Hello alL,
I come to bring you good news. I have managed to install google play store and other Google Apps on the Chinese version of the Honor 9 (WITHOUT ROOT).
For anyone wondering, here are the steps.
1 - Download this file to your Honor 9.
2 - Decompress the zip file and install "Google Installer_2.0.apk". Don't touch the other files.
3 - Run this app (the newly installed one with the chinese name) and confirm using the Green button near the bottom.
4 - Confirm all prompts for authorisation, ensuring you select "Trust app" to give it full permissions. This will install the core "Google Play Apps Suite" as a user app, meaning that you will be able to uninstall "Play store" by simply dragging it to the top. See 1st screenshot.
5 - Check if Google Play Store has been installed and is working. If android complains about "Missing GMSs", reboot and try again. If still you have problems, try downloading "GMSInstaller apk" from an internet mirror of your choice.
See attached screenshots for proof that it works!
Great guide! Thanks for sharing. This is a safer way than rebrand, but rebrand will bring you a full Europe/US EMUI. You will not see any left-over Chinese characters.
The only downside is you'll be left with some Chinese letters here and there :/
But, it's easier than rebranding
Is there a lot of Chinese left so that it becomes difficult to use the phone? Or more like a minor nuisance? I'm currently in China and positively drooling at the local retail price but I've no access to a computer for rebranding.
Hi, I tried this procedure, I managed to install all the GApps but when I try to login or add google account the phone freezes for a moment and nothing happens. Same behavior on YT, while on Gmail and Play Store it still says "GMS Installer required". I guess that with a chinese phone you need to flash it anyway or it can't reach google servers. Am I right?
battilory said:
Hello alL,
I come to bring you good news. I have managed to install google play store and other Google Apps on the Chinese version of the Honor 9 (WITHOUT ROOT).
For anyone wondering, here are the steps.
1 - Download file to your Honor 9.
2 - Decompress the zip file and install "Google Installer_2.0.apk". Don't touch the other files.
3 - Run this app (the newly installed one with the chinese name) and confirm using the Green button near the bottom.
4 - Confirm all prompts for authorisation, ensuring you select "Trust app" to give it full permissions. This will install the core "Google Play Apps Suite" as a user app, meaning that you will be able to uninstall "Play store" by simply dragging it to the top. See 1st screenshot.
5 - Check if Google Play Store has been installed and is working. If android complains about "Missing GMSs", reboot and try again. If still you have problems, try downloading "GMSInstaller apk" from an internet mirror of your choice.
See attached screenshots for proof that it works!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I previously installed google services successfully using GMSinstaller when I first got my Honor 9 in August.
Now it is upgraded to B201 and because it always crashes when it comes to google play, I ran GMSinstaller again which asked me to uninstall every google related apps.
I did so but now it is impossible to install google again
GMS installer will only propose me to uninstall previously installed google apps, then reboot.
I tried several "Google Installer" including this one, none of them are working.
Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks
It seems like this B201 update patches the GMS installer
PalakMi said:
It seems like this B201 update patches the GMS installer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried removing all the google stuff (framework, account manager, services, sync) then manually install each of them : still doesn't work.
Does anyone with B201 firmware succeed to install Google ?
Is it possible to downgrade without root/unlock ?
One thing I have not tried yet is reset to factory, If I do so I am wondering if a backup from HiSuite will restore everything...
padfr said:
I tried removing all the google stuff (framework, account manager, services, sync) then manually install each of them : still doesn't work.
Does anyone with B201 firmware succeed to install Google ?
Is it possible to downgrade without root/unlock ?
One thing I have not tried yet is reset to factory, If I do so I am wondering if a backup from HiSuite will restore everything...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell us the results when you're done
PalakMi said:
Tell us the results when you're done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After Factory reset, GMSinstaller worked again !
But my fear was confirmed : after restoring from HiSuite Backup, I lost some datas in my apps and also all my notes in the notes app
In the end got Google back, that's the most important !!
padfr said:
After Factory reset, GMSinstaller worked again !
But my fear was confirmed : after restoring from HiSuite Backup, I lost some datas in my apps and also all my notes in the notes app
In the end got Google back, that's the most important !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's better than nothing
So I currently have a Mi Box (MiBox1S) and it's running Android 4.4.2. I'd like to install gapps onto it, to make it less like a brick and more like a streaming box. (Hulu won't work without it, plus the launcher it came with is ugly and in Chinese so I'd like Leanback) I've found there's no TWRP for the device as far as I can tell. However, I do have root that I achieved with KingoRoot. Since I couldn't get a recovery, I tried Flashify, FlashFire, & Flash Gordon apps to install w/o TWRP. Flashify needed a mouse or touchscreen, Flashfire doesn't support KingoRoot I guess, and Flash Gordon just flat out did nothing despite saying it was flashing and had root. I tried three different gapps installers, two said unsupported and the last needs a mouse to work. I did also try just sideloading the apps with ES. Opening any of them would just tell me Google Play services has stopped, so that's a no go. So, how does anybody propose I get gapps onto this thing? And maybe Lollipop too? I guess my fallback would be just trying to use Android x86 on an older pc but I'm having other issues with that as well. Mostly with the sound not working at all.
