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How to Android without Google

milankragujevic 8y ago
Unfortunately my phone isn't supported and I don't know how to build LineageOS for it, so I'm stuck with Google and also some other spyware that straight up sends contacts and SMS to servers in either China or US. Guess I should try and sue Alcatel under GDPR (but given they're owned by TCL, which is Chinese, I don't think it'll help).
- exikyut 8y ago
  Well, as long as it doesn't have a locked bootloader (I presume it doesn't), you should theoretically be able to get somewhere with it. Rebuilding Android surely isn't that difficult (it's been on my todo list for some time, I've just never gotten around to it due to insufficient RAM).
  - milankragujevic 8y ago
    The bootloader is unlocked, thought I don't understand Android enough to do anything useful with that and the Kernel sources. :/ Wish someone would help me. I can provide a build server with 16 GB of RAM and 1 Gb network as well as lots (200 GB) of PCIe SSD space.
    - blcArmadillo 8y ago
      Believe it or not 200GB of disk space may not be enough! At least 250GB is required according to: https://source.android.com/setup/build/requirements https://source.android.com/setup/build/requirements.
      - lovelearning 8y ago
        It can be done with much less actually. Complete AOSP upto Oreo requires about 95GiB for just the sources + 40-50GiB for each version build. But most of that repo history is not necessary if all you want to do is build one version. Just clone that one version to depth 1. Nougat weighed in at around 13-14GiB. Add the 40-50GiB for build, and about 70GiB is enough.
      - ikeyany 8y ago
        You can build Oreo with < 200GB easily
  - whyagaindavid 8y ago
    Sadly for most devices it is impossible as many OEMs do not release kernel and firmware. Yes it may be a open source violation but try telling this to any OEMs. Search in XDA and you will see one of the largest manufacturer Xiaomi does not release sources. If you have MediaTek SoC forget it.
    - milankragujevic 8y ago
      It's Qualcomm, and I have the sources. I have decided to spend my weekend trying to build a rudimentary LineageOS build for my phone.
    - userbinator 8y ago
      Mediatek sources are out there, along with full datasheets, desige guides, schematics, PCB layouts, etc. They're just not released "officially", but that doesn't mean they don't publicly exist.
- Tehnix 8y ago
  If you are a EU resident, then it doesn’t matter who owns the company. Especially if they are selling in the EU, which means they have a clear way to target them. Write them a GDPR message requesting what info they have on you!
- pmlnr 8y ago
  I wrote a guide how to ungoogle a stock, odexed rom: https://petermolnar.net/odexed-android-6-marshmallow-with-microg/ https://petermolnar.net/odexed-android-6-marshmallow-with-mi...
GranPC 8y ago
This isn't really Android without Google - if you do this, you're still using Google's services and piping data through them. It's kind of like switching from Chrome to Firefox to open Gmail.
- 627467 8y ago
  What Google services? MicroG replaces most (if not all) Google services.
  - cmroanirgo 8y ago
    > What Google services? MicroG replaces most (if not all) Google services. RTM. From the article: "If you read the purpose of microG you’ll understand it mainly serves as a proxy, something that still communicates with Google servers. The fact is, there is no way around that. The whole Android ecosystem is dependent of Google, either because of Google Play services or Play Store" (Emphasis added that Google is still required with microG)
    - gruez 8y ago
      it's still better as microg allows you to tunnel all your communications through tor, and only sends a limited subset of data about your device to google. of course, that won't help you if you're using gmail, google maps, and google now. but you're only using non-google apps and want some google functionality (ie. push notification on signal), it's still better than using google play services.
    - Sir_Substance 8y ago
      Actually, the play store is one of the most replacement google components. You can not use it on even a standard non-rooted phone. Avoiding their location services is harder but micro-g does actually support other location services backends. Push notifications is the problem child. When people "send" you push notifications, they actually send them direct to google and rely on google to send them to you. Installing micro-g can disconnect google at your end, but not at the app vendors end. It's likely that they will do this in many cases even if your phone actually lacks the software to receive the push from google.
giancarlostoro 8y ago
I'm considering the Essential Phone for my next phone and just putting Lineage OS or something on it. Not sure of another phone that I can get for that price range (under $500) that is unlocked and not bloatware filled. Definitely going to be reading a number of articles like these. Though I might try not installing the Google* apps on it period.
- rightos 8y ago
  Essential died, I'd look at Android One devices like the Nokia 6 or Xiaomi Mi A1.
  - dblohm7 8y ago
    They're not dead yet. Sure, they stopped working on their next phone and are searching for a buyer, but they also just pushed out a new Android P beta for the PH-1.
  - A2017U1 8y ago
    The regular security patches on Mi A1 is such a joy to see, especially for a phone in that price range. They offer an official bootloader unlock too.
  - beenBoutIT 8y ago
    Android One is the future of Android.
- Nokinside 8y ago
  Nokia brand smartphones are unlocked, come with latest vanilla Android without bloatware, and they get regular fast updates (updates guaranteed for at least 2 years). I have Nokia 3 and it's perfectly OK. No thrill, just works and stays updated. Nokia 6 is $230 in the US.
  - giancarlostoro 8y ago
    Oh I am totally going to check that out. I appreciate that tip. Definitely getting one for half the cost of Essential. I also considered the Moto phones but not all of them have USB C charging. Edit: Sadly it will not work with Sprint so I can't get it.
krn 8y ago
