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[Q] n00b with 2 new/ Tmobile Avants - rudimentary questions about custom roms

Hi ... I'm a n00b when it comes to phone hacks but not technology so please don't dumb your answers down on account of me.
We bought two Tmobile Samsung Avants a cpl days ago (one to use and one as a spare) because the price was right and I'm leaving a WM device for Android. HOWEVER I don't like the idea that Google, who has no personal or business relationship with me, has access to all my personal information just because I'm using a phone they've branded. So I'm looking for an Android ROM that doesn't have Google tentacles in it.
I've been researching this since we got the phones but I'm not clear on what ROMS are avail for my phone ... it doesn't look like cyanogenmod has one (although they have one for my gf's old Exhibit T599!! ) - is there a repository, website or thread I haven't found that has a list of what's out there? am I stuck rooting the phone and MANUALLY removing everything? The phones have Kitkat installed.
I saw a youtube vid where they've ported Lollipop to the Avant - would that come de-Googled?
Do Android ROMs from Android come without a Google footprint? Some users have posted that Android as an independent company is not necessarily Google and their OS is NOT a Google product so my thoughts are you can have one without the other.
Any help / info is appreciated. thanks!

master-richie said:
Hi ... I'm a n00b when it comes to phone hacks but not technology so please don't dumb your answers down on account of me.
We bought two Tmobile Samsung Avants a cpl days ago (one to use and one as a spare) because the price was right and I'm leaving a WM device for Android. HOWEVER I don't like the idea that Google, who has no personal or business relationship with me, has access to all my personal information just because I'm using a phone they've branded. So I'm looking for an Android ROM that doesn't have Google tentacles in it.
I've been researching this since we got the phones but I'm not clear on what ROMS are avail for my phone ... it doesn't look like cyanogenmod has one (although they have one for my gf's old Exhibit T599!! ) - is there a repository, website or thread I haven't found that has a list of what's out there? am I stuck rooting the phone and MANUALLY removing everything? The phones have Kitkat installed.
I saw a youtube vid where they've ported Lollipop to the Avant - would that come de-Googled?
Do Android ROMs from Android come without a Google footprint? Some users have posted that Android as an independent company is not necessarily Google and their OS is NOT a Google product so my thoughts are you can have one without the other.
Any help / info is appreciated. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a project that doesnt have google stuff but you lose alot. Like no app store and things like that. Also Android is a google project. Like WP is by microsoft.
No there is no site like you are looking for.
Android is not a company but an OS like IOS, Windows, Linux and such.
The issue is mainly that if your device is not widely used then there may not be anything available for it. You also need to find out if the bootloader is locked or not and if kernel source is available for the device.
Google doesnt brand phones persay. The android operating system is theirs.

master-richie said:
Hi ... I'm a n00b when it comes to phone hacks but not technology so please don't dumb your answers down on account of me.
We bought two Tmobile Samsung Avants a cpl days ago (one to use and one as a spare) because the price was right and I'm leaving a WM device for Android. HOWEVER I don't like the idea that Google, who has no personal or business relationship with me, has access to all my personal information just because I'm using a phone they've branded. So I'm looking for an Android ROM that doesn't have Google tentacles in it.
I've been researching this since we got the phones but I'm not clear on what ROMS are avail for my phone ... it doesn't look like cyanogenmod has one (although they have one for my gf's old Exhibit T599!! ) - is there a repository, website or thread I haven't found that has a list of what's out there? am I stuck rooting the phone and MANUALLY removing everything? The phones have Kitkat installed.
I saw a youtube vid where they've ported Lollipop to the Avant - would that come de-Googled?
Do Android ROMs from Android come without a Google footprint? Some users have posted that Android as an independent company is not necessarily Google and their OS is NOT a Google product so my thoughts are you can have one without the other.
Any help / info is appreciated. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has not shown itself to be a malicious company. Is it a little creepy that they know everything about you? Yes. Will it make your user experience better? Probably. When you flash a custom ROM it removes all of the Google apps but the Google apps are really useful. Play Store, Maps, Gmail (can store all your contacts so if you get a new phone you can just import them), etc. are all very useful in my opinion. I don't personally need Google Music for example so I deleted that. All of my music comes through Spotify and Bandcamp downloads. But I can't imagine my phone without the Play Store and Gmail. It would make the experience very annoying. Cyanogen Inc. is looking into pushing their ROMs on to retail Android phones so the phone would come with Cyanogenmod and have their own equivalent to GApps. But, that won't happen for a while. The best bet to get Google out of your hair is to root it and delete the apps you don't need, or use SlimRom.
Edit: Make sure your phone is the same model as the ones that SlimRom is created for.