Zumbuh said:
So I currently have a Mi Box (MiBox1S) and it's running Android 4.4.2. I'd like to install gapps onto it, to make it less like a brick and more like a streaming box. (Hulu won't work without it, plus the launcher it came with is ugly and in Chinese so I'd like Leanback) I've found there's no TWRP for the device as far as I can tell. However, I do have root that I achieved with KingoRoot. Since I couldn't get a recovery, I tried Flashify, FlashFire, & Flash Gordon apps to install w/o TWRP. Flashify needed a mouse or touchscreen, Flashfire doesn't support KingoRoot I guess, and Flash Gordon just flat out did nothing despite saying it was flashing and had root. I tried three different gapps installers, two said unsupported and the last needs a mouse to work. I did also try just sideloading the apps with ES. Opening any of them would just tell me Google Play services has stopped, so that's a no go. So, how does anybody propose I get gapps onto this thing? And maybe Lollipop too? I guess my fallback would be just trying to use Android x86 on an older pc but I'm having other issues with that as well. Mostly with the sound not working at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you already managed to root the device, you just need to go to apkmirror and install FOUR google packages specifically for version 4.4.2:
Google Play Store
com.android.vending
Google Play Services
com.google.android.gms
Google Service Framework
com.google.android.gsf
Google Account Manager
com.google.android.gsf.login
However, in order to make it work, you need to install them as system-app.
And MiBox 1s doesn't have any extra spaces for you to install all four.
So, for your own good, you should get rid of xiaomi system files first.
(as for exactly what can be gotten rid of... that is details, ping me again if you haven't give up on this box yet)
In the process, you may want to get rid of something like mitv.desktop. That is one thing sit on TOP of launcher thus without getting rid of it, none of your launcher will work.
So, you need to install a launcher first.
I have never gotten leanback to work. I did install an open-source "simple TV launcher" and it served my purposes.
At this time frame, I can't get a lot of stuff to work simply this box is too old. But I did manage to use the box without any xiaomi software.
kngharv said:
Since you already managed to root the device, you just need to go to apkmirror and install FOUR google packages specifically for version 4.4.2:
Google Play Store
com.android.vending
Google Play Services
com.google.android.gms
Google Service Framework
com.google.android.gsf
Google Account Manager
com.google.android.gsf.login
However, in order to make it work, you need to install them as system-app.
And MiBox 1s doesn't have any extra spaces for you to install all four.
So, for your own good, you should get rid of xiaomi system files first.
(as for exactly what can be gotten rid of... that is details, ping me again if you haven't give up on this box yet)
In the process, you may want to get rid of something like mitv.desktop. That is one thing sit on TOP of launcher thus without getting rid of it, none of your launcher will work.
So, you need to install a launcher first.
I have never gotten leanback to work. I did install an open-source "simple TV launcher" and it served my purposes.
At this time frame, I can't get a lot of stuff to work simply this box is too old. But I did manage to use the box without any xiaomi software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the reply, but this was over 2 years ago. I did get gapps on it but ended up bricking it by trying to install Leanback as a system app and resetting it never fixed it, so it has collected dust since then unfortunately.
If you are interested in revive the machine, I have a copy of an internal development image from Xiaomi.
It is the only image which I can repeatedly flash when I screwed up.
You can simply flash this development image first, then start over again.
By the way, I never managed to get leanback to work. I suspect the leanback launcher is based upon Android/5.
I end up using some open source launcher instead.
If you are interested in this image, let me know.
I also have a list of bloatware which you can safely remove (if you are willing to give up on any of xiaomi services
Also... as far as my experiences go, I don't really need gapps for some reason. I have a 3rd party Youtube, Kodi, and Netflix installed. None of them requires gapps.
kngharv said:
If you are interested in revive the machine, I have a copy of an internal development image from Xiaomi.
It is the only image which I can repeatedly flash when I screwed up.
You can simply flash this development image first, then start over again.
By the way, I never managed to get leanback to work. I suspect the leanback launcher is based upon Android/5.
I end up using some open source launcher instead.
If you are interested in this image, let me know.
I also have a list of bloatware which you can safely remove (if you are willing to give up on any of xiaomi services
Also... as far as my experiences go, I don't really need gapps for some reason. I have a 3rd party Youtube, Kodi, and Netflix installed. None of them requires gapps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yeah, I'd like a link to it actually. I've never really expected to revive it. It's been so long though, I don't remember how to get this device into fastboot mode even.
This guide explains how to deGoogle any android by removing most of google invasive crap. (yes, GPlay services is also removed).Play store, Google app and other crap is also removed from system, so if you want to use them, install them as user app. The installation for play store is different, and it is explained below.
Check my Post on reddit for more up to date info and clear instructions HERE
When we remove Gplay services, many apps and services stop working . Many apps will give error but still work (like maps and telegram and whatsapp). Play store will definitely not work and many apps that use push notification through Gplay services (most of them) will not be able to do so. In my case Uber, ola or any other ride app was also not working and was crashing constantly. Paytm will also not work without play services. And on top of that many apps that use location might not behave properly.