The real Android without Google is CopperheadOS[1], which is also ahead of Google in terms of security (not behind, like LineageOS). [1] https://copperhead.co/ https://copperhead.co/
- bluuswtr 8y ago
  Why is Lineage behind?
  - krn 8y ago
    When a security patch for Android becomes available, it takes a lot of time until it gets ported to the LineageOS build targeting your device. If it ever happens at all.
    - izacus 8y ago
      Also it's worth remembering that LineageOS can't patch the driver blobs (which are a source of a large number of security issues). As a result, if you don't run it on a maintained platform (e.g. Google Pixel phones), you're still behind in security.
      - lightedman 8y ago
        "Also it's worth remembering that LineageOS can't patch the driver blobs " You absolutely can if you build your own ROMs. Typed on my Nook Color with a Lineage-piece custom-updated CyanogenMOD ROM.
      - Fnoord 8y ago
        For Fairphone 2 you can manually update that quite easily.
    - captn3m0 8y ago
      For my device, I've found the lineageOS version to be better patched (and quicker) than the official releases. You have to be on nightlies for this though.
sigfubar 8y ago
LineageOS is no longer the CyanogenMod it once was. Where CM received regular updates and supported a plethora of devices, LOS has been dropping devices and doesn't do Oreo. My Galaxy S7 is no longer supported by LOS for absolutely no valid reason: https://lineageos.org/Changelog-18/ https://lineageos.org/Changelog-18/ > Removed 14.1 devices > Samsung Galaxy S7 (herolte) and S7 Edge (hero2lte) due to licensing issues of the device trees
- mixedCase 8y ago
  >for absolutely no valid reason > due to licensing issues of the device trees I believe you have knowledge their concerns are unfounded?
- d33 8y ago
  > doesn't do Oreo Well I call bullshit: https://www.lineageos.org/Changelog-16/ https://www.lineageos.org/Changelog-16/ As for why the device was dropped, go ask the maintainer. They're probably volunteers and it might be that one of them just stopped having time to do that. I don't think they're actually paid for porting LOS.
  - sigfubar 8y ago
    Somehow this sort of thing never happened to a recent device like the S7 back in the days of CM, before it became Cyanogen Inc. Between the death of Cyanogen Inc. and the birth of LOS a crucial ingredient appears to have been lost, leaving the project as a whole less vital that it was before.
    - jacoblambda 8y ago
      Overall interest in the ROM and android modding community has been decreasing. CM appeared right when android really started gaining traction and the modding community prospered. That was when phones were seen as the cool new tech with all these interesting features. Nowadays most people don't care what is in their phones as long as it runs the apps they want, takes decent pictures, and lasts for a decent part of the day. It also doesn't help that nowadays app developers have started intentionally crippling apps when a custom ROM is detected. Because of this most people don't contribute to android ROM projects anymore. For a lot of people it just isn't worth the effort those that do care tend to keep up with new tech and buy the latest and greatest tech so they aren't maintaining old devices as much anymore unless they were major hits or a personal preference of the maintainer. As for why a lot of features have disappeared, through the whole process of surviving the Cyanogen Inc. issues, it took everything the community had to keep basic android supported let alone all the extra features considering how many devices they support. Now that Treble has been deployed, this shouldn't be so much of an issue but maintaining so many old devices that have long been deprecated isn't easy. Also, as for why the S7 is no longer maintained, apparently there was some bs issue with the software license on the S7 binaries.
whyagaindavid 8y ago
In summary, look at https://download.lineageos.org/ https://download.lineageos.org/ before buying if you want support from LOS. Sadly many buy the bling phone or cheap from far-east that is riddled with bloatware/spyware.
nabilt 8y ago
I recently switch to a Sony Xperia X and I'm running AOSP built from source. If you just need a browser and want to make phone calls this is an OK solution. https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/
pschastain 8y ago
Bummer that they don't support Nokia (yet). I have a first-gen 6, it's a fine phone, but I've been thinking that my next phone will be an iPhone because I'm tired of Google and their invasive tactics. I don't mind advertising and understand the business model that uses it, but I am wholly opposed to targeted advertising that tracks my browsing habits and which sites I visit.
paradite 8y ago
It is pretty interesting that people outside China are trying hard to get rid of Google on Android. Whereas people buying phones in China are getting Android without Google by default and trying hard to install Google play services (those who travel or live oversea).
- bitL 8y ago
  Not that interesting TBH. In Germany people are trying to get on Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn right now, when people in the US are trying to escape them. It's simply a new thing marketed there.
  - procinct 8y ago
    Germany doesn't have access to FB/Instagram/LinkedIn?
Animats 8y ago
Enable Google device registration Enable Google Cloud Messaging I run Android without Google. I bought a new phone, and when I powered it up, it tried to get me to "sign into Google". I declined. I downloaded F-Droid. Then I disabled every Google thing that could be disabled.After that, all apps came from F-Droid. Mail is via K-9 mail and an IMAP server. Browsing is Fennec F-Droid, which is Firefox minus some unwanted Mozilla-calling stuff. Mapping is ZANavi. Location provider is Mozilla. Works fine.
- nextos 8y ago
  Do you prefer ZANavi to OSMAnd~?
- Couto 8y ago
  Out of curiosity, how did you manage to have Mozilla as a location provider? I hope i'm wrong here, but as far as I can tell. You need either google services or unifiedNLP from microG to achieve that. I say this, because I run LineageOS without Gapps and I could never make it work with Mozilla's location provider. The lack of geolocation is the only thing bothering me to be honest.
  - Animats 8y ago