dictatorkara said:
Google has not shown itself to be a malicious company. Is it a little creepy that they know everything about you? Yes. Will it make your user experience better? Probably. When you flash a custom ROM it removes all of the Google apps but the Google apps are really useful. Play Store, Maps, Gmail (can store all your contacts so if you get a new phone you can just import them), etc. are all very useful in my opinion. I don't personally need Google Music for example so I deleted that. All of my music comes through Spotify and Bandcamp downloads. But I can't imagine my phone without the Play Store and Gmail. It would make the experience very annoying. Cyanogen Inc. is looking into pushing their ROMs on to retail Android phones so the phone would come with Cyanogenmod and have their own equivalent to GApps. But, that won't happen for a while. The best bet to get Google out of your hair is to root it and delete the apps you don't need, or use SlimRom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true. Even without gapps there are still many google base system files that are built into the system. There is only one Google-less project that is being worked on but they do have issues as the OS is not built to run without them. Even Slim Rom still use alot of googles stuff.

zelendel said:
This is not true. Even without gapps there are still many google base system files that are built into the system. There is only one Google-less project that is being worked on but they do have issues as the OS is not built to run without them. Even Slim Rom still use alot of googles stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't say you can completely de-Google an Android device. But, you can make it appear to be de-Googled, although the system files you mentioned will still be there. But you can completely opt out of Gmail and the like.

dictatorkara said:
I didn't say you can completely de-Google an Android device. But, you can make it appear to be de-Googled, although the system files you mentioned will still be there. But you can completely opt out of Gmail and the like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have an IT company not too long ago and I run a bunch of commercial grade servers in my house - My needs aren't the same as the typical phone user with respect to data redundancy, cloud computing, etc - I have that capability already. I pretty much use my phone to snap photos, internet browsing, texting, making calls and sometimes use the gps when driving. What I don't need is a copy of all my activity, contacts, calls, texts and browsing history stored on google servers to be sold or given to entities that I a. wouldn't consent to b. have no clue it's happening.
I don't really care if there is a Google footprint left in the phone, I just want to remove Google's ability to mine my personal data from my phone which also includes registering my device via a google+ account.
With respect to playstore, isn't Aptoid a suitable alternative?
What is SlimROM? where can I get more info on it? I saw the post you had linked to originally which prompted me to post my OP because I couldn't find any other info on it

master-richie said:
I used to have an IT company not too long ago and I run a bunch of commercial grade servers in my house - My needs aren't the same as the typical phone user with respect to data redundancy, cloud computing, etc - I have that capability already. I pretty much use my phone to snap photos, internet browsing, texting, making calls and sometimes use the gps when driving. What I don't need is a copy of all my activity, contacts, calls, texts and browsing history stored on google servers to be sold or given to entities that I a. wouldn't consent to b. have no clue it's happening.
I don't really care if there is a Google footprint left in the phone, I just want to remove Google's ability to mine my personal data from my phone which also includes registering my device via a google+ account.
With respect to playstore, isn't Aptoid a suitable alternative?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Dont use that. They are all warez and are known for including data miners, Keyloggers and screen recorders.
Ill be honest. You picked the wrong OS for that then. GPS itself uses google software to connect to the satalites.
This is your best option
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1715375

Google's Android For Work App Hits The Play Store

In February, Google proclaimed "Android is yare for work," marking an official opening to the Android for Work effort first introduced at Google I/O 2014. Today, Google's official Android for Work app has hit the Play Store, yare to avail users running Android 4.0-4.4W (since setup is built into Lollipop) and working with Android for Work partner solutions set up their contrivance for work use.
For those out of the loop, Android for Work is Google's take on dual-persona contrivance management, sanctioning users to have two replicas of the same app - one for personal use and one for business. The two are securely kept separate from one another but appear on the same contrivance, betokening users can jump between work and personal apps effortlessly, kenning that data from work apps can't carry over or commix in with the apps' personal counterparts.
Download from Google Play:
Download from Here Google Play

Sounds cool but can you name examples of this when it would be useful? And to who?
Good explanation but I guess I'm more out of the loop than I thought.

