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I'd be very interested in seeing a Lineageos that does not include Google's proprietary and closed source Google Play Services. I understand you can download Li

by Kequc 8y ago

I'd be very interested in seeing a Lineageos that does not include Google's proprietary and closed source Google Play Services. I understand you can download Lineageos without Google Play Services however a hundred different things you wouldn't expect the os depends on will stop working including GPS and even notifications. I think it should be an ambition of the project, while remaining open source, to fill those holes. There are open source workarounds in the wild but they are not so easy to use. Google works against them with seemingly every update to android, and Lineageos helps Google by refusing to support signature spoofing. The mechanism by which use of alternatives is even possible. Lineageos says that it supports an experience free from Google Play Services but in practice use of Lineageos without it requires a custom build of the operating system. Which is too bad, I think that would be a reasonably large portion of the potential user base.

culot 8y ago
I wonder if CopperheadOS would fit the bill?
- gruez 8y ago
  [deleted]
  - milcron 8y ago
    > Copperhead is an information security firm located in Toronto, Canada, specializing in protecting mobile data and devices through security assessments and secure endpoint deployments.
  - forapurpose 8y ago
    Do you mean that CopperheadOS is derived from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is developed by Google?
mafuyu 8y ago
https://lineage.microg.org/ https://lineage.microg.org/ MicroG has been picking up steam. They're doing OTA updates of Lineage + MicroG now.
- Kequc 8y ago
  Up until now I wasn't aware microG was doing their own builds for Lineageos, when did that start? I'm quite happy to see that, it'll help a lot of people. I'd still rather see a world where custom builds aren't necessary.
  - 9034725985 8y ago
    Not that long ago. I use it on my Nexus 6 (shamu) but I also use yalp to get apps from the play store. Here is a relevant discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15617615 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15617615
- dgllghr 8y ago
  I use this on my Nexus 6P and it's surprisingly great! The only app that I really need that I have problems with is Lyft, but other than that everything I need works smoothly. I get as many apps as I can from F-Droid and use Yalp Store to get the rest. Preferring F-Droid apps also means I have fewer apps that expect Google Play Services.
- subway 8y ago
  I so desperately want to use MicroG, but keep having to go back to the official framework. The handful of apps I use that rely on Play (Lyft, Transit App, One Bus Away) all insist the Play Framework needs to be updated.
kiriakasis 8y ago
The main problem was (IIRC) that other services explicitally refer to google play services, and to circumvent that they would need to disable a security check, which is against the project policy (there were discussion whether it was a political or technical choice).
this_user 8y ago
Lineage builds usually come per default without Google services or apps. It's your decision whether or not you install them. Of course, lots of 3rd party apps do rely on the Google services and won't work without. There is no good workaround for that short of re-implementing the Google APIs yourself or trying to use microG.
- Kequc 8y ago
  A lot of first party apps and basic os functionality also relies on Google Play Services. As Google have been building more and more into the closed source portion of their operating system. They are attempting to create a foothold where the operating system doesn't work without it.
  - endemic 8y ago
    Hmm, do you have any examples of this? I'm curious as I've been running LineageOS without Play Services... seems to work quite well, but maybe I'm missing something?
    - nimrody 8y ago
      Do you use whatsapp or any similar messenger app? If so, do you receive notifications when the app is not running (foreground or background) Play services is responsible for connectivity with Google's servers which are used to distribute notifications to the device. Play services is probably also responsible for backing up the App's data to Google servers (not sure about this one)
      - ViViDboarder 8y ago
        Those aren't first party apps.
    - jraph 8y ago
      The AOSP keyboard lacks functionality when compared to Google keyboard by default: there is no way to swipe on the keyboard to write words, and you cannot input emojis by writing their description.
muxator 8y ago
I am on a plain LineageOs, no play services, apps installed directly via their APKs. GPS & maps: Google Maps and Open Street Maps both work normally. IM: Whatsapp, Telegram, Skype work normally (but I suppose they make use of a custom notification system) Browser: Firefox seems not to care about play services Media: Vlc, Netflix, MX Player are all fine.

by Kequc 8y ago

culot 8y ago

I wonder if CopperheadOS would fit the bill?

gruez 8y ago
[deleted]
- milcron 8y ago
  > Copperhead is an information security firm located in Toronto, Canada, specializing in protecting mobile data and devices through security assessments and secure endpoint deployments.
- forapurpose 8y ago
  Do you mean that CopperheadOS is derived from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is developed by Google?

mafuyu 8y ago

https://lineage.microg.org/ https://lineage.microg.org/ MicroG has been picking up steam. They're doing OTA updates of Lineage + MicroG now.

Kequc 8y ago
Up until now I wasn't aware microG was doing their own builds for Lineageos, when did that start? I'm quite happy to see that, it'll help a lot of people. I'd still rather see a world where custom builds aren't necessary.
- 9034725985 8y ago
  Not that long ago. I use it on my Nexus 6 (shamu) but I also use yalp to get apps from the play store. Here is a relevant discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15617615 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15617615
dgllghr 8y ago
I use this on my Nexus 6P and it's surprisingly great! The only app that I really need that I have problems with is Lyft, but other than that everything I need works smoothly. I get as many apps as I can from F-Droid and use Yalp Store to get the rest. Preferring F-Droid apps also means I have fewer apps that expect Google Play Services.
subway 8y ago
I so desperately want to use MicroG, but keep having to go back to the official framework. The handful of apps I use that rely on Play (Lyft, Transit App, One Bus Away) all insist the Play Framework needs to be updated.

kiriakasis 8y ago

The main problem was (IIRC) that other services explicitally refer to google play services, and to circumvent that they would need to disable a security check, which is against the project policy (there were discussion whether it was a political or technical choice).

this_user 8y ago

Lineage builds usually come per default without Google services or apps. It's your decision whether or not you install them. Of course, lots of 3rd party apps do rely on the Google services and won't work without. There is no good workaround for that short of re-implementing the Google APIs yourself or trying to use microG.

Kequc 8y ago
A lot of first party apps and basic os functionality also relies on Google Play Services. As Google have been building more and more into the closed source portion of their operating system. They are attempting to create a foothold where the operating system doesn't work without it.
- endemic 8y ago
  Hmm, do you have any examples of this? I'm curious as I've been running LineageOS without Play Services... seems to work quite well, but maybe I'm missing something?
  - nimrody 8y ago
    Do you use whatsapp or any similar messenger app? If so, do you receive notifications when the app is not running (foreground or background) Play services is responsible for connectivity with Google's servers which are used to distribute notifications to the device. Play services is probably also responsible for backing up the App's data to Google servers (not sure about this one)
    - ViViDboarder 8y ago
      Those aren't first party apps.
  - jraph 8y ago
    The AOSP keyboard lacks functionality when compared to Google keyboard by default: there is no way to swipe on the keyboard to write words, and you cannot input emojis by writing their description.

muxator 8y ago

I am on a plain LineageOs, no play services, apps installed directly via their APKs. GPS & maps: Google Maps and Open Street Maps both work normally. IM: Whatsapp, Telegram, Skype work normally (but I suppose they make use of a custom notification system) Browser: Firefox seems not to care about play services Media: Vlc, Netflix, MX Player are all fine.