    Mozilla UnifiedNLP Backend (no GAAPS) installed via F-Droid. [1] https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichnaea/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichna...
- cosmojg 8y ago
  Which phone did you buy? Depending on the stock software, you could very well still be running all sorts of Google services in the background unless you reflashed it with a privacy-respecting ROM.
- forapurpose 8y ago
  Last time I looked at it, maybe a couple of years ago, the parent's approach was not nearly sufficient if you don't want your phone communicating with Google. There was so much, including things baked into Android, that it would have been a full time job to identify and find solutions to everything. The only hope was another OS (including Android forks/ROMs), and none of those available at the time seemed sufficient secure - many didn't focus on security, didn't know what they were doing, or lacked resources to complete the job - or capabilities. As one simple issue, I'm pretty sure Android uses Google's DNS and that is hard to change. Sorry to be vague; I wish I had more details but don't have time to look them up right now. The basic message is: It's not sufficient, depending on your goals. to rely on settings in the GUI and to avoid Google applications.
rehemiau 8y ago
I don't even run microg. Here WeGo is great for maps. Firefox is great as a browser, and has nice things like playing youtube in background (after adding an extension) or ublock. Slack works (without notifications), Spotify, Netflix, Authy, Signal... Many things have PWAs that work because they are platform-independent. For installing things there's F-Droid or APKUpdater. You could even use Facebook Messenger without Google and still get notifications. My battery is great and Android
- gcb0 8y ago
  OSMand for maps is even better than google maps, in terms of map correctness and navigation options.
  - wilsonnb 8y ago
    I just installed OSMand to try it out, and it didn't have the street I live on. It also didn't have my place of work on it, although it did have that street at least. Seems worse than Google maps to me.
    - pmlnr 8y ago
      Did you also download the map for your area?
      - wilsonnb 8y ago
        I downloaded the maps for my state. Are there local maps that I would need to download as well?
        rehemiau 8y ago
        Open Street Maps have much more users (and thus better ground coverage) in Europe, e.g. Germany. I think that's why the experience may be diametrically different for different people.
gcb0 8y ago
it is still impossible. the step #1 there, "install lineageOS" translates to "install a bunch of binaries blobs that include kernel drivers and firmwares that were signed by the OEM and google", so no, you are still not free from google code there.
- dabockster 8y ago
  Is Replikant still a thing?
pluc 8y ago
"De-Googling my phone" by Martin Pitt was also a pretty interesting related read: https://piware.de/post/2018-05-01-android-degoogle/ https://piware.de/post/2018-05-01-android-degoogle/
reshie 8y ago
mostly no Gapps use open apps like f-droid as a source which has a lot of rules and fairly transparent. there are some shady app markets out there though.
FairDune 8y ago
When I last did something like this, I reset to the original OS because of only one other thing I encountered - proprietary software like for e.g. Samsung S-Pen would not work. Unless I missed something?
z3t4 8y ago
Android is just the base. Smart-phones run pretty much custom firmware. You could get a "flagship" smarthone a couple of years old, basically for free, and the hardware would still be very good, but good luck upgrading to latest Android version.
NedIsakoff 8y ago
Xiaomi?
MajorSauce 8y ago
I have made a habit to de-americanize my products and went with a Xiaomi phone (the Mi Mix 2) and installed LOS on it. The only thing I am really missing is Google Maps and its precise, actual traffic augmented, predictions. I've tried Waze, Bing and OSM, but there is always something missing.
beenBoutIT 8y ago
As an Android developer I'm biased, but it's important to remember that there literally would be no Android if it weren't for Google. Custom ROMs have lagged behind Google factory images in every way for years now, and they aren't anywhere near as reliable as a customized AOSP image. On a separate note, there's no substitute for Google Maps, and there never will be.
- Fnoord 8y ago
  > As an Android developer I'm biased, but it's important to remember that there literally would be no Android if it weren't for Google. This is an appeal to pity. [1] As someone who knew Android before it was bought by Google I'd like to disagree on that one: "In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million." [2] Yes, Andy Rubin had money issues, but OTOH it was seen as a competitor already at that point. Some details with sources on that in [2] as well. Furthermore, if Android did not became popular perhaps Maemo did or Symbian remained and Nokia didn't die. Who knows. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_pity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_pity [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
  - beenBoutIT 8y ago
    It's an accurate statement. Without Google the Android you're referring to would be buried alongside your beloved Maemo and Symbian right next to Tizen, Ubuntu Touch, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Firefox Mobile, Amazon Fire and every other non-iOS mobile OS. No one else could have made Android into what it is today because no one else could have leveraged all of Google's technologies. On a personal note, as a Nokia fan and someone who started modding with Nokia, I find your appeal to pity extremely pathetic.
- Sylos 8y ago
  There's tons of substitutes for Google Maps: https://f-droid.org/app/net.osmand.plus https://f-droid.org/app/net.osmand.plus https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps https://f-droid.org/app/com.junjunguo.pocketmaps https://f-droid.org/app/com.junjunguo.pocketmaps https://f-droid.org/app/com.zoffcc.applications.zanavi https://f-droid.org/app/com.zoffcc.applications.zanavi Either specify why you think Google Maps is so irreplacable or don't make such a blanket statement.

