Setting up a few Phones for different users with the same Google Account? - General Questions and Answers

Hi there!
I'm currently setting up a few Phones running CM 13 for my colleagues at work.
Now I'm not sure in which way this is managed best.
We don't use Google in any way at work so one Google Account for the Play Store would be enough.
These are the advantages I see in this:
- I only need to pay for payed apps once
- If I don't store the password on the phone nobody should be able to install anything unwanted. I could do installations by using the playstore website and push installations from there if neccessairy.
- Well and then theres no need to start many google accounts, remember passwords etc. I just seems easier.
- Better control over whats going on with these phones.
However I'm not sure if it is doable the way I think it should work.
Has anybody any experience with a setup like this? Help would be much appreciated.
In Android 6 it's also possible to set up multiple user accounts but I don't think that it supports "normal users" or "administrators". This would be a good thing.
Thanks for any hints on this!
AL

Related

[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

The status of Android without a Google Account

Hi everyone,
I have been researching and I've compiled a list of all the options available to use an Android device with Cyanogenmod without a Google account and I was wondering if anyone has a better solution considering the options I've found are all lacking.
Here is what I found including the issues for each option:
- Amazon web store (Not every app is available)
- Third party repositories, like apkmirror (Security implications of running apk that anyone can upload)
- F-Droid (Not every app is available)
- Getting the apps I need from the play store once and then backup the apks with a file manager (No updates) or I am going to need a different phone with a Google account and the play store.
Moral of the story, it's not easy to run an android phone without a google account.
Ps. A solution that I think could work (but I wasn't able to find a project that works) is an open source apk downloader (maybe on github) that get the apps straight from google via command line but all the projects I've seen are either out of date or not working...
Any suggestion is really appreciated! Thank you all!
Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.
surfinpika said:
Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.
_polymar said:
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...
_polymar said:
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, luckily my back up is the same architecture as my non-gapps phone.
And there are also ways of getting some of the apks straight from the sources, like keepass2android from the project's website. but even if it is google, they sort of give a sense of security in that the apk won't be messed with.
It's such a mess though otherwise, hard to separate the google from the android, and no other viable OSs are any better. hope some competition at least makes a nice little niche to get away from the big G.

