Best Practice - App Stores & Sandboxes

generate9872349

Hello, I am learning about my options around moving to GrapheneOS and I had a couple of questions please.

The first concerns app stores, and clarification about downloading apps from Google Play via the Aurora Store.
If I downloaded, say, Uber, from the Aurora Store, does this mean that Google does not know that I downloaded this app from the Play Store via Aurora and that it is on my device??

My second question concerns sandboxes/profiles. I was thinking that an appropriate setup would be three profiles:

Profile 1 - main profile/stock standard GrapheneOS and native apps + apps installed directly via APK? Also from here: text, call, email?
Profile 2 - F-Droid/Aurora Store apps where available.
Profile 3 - Tracking apps...ones which require Play Services to function such as Google/Meta apps etc.
Is this a realistic approach to keep things separate and limit data exposure/contamination to the Googleverse?

Thank you in advance for your considered replies.

de0u

generate9872349 If I downloaded, say, Uber, from the Aurora Store, does this mean that Google does not know that I downloaded this app from the Play Store via Aurora and that it is on my device??

If the Uber app uses Google Play services or contains libraries that call Google services, and the Uber app is run in a profile that has a Google account, then downloading the app from somewhere other than the Play Store doesn't accomplish anything (other than adding some risk that a malicious fake version of the app was installed). If the app includes behavior you don't like, where it was downloaded from doesn't change the app's behavior.

wrapper

Uber is an interesting example because it definitely falls into your 'profile 3' of tracking apps - look at how many permissions it requires on the play store.

That said, I'm not sure about the above comment as apps that need Google Play services and apps that use Google libraries are not the same thing. GPS is something you have to install and it can be a choice where you install that. The libraries the app uses you can't control