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You can use an Android phone without Google services. You don't even need root or a custom ROM for that — there's a "disable" button on the app details page of

You can use an Android phone without Google services. You don't even need root or a custom ROM for that — there's a "disable" button on the app details page of every Google app, including GSF. You can complete the initial setup fully offline, too. In case you do need Google services, but want to have a say about which and how, there's MicroG, an open-source implementation of some of the most used ones like GCM (push messaging). You can't use an iPhone without Apple services, period. An Apple ID is a hard requirement to activate an iOS device, it literally won't let you past that screen without one. Even after you're done with that, you can only install apps from the app store, subject to that unfair, opaque approval process.

commoner 5y ago
microG (a replacement for Google Play Services) includes a free and open source network location provider called UnifiedNlp: https://github.com/microg/UnifiedNlp https://github.com/microg/UnifiedNlp UnifiedNlp allows you to choose the backends your Android device uses to determine the location, without providing any data to Google. Options include: - Mozilla Location Services: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichnaea/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichna... - Apple Location Services: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.apple/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.apple... - OpenCellID (offline): https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.gfd.gsmlocation/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.gfd.gsmlocation/ - Radiocells.org (optionally offline): https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.openbmap.unifiedNlp/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.openbmap.unifiedNlp/ - Déjà Vu (offline cache using Wi-Fi and cellular data): https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fitchfamily.android.dejavu/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fitchfamily.android.deja... The easiest way to use microG is to switch to an Android distribution that has it preinstalled: - CalyxOS (supports Google Pixel 2 and later): https://calyxos.org https://calyxos.org - LineageOS for microG (supports all devices supported by LineageOS): https://lineage.microg.org https://lineage.microg.org - /e/ (some overlap with LineageOS, but also supports different devices): https://e.foundation https://e.foundation

commoner 5y ago

microG (a replacement for Google Play Services) includes a free and open source network location provider called UnifiedNlp: https://github.com/microg/UnifiedNlp https://github.com/microg/UnifiedNlp UnifiedNlp allows you to choose the backends your Android device uses to determine the location, without providing any data to Google. Options include: - Mozilla Location Services: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichnaea/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.ichna... - Apple Location Services: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.apple/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.microg.nlp.backend.apple... - OpenCellID (offline): https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.gfd.gsmlocation/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.gfd.gsmlocation/ - Radiocells.org (optionally offline): https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.openbmap.unifiedNlp/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.openbmap.unifiedNlp/ - Déjà Vu (offline cache using Wi-Fi and cellular data): https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fitchfamily.android.dejavu/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fitchfamily.android.deja... The easiest way to use microG is to switch to an Android distribution that has it preinstalled: - CalyxOS (supports Google Pixel 2 and later): https://calyxos.org https://calyxos.org - LineageOS for microG (supports all devices supported by LineageOS): https://lineage.microg.org https://lineage.microg.org - /e/ (some overlap with LineageOS, but also supports different devices): https://e.foundation https://e.foundation