Unfortunately my phone isn't supported and I don't know how to build LineageOS for it, so I'm stuck with Google and also some other spyware that straight up sends contacts and SMS to servers in either China or US. Guess I should try and sue Alcatel under GDPR (but given they're owned by TCL, which is Chinese, I don't think it'll help).

exikyut 8y ago
Well, as long as it doesn't have a locked bootloader (I presume it doesn't), you should theoretically be able to get somewhere with it. Rebuilding Android surely isn't that difficult (it's been on my todo list for some time, I've just never gotten around to it due to insufficient RAM).
- milankragujevic 8y ago
  The bootloader is unlocked, thought I don't understand Android enough to do anything useful with that and the Kernel sources. :/ Wish someone would help me. I can provide a build server with 16 GB of RAM and 1 Gb network as well as lots (200 GB) of PCIe SSD space.
  - blcArmadillo 8y ago
    Believe it or not 200GB of disk space may not be enough! At least 250GB is required according to: https://source.android.com/setup/build/requirements https://source.android.com/setup/build/requirements.
    - lovelearning 8y ago
      It can be done with much less actually. Complete AOSP upto Oreo requires about 95GiB for just the sources + 40-50GiB for each version build. But most of that repo history is not necessary if all you want to do is build one version. Just clone that one version to depth 1. Nougat weighed in at around 13-14GiB. Add the 40-50GiB for build, and about 70GiB is enough.
    - ikeyany 8y ago
      You can build Oreo with < 200GB easily
- whyagaindavid 8y ago
  Sadly for most devices it is impossible as many OEMs do not release kernel and firmware. Yes it may be a open source violation but try telling this to any OEMs. Search in XDA and you will see one of the largest manufacturer Xiaomi does not release sources. If you have MediaTek SoC forget it.
  - milankragujevic 8y ago
    It's Qualcomm, and I have the sources. I have decided to spend my weekend trying to build a rudimentary LineageOS build for my phone.
  - userbinator 8y ago
    Mediatek sources are out there, along with full datasheets, desige guides, schematics, PCB layouts, etc. They're just not released "officially", but that doesn't mean they don't publicly exist.
Tehnix 8y ago
If you are a EU resident, then it doesn’t matter who owns the company. Especially if they are selling in the EU, which means they have a clear way to target them. Write them a GDPR message requesting what info they have on you!
pmlnr 8y ago
I wrote a guide how to ungoogle a stock, odexed rom: https://petermolnar.net/odexed-android-6-marshmallow-with-microg/ https://petermolnar.net/odexed-android-6-marshmallow-with-mi...

