Aurora Store

Eagle_Owl

Hi all,
my experience to add the Aurora Store app in Obtainium was similar as at most of your's and then I got an easy remedy:
Since the Aurora Store app can (really) update itself (maybe it was v4.3.5 or one later), why put it into Obtainium, where then I get the next problem when the next update will come?

Best way for me was to download the newest stable version from GitLab, only there I found v4.4.2 (56) yesterday.
As soon as there is a newer version available, the Aurora Store app itself will point this out and then you just need to press a button to install the offered update.

Roger

Eagle_Owl That sounds like a great solution, thanks for sharing.

I can only speak for myself, so personally the reason I went the obtanium route was because that method of relying on aurora to update itself simply wasnt working for me, I don't know why, maybe my settings, but it wasnt updating.

I'm glad it sounds like they fixed that problem, maybe when I upgrade my phone I'll give it another shot.

Eagle_Owl

Roger
And to be clear: I like Obtainium very, very much!
But there are very little issues with version recognition and with getting apps from GitLab.
And why fighting against problems to add an app to Obtainium, when only this one app makes trouble, but this one app has the opportunity to check itself for updates and needs only your confirmation to install the update – exactly the same way as it works with other apps in Optainium?

Oggyo

Eagle_Owl But there are very little issues with version recognition and with getting apps from GitLab.

You can create a GitLab account (if you don't have one), and then create a personal access token.
Add it to Obtanium | Settings | GitLab Personal Access Token. Then the AuroraStore version will be better detected.

You can do the same for GitHub to avoid some rate limit checks for updates if you have a large app list in Obtainium.

Eagle_Owl

Thanks to Josh (Side of Burritos) and a few other serious YouTube guys I am a big fan of Obtainium since 24.02.2024 and have deleted Neo Store (not bad!) and need only three app sources now:

GrapheneOS Apps (of course!)
Obtainium (for all open source apps and a few apps that are only available on the F-Droid repo)
Aurora Store (for a few apps, which are only available on Google Play)

Conclusion: Fewer apps, more clarity and security. Faster updates.

Reference/recommendation/worth to read:
https://sideofburritos.com/blog/you-should-uninstall-fdroid-pt1/
https://sideofburritos.com/blog/you-should-uninstall-fdroid-pt2/

Grkrz

When I am adding aurora to Obtanium it wants to download the 3,5 version.

XxTriviumxX

Like Oggyo mentioned, a gitlab account is recommended. Not only for the token, but also to complain about aurora bugs and google throttles. The same account can be used to get notifications from issues created by other users instead. I ragequit aurora 3 times. I'm done with it. Just expect aurora to behave like my last experience with it:

Install aurora
Enable notifications about new updates
Not receiving notifications for 2 days
Open aurora to check for updates manually
Aurora is not connected as anonymous
Connect as anonymous
Error
Uninstall aurora.

If only it worked....

Shendai

Speaking of, Aurora store has stopped working for me as of a couple days ago. Still not working. Unable to update a slew of apps. Anyone know what's going on?

Grkrz

Shendai clear cache and reinstall

XxTriviumxX

thats the problem. people say its easy to use and that no one has issues with it. i call bull. its too clunky to be considered a solution. Its not the devs fault though, google is the #1 cause for all of aurora's issues.

[deleted]

XxTriviumxX do not forget that Aurora Store piggybacks on Google infrastructure and they have every right to protect it in any way they see fit. So rather than getting upset when things don't work "as intended", you should try and cease your reliance on such software. Look for alternatives that are reasonably secure and privacy respecting, do not request massive amount of unnecessary permissions, if possible are not network reliant (but fully featured and/or decentralized), offer their own methods of data backup etc. to still be able to go about your life without surrendering too much convenience.

XxTriviumxX

[deleted] I switched to sandboxed play store with a fake google account. i never looked back again. security, conveniency and privacy! WAY, WAY more private than stock play store.

the "it just works" factor compensates BIG TIME for the time i spent on getting aurora to work long term.

[deleted]

XxTriviumxX perhaps secure and convenient, but definitely not private. Way more private than stock, but you're still leaking data to Google.

XxTriviumxX

[deleted] It's all about threat modeling. Everyone is different in that regard! I'm willing to give that extra info to google for the convenience! That's just my way. Explaining my point of view, however, can be something others can consider before using aurora VS sandboxed play store.

treequell

A gentle reminder to stay on topic: This thread is about troubleshooting issues with Aurora Store, and not about comparing app stores.