Voice input solution needed for Google-free LineageOS 15.1 (Samsung Galaxy S7)

Hi, I've recently set up my new S7 with LineageOS, and I'm determined to not install GAPPs or Google anything on this device. I've been able to find almost everything I need, but I'm still missing speech-to-text functionality.
I installed AnySoftKeyboard from F-Droid because it said it did speech-to-text in its description; however, when I attempted to use STT on the keyboard, I got a popup error message that said, "Voice Input is not installed on your device." The box had a button for installing this feature, but I suspect it pointed to a location on the Google Play store, since it offered to open F-Droid or Uptodown, neither of which had the needed app.
What can I do to obtain STT on this device without getting entangled with Google?

Even if you are using Los there are still Google closed binaries on your device. There is no way of getting away form Google with Android. Not completely.

zelendel said:
Even if you are using Los there are still Google closed binaries on your device. There is no way of getting away form Google with Android. Not completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fine, sure, now do you have any helpful suggestions about TTS?

Feenix0 said:
Fine, sure, now do you have any helpful suggestions about TTS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only one I know that works on Android (was origianly made to work on feature phones.) is controlled by Google or Apple. There is no real open source free, none tracking, setup.
You could look up the Google less preoject and see if they got it working but last I heard most abonoded the project because it just wasn't worth it.

Feenix0 said:
Hi, I've recently set up my new S7 with LineageOS, and I'm determined to not install GAPPs or Google anything on this device. I've been able to find almost everything I need, but I'm still missing speech-to-text functionality.
I installed AnySoftKeyboard from F-Droid because it said it did speech-to-text in its description; however, when I attempted to use STT on the keyboard, I got a popup error message that said, "Voice Input is not installed on your device." The box had a button for installing this feature, but I suspect it pointed to a location on the Google Play store, since it offered to open F-Droid or Uptodown, neither of which had the needed app.
What can I do to obtain STT on this device without getting entangled with Google?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TTS and SST is bound to google, you can't download it from anywhere, and even if you download it, it won't work without google services, you must install Gapps (Nano), hope it'll help

Seems like this is a dead end, for now, but I found lots of things in the works. I expect that we'll be seeing viable alternative STT services in a few years. Google, Microsoft, and Apple are always going to be at the front in this sort of thing because of their budgets, but open source will catch up.

This may be the reason I get into android app development... local, although not as good, STT is possible, I wrote some stuff in Python to do this on an embedded system. You just have to train, or purchase voice models. There are also many cloud based solutions other than Google at this point, so I don't believe this to be technologically impossible.

japtain.cack said:
This may be the reason I get into android app development... local, although not as good, STT is possible, I wrote some stuff in Python to do this on an embedded system. You just have to train, or purchase voice models. There are also many cloud based solutions other than Google at this point, so I don't believe this to be technologically impossible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback. I've actually retired the S7 for a OP 7T, and I'm pretty much resigned to Goggle STT for now.

Feenix0 said:
Thanks for the feedback. I've actually retired the S7 for a OP 7T, and I'm pretty much resigned to Goggle STT for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally, with the flashing of my phone, my life is 100% Google free. Not even using MicroG. #GoogleYou'reFired. I'll just be doing without STT until I figure out a solution.

japtain.cack said:
Finally, with the flashing of my phone, my life is 100% Google free. Not even using MicroG. #GoogleYou'reFired. I'll just be doing without STT until I figure out a solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Until I find a satisfactory alternative to Google's email, calendar, contacts, and cloud storage solutions, I'll still be here. Not that I'm looking right now...but one day. Maybe I'll try MicroG on my next phone. Maybe Elon Musk will roll out a linux-based, fully open source phone and supporting systems. Here's hoping!

