an attitude of "Haha, my bad, time to wipe my device, LOL YOLO", but others show up angry at the GrapheneOS developers for having shipped code that allowed them to soft-brick their device. From a support perspective, the laborious case is people who show up describing a weird symptom cluster and only after lots of back-and-forth disclose that they have three relevant developer options enabled.

de0u

Fay_Wilmont

I guess I'm saying:

Developer best practice would be to debug non-production devices without private data, and to frequently test fresh installs of an app onto a device that has never seen the app before, i.e., a device that gets reset frequently (I hope that isn't controversial, and I seriously suspect that's what Android developers inside Google actually do),
Some developer options are dangerous (I hope that isn't controversial),
It makes sense to ship options that are potentially dangerous to regular users (who don't want to wipe their devices) as long as they are genuinely useful to developers (for whom wiping the device is literally part of a day's work),
I believe that the danger/utility tradeoff for different kinds of device explains hiding developer options, and is also consistent with the "best to turn off after experimenting" advice.

I do think Google could be more explicit about the risks, and perhaps it would be generally beneficial if they were.

Fay_Wilmont

de0u But the Internet is full of "helpful" advice involving developer mode, without any accompanying cautions (..) And people do end up here having used adb to wreck their devices to the point of needing a factory reset. (..) From a support perspective, the laborious case is people who show up describing a weird symptom cluster and only after lots of back-and-forth disclose that they have three relevant developer options enabled.

I totally understand where you're coming from. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

de0u The Android web pages you cited that provide step-by-step instructions for developers (..) If the developer options were all positive things, or even all safe, why would they be hidden en masse?

I don't dispute that developer options are not intended for regular users, just that “Google expects that developer options including adb are used on development devices that contain no private data and are wiped after testing.” Nothing you linked to supports that claim.

I understand the assumption though, it's probably used like this in a professional setting (as you said, best practice), but for a hobbyist just starting out with Android development? They'll probably just use the device they already own and use daily when they want to test things on a physical device. And Android's documentation doesn't explicitly warn about this, so I find your repeated claim that Google expects that developer options are used on devices that don't contain private data and are wiped after testing too bold.

The article How to Enable Android Developer Settings: Unlock your Device’s Hidden Potential you linked to seems to also disagree with that claim, as it presents developer options as “a hidden set of advanced settings mainly used by developers” which “can also be useful if you’d like to access additional customisation options and information about your device.”

That's not to say I (or that article) disagree with your further assessment of and warnings about developer options. With great power comes great responsibility.