Whilst I know it's done with the best of intentions, there are existing threads where app stores have been compared, and that discussion should best be kept within those.

Some examples:

lordiont

Aurora Store issues March 2024

Background and Problem

I've been having lots of trouble with Aurora Store for the past 7 days or so. I've only ever used Aurora with the Anonymous account option, and I don't want to login with my Google account.

Device: Pixel 7
OS: GrapheneOS 2024031400
Aurora Store: v 4.4.2
Installation Method: via Obtainium (with GitLab Personal Access Token)

My setup is:

Owner profile: main profile/daily driver without Sandboxed Google Play services + Aurora Store
Secondary user profile: ancillary profile with Sandboxed Google Play services + Aurora Store

On the main Owner profile, Aurora will not work and I receive the following variety of error messages when trying to log in via Anonymous:

Internal error! Please retry after some time
length=3; index=-1
and eventually: Oops, You a rate limited

If I try to login via Anonymous (insecure) I receive: Server down for maintenance

On the secondary user profile, Aurora Store works perfectly fine, i.e., I am able to log in via a shared account with the Anonymous option, and browse, search, and update apps for this user profile.

Ineffective Solutions Tried

Force stop Aurora Store > Clear Cache > Re-launch
Restart OS/device
Disable then enable Aurora Store app

Nothing has worked. I haven't re-installed the app because I am unsure of the implications for the already-installed, existing apps on both of my profiles (Owner and secondary).

Thank you for reading all this, and any input/possible solution is greatly appreciated!

I really am reticent to install Google Play services to fetch and manage apps via the Play Store, as I don't want to give Network permissions to GMS, but I am starting to think Aurora Store may be too unreliable, sadly (obviously Google's doing, and not de devs).

P.S.: I have read through issue #1062 on Aurora's GitLba repo, and others are having the same/similar issue. I am considering cross-posting this over there, because IMHO it appears this issue isn't affecting that many users, so I fear it's not getting much attention.

Eagle_Owl

lordiont
Hi,
Could it be that you installed the Aurora Store from two different sources?
So once for the owner profile e.g. from F-Droid and once for the second profile directly from GitLab?
Then the apps are signed differently and maybe (?) it has something to do with that.

You may be able to determine the download source later:
Hold down the app icon for a moment until the context menu opens.
Select "App info" here.
Then scroll to the end. You will then see when and where the app was downloaded.

Repeat this with the other profile.
If the sources are not identical, then – I guess– you can delete and reinstall the app in the owner profile.

lordiont

Eagle_Owl Thank you for replying, as I apologize for my late reply. I hadn't been active here for a bit.

That's a good point you brought up, although I hadn't installed them like that. But thank you for your input, surely it will be useful to someone, and it made me think about this potential issue with any other app. So, good to know!

I deleted Aurora and reinstalled a few times, and then randomly it started working again. It's quite weird behavior. But for now it works. But as I said in my post, I'm just waiting for the GOS team to release in stable the IPC toggle, and then I think I may utilize the Play Store to fetch certain apps.

yore

lordiont

lordiont I'm just waiting for the GOS team to release in stable the IPC toggle, and then I think I may utilize the Play Store to fetch certain apps.

You can install the apps needed and disable Google Play Store, Google Play Services, and Google Services framework. This is what I'm doing as I couldn't wait for the IPC feature 😉

Aurora Store has many foundational issues and will likely stay this way. It can install wrong app versions due to the large number of shared accounts and spoofs signatures (I think, might be confusing) which is a security problem.

lordiont

yore Thanks for chiming in! I assume then that you must re-enable the Google Play packages whenever you wish to upgrade, correct?

It's a nice workaround, to be sure. So far, Aurora hasn't given me any more trouble so I think I'll stick with it until the release by the GOS dev team of the App Communications scope feature. But I agree with you, Aurora has some deep-rooted issues that, personally, I'd like to avoid. I'm all about resilience, and Aurora seems anything but. However, I also admit it's a very useful project and I'm happy it exists.

yore

lordiont I assume then that you must re-enable the Google Play packages whenever you wish to upgrade, correct?

Every couple of days I enable them to check for updates then disable it. Considering it takes less than 5 minutes, I don't mind it.

I used to use Aurora Store in the beginning, but I have had problems with incorrect apps being shown on there, some strange apps showing up on the updates list so I decided it was best I move to something more reliable. I avoid Google as much as possible but sometimes you have to compromise a bit of privacy for much usability :).

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