GranPC 8y ago

This isn't really Android without Google - if you do this, you're still using Google's services and piping data through them. It's kind of like switching from Chrome to Firefox to open Gmail.

627467 8y ago
What Google services? MicroG replaces most (if not all) Google services.
- cmroanirgo 8y ago
  > What Google services? MicroG replaces most (if not all) Google services. RTM. From the article: "If you read the purpose of microG you’ll understand it mainly serves as a proxy, something that still communicates with Google servers. The fact is, there is no way around that. The whole Android ecosystem is dependent of Google, either because of Google Play services or Play Store" (Emphasis added that Google is still required with microG)
  - gruez 8y ago
    it's still better as microg allows you to tunnel all your communications through tor, and only sends a limited subset of data about your device to google. of course, that won't help you if you're using gmail, google maps, and google now. but you're only using non-google apps and want some google functionality (ie. push notification on signal), it's still better than using google play services.
  - Sir_Substance 8y ago
    Actually, the play store is one of the most replacement google components. You can not use it on even a standard non-rooted phone. Avoiding their location services is harder but micro-g does actually support other location services backends. Push notifications is the problem child. When people "send" you push notifications, they actually send them direct to google and rely on google to send them to you. Installing micro-g can disconnect google at your end, but not at the app vendors end. It's likely that they will do this in many cases even if your phone actually lacks the software to receive the push from google.