Whoosh! those are a lot of problems for uninstalling play services. So, why would anyone want to do that?
Simply put it, Google is an Advertising company. No it is not a company that sells product, i mean yes it sells products and earns from them BUT more than 60% of their revenue comes from Ads that they serve you. And yes, google is the biggest Ad company in the world with more than 80% of ad share (i may be wrong about the %, feel free to search yourself). So obviously they want ta make money out of your data (by selling it) and to do that what better way than to install spyware on world's largest mobile OS.
Google play services record your every action, tracking every app that you opened and everything you do. That data remains with google and they sell it to 3rd parties (and you agreed to it when you made Google account and setup your android device. Remember Clicking on "I AGREE"?).
Here i will not discuss how invasive it is. A simple Web search with "google play services tracking" will give you much more information. (and please do search it, i beg you) (Pro Tip: reddit has best answers, so explore reddit links from search)
Here is a good one explaining things
And Gplay services Eat a LOT of battery by constantly Running in background. So if you want better battery, remove it
So you have decided to degoogle your phone (and debloat it). What to do about all those errors after removing play services?
Here Comes MicroG. microG is an Open Source replacement for Google Play Services.
"MicroG is a free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.
The linux-based open-source mobile operating system Android is not only the most popular mobile operating system in the world, it’s also on the way to becoming a proprietary operating system. How is that?
While the core operating system is still released as part of the Android Open Source Project, the majority of core apps are not. It gets worse: More and more libraries and APIs are only available on phones that run various Google apps pre-installed, effectively locking third-party apps to the Google ecosystem. For these reasons Android is described as being a “look but don’t touch” kind of open.
At this point, several popular open-source applications already require some of Google’s proprietary libraries to be installed. Increasing demand in the free software community in addition to severe problems in Google’s proprietary software discovered by the Android modding community, have led to the development of a free software clone of Google’s proprietary core libraries and applications - the microG Project was born.
Although most microG components are far from complete, users are amazed by the results. Free software users got extended application support, privacy-caring users can reduce or monitor data that is sent to Google and especially older phones can expect some battery life improvements."
(So it basically removes all those errors. Great!)
So, Lets start Degoogling!
Warning: bootloader needs to be unlocked, magisk should be there and twrp should be installed.
NOTE: MAKE FULL NANDROID BACKUP OF YOUR DEVICE BEFORE PROCEEDING BY GOING TO TWRP -> BACKUP -> SELECT ALL . store it in PC or somewhere safe
Removing google crap
Flash TWRP and install magisk.
We need Signature spoofing in the ROM. Download SmaliPatcher from here and tick all patches, (We are interested in the "signature spoofing" one but all of them are useful) and follow the instructions on its page to install that module. Now your system supports signature spoofing. (I recommend SmaliPatcher even if your rom supports Signature Spoofing so that no issue arises)
Other ways for signature spoofing are given in MicroG wiki here
(IF YOU ARE ON STOCK ROM)
In case you had the Google Play Services previously installed (which Users having stock ROM have), remove all updates and the packages in /system/priv-app of the Google Services (you can use TWRP file manager or any root explorer to delete below packages, just delete the apk files in respective folders):
GmsCore (PrebuiltGmsCore, PrebuiltGmsCorePi, PrebuiltGmsCorePix)
GoogleBackupTransport
GoogleFeedback
GoogleLoginService
GoogleOneTimeInitializer
GooglePartnerSetup
GoogleServicesFramework
Phonesky
SetupWizard
Velvet.
In case you forgot to remove the GmsCore updates, you can manually remove these using adb uninstall com.google.android.gms.
After that, reboot your android device - all privileged GAPPS should be removed. (a bootloop may be caused, but dont worry, just boot into TWRP and follow below steps.)
IF YOU ARE ON CUSTOM ROM-> after flashing rom zip, do not reboot and follow below (DONT FLASH ANY GAPPS)SIZE]
Make full backup of your device if not made till now
Installing MicroG
Download Latest "MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip" from here
Add "system-" to start of package name (thus making it like "system-MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip" ) and copy it in sdcard or internal storage of phone. Now boot into TWRP
flash "system-MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip".
OLD METHOD, USE THIS IF ABOVE WONT WORK
Download the following from here
full NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip
NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (if it causes brick)
Copy below in sdcard or internal storage of phone. Now boot into TWRP
NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (if it causes brick)
flash NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip, now an aroma installer is opened. click on next , agree to terms and click next, chose save location "/data/media/0" (you can change this as per your needs but remember this location since here the installer will save 3 files) and click next
now from here onwards you can select yourself according to your needs or follow my tutorial till the end of aroma installer.
you should be on generic settings page, tick 'apps', 'maps apiv1', 'init scrips', 'gnu bash', and 'shell utils'. click next.
in microG page, select "full", next, on f-droid page select "official", next, select all 4 nlpBackends, next, now here select "play store(patrched)" if you want to use Play store (your choice, if you want to degoogle select "Aurora + fake store"), next
now select apps of your choice here, next, on Debloat setup page click next (yeah just skip it), and finally click on create config, next and finish.
Aroma installer Ends now.
