5 ms·

Pretty much this, just run android without GMS and you quickly discover how limited it can be if you don't know what your doing.

adrian_b 4y ago
Except that there are also a few people like myself. I am now at my 3rd Android smartphone and I have always used all of them without GMS and without a Google account and I do not feel that I have missed anything. All the mobile phone services, camera, clock/calendar, file storage, Web browsing, including the use of anything accessible on the Web, e.g. Google Maps, all work OK, and I do not need anything else from my phone. The very few extra applications that I have installed, e.g. an authentication app for the VPN of my company, have been side loaded, not from the Google Store. The only problem that I have ever had with the lack of a Google account was that one of the banks with which I work has discontinued their Web interface for online banking and has mandated the use of a phone app for authentication. As their staff seems very stupid, they had not provided any way to side load their app, but it could be installed only from the Google Store. Seeing that they cannot be reasoned with, I have canceled my online banking service at that bank and I have reverted to an older form of SMS service, which still provides me most of the features that I need, e.g. receiving notifications on transactions from my accounts and interrogating the accounts balance. The loss is theirs, because I now do more frequently banking operations at other banks, which do not have stupid conditions tied to their online banking services.
- dragonelite 4y ago
  I just used a Huawei phone for like 2 year without GMS, but you and I are not 99.999 of the general phone users out there. I used Aurora store to access the Playstore, youtube vance to play youtube movies. For the rest i only use Facebook Messenger(for family), whats app, Telegram and my banking app doesn't need GMS to function. Those messenger app have their own notification services so not completely dependent on GMS stuff. For the rest i'm more interested in camera specs and not really in mobile app ecosystem outside of those couple of apps i just need to talk with family and friends.. It is totally doable but don't think 99.999 of the phone users will take the effort to find everything out.
- colordrops 4y ago
  How did you install Google Maps though? I assume you are a technical users? I'm also running LineageOS+MicroG+Aurora and it works for me, but 95% of the populace isn't going to have much luck doing this, which is as Google intended.

adrian_b 4y ago

Except that there are also a few people like myself. I am now at my 3rd Android smartphone and I have always used all of them without GMS and without a Google account and I do not feel that I have missed anything. All the mobile phone services, camera, clock/calendar, file storage, Web browsing, including the use of anything accessible on the Web, e.g. Google Maps, all work OK, and I do not need anything else from my phone. The very few extra applications that I have installed, e.g. an authentication app for the VPN of my company, have been side loaded, not from the Google Store. The only problem that I have ever had with the lack of a Google account was that one of the banks with which I work has discontinued their Web interface for online banking and has mandated the use of a phone app for authentication. As their staff seems very stupid, they had not provided any way to side load their app, but it could be installed only from the Google Store. Seeing that they cannot be reasoned with, I have canceled my online banking service at that bank and I have reverted to an older form of SMS service, which still provides me most of the features that I need, e.g. receiving notifications on transactions from my accounts and interrogating the accounts balance. The loss is theirs, because I now do more frequently banking operations at other banks, which do not have stupid conditions tied to their online banking services.

dragonelite 4y ago
I just used a Huawei phone for like 2 year without GMS, but you and I are not 99.999 of the general phone users out there. I used Aurora store to access the Playstore, youtube vance to play youtube movies. For the rest i only use Facebook Messenger(for family), whats app, Telegram and my banking app doesn't need GMS to function. Those messenger app have their own notification services so not completely dependent on GMS stuff. For the rest i'm more interested in camera specs and not really in mobile app ecosystem outside of those couple of apps i just need to talk with family and friends.. It is totally doable but don't think 99.999 of the phone users will take the effort to find everything out.
colordrops 4y ago
How did you install Google Maps though? I assume you are a technical users? I'm also running LineageOS+MicroG+Aurora and it works for me, but 95% of the populace isn't going to have much luck doing this, which is as Google intended.