giancarlostoro 8y ago

I'm considering the Essential Phone for my next phone and just putting Lineage OS or something on it. Not sure of another phone that I can get for that price range (under $500) that is unlocked and not bloatware filled. Definitely going to be reading a number of articles like these. Though I might try not installing the Google* apps on it period.

rightos 8y ago
Essential died, I'd look at Android One devices like the Nokia 6 or Xiaomi Mi A1.
- dblohm7 8y ago
  They're not dead yet. Sure, they stopped working on their next phone and are searching for a buyer, but they also just pushed out a new Android P beta for the PH-1.
- A2017U1 8y ago
  The regular security patches on Mi A1 is such a joy to see, especially for a phone in that price range. They offer an official bootloader unlock too.
- beenBoutIT 8y ago
  Android One is the future of Android.
Nokinside 8y ago
Nokia brand smartphones are unlocked, come with latest vanilla Android without bloatware, and they get regular fast updates (updates guaranteed for at least 2 years). I have Nokia 3 and it's perfectly OK. No thrill, just works and stays updated. Nokia 6 is $230 in the US.
- giancarlostoro 8y ago
  Oh I am totally going to check that out. I appreciate that tip. Definitely getting one for half the cost of Essential. I also considered the Moto phones but not all of them have USB C charging. Edit: Sadly it will not work with Sprint so I can't get it.

krn 8y ago

The real Android without Google is CopperheadOS[1], which is also ahead of Google in terms of security (not behind, like LineageOS). [1] https://copperhead.co/ https://copperhead.co/

bluuswtr 8y ago
Why is Lineage behind?
- krn 8y ago
  When a security patch for Android becomes available, it takes a lot of time until it gets ported to the LineageOS build targeting your device. If it ever happens at all.
  - izacus 8y ago
    Also it's worth remembering that LineageOS can't patch the driver blobs (which are a source of a large number of security issues). As a result, if you don't run it on a maintained platform (e.g. Google Pixel phones), you're still behind in security.
    - lightedman 8y ago
      "Also it's worth remembering that LineageOS can't patch the driver blobs " You absolutely can if you build your own ROMs. Typed on my Nook Color with a Lineage-piece custom-updated CyanogenMOD ROM.
    - Fnoord 8y ago
      For Fairphone 2 you can manually update that quite easily.
  - captn3m0 8y ago
    For my device, I've found the lineageOS version to be better patched (and quicker) than the official releases. You have to be on nightlies for this though.

sigfubar 8y ago

LineageOS is no longer the CyanogenMod it once was. Where CM received regular updates and supported a plethora of devices, LOS has been dropping devices and doesn't do Oreo. My Galaxy S7 is no longer supported by LOS for absolutely no valid reason: https://lineageos.org/Changelog-18/ https://lineageos.org/Changelog-18/ > Removed 14.1 devices > Samsung Galaxy S7 (herolte) and S7 Edge (hero2lte) due to licensing issues of the device trees

mixedCase 8y ago
>for absolutely no valid reason > due to licensing issues of the device trees I believe you have knowledge their concerns are unfounded?
d33 8y ago
> doesn't do Oreo Well I call bullshit: https://www.lineageos.org/Changelog-16/ https://www.lineageos.org/Changelog-16/ As for why the device was dropped, go ask the maintainer. They're probably volunteers and it might be that one of them just stopped having time to do that. I don't think they're actually paid for porting LOS.
- sigfubar 8y ago
  Somehow this sort of thing never happened to a recent device like the S7 back in the days of CM, before it became Cyanogen Inc. Between the death of Cyanogen Inc. and the birth of LOS a crucial ingredient appears to have been lost, leaving the project as a whole less vital that it was before.
  - jacoblambda 8y ago
    Overall interest in the ROM and android modding community has been decreasing. CM appeared right when android really started gaining traction and the modding community prospered. That was when phones were seen as the cool new tech with all these interesting features. Nowadays most people don't care what is in their phones as long as it runs the apps they want, takes decent pictures, and lasts for a decent part of the day. It also doesn't help that nowadays app developers have started intentionally crippling apps when a custom ROM is detected. Because of this most people don't contribute to android ROM projects anymore. For a lot of people it just isn't worth the effort those that do care tend to keep up with new tech and buy the latest and greatest tech so they aren't maintaining old devices as much anymore unless they were major hits or a personal preference of the maintainer. As for why a lot of features have disappeared, through the whole process of surviving the Cyanogen Inc. issues, it took everything the community had to keep basic android supported let alone all the extra features considering how many devices they support. Now that Treble has been deployed, this shouldn't be so much of an issue but maintaining so many old devices that have long been deprecated isn't easy. Also, as for why the S7 is no longer maintained, apparently there was some bs issue with the software license on the S7 binaries.