Clarification on no GMS please

Looking to grab the mate 30 Pro.. Or potentially the p40 Pro after tomorrows launch. But really wanna check out the slow mo on the mate, plus love the design
I'm an android user.
Been doing a lot of reading and still struggling to grasp if I actually need google services on my phone or not? I know I won't have generic Google apps, but there a possibility to install them. Done some custom rom installs many moons ago.
I'll still have my Samsung s10e work phone.
Can anyone clarify or point me in the direction of an an article that explains the pros and cons?
Failing this it looks like the p30 pro is by best alternate. As I tend not to go mainbsteam Samsung
Hi there,
The installation of gms right now is unstable or tricky. For example using Chatpartner+Ice Box+Island is the most stable as it gets, but it has its own drawbacks(you can see info about the methods in the other threads). I don't know if we will get a clean permanent solution. I hope we get.
So let's assume you don't get gms, because you don't want to mess with the current unstable solutions. The drawbacks from my point of view are:
- no PlayStore -> So you don't get your paid apps. Also you can't get all apps from the Huawei store, because some of them are missing. Some partial solution: Use ApkPure or some other app store to get your apps.
- no Youtube -> Youtube requires gms. Solution: use Youtube Vanced;
- no Google Maps -> It requires gms. Solution: use Waze;
- no Google Drive/Photos -> It requires gms. Solution: use Microsoft OneDrive or any other cloud;
- no Contact Sync -> It requires gms. Solution: export contacts from Google and import them.(here I decided again to go with Microsoft so I sync my future new contacts in a cloud after all)
- no Gmail -> It requires gms. Solution: use Outlook app or any other email app like Nine. You can add you gmail account there.
Some people suggested to use the google apps through a browser and put shortcuts on your home screen, but this is not a replacement for the actual apps in my oppinion.
Bottom line:
- If you don't want any hassle and you want everything everywhere working then get P30 Pro;
- If you want to try the available workarounds for google apps and you won't get overwhelmed or irritated when some errors occur and you have to tinker again then get the Mate 30 Pro;
- If you want to detach from google ecosystem and try some new apps then get the Mate 30 Pro(just make sure you thought of all apps that you need and found a comfortable replacement);
- For the P40 Pro I can't speak;
I have one of the workarounds of GMS on my phone and the apps are working. However I am trying to move away a bit from gms, because I want to be free to try new tech and use all my apps. I am a heavy Google user paying for subscriptions for some services so I am dependent on their apps. However with this phone I realized that Google is closing their services forcing users to have certain hardware which I dislike. This is why I will make an attempt to use alternatives(mostly I will use Microsoft products) so I can buy whatever phone I like and use it seamlessly.
I hope this helps!
xchatter what GMS work around are you using on your current device?
Darkisde said:
xchatter what GMS work around are you using on your current device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chatpartner+Ice Box+Island , but I see someone just created a thread saying that ChatPartner doesn't work now(I don't know if it is true). However Chatpartner is just the first part for getting the gms on the device which can be achieved also with other methods like restoring a backup which has this chinese app for installing gms(you can search, videos are everywhere showing it). Then afterwards probably you will start getting the non-stop notifications that your device is not certified. From that point you will need to follow the guides to add your account and then use Ice Box to freeze some google apps(playstore and services). This way you won't get the notifications, but any installed google apps will work. From there you can use Island to activate your work profile and unfreeze those apps in an isolated scope where you can have your Play Store to get apps or you can just use some other app store. You can get more details in the other threads, basically this is the main topic in the whole Mate 30 Pro forum.
Nesiah said:
Looking to grab the mate 30 Pro.. Or potentially the p40 Pro after tomorrows launch. But really wanna check out the slow mo on the mate, plus love the design
I'm an android user.
Been doing a lot of reading and still struggling to grasp if I actually need google services on my phone or not? I know I won't have generic Google apps, but there a possibility to install them. Done some custom rom installs many moons ago.
I'll still have my Samsung s10e work phone.
Can anyone clarify or point me in the direction of an an article that explains the pros and cons?
Failing this it looks like the p30 pro is by best alternate. As I tend not to go mainbsteam Samsung
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the installation of gms is tricky complicated for most users, but it can be done if you want to learn. it works for now but no one knows till when.
the P40 definitely wont have GMS too, so if this is a problem, go with another brand or P30 or mate 20 if you still want huawei.

Custom Rom solution, need your help

Dear forum members,
im new to the whole "custom ROM"-theme and im rly excited about it. As you can imagine im kinda overwhelmed with all the info i found on youtube and other platforms.
Im on an Honor 9 phone. My wife is on an iPhone 6. We both got into the topic privacy and security recently, so i found Robert Braxman on Youtube, a techie guy who makes videos about custom ROMs, linux phones and so on. I found it very interesting, especially in times of mobile phone tracing, that it's possible to opt-out of the whole privacy madness, for example with an ubuntu touch phone or an de-googled android phone.
So i got a nexus 9 and managed to install Ubuntu Touch on it. It works great but my problem is, that i need certain android apps, that i cant find on Ubuntu Touch. To be precise, i work professionally on Instagram with my business, so i need a possibility to use the Story and the Live Stream feature. Now im thinking about what to do.
I found e-foundation on the internet and i think it's impressive what they do. Do you think in my situation it's a good solution, to get 1 or 2 de googled e foundation phones so we can keep working with them? Or would the whole Instagram think be stupid, because we would have to install google play store to download it, so the whole privacy advantage is gone again? Or is there maybe a solution to install instagram without having to install google play store and to USE instagram without having to log in with an gmail account. I've read something about microg or so, but i dont know what it is!
Sorry for my rly long text, but i think it's good, to describe my struggle as precise as possible for you guys!
Thanks and regards!
johnthreesixteen said:
Dear forum members,
im new to the whole "custom ROM"-theme and im rly excited about it. As you can imagine im kinda overwhelmed with all the info i found on youtube and other platforms.
Im on an Honor 9 phone. My wife is on an iPhone 6. We both got into the topic privacy and security recently, so i found Robert Braxman on Youtube, a techie guy who makes videos about custom ROMs, linux phones and so on. I found it very interesting, especially in times of mobile phone tracing, that it's possible to opt-out of the whole privacy madness, for example with an ubuntu touch phone or an de-googled android phone.
So i got a nexus 9 and managed to install Ubuntu Touch on it. It works great but my problem is, that i need certain android apps, that i cant find on Ubuntu Touch. To be precise, i work professionally on Instagram with my business, so i need a possibility to use the Story and the Live Stream feature. Now im thinking about what to do.
I found e-foundation on the internet and i think it's impressive what they do. Do you think in my situation it's a good solution, to get 1 or 2 de googled e foundation phones so we can keep working with them? Or would the whole Instagram think be stupid, because we would have to install google play store to download it, so the whole privacy advantage is gone again? Or is there maybe a solution to install instagram without having to install google play store and to USE instagram without having to log in with an gmail account. I've read something about microg or so, but i dont know what it is!
Sorry for my rly long text, but i think it's good, to describe my struggle as precise as possible for you guys!
Thanks and regards!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to download Instagram from the Google playstore, there are many sites that host the app for download, such as, APKmirror.
As for logging into Instagram with a Google account, if Instagram has an option that allows logging in with a non Google account, you can log in with a non Google account. If all they support is logging in with Google then you are stuck using a Google account which then robs you of privacy from Google at least as far as Instagram is concerned.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