Feenix0 said:
Until I find a satisfactory alternative to Google's email, calendar, contacts, and cloud storage solutions, I'll still be here. Not that I'm looking right now...but one day. Maybe I'll try MicroG on my next phone. Maybe Elon Musk will roll out a linux-based, fully open source phone and supporting systems. Here's hoping!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm using the synology nas and suite of apps. They are pretty OK. The sacrifices we make to opt out of data mining and the selling of our data to third parties... I currently have no plans to use microg. If elon makes a phone, I'd buy it, hopefully it would be better and more open.

japtain.cack said:
Yeah, I'm using the synology nas and suite of apps. They are pretty OK. The sacrifices we make to opt out of data mining and the selling of our data to third parties... I currently have no plans to use microg. If elon makes a phone, I'd buy it, hopefully it would be better and more open.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering how closed source all of elon projects are I very much doubt he'd bring out an open source android competitor, probs call it the xphone, pay to remove the integrated ****coin miner and some more for the ability to use his new 5g networking but hey maybe it'll have fart sounds as notifactions

Question Am I better off just debloating google apps?

I means systemly removing them maybe keeping ones I want? I got all the major ones removed except for Google play services on stock rom. Replaced google camera with open camera and replaced google photos with lineage gallery. That way I can still have some google apps in some form. I deleted YouTube and music and just added them as third party apps instead that I can uninstall. It's easier than installing a custom ROM these days.

Temporarily disable* Google play Services when not needed. Gmail, Google backup and Playstore are dependencies of it. That may increase your SOT by a couple percentage an hour.
* uncheck find my device as system Administrator first in security. Otherwise Google play Services disable option may be grayed out.

why not degoogle? do you rely on google play services for something?
you can gain tons of performance, battery life and privacy without the google play services, and for me its worked fine with aurora store and f-droid.

Can I get signature spoofing with micro g using stock firmware? If so how? I wanna get signature spoofing with youtube for when I'm out in public.

RDS5 said:
why not degoogle? do you rely on google play services for something?
you can gain tons of performance, battery life and privacy without the google play services, and for me its worked fine with aurora store and f-droid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using online Gmail through the browser is a pain.
Some apps need Google play Services and some apps are only available on Playstore.
Google is a pig... just hog tie it.

With debloating apps and magisk I made a lot of Google apps disappear. Kept important ones like files. And you can make it seem like google play is sandboxed with stock ROM of you know what you are doing.

Why do you want a less capable camera?

UltimateGamer83 said:
Can I get signature spoofing with micro g using stock firmware? If so how? I wanna get signature spoofing with youtube for when I'm out in public.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what about newpipe (alternative youtube client). or vanced?
otherwise, im pretty sure there are magisk modules to enable signature spoofing, but im not sure if they work on stock..
EDIT: nanodroid seems to be exactly what you need
i use lineageos/aosp on most of my devices tho..
blackhawk said:
Using online Gmail through the browser is a pain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree honestly, its probably intentional to get you to download the app..
arent there 3rd party mail clients tho? maybe those dont work as well tho
blackhawk said:
Some apps need Google play Services and some apps are only available on Playstore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aurora store can download apps from google play, and most apps that "need google play" dont actually need it and just throw warnings
blackhawk said:
Google is a pig... just hog tie it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at the end it all depends on the apps and services you use.
if you are reliant on google services (eg. gmail, gpay) then you need google play services, no matter the downside.
for me i havent had a use for these services (i use a phone to make calls, play some games, take photos and watch videos. all of these can be accomplished without google play) but for many they are tied to this.
i just hope antitrust can come and bite these companies in the ass
how come microsoft got sued for IE in the 90s but now, doing the exact same thing with edge, they arent in any trouble? just something to think about..

