Running Play Services without Play Store (?)

luna0

I have been using Play Services (and Android Auto) without Play Store installed for a while, without issue.¹ RCS messaging works fine, Navigation apps work fine, Android auto works fine, etc.

I've just accepted having to install (then uninstall) Play Store in order to install Play Services or Android Auto as an annoying UX quirk .

Is there a good reason to have Google Play Store as a dependency of Play Services in App Store? It seems to be a soft dependency at best, and something users should really have the choice not to install. Am I missing something? Is this somehow ill-advised security-wise? Are there any other GrapheneOS users using Play Services without Play Store?

¹Only minor issue is that removing Play Store breaks login/account flow in Google Messages. This (stupidly) also makes the settings inaccessible because the UI requires you to tap on the profile picture, an action which now does nothing.

23Sha-ger

luna0
Because it is the recommended way of installing and updating apps, compared to something like Aurora.
Some apps require you to install them via Play and actually implement a check for this.
On GOS it makes very little sense to prefer something else instead for Play apps.

MarlboroRed2000

luna0

luna0
I do the same with Samsung phones whose bootloader I don't have access to, because this throwing anchor in every direction of Google gets on my nerves. Debloat + Aurora. But with GrapheneOS that doesn't make sense to me, because Pixel has an open hood, and with Graphene OS I have full control over the sandbox :)

fid03

luna0 Is there a good reason to have Google Play Store as a dependency of Play Services in App Store?

According to the GrapheneOS website, they're interdependent: https://grapheneos.org/usage#sandboxed-google-play-installation

It will install both Google Play services and Google Play Store which are interdependent.

It also says that it's not necessary to sign in to the Play Store:

Signing in into a Google account is optional, unless you want to use features depending on being signed into an account.

So it only needs to be installed. I'm not sure why you don't want to install it though? You don't have to actually use it.

gristle-cause

luna0 You won't get app updates to your Play applications without Play Store installed. Outdated apps are a security vulnerability.

Novalissoide

fid03 you can even keep the Google Services app disabled for most uses.

fid03

Novalissoide you can even keep the Google Services app disabled for most uses.

What? How are you supposed to use Play services if it's disabled?

DeletedUser495

This does not take care of secure app updates.

23Sha-ger

fid03
This all depends on your goals. If you just want to use the Play store to download/update apps, you can
keep Play services disabled most of the time. If you need notifications or other services, you keep it on.

Novalissoide

fid03 try it. Some apps will trigger a warning about Play Services disabled, often this is ok to just ignore and the app still fully works. Other might need them enabled for initial signup, but then they don't need them anymore, as long as the services app is still installed.

fid03

Novalissoide Ok. I thought most of the point of using Play services was to get timely push notifications.

Novalissoide

fid03 they're probably needed for them yes.