Now while in twrp, connect your phone to PC and browse to internal storage (or the location you selected during aroma installer to save files)
the 3 files will be ".nanodroid-overlay", ".nanodroid-setup", ".nanodroid-apps". Copy these to PC and keep them in some place safe. Now open "nanodroid.zip" (that you downloaded earlier) with winRAR or 7zip and drag and drop these 3 files in it. (they should be in root of the zip where "meta-inf" folder is)
now copy NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip to your phone and flash it.
now boot into system. if flashing nanodroid causes bootloop, restore from twrp backup that you made (i told you so!).
Configuring MicroG
You need to setup microG , go into microG settings (in app drawer or in settings) and set up everything like:
check results in Self-Check, grant all the missing permissions (by tapping on them)
especially the Battery Optimization item
if Phonesky (= Fake Store or Play Store) lacks signature spoofing permissions head to Settings / Apps / Permissions / Signature Spoofing and grant it
enable Google device registration
enable Google Cloud Messaging (only if you want to receive push messages from your applications)
enable Google SafetyNet, required for applications that utilize SafetyNet, for example Pokémon GO (Currently Broken)
in UnifiedNlp Settings choose all (whichever you've choosen to be installed)
Déjà Vu, Mozilla, Apple, and others (like GSM and WiFi Location Service)
Nominatim as Address lockup backend
after everything is done, reboot
if you installed Play Store open it, setup account and install your apps
Make sure you have all options ticked in self-check of microG settings (except maybe for last one). if not web search it or post it here.
Congratulations, you have successfully removed Gplay services.
ONLY IF YOU HAVE USED OLD METHOD (USING NANODROID)
Updates of nanodroid
Make full backup of your device before update. In case anything happens after update, you can rollback easilySo the nanodroid is updated quite frequently with the apps that come with it. So when you see an updated version of nanodroid on official download page (yeah there are no automatic updates, you have to manually check by going to the download page and download it) download below zips from here
full NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip (the updated version)
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (the updated version)
* Now open "NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip " (updated version) with winRAR or 7zip and drag and drop those 3 files [ ".nanodroid-overlay", ".nanodroid-setup", ".nanodroid-apps".] in it. (just like you did before)
* Now copy NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip to your phone and flash it through twrp.
You may need to re-configure microG, so just do it again.
Huge thanks to the below members for the tools.
@FriendlyNeighborhoodShane for MinMicroG
@MaR-V-iN for microG (thank you sir!)
@Setialpha for nanodroid
and other ones whom i forgot to add
reserved
reserved 2
reserved just in case
Damn near best tutorial i've ever seen, thank you good sir!! :good::good::good:
i'm not sure i made it work completelly tho..
Coming from stock marshmallow on Galaxy Note 4. I uninstalled google crap first using Titanium backup even tho the phone seemed to get stuck when i was uninstalling the Google Play services, took it almost 1½ hour..). Then manually cleaned some leftovers using file manager in TWRP.
Then just for the heck of it tried to run the Nanodroid patch file but i got an error message that it couldnt deodex one x.jar file (can't remember it's name just now). Tried instead to patch with Smalipatcher but the damn thing couldn't see i have admin privileges no matter what i did and just refused to run alltogether.
Then i tried this way you described. Did everything as the tutorial says, got no error message, everything seemed to run smooth and the apps i chose were installed. (altho TWRP did freeze a couple of times during aroma setup so i had to reset by taking out the battery). Now i know i should set upp the microG settings, but the microG icon and the app is nowhere to be found. The modul named NanoDroid exists and is activ in Magisk, but it's not possible to open it.
Not sure what is happening and how to proceed from here.. Could you give a pointer or two? Would be much appreciated.
What about GoogleLocationHistory???
Is this one needed or does it have to be removed as well?
prkfsz said:
Damn near best tutorial i've ever seen, thank you good sir!! :good::good::good:
i'm not sure i made it work completelly tho..
Coming from stock marshmallow on Galaxy Note 4. I uninstalled google crap first using Titanium backup even tho the phone seemed to get stuck when i was uninstalling the Google Play services, took it almost 1½ hour..). Then manually cleaned some leftovers using file manager in TWRP.
Then just for the heck of it tried to run the Nanodroid patch file but i got an error message that it couldnt deodex one x.jar file (can't remember it's name just now). Tried instead to patch with Smalipatcher but the damn thing couldn't see i have admin privileges no matter what i did and just refused to run alltogether.
Then i tried this way you described. Did everything as the tutorial says, got no error message, everything seemed to run smooth and the apps i chose were installed. (altho TWRP did freeze a couple of times during aroma setup so i had to reset by taking out the battery). Now i know i should set upp the microG settings, but the microG icon and the app is nowhere to be found. The modul named NanoDroid exists and is activ in Magisk, but it's not possible to open it.
Not sure what is happening and how to proceed from here.. Could you give a pointer or two? Would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
updated the guide, see new instructions
Retseem said:
What about GoogleLocationHistory???
Is this one needed or does it have to be removed as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just search in internet what that does and if its useful to you, dont remove it.
Looks good! Almost there?