I don't know if I am just stupid or missing something?
Why buy a Pixel if you are not going to use Google services? Like that is the whole point.
You think that by disabling Google services, using 3rd party apps and app stores you will not be tracked?
Google makes OS, UI, and processor. You don't think they can track your use in other ways besides Google services and Google apps?
You think that the 3rd party apps are safe and not tracking you?
I mean I totally get why you want to have privacy and less use on the processes and ram but I just feel like there is no escape.
Plus you lose the great AI in the camera if you switch to something else.
I just figured if I get a Pixel part of the deal is I get Google. Android is pretty much a Google mobile OS so they can track what they want once you agree to the EULA to use the phone. At least I know going in most of what I do is being monitored and monetized. Unlike some other companies that hide that fact and act privacy focused.

Sounds like you might be looking for CalyxOS

Wi1son said:
Why do you want a less capable camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question, too... One of the big selling points of Pixel is the camera, but it works in tandem with software?

krakout said:
My question, too... One of the big selling points of Pixel is the camera, but it works in tandem with software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too wondered this. That being said, doesn't graphene OS have the Google camera working on its entirety?

Agreeing with others here - if you are really heading down that road (which reasoning I can fully understand) then I would suggest Graphene OS or Calyx OS which do exactly this....

RDS5 said:
what about newpipe (alternative youtube client). or vanced?
otherwise, im pretty sure there are magisk modules to enable signature spoofing, but im not sure if they work on stock..
EDIT: nanodroid seems to be exactly what you need
i use lineageos/aosp on most of my devices tho..
i agree honestly, its probably intentional to get you to download the app..
arent there 3rd party mail clients tho? maybe those dont work as well tho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like Gmail because of security, it's almost bulletproof. No Gmail related malware ever made it through in 15 years. Only a little common sense is needed. Spam filters are pretty good. Something equivalent or better be nice though.
RDS5 said:
aurora store can download apps from google play, and most apps that "need google play" dont actually need it and just throw warnings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A very few need Google play Services to run. Nothing critical though.
RDS5 said:
at the end it all depends on the apps and services you use.
if you are reliant on google services (eg. gmail, gpay) then you need google play services, no matter the downside.
for me i havent had a use for these services (i use a phone to make calls, play some games, take photos and watch videos. all of these can be accomplished without google play) but for many they are tied to this.
i just hope antitrust can come and bite these companies in the ass
how come microsoft got sued for IE in the 90s but now, doing the exact same thing with edge, they arent in any trouble? just something to think about..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since Android 10 and scoped storage Google Android is the enemy. Might as well be Apple.
Google pushes to end support for expandable storage. They're are liberal technocrats and need to be removed like the cancer they are. So yeah my next phone may indeed be Gookill free.

Schroeder09 said:
I too wondered this. That being said, doesn't graphene OS have the Google camera working on its entirety?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, works perfectly on p7

