Push notifications without Google Play Services?

de0u

schklom Apps register at run-time, not install-time.
In other words, you can install GPS after any apps that need it for notifications.

There are apps that check whether or not Play is present the first time they are launched, and won't (ever) try to register for FCM push notifications if Play wasn't present when they were installed.

schklom

de0u Damn, that sounds bad. What could be the reason to ever do this?
Anyway, thanks for letting me know

secrec

OrangeMamba I would like to receive notifications from apps on my main profile without Google Play Services.

You need to select SOFTWARE that doesn't kowtow to google and actually implements this feature properly. Examples; most decent email clients like Fairemail or Thunderbird/K9Mail can provide push notifications if using the IMAP protocol, most SIP softphone registrations like Linphone, Nextcloud Push (server sent events / SSE) https://gitlab.com/Nextcloud-Push .

Early on, google went to great lengths to scare software developers away from doing push notifications correctly and instead routing their notifications through google. Why? Because google is a data harvester so they don't want messages to bypass them or they won't be able to harvest that data. How? By pretending that doing it the google way will save power and make batteries last longer, which is false. Well, mostly false. Obviously by doing things STUPIDLY, like polling a server every 5 seconds, a lot of battery will be wasted, but doing things correctly by opening a persistent connection with a server (example; websocket or SSE) will NOT draw excess battery.

Note: A lot of people don't actually understand what a persistent connection actually entails. Some envision it (incorrectly) as being some kind of a data flow that would consume power to maintain, where what it really is, is just a state given to routers so that they know how to deliver a message back to you.

OrangeMamba

gristle-cause
yes, I installed Google via the GOS App Store.

OrangeMamba

wow, I didn't realize how much trouble simple push notifications can cause.

I actually only need push notifications for my banking apps, that's the only thing I don't have in open source.

so, just so i understand this better. i install the sandboxed google play in my private space via the GOS app store. i don't necessarily have to log into a google account after installation for all the apps to use the google push notifications service. do i actually have to leave the play store itself active or can i disable it, i don't need it, i install and update my few apps via aurora.

secrec

OrangeMamba only need push notifications for my banking apps

That seems strange to me. What does your bank need to notify you about that they don't deliver via email?

OrangeMamba

secrec
Incoming and outgoing payments, security warnings or notifications that I have a new message in my secure mailbox in my banking app. Nothing comes via email, it's too insecure for them...

23Sha-ger

OrangeMamba
My bank still uses SMS for all that. Best "push notifications" from 90s :)

secrec

OrangeMamba Nothing comes via email, it's too insecure for them

So how do they deal with customers that don't use a cell phone? Corp customers? They've got to have some kind of alternative.

OrangeMamba

secrec
I have no idea how they do it. Unfortunately, I can't register as a business person to get alternative ways of receiving and sending messages.

It's just typical app compulsion, a desperate attempt to deal with the customer as little as possible to save work.

The "holy" all-weather app...

secrec

OrangeMamba I can't register as a business person

I didn't mean register as a business. Just that they must have business customers who they would have to notify through means other than a crappy phone application, which means they must have some mechanism for notifying you. Can you try phoning your bank and asking them what alternatives there might be?

OrangeMamba

secrec
I will try. just updated my banking app, only to now get a message on my phone that the banking app is automatically logging out now because i downloaded and activated it through an untrusted store (i got it through the aurora store). That is for my

protection

This now means that I can't call there because the banking app generates a one-time pin that I have to tell the support on the phone.

I'm effectively stuck with a bank account that I can't use because the app doesn't work.

I will receive a letter in the next few days with which I can unlock the banking app, but this requires me to create a second profile with burner Google Account, because as soon as the app is unlocked again, it will lock itself again.

garliccheese

OrangeMamba

Can you share what banking app you're referring to? The process sounds similar to what ING (German bank) uses.

MetropleX

OrangeMamba apps do check for install source, especially sensitive apps like banking which is why for such things a throwaway google account to use for downloading these apps from the Play Store helps. You can install an older version where you have it already and then use a secondary user with play store/services logged in with such an account, install the latest via that user and this will update the existing app and also tag the install source as Play Store then.

You'd only need to use the secondary user with a logged in play services/store to update the apps you do this for.

secrec

Wow, what a disaster!

OrangeMamba

garliccheese
It is a french bank.