whyagaindavid 8y ago

In summary, look at https://download.lineageos.org/ https://download.lineageos.org/ before buying if you want support from LOS. Sadly many buy the bling phone or cheap from far-east that is riddled with bloatware/spyware.

nabilt 8y ago

I recently switch to a Sony Xperia X and I'm running AOSP built from source. If you just need a browser and want to make phone calls this is an OK solution. https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/

pschastain 8y ago

Bummer that they don't support Nokia (yet). I have a first-gen 6, it's a fine phone, but I've been thinking that my next phone will be an iPhone because I'm tired of Google and their invasive tactics. I don't mind advertising and understand the business model that uses it, but I am wholly opposed to targeted advertising that tracks my browsing habits and which sites I visit.

paradite 8y ago

It is pretty interesting that people outside China are trying hard to get rid of Google on Android. Whereas people buying phones in China are getting Android without Google by default and trying hard to install Google play services (those who travel or live oversea).

bitL 8y ago
Not that interesting TBH. In Germany people are trying to get on Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn right now, when people in the US are trying to escape them. It's simply a new thing marketed there.
- procinct 8y ago
  Germany doesn't have access to FB/Instagram/LinkedIn?

Animats 8y ago

Enable Google device registration Enable Google Cloud Messaging I run Android without Google. I bought a new phone, and when I powered it up, it tried to get me to "sign into Google". I declined. I downloaded F-Droid. Then I disabled every Google thing that could be disabled.After that, all apps came from F-Droid. Mail is via K-9 mail and an IMAP server. Browsing is Fennec F-Droid, which is Firefox minus some unwanted Mozilla-calling stuff. Mapping is ZANavi. Location provider is Mozilla. Works fine.

nextos 8y ago
Do you prefer ZANavi to OSMAnd~?
Couto 8y ago
Out of curiosity, how did you manage to have Mozilla as a location provider? I hope i'm wrong here, but as far as I can tell. You need either google services or unifiedNLP from microG to achieve that. I say this, because I run LineageOS without Gapps and I could never make it work with Mozilla's location provider. The lack of geolocation is the only thing bothering me to be honest.
- Animats 8y ago
  Mozilla UnifiedNLP Backend (no GAAPS) installed via F-Droid. [1] https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichnaea/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichna...
cosmojg 8y ago
Which phone did you buy? Depending on the stock software, you could very well still be running all sorts of Google services in the background unless you reflashed it with a privacy-respecting ROM.
forapurpose 8y ago
Last time I looked at it, maybe a couple of years ago, the parent's approach was not nearly sufficient if you don't want your phone communicating with Google. There was so much, including things baked into Android, that it would have been a full time job to identify and find solutions to everything. The only hope was another OS (including Android forks/ROMs), and none of those available at the time seemed sufficient secure - many didn't focus on security, didn't know what they were doing, or lacked resources to complete the job - or capabilities. As one simple issue, I'm pretty sure Android uses Google's DNS and that is hard to change. Sorry to be vague; I wish I had more details but don't have time to look them up right now. The basic message is: It's not sufficient, depending on your goals. to rely on settings in the GUI and to avoid Google applications.