Thank you for your good work.! All seems well after I follow your steps using a AICP rom. All the checks in microG are green except the play store phonesky, that I can not fix but does not seem to be a problem
Problem:
One test case for me however is the app flightradar24. This app can be installed just fine from the Aurora store. When I start it however it prompts me immediately to install the google play services as they appear not to be installed or up to date. I can also install these from aurora, but haven't done that as it would defy the purpose of of all the previous work.
So my question is:
- Should I expect Flightradar24 to work on a minmicrog system on android 10?
- If so, where is it going wrong?
- Yes I have the microG location services enabled.
PS. Also I tested Gmail. It also complains about absent play services.
Addition: Actually I find that no application the requires Google is working at all. Did I miss something perhaps?
Samsung-frisbee said:
Thank you for your good work.! All seems well after I follow your steps using a AICP rom. All the checks in microG are green except the play store phonesky, that I can not fix but does not seem to be a problem
Problem:
One test case for me however is the app flightradar24. This app can be installed just fine from the Aurora store. When I start it however it prompts me immediately to install the google play services as they appear not to be installed or up to date. I can also install these from aurora, but haven't done that as it would defy the purpose of of all the previous work.
So my question is:
- Should I expect Flightradar24 to work on a minmicrog system on android 10?
- If so, where is it going wrong?
- Yes I have the microG location services enabled.
PS. Also I tested Gmail. It also complains about absent play services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After further investigation I have not been able to run any apps that depend on Google play services. They all fail on not recognizing GPS.
All checks in microG are OK. I am puzzled
^- signature spoofing must be failing.
thanks for making this.
There's LineageOS with microG baked in: https://lineage.microg.org/
Hritwik said:
This guide explains how to deGoogle any android by removing most of google invasive crap. (yes, GPlay services is also removed). Play store, Google app and other crap is also removed from system, so if you want to use them, install them as user app. The installation for play store is different, and it is explained below.
Check my Post on reddit for more up to date info and clear instructions HERE
When we remove Gplay services, many apps and services stop working . Many apps will give error but still work (like maps and telegram and whatsapp). Play store will definitely not work and many apps that use push notification through Gplay services (most of them) will not be able to do so. In my case Uber, ola or any other ride app was also not working and was crashing constantly. Paytm will also not work without play services. And on top of that many apps that use location might not behave properly.
Whoosh! those are a lot of problems for uninstalling play services. So, why would anyone want to do that?
Simply put it, Google is an Advertising company. No it is not a company that sells product, i mean yes it sells products and earns from them BUT more than 60% of their revenue comes from Ads that they serve you. And yes, google is the biggest Ad company in the world with more than 80% of ad share (i may be wrong about the %, feel free to search yourself). So obviously they want ta make money out of your data (by selling it) and to do that what better way than to install spyware on world's largest mobile OS.
Google play services record your every action, tracking every app that you opened and everything you do. That data remains with google and they sell it to 3rd parties (and you agreed to it when you made Google account and setup your android device. Remember Clicking on "I AGREE"?).
Here i will not discuss how invasive it is. A simple Web search with "google play services tracking" will give you much more information. (and please do search it, i beg you) (Pro Tip: reddit has best answers, so explore reddit links from search)
Here is a good one explaining things
And Gplay services Eat a LOT of battery by constantly Running in background. So if you want better battery, remove it
So you have decided to degoogle your phone (and debloat it). What to do about all those errors after removing play services?
Here Comes MicroG. microG is an Open Source replacement for Google Play Services.
"MicroG is a free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.
The linux-based open-source mobile operating system Android is not only the most popular mobile operating system in the world, it’s also on the way to becoming a proprietary operating system. How is that?
While the core operating system is still released as part of the Android Open Source Project, the majority of core apps are not. It gets worse: More and more libraries and APIs are only available on phones that run various Google apps pre-installed, effectively locking third-party apps to the Google ecosystem. For these reasons Android is described as being a “look but don’t touch” kind of open.
At this point, several popular open-source applications already require some of Google’s proprietary libraries to be installed. Increasing demand in the free software community in addition to severe problems in Google’s proprietary software discovered by the Android modding community, have led to the development of a free software clone of Google’s proprietary core libraries and applications - the microG Project was born.
Although most microG components are far from complete, users are amazed by the results. Free software users got extended application support, privacy-caring users can reduce or monitor data that is sent to Google and especially older phones can expect some battery life improvements."
(So it basically removes all those errors. Great!)
So, Lets start Degoogling!
Warning: bootloader needs to be unlocked, magisk should be there and twrp should be installed.
NOTE: MAKE FULL NANDROID BACKUP OF YOUR DEVICE BEFORE PROCEEDING BY GOING TO TWRP -> BACKUP -> SELECT ALL . store it in PC or somewhere safe
Removing google crap
Flash TWRP and install magisk.
