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> Signal You can sideload signal and it works without google cloud messaging. I use signal every day. It works fine. > Firefox You can sideload Firefox or us
by dmm 8y ago
> Signal
You can sideload signal and it works without google cloud messaging. I use signal every day. It works fine.
> Firefox
You can sideload Firefox or use Fennec from fdroid, a firefox rebuild without proprietary software.
> Whatsapp
Yep that probably won't work. Most proprietary android applications use google play framework. This will only get worse. "Android" is less and less free with every release. Google keeps adding functionality to the proprietary libraries on top of the free base.
> VLC
It used to be in fdroid but is a nightmare to build so it was removed.
> No one can seriously expect a normal user to do without Google Play Services
Probably. I was just sharing my personal experience.
> very little influence on the surveillance state
Ha! Most HN readers are enthusiastically building the surveillance state.
- c4h8o3del 8y agoVLC is currently in FDroid, though perhaps there was a time when it had been removed.
- dmm 8y agoThanks, I was unaware.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 8y agoDoesn't seem so. Link?
- rndmio 8y agohttps://www.whatsapp.com/android/ https://www.whatsapp.com/android/ Whatsapp distribute the apk directly from their site if you want it, and have done for years. My MiL uses it on a 2013 Nexus7 as she doesn't want a smartphone (even though they say tablets aren't supported)
- afandian 8y agoFWIW, Whatsapp works on my Blackberry OS 10 device, which has an Android compatibility layer. I don't know the details, but I'm fairly sure Google Play Services isn't included.
- Markoff 8y agoi have phone with LOS15.1 without gapps, both Signal and WhatsApp work just fine actually WhatsApp even better without nagging permanent notification like signal (though you can disable and enable it to hide it) i update apps through Yalp store only app i really lost it's Google photos, sharing photos through 1TB Flickr or WhatsApp it's not exactly ideal compared to workflow with Google photos but i @willing to pay this price for not having Google in my life
- admax88q 8y ago> Whatsapp Sideloaded whatsapp works fine. Also F-Droid has Yalp now which lets you download APKs directly from the play store without running play/play services.