de-Googled ROMs / App Stores | Aurora Store vs App Lounge

Hello,
(not sure if this should be posted here, or in Q&A forum)
I've been using alternative Android ROMs on my Linux phones for the last 10+ years (mostly CM/LOS). Recently, after watching some YT videos, I found that the concept of fully de-Googled is more than a concept these days. Since I don't really use Google's apps other than Play Store, and everything else should be taken care of by microG (which if I understand correctly is FOSS implementation of Play Services, that should also supposedly pass SafetyNet check), I decided to give it a go.
As far as I can tell, the most popular de-Googled / privacy-focused ROMs are GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, and /e/. In my case, /e/ is the only one I can officially use on my target Poco F1 device.
The issue is, that I still have to get apps from somewhere (and I'm not that much into FOSS, to use just F-Droid apps). Here the main choices are:
1, App Lounge (FOSS, built-into /e/ ROM, downloads apps from both Play Store and F-Droid) --> https://doc.e.foundation/app-lounge
2. Aurora Store (FOSS, downloads apps from Play Store only) --> https://auroraoss.com/
3. F-Droid (FOSS, dedicated for F-Droid apps only) --> https://f-droid.org/
The problem is, that it is really difficult to find any credible resource that would compare those; I'm especially interested with security aspects of those solutions (first 2 ones in particular). I mean don't get me wrong, I don't think that FOSS app can just inject malicious code without anybody noticing it (especially the one ones that are up in public for t hat amount of time with so many potential eyes on it), but I'm more afraid of external resources they may or may not be using (more on that later) or some incidental bugs. Just to be clear, I can live with certain app being updated a little later, but I find being completely locked out of updates for eg. my baking app (!) or downloading it from unknown/malicious source (!!!) to be completely unacceptable. In other words, I'd like to get apps from Play Store from as-official source as possible, with as minimal in-the-middle tampering as possible, any third-party user-based manual apk upload (like APKMirror) is out of the question. For FOSS apps, I can continue using F-Droid (having 2 stores for 2 separate app sources on one phone is not an issue for me).
That said, here's what I was able to determine so far; note, that I'm not a dev or security expert, just an enthusiast, so feel free to correct any misconceptions.
App Lounge
At first glance, this is a perfect choice for me, it supports both sources (Play Store and F-Droid). However it seems to be using something called `CleanApk` to obtain them, and here's when things become really confusing to me:
- The official doc claims that it is a source for closed-source apps. It even mentions the possibility to create store page for your app (!) as well as it asks users to report malicious apps (!!!). Call me paranoid, but to me it looks like anybody can just create scam banking/Facebook/whatever app and get it published (as there is 0 mention of any verification process, be that automatic or manual). Also, I don't see any info as to where those closed-source apps actually come from, and the entire info page really lacks any detailed info. Not to mention, that source / motivation / community / author / anything about this API is a mystery to me.
- When it comes to official App Lounge's doc, it seems like it does NOT in fact use `CleanApk` for Play Store apps (?), but if that is the case then I'm confused as to why they are using it for F-Droid ones:
- This part from official App Lounge doc also kind of confuses me, because it mentions that verifying app's signature is not easy when it comes to Play Store, but it is under the `CleanApk` question, which should not be used for Play Store apps (?); on the bright side, it seems like they working towards ditching `CleanApk` altogether, but AFAIK it hasn't happened yet.
- There is a lengthy 2-part article (actually the only external piece about App Lounge I could find), which doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence to App Lounge (actually /e/ rom in general...) --> https://nervuri.net/e/apps ; the upside is, it shows some progress over time in general, but the fact that anybody at any point thought that using shady API (that might supposedly be using `APKPure.com` as a source...) makes me really worried; note that even though it is written by "somebody from the internet" his concerns make sense to me (though again, I'm not any sort of expert). Also I don't want to have to read change-log or analysis after every system update to potentially find out that they flipped and started using something different again.
Aurora Store
The upside of Aurora Store is, that it is older, was posted on XDA and github couple years before App Lounge; it is based off some other project, that is even older. It is also independent from /e/, in fact it has been used in other ROMs (eg. CalyxOS), so I think it may be more stable and tested. However, here the issues are:
- As opposed to questionable resources/doc for App Lounge, there is basically almost no info about Aurora Store. The page itself has only download links, there is also a Github page, that links you to FAQ, that doesn't exist, and to XDA page that seems to be outdated. Generally, every official resource seems to be inconsistent in some way (like XDA page mentions work in progress when it comes to some features of V3, when 4.x.x was released years ago), so it's hard to determine how it actually works. I am about 99% sure, that it uses Google Play API as a source (which is mentioned on YalpStore page which Aurora is forked from) but I haven't found it explicitly stated anywhere in Aurora Store (the best we get is that it is "FOSS client to Google's Play Store"). That said, I hope this is just my nitpick, as it is FOSS and is used by some other ROMs, so I hope that somebody read this code.