We need Signature spoofing in the ROM. Download SmaliPatcher from here and tick all patches, (We are interested in the "signature spoofing" one but all of them are useful) and follow the instructions on its page to install that module. Now your system supports signature spoofing. (I recommend SmaliPatcher even if your rom supports Signature Spoofing so that no issue arises)
Other ways for signature spoofing are given in MicroG wiki here
(IF YOU ARE ON STOCK ROM)
In case you had the Google Play Services previously installed (which Users having stock ROM have), remove all updates and the packages in /system/priv-app of the Google Services (you can use TWRP file manager or any root explorer to delete below packages, just delete the apk files in respective folders):
GmsCore (PrebuiltGmsCore, PrebuiltGmsCorePi, PrebuiltGmsCorePix)
GoogleBackupTransport
GoogleFeedback
GoogleLoginService
GoogleOneTimeInitializer
GooglePartnerSetup
GoogleServicesFramework
Phonesky
SetupWizard
Velvet.
In case you forgot to remove the GmsCore updates, you can manually remove these using adb uninstall com.google.android.gms.
After that, reboot your android device - all privileged GAPPS should be removed. (a bootloop may be caused, but dont worry, just boot into TWRP and follow below steps.)
IF YOU ARE ON CUSTOM ROM-> after flashing rom zip, do not reboot and follow below (DONT FLASH ANY GAPPS)SIZE]
Make full backup of your device if not made till now
Installing MicroG
Download Latest "MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip" from here
Add "system-" to start of package name (thus making it like "system-MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip" ) and copy it in sdcard or internal storage of phone. Now boot into TWRP
flash "system-MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip".
OLD METHOD, USE THIS IF ABOVE WONT WORK
Download the following from here
full NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip
NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (if it causes brick)
Copy below in sdcard or internal storage of phone. Now boot into TWRP
NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (if it causes brick)
flash NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip, now an aroma installer is opened. click on next , agree to terms and click next, chose save location "/data/media/0" (you can change this as per your needs but remember this location since here the installer will save 3 files) and click next
now from here onwards you can select yourself according to your needs or follow my tutorial till the end of aroma installer.
you should be on generic settings page, tick 'apps', 'maps apiv1', 'init scrips', 'gnu bash', and 'shell utils'. click next.
in microG page, select "full", next, on f-droid page select "official", next, select all 4 nlpBackends, next, now here select "play store(patrched)" if you want to use Play store (your choice, if you want to degoogle select "Aurora + fake store"), next
now select apps of your choice here, next, on Debloat setup page click next (yeah just skip it), and finally click on create config, next and finish.
Aroma installer Ends now.
Now while in twrp, connect your phone to PC and browse to internal storage (or the location you selected during aroma installer to save files)
the 3 files will be ".nanodroid-overlay", ".nanodroid-setup", ".nanodroid-apps". Copy these to PC and keep them in some place safe. Now open "nanodroid.zip" (that you downloaded earlier) with winRAR or 7zip and drag and drop these 3 files in it. (they should be in root of the zip where "meta-inf" folder is)
now copy NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip to your phone and flash it.
now boot into system. if flashing nanodroid causes bootloop, restore from twrp backup that you made (i told you so!).
Configuring MicroG
You need to setup microG , go into microG settings (in app drawer or in settings) and set up everything like:
check results in Self-Check, grant all the missing permissions (by tapping on them)
especially the Battery Optimization item
if Phonesky (= Fake Store or Play Store) lacks signature spoofing permissions head to Settings / Apps / Permissions / Signature Spoofing and grant it
enable Google device registration
enable Google Cloud Messaging (only if you want to receive push messages from your applications)
enable Google SafetyNet, required for applications that utilize SafetyNet, for example Pokémon GO (Currently Broken)
in UnifiedNlp Settings choose all (whichever you've choosen to be installed)
Déjà Vu, Mozilla, Apple, and others (like GSM and WiFi Location Service)
Nominatim as Address lockup backend
after everything is done, reboot
if you installed Play Store open it, setup account and install your apps
Make sure you have all options ticked in self-check of microG settings (except maybe for last one). if not web search it or post it here.
Congratulations, you have successfully removed Gplay services.
ONLY IF YOU HAVE USED OLD METHOD (USING NANODROID)
Updates of nanodroid
Make full backup of your device before update. In case anything happens after update, you can rollback easilySo the nanodroid is updated quite frequently with the apps that come with it. So when you see an updated version of nanodroid on official download page (yeah there are no automatic updates, you have to manually check by going to the download page and download it) download below zips from here
full NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip (the updated version)
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (the updated version)
* Now open "NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip " (updated version) with winRAR or 7zip and drag and drop those 3 files [ ".nanodroid-overlay", ".nanodroid-setup", ".nanodroid-apps".] in it. (just like you did before)
* Now copy NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip to your phone and flash it through twrp.
You may need to re-configure microG, so just do it again.
Huge thanks to the below members for the tools.
@FriendlyNeighborhoodShane for MinMicroG
@MaR-V-iN for microG (thank you sir!)
@Setialpha for nanodroid
and other ones whom i forgot to add
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is gold. Haven't tried yet but will be donating to the MicroG project if this works.
Hritwik said:
This guide explains how to deGoogle any android by removing most of google invasive crap. (yes, GPlay services is also removed). Play store, Google app and other crap is also removed from system, so if you want to use them, install them as user app. The installation for play store is different, and it is explained below.