P40 Lite 5G

I got a P40 Lite 5G in the last couple of days, and didn't think or know about the Huawei / Google issues. I'm not from the US, so it was something I heard in the news, but wasn't sure if it would affect us.
I'm probably fine without having google services on my phone for personal use, the alternatives should be fine - never been a big fan of getting tracked like that anyways.
BUT, we use GSuite at work and I need Google Chat on my phone ... so it's a pretty hard stop for me
I'm not opposed to rooting the phone and installing a custom rom, but:
1. Does this solve all the problems, does google apps/services work fine on a rooted phone and custom rom? Or does google block it based on the hardware? (Is that what the spoofing circumvents, or would it still not work?)
2. Doesn't seem like there are any custom roms available even?
I searched through the forum here and did not see anything that looked like it works, I did try Googlefier, MicroG, etc - none worked so far. (My EMUI is already updated, which I understood you shouldn't do - didn't know).
That said, most of these posts were from a few months back, not sure if anything has changed by now?
Any help/advice appreciated, please
wb90 said:
I got a P40 Lite 5G in the last couple of days, and didn't think or know about the Huawei / Google issues. I'm not from the US, so it was something I heard in the news, but wasn't sure if it would affect us.
I'm probably fine without having google services on my phone for personal use, the alternatives should be fine - never been a big fan of getting tracked like that anyways.
BUT, we use GSuite at work and I need Google Chat on my phone ... so it's a pretty hard stop for me
I'm not opposed to rooting the phone and installing a custom rom, but:
1. Does this solve all the problems, does google apps/services work fine on a rooted phone and custom rom? Or does google block it based on the hardware? (Is that what the spoofing circumvents, or would it still not work?)
2. Doesn't seem like there are any custom roms available even?
I searched through the forum here and did not see anything that looked like it works, I did try Googlefier, MicroG, etc - none worked so far. (My EMUI is already updated, which I understood you shouldn't do - didn't know).
That said, most of these posts were from a few months back, not sure if anything has changed by now?
Any help/advice appreciated, please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know we can't root the phone.
The best work around I've found is using vmos to create a sandbox for Google login. It's not perfect but it does the job I need.
If I'm not wrong, you can still use the web browser version, like Doc, Sheet, Slide, Keep, Calendar and etc. So most probably you can still use Google Chat in your mobile browser without problem.
Yeah, but google chat doesn't have a mobile web version ... you can put Chrome into "Desktop Site" mode, but it's not a great experience.
Also, the important part for having it on my mobile is the notifications of new messages if there's any issues...
I thought id highjack to ask my own questons about the p40 lite 5g in relation to the dualspace method
how often do i have to reinstall dualspace?
Is the process of upgrading google apps any more complicated than stock android?
Are there any google apps that cant be installed?
are there any apps that have only partial functionality?
Do the apps crash any more often?
do the google apps have ads in them?
are the ads intrusive?
does it need to be rooted?
How does dualspace affect the phones and apps performance?
I didn't find any functionality of DualSpace ... on Mate40 pro.
Maps isn't working ok, banking apps isn't working (security warnings) ... Nothing new for me.

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