- Last commit is from 2021, so it seems not to be in active development. It is fine with me, as long as it is safe and works, but I'm afraid it might be abandoned, and break in case of any changes to Play Store API (as opposed to App Lounge, which seems to be in active development alongside /e/ ROM itself).
- Since this app is completely independent from /e/, I wonder how would system apps in /e/ itself get updated without App Lounge active.
Practical tests
I have decided to use my secondary cheapo Pixel 3a as a playground for /e/ ROM, installed Aurora and F-Droid on the top of pre-existing App Lounge, and started comparing the behavior. Since both are supposedly using Google Play Store (though again, not 100% sure), you would think, that results for "closed" apps will be the same. Well, mostly yes, but there seem to be some edge-cases / exceptions.
Notes:
1. I'm not promoting any of those apps, those are just examples.
2. All tests done on the same physical device (Google Pixel 3a), around the same time, using the same network.
3. Device rebooted, and all apps force-closed right before the tests.
4. F-Droid: 1.16.3; App Lounge: 2.4.8; Aurora Store 4.1.1.
5. Checked version and sometimes update date, I wasn't interested in description, comments, etc.
6. Obviously I haven't checked every possible app, just some examples that I though might be problematic.
Results were:
1. First I tried a few "big" apps, no surprise here, the all seem to return the same version (checked FB, YT, Netflix, FB, Steam etc. not that I use all of them). For example, Steam returned 3.5 (2023-02-24) in both clients.
2. The only exception that I was able to find, was actually TikTok, 28.9.4 in App Lounge, and 29.0.3 in Aurora Store; maybe this has something to do with ban or source of this app, but again, I'm checking on exact same phone using the same network.
3. I decided to check some lesser-known but frequently-updated app, and the only one I could think of, that would fit that criteria was FairEmail. This example is also interesting, because it is hosted in both Play Store and F-Droid. It turned out, that both Aurora Store and F-Droid featured the same version (1.2060), but App Lounge had only 1.2052. I should also point out, that this app gets very frequent updates sometimes, so it is strange that App Lounge seems to have missed probably ~8 versions (albeit over short period of time).
4. I started checking some Poland-specific apps (though quite popular ones), and I was able to find at least one irregularity being Allegro app: 8.11.1 (2023-03-21) in App Lounge and 8.13.1 (2023-04-05) in Aurora Store.
5. I also checked some older and lesser-known apps, and for example Cyberlords game exists in both stores in the same 1.0.8 version (last updated in 2020).
6. On the other hand, quite ancient ADW Launcher (last updated in 2018) does not exist in App Lounge at all (it cannot be found), but can be installed from Aurora, I also confirmed that it actually still exists in Play Store.
7. I also checked some very niche Polish-specific app Semafor, it exists in both stores, can be found, the same version.
8. I was also able to find that one of the old games Move the Box by Exponenta (last updated in 2017) exists in Aurora Store, but is nowhere to be found in App Lounge.
9. The same goes for Rss Reader by Svyatoslav Vasilev, which is not even that old (and includes commercial/donate version) exists in Aurora Store, and is missing from App Lounge.
Link to screenshots -->
https://imgur.com/a/v6BquUG
Conclusion/questions
1. Which store would you recommend based on everything I provided? From my side, I'm leaning towards either Aurora Store, or coming back to Google Play Store.
2. Where do those apks come from in the end, am I understanding correctly that in the end they should come from Play Store API in both cases?
3. When it comes to my tests: am I missing something here? If the official descriptions (or rather my assumptions) are correct, and both of those clients are using official Play Store apks accessed using likely the very same API, them how would that disparity in versions or visibility would even be possible?
4. Any other Play Store alternatives, that I missed?

Small pushup topic
I am very suprised that no one has any comment about this topic. Specially when it is very wellwritten and documented.
I've been using App Lounge with e/OS but I am not able to answer to your question although as you well say, App Lounge unite very well both F-Droid and Play store App.

Great topic, thanks. For the last few years, I use a combination of Aurora Droid + Aurora Store for open source and normal apps. The big downside is that paid apps aren't supported with an anon login through Aurora.
Right now I'm on a stock ROM, but with no google account. Previously I did a more hard-core degoogling with a custom rom wirh no google play services and MicroG. I found it to be too flaky for me (for example, I need uber to work on my phone 100% reliably). So this level of just not having a google account but still leaving play services installed seems like the right middle ground.
Also, Aurora Store is under relatively active development, not sure where you see no updates since 2021. It's at https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore
Note that just in the last few days there's been a breaking issue where the pool of anon accounts needs to be rebuilt, so until that gets fixed you probably won't be able to get started with Aurora Store.