Check my Post on reddit for more up to date info and clear instructions HERE
When we remove Gplay services, many apps and services stop working . Many apps will give error but still work (like maps and telegram and whatsapp). Play store will definitely not work and many apps that use push notification through Gplay services (most of them) will not be able to do so. In my case Uber, ola or any other ride app was also not working and was crashing constantly. Paytm will also not work without play services. And on top of that many apps that use location might not behave properly.
Whoosh! those are a lot of problems for uninstalling play services. So, why would anyone want to do that?
Simply put it, Google is an Advertising company. No it is not a company that sells product, i mean yes it sells products and earns from them BUT more than 60% of their revenue comes from Ads that they serve you. And yes, google is the biggest Ad company in the world with more than 80% of ad share (i may be wrong about the %, feel free to search yourself). So obviously they want ta make money out of your data (by selling it) and to do that what better way than to install spyware on world's largest mobile OS.
Google play services record your every action, tracking every app that you opened and everything you do. That data remains with google and they sell it to 3rd parties (and you agreed to it when you made Google account and setup your android device. Remember Clicking on "I AGREE"?).
Here i will not discuss how invasive it is. A simple Web search with "google play services tracking" will give you much more information. (and please do search it, i beg you) (Pro Tip: reddit has best answers, so explore reddit links from search)
Here is a good one explaining things
And Gplay services Eat a LOT of battery by constantly Running in background. So if you want better battery, remove it
So you have decided to degoogle your phone (and debloat it). What to do about all those errors after removing play services?
Here Comes MicroG. microG is an Open Source replacement for Google Play Services.
"MicroG is a free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.
The linux-based open-source mobile operating system Android is not only the most popular mobile operating system in the world, it’s also on the way to becoming a proprietary operating system. How is that?
While the core operating system is still released as part of the Android Open Source Project, the majority of core apps are not. It gets worse: More and more libraries and APIs are only available on phones that run various Google apps pre-installed, effectively locking third-party apps to the Google ecosystem. For these reasons Android is described as being a “look but don’t touch” kind of open.
At this point, several popular open-source applications already require some of Google’s proprietary libraries to be installed. Increasing demand in the free software community in addition to severe problems in Google’s proprietary software discovered by the Android modding community, have led to the development of a free software clone of Google’s proprietary core libraries and applications - the microG Project was born.
Although most microG components are far from complete, users are amazed by the results. Free software users got extended application support, privacy-caring users can reduce or monitor data that is sent to Google and especially older phones can expect some battery life improvements."
(So it basically removes all those errors. Great!)
So, Lets start Degoogling!
Warning: bootloader needs to be unlocked, magisk should be there and twrp should be installed.
NOTE: MAKE FULL NANDROID BACKUP OF YOUR DEVICE BEFORE PROCEEDING BY GOING TO TWRP -> BACKUP -> SELECT ALL . store it in PC or somewhere safe
Removing google crap
Flash TWRP and install magisk.
We need Signature spoofing in the ROM. Download SmaliPatcher from here and tick all patches, (We are interested in the "signature spoofing" one but all of them are useful) and follow the instructions on its page to install that module. Now your system supports signature spoofing. (I recommend SmaliPatcher even if your rom supports Signature Spoofing so that no issue arises)
Other ways for signature spoofing are given in MicroG wiki here
(IF YOU ARE ON STOCK ROM)
In case you had the Google Play Services previously installed (which Users having stock ROM have), remove all updates and the packages in /system/priv-app of the Google Services (you can use TWRP file manager or any root explorer to delete below packages, just delete the apk files in respective folders):
GmsCore (PrebuiltGmsCore, PrebuiltGmsCorePi, PrebuiltGmsCorePix)
GoogleBackupTransport
GoogleFeedback
GoogleLoginService
GoogleOneTimeInitializer
GooglePartnerSetup
GoogleServicesFramework
Phonesky
SetupWizard
Velvet.
In case you forgot to remove the GmsCore updates, you can manually remove these using adb uninstall com.google.android.gms.
After that, reboot your android device - all privileged GAPPS should be removed. (a bootloop may be caused, but dont worry, just boot into TWRP and follow below steps.)
IF YOU ARE ON CUSTOM ROM-> after flashing rom zip, do not reboot and follow below (DONT FLASH ANY GAPPS)SIZE]
Make full backup of your device if not made till now
Installing MicroG
Download Latest "MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip" from here
Add "system-" to start of package name (thus making it like "system-MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip" ) and copy it in sdcard or internal storage of phone. Now boot into TWRP
flash "system-MinMicroG-Standard-XXX.zip".
OLD METHOD, USE THIS IF ABOVE WONT WORK
Download the following from here
full NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip
NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (if it causes brick)
Copy below in sdcard or internal storage of phone. Now boot into TWRP
NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (if it causes brick)
flash NanoDroid-setupwizard.zip, now an aroma installer is opened. click on next , agree to terms and click next, chose save location "/data/media/0" (you can change this as per your needs but remember this location since here the installer will save 3 files) and click next
now from here onwards you can select yourself according to your needs or follow my tutorial till the end of aroma installer.
you should be on generic settings page, tick 'apps', 'maps apiv1', 'init scrips', 'gnu bash', and 'shell utils'. click next.
in microG page, select "full", next, on f-droid page select "official", next, select all 4 nlpBackends, next, now here select "play store(patrched)" if you want to use Play store (your choice, if you want to degoogle select "Aurora + fake store"), next
now select apps of your choice here, next, on Debloat setup page click next (yeah just skip it), and finally click on create config, next and finish.