rehemiau 8y ago

I don't even run microg. Here WeGo is great for maps. Firefox is great as a browser, and has nice things like playing youtube in background (after adding an extension) or ublock. Slack works (without notifications), Spotify, Netflix, Authy, Signal... Many things have PWAs that work because they are platform-independent. For installing things there's F-Droid or APKUpdater. You could even use Facebook Messenger without Google and still get notifications. My battery is great and Android

gcb0 8y ago
OSMand for maps is even better than google maps, in terms of map correctness and navigation options.
- wilsonnb 8y ago
  I just installed OSMand to try it out, and it didn't have the street I live on. It also didn't have my place of work on it, although it did have that street at least. Seems worse than Google maps to me.
  - pmlnr 8y ago
    Did you also download the map for your area?
    - wilsonnb 8y ago
      I downloaded the maps for my state. Are there local maps that I would need to download as well?
      - rehemiau 8y ago
        Open Street Maps have much more users (and thus better ground coverage) in Europe, e.g. Germany. I think that's why the experience may be diametrically different for different people.

gcb0 8y ago

it is still impossible. the step #1 there, "install lineageOS" translates to "install a bunch of binaries blobs that include kernel drivers and firmwares that were signed by the OEM and google", so no, you are still not free from google code there.

dabockster 8y ago
Is Replikant still a thing?

pluc 8y ago

"De-Googling my phone" by Martin Pitt was also a pretty interesting related read: https://piware.de/post/2018-05-01-android-degoogle/ https://piware.de/post/2018-05-01-android-degoogle/

reshie 8y ago

mostly no Gapps use open apps like f-droid as a source which has a lot of rules and fairly transparent. there are some shady app markets out there though.

FairDune 8y ago

When I last did something like this, I reset to the original OS because of only one other thing I encountered - proprietary software like for e.g. Samsung S-Pen would not work. Unless I missed something?

z3t4 8y ago

Android is just the base. Smart-phones run pretty much custom firmware. You could get a "flagship" smarthone a couple of years old, basically for free, and the hardware would still be very good, but good luck upgrading to latest Android version.

NedIsakoff 8y ago

Xiaomi?

MajorSauce 8y ago

I have made a habit to de-americanize my products and went with a Xiaomi phone (the Mi Mix 2) and installed LOS on it. The only thing I am really missing is Google Maps and its precise, actual traffic augmented, predictions. I've tried Waze, Bing and OSM, but there is always something missing.

beenBoutIT 8y ago

As an Android developer I'm biased, but it's important to remember that there literally would be no Android if it weren't for Google. Custom ROMs have lagged behind Google factory images in every way for years now, and they aren't anywhere near as reliable as a customized AOSP image. On a separate note, there's no substitute for Google Maps, and there never will be.

Fnoord 8y ago
> As an Android developer I'm biased, but it's important to remember that there literally would be no Android if it weren't for Google. This is an appeal to pity. [1] As someone who knew Android before it was bought by Google I'd like to disagree on that one: "In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million." [2] Yes, Andy Rubin had money issues, but OTOH it was seen as a competitor already at that point. Some details with sources on that in [2] as well. Furthermore, if Android did not became popular perhaps Maemo did or Symbian remained and Nokia didn't die. Who knows. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_pity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_pity [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
- beenBoutIT 8y ago
  It's an accurate statement. Without Google the Android you're referring to would be buried alongside your beloved Maemo and Symbian right next to Tizen, Ubuntu Touch, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Firefox Mobile, Amazon Fire and every other non-iOS mobile OS. No one else could have made Android into what it is today because no one else could have leveraged all of Google's technologies. On a personal note, as a Nokia fan and someone who started modding with Nokia, I find your appeal to pity extremely pathetic.
Sylos 8y ago
There's tons of substitutes for Google Maps: https://f-droid.org/app/net.osmand.plus https://f-droid.org/app/net.osmand.plus https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps https://f-droid.org/app/com.junjunguo.pocketmaps https://f-droid.org/app/com.junjunguo.pocketmaps https://f-droid.org/app/com.zoffcc.applications.zanavi https://f-droid.org/app/com.zoffcc.applications.zanavi Either specify why you think Google Maps is so irreplacable or don't make such a blanket statement.