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I recently looked at this while reviving a trusty old Samsung S4, but ultimately just went with Enhanced LOS and no gapps. F-Droid has pretty much everything I

I recently looked at this while reviving a trusty old Samsung S4, but ultimately just went with Enhanced LOS and no gapps. F-Droid has pretty much everything I really need. It’s kind of amazing how well supported this stuff is by the community, I am tempted to move away from the Apple ecosystem for my regular phone.

_bxg1 7y ago
The big things F-Droid is missing are apps based on services. Social media, banking, communication apps, commerce apps, media streaming apps. For most people, these are most of the things they use their primary mobile devices for. APKMirror can get you some of those, but some have been pulled and others require Google Services (which is where MicroG comes in).
- cdubzzz 7y ago
  That's fair. That is most of what is on my regular phone, but I also think sometimes about how very little I use those things. My primary apps are Firefox, Mail, SeaFile, KeePass, HERE We Go, and Telegram. Those account for surely 95% of my app usage and I think HERE We Go is the only one not supported in that list.
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    It varies by person; I use them all the time and that's why I gave up on using LineageOS to forego Google. I couldn't listen to my Pandora stations, I couldn't get Slack notifications from work, I couldn't check my bank account. I once had to return some headphones because they required an app and it wouldn't work. My phone basically became nothing but a web browser and... a phone. The choice is basically: 1. Privacy 2. Freedom of customization 3. Full participation in modern society Pick two. I had 1 and 2, and ended up resigning myself to 1 and 3 and getting an iPhone.
    - kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
      You can still use LineageOS with GApps to maintain stronger control over permissions.
      - _bxg1 7y ago
        Some apps break when you block certain permissions, and it can't do anything against Google Services themselves.
        mcv 7y ago
        What I want is not to block certain permissions, but to fake them. Let it think it's got access to my contacts, but it's only going to see a few fake contacts.
- drewmol 7y ago
  >APKMirror can get you some of those, but some have been pulled and others require Google Services (which is where MicroG comes in). IME F-Droid usually has a working play store alternative/wrapper for those cases. Currently, "Yalp Store" has been reliable for my Play store needs over the past year. My bank keeps locking out old apk versions so Yalp Store comes in handy. Edit: Yalp not Yelp. Don't get a Yelp app.
  - amaccuish 7y ago
    "Yalp". It's "Play" reversed.
e1ven 7y ago
I'm curious how well this went - The microG site says that some OSS apps are requiring Google libraries. Have you run into a problem here?
- floatboth 7y ago
  Even non-OSS apps that "require" Google services usually work fine without them.
- cdubzzz 7y ago
  I haven't run in to any problems, but I also haven't been using the phone exclusively so my experience is very limited. It would be interesting to know exactly which apps are affected by that though...
- _underfl0w_ 7y ago
  In my experience (running Lineage + microG for a month or so now) the main issue is with in-app purchases like "Pro" versions of things or subscriptions. There are various workarounds to make it happen, but I haven't had any success. I've tried using the NanoDroid patched Phonesky apk but no luck on my Pixel. Some apps attempt to check their license via PlayStore on startup and won't acknowledge your license otherwise (e.g. TitaniumBackup, DarkSky) Others require play services to download additional stuff and refuse to function without it - e.g. Monument Valley. Some work fine when the pro version is restored via TitaniumBackup, though - Solid Explorer is one example.

_bxg1 7y ago

The big things F-Droid is missing are apps based on services. Social media, banking, communication apps, commerce apps, media streaming apps. For most people, these are most of the things they use their primary mobile devices for. APKMirror can get you some of those, but some have been pulled and others require Google Services (which is where MicroG comes in).

cdubzzz 7y ago
That's fair. That is most of what is on my regular phone, but I also think sometimes about how very little I use those things. My primary apps are Firefox, Mail, SeaFile, KeePass, HERE We Go, and Telegram. Those account for surely 95% of my app usage and I think HERE We Go is the only one not supported in that list.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  It varies by person; I use them all the time and that's why I gave up on using LineageOS to forego Google. I couldn't listen to my Pandora stations, I couldn't get Slack notifications from work, I couldn't check my bank account. I once had to return some headphones because they required an app and it wouldn't work. My phone basically became nothing but a web browser and... a phone. The choice is basically: 1. Privacy 2. Freedom of customization 3. Full participation in modern society Pick two. I had 1 and 2, and ended up resigning myself to 1 and 3 and getting an iPhone.
  - kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
    You can still use LineageOS with GApps to maintain stronger control over permissions.
    - _bxg1 7y ago
      Some apps break when you block certain permissions, and it can't do anything against Google Services themselves.
      - mcv 7y ago
        What I want is not to block certain permissions, but to fake them. Let it think it's got access to my contacts, but it's only going to see a few fake contacts.
drewmol 7y ago
>APKMirror can get you some of those, but some have been pulled and others require Google Services (which is where MicroG comes in). IME F-Droid usually has a working play store alternative/wrapper for those cases. Currently, "Yalp Store" has been reliable for my Play store needs over the past year. My bank keeps locking out old apk versions so Yalp Store comes in handy. Edit: Yalp not Yelp. Don't get a Yelp app.
- amaccuish 7y ago
  "Yalp". It's "Play" reversed.

e1ven 7y ago

I'm curious how well this went - The microG site says that some OSS apps are requiring Google libraries. Have you run into a problem here?

floatboth 7y ago
Even non-OSS apps that "require" Google services usually work fine without them.
cdubzzz 7y ago
I haven't run in to any problems, but I also haven't been using the phone exclusively so my experience is very limited. It would be interesting to know exactly which apps are affected by that though...
_underfl0w_ 7y ago
In my experience (running Lineage + microG for a month or so now) the main issue is with in-app purchases like "Pro" versions of things or subscriptions. There are various workarounds to make it happen, but I haven't had any success. I've tried using the NanoDroid patched Phonesky apk but no luck on my Pixel. Some apps attempt to check their license via PlayStore on startup and won't acknowledge your license otherwise (e.g. TitaniumBackup, DarkSky) Others require play services to download additional stuff and refuse to function without it - e.g. Monument Valley. Some work fine when the pro version is restored via TitaniumBackup, though - Solid Explorer is one example.