Aroma installer Ends now.
Now while in twrp, connect your phone to PC and browse to internal storage (or the location you selected during aroma installer to save files)
the 3 files will be ".nanodroid-overlay", ".nanodroid-setup", ".nanodroid-apps". Copy these to PC and keep them in some place safe. Now open "nanodroid.zip" (that you downloaded earlier) with winRAR or 7zip and drag and drop these 3 files in it. (they should be in root of the zip where "meta-inf" folder is)
now copy NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip to your phone and flash it.
now boot into system. if flashing nanodroid causes bootloop, restore from twrp backup that you made (i told you so!).
Configuring MicroG
You need to setup microG , go into microG settings (in app drawer or in settings) and set up everything like:
check results in Self-Check, grant all the missing permissions (by tapping on them)
especially the Battery Optimization item
if Phonesky (= Fake Store or Play Store) lacks signature spoofing permissions head to Settings / Apps / Permissions / Signature Spoofing and grant it
enable Google device registration
enable Google Cloud Messaging (only if you want to receive push messages from your applications)
enable Google SafetyNet, required for applications that utilize SafetyNet, for example Pokémon GO (Currently Broken)
in UnifiedNlp Settings choose all (whichever you've choosen to be installed)
Déjà Vu, Mozilla, Apple, and others (like GSM and WiFi Location Service)
Nominatim as Address lockup backend
after everything is done, reboot
if you installed Play Store open it, setup account and install your apps
Make sure you have all options ticked in self-check of microG settings (except maybe for last one). if not web search it or post it here.
Congratulations, you have successfully removed Gplay services.
ONLY IF YOU HAVE USED OLD METHOD (USING NANODROID)
Updates of nanodroid
Make full backup of your device before update. In case anything happens after update, you can rollback easilySo the nanodroid is updated quite frequently with the apps that come with it. So when you see an updated version of nanodroid on official download page (yeah there are no automatic updates, you have to manually check by going to the download page and download it) download below zips from here
full NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip (the updated version)
NanoDroid-uninstaller.zip (the updated version)
* Now open "NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip " (updated version) with winRAR or 7zip and drag and drop those 3 files [ ".nanodroid-overlay", ".nanodroid-setup", ".nanodroid-apps".] in it. (just like you did before)
* Now copy NanoDroid-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx.zip to your phone and flash it through twrp.
You may need to re-configure microG, so just do it again.
Huge thanks to the below members for the tools.
@FriendlyNeighborhoodShane for MinMicroG
@MaR-V-iN for microG (thank you sir!)
@Setialpha for nanodroid
and other ones whom i forgot to add
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is gold. Thank you. Will be donating to the MicroG project if they accept donations, worth every penny.
Edited on Dec.10,2021
It works like a charm with Havoc OS (Samsung S8)
Hi,
I just installed MicroG on a Samsung S8 running Android 7 and although the installation went perfect, without any errors, I don't have any icon, thus I cannot get access to settings. I do see the microG Services Framework application installed in Application Manager but I cannot launch it.
I followed the new instructions to the letter.
Please advise!
Thanks!
SafetyNet fails?
will this guide work on the Stock MIUI 12.0.9 for Mi 9T?
I could use some assistance finding some files. I've tried several methods but can't seem to locate the files below. I'm using a rooted and unlocked S20 5G (986U1) Can you help me with a method or app to find these. I'm using Cx for file manager but the search seems limited, or I'm doing it wrong.
• In case you had the Google Play Services previously installed (which Users having stock ROM have), remove all updates and the packages in /system/priv-app of the Google Services (you can use TWRP file manager or any root explorer to delete below packages, just delete the apk files in respective folders):
o GoogleBackupTransport
o GoogleLoginService
o GooglePartnerSetup
o Phonesky
o Velvet.
goobener said:
I could use some assistance finding some files. I've tried several methods but can't seem to locate the files below. I'm using a rooted and unlocked S20 5G (986U1) Can you help me with a method or app to find these. I'm using Cx for file manager but the search seems limited, or I'm doing it wrong.
• In case you had the Google Play Services previously installed (which Users having stock ROM have), remove all updates and the packages in /system/priv-app of the Google Services (you can use TWRP file manager or any root explorer to delete below packages, just delete the apk files in respective folders):
o GoogleBackupTransport
o GoogleLoginService
o GooglePartnerSetup
o Phonesky
o Velvet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download an all called App Manager from F-Droid
Thank you for this guide!
I have two new devices that I'm not using.
LG K50s and Tablet Lenovo M10
Would like to get them in shape before any use.
There's no Lineage for those or found a linux distro.
Is this the best way yo get rid of all the crap, bloatware, spyware, tracking?
Does it get clean of trackers?
Thank you!