So there are news of Google collecting Location Even With GPS Turned Off. But I was really thinking to abort using google services not because of this location tracking but also battery draining from google's wakelock which a serious issue to me as no matter what rom am i using playstore will always drain battery ... So i am thinking to go different alternative service i need maps so obviously i use google maps alot but i need its alternate app and same follow with sync service ( i can adjust it to manual no problem ) but i need those services which will not drain my battery and seriously those secret tracking services. If you want to make fun go away. If any dev or group can make alternate google services pls response here . I could be beta tester.
There is already a project that goes along what you want. Search for microg (I think it's called) it limits the Google services and uses alternatives for others.
Here is the issue you will find. Android is made to use Google services and without it, a lot of things just will not work completely right. Like location based services.
Hi, I'm new to XDA and have a question regarding Mock Location on my Google Pixel 2 XL. I've searched far and wide for people experiencing an issue similar to mine only to find nothing.
I have a Verizon locked bootloader, but still have developer options etc. that I can enable like mock location. Though mock location is available for me to turn on, it seems to not work properly. I've tried several apps, the first being Fake GPS GO Location Spoofer Free by IncorporateApps.. The second was Fake GPS Location by Lexa.. I've had the same issue with both apps where the app does change my location to what I set it to, but when somebody tries to locate me from Google Maps Location Sharing, after some time of having the location set it doesn't update, and says the last time my location was updated was hours ago, as if I had location sharing off.
I don't think it's a problem with the apps I use, because the same thing happened with both. With my old phone, a Google Nexus 6, I used Fake GPS GO by IncorporateApps and it worked just fine, and the location would be visible and updating to the person trying to locate me on Android Device Manager, now called Find My Device.
I'm just not sure on whether or not it's an issue with the Locked bootloader not liking that I keep the mock location going for extended periods, or if it's an issue with Google Maps Location Sharing that doesn't like the use of mock location.
I did some troubleshooting with the phone of those trying to locate me (A Moto X) through Google Location Sharing when using mock location, to find that the location seems to "update" on the other phone when I go into Google maps from my phone. However, this hasn't proven to be a surefire way to get it to update, since it hasn't had a 100% success rate.
I'm sorry about the very long post, this just happens to be a complex issue and I want to explain with the best detail that I can. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.
may i ask why you are using a GPS location spoofer in the first place? I'll answer this the best I can with my guess on what it could be.
It sounds like something to do with Google Maps and its cache system. Google Maps is constantly caching maps and locations temporarily to your device. Sharing that location with someone using Google Maps might have something to do with how Google Maps stores cache. If your location hasn't changed than Google Maps has no reason to update your location.
djer34 said:
may i ask why you are using a GPS location spoofer in the first place? I'll answer this the best I can with my guess on what it could be.
It sounds like something to do with Google Maps and its cache system. Google Maps is constantly caching maps and locations temporarily to your device. Sharing that location with someone using Google Maps might have something to do with how Google Maps stores cache. If your location hasn't changed than Google Maps has no reason to update your location.
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Thank you! That sounds like it could be it. Maybe I'll look further into the caching system for Maps.
My mock location is also not working on Pixel2 XL. I do not want to fake my location, I actually want to use an external survey grade GPS unit for precise location. And that has to be done through the mock location setting. But it is not working. Any ideas why that maybe?
CuriousPixel said:
Thank you! That sounds like it could be it. Maybe I'll look further into the caching system for Maps.
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Hi!
Do you have a working solution finally? I have the same issue...
Hey guys,
So I sideloaded GMS on my p40 pro with redskull's instructions on youtube and didn't have notifications after that. Then used Multi tool 8 to disable gsf and then enable it again. Notifications came back, but location services aren't working correctly. In google maps, I have my location, but no arrow on the blue dot, so I can't see which direction I'm facing. Other apps that use google's location services don't work at all, they stall at "google play services are updating".
Is there a way to get location services in other apps working?
Thanks in advance!
disable Google Services Framework then works.
Thanks for your reply. I did that and it worked.
So now the play store isn't working. Are there any other disadvantages by disabling gsf?
If you need Playstore -> activate gsf then deactivate again
I don't know what sideload meant, nor why would you disable anything, but on my P40 I got maps and notifications working. I used another guide.
stewakg said:
I don't know what sideload meant, nor why would you disable anything, but on my P40 I got maps and notifications working. I used another guide.
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Click to collapse
please link this guide here.
Any idea why Gmail notifications aren't working after disabling gfs?
Duplicate post
While we wait that @stewakg posts mentioned guide, disabling GSF still does not work for applications like Tripadvisor which require Google location precision to work. Such applications continously ask to enable Google precision and do not acquire position.
Any solution for this?
I am sorry all for late response.
This is guide I have used. I got European model bought in Germany. I have maps, play store with pay(can buy apps and games) and notifications.
Also I'd that helps, I got YouTube Vanced and microG installed.
Hope this will help someone. Cheers.
famusc said:
While we wait that @stewakg posts mentioned guide, disabling GSF still does not work for applications like Tripadvisor which require Google location precision to work. Such applications continously ask to enable Google precision and do not acquire position.
Any solution for this?
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Click to collapse
Did you find a solution to this? I have many regional specific apps that don't want to work. They have similar failures as you're describing after loading GMS/GSF. My problematic apps are Lyft/Bay Wheels and Gig Car Share.
desertflyer said:
Did you find a solution to this? I have many regional specific apps that don't want to work. They have similar failures as you're describing after loading GMS/GSF. My problematic apps are Lyft/Bay Wheels and Gig Car Share.
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No sorry. I have no solution for this.
The best thing is with GSF disabled for me: i will not use location in tripadvisor but I will survive.
I understand that for you is not that good but I hope for a real solution.
desertflyer said:
Did you find a solution to this? I have many regional specific apps that don't want to work. They have similar failures as you're describing after loading GMS/GSF. My problematic apps are Lyft/Bay Wheels and Gig Car Share.
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Click to collapse
A user said this:
Freeze again GSF. Go to Aurora Store and update Google Play Services. Unfreeze GSF. Restart.
I tried and locations work but I still get "Play Services are updating" in apps where a map is supposed to show, like Tripadvisor. So I can see the map which is important too. Can you try this and let me know? Thx
famusc said:
A user said this:
Freeze again GSF. Go to Aurora Store and update Google Play Services. Unfreeze GSF. Restart.
I tried and locations work but I still get "Play Services are updating" in apps where a map is supposed to show, like Tripadvisor. So I can see the map which is important too. Can you try this and let me know? Thx
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Okay, I got the apps I needed working with Google Maps integrated in them. Maybe this will work for you. (I am still having issues with notifications for many apps with GMS installed.)
I have a C636 variant running 10.1.0.131. I started by following Redskull's guide here: https://youtu.be/4vki3DasrYc
That mostly went fine. The Play Store was still a bit buggy and I was still getting lots of notifications about running Play Services on a non-certified device.
Once I installed everything I needed from the Play Store, I then used Multitool to disable Google Services Framework (com.google.android.gsf). While GSF is disabled the Google Play Store does not work, as most of your know. Google Maps integrations work in all of the apps I've tried so far: Lyft, Bay Wheels, Gig Car Share, Lime, Bird, Revel, Zipcar, Getaround, Flywheel, Transit, Swarm/Foursquare, and Yelp.
Notably, Spin does not work. It keeps telling me "For a better experience turn on device location, which uses Google's location services" and no matter if I hit No Thanks or OK, it keeps popping up over and over again making the app unusable. Bay Wheels has a separate bug where it cannot access the camera to unlock a bike, but it gives the option to enter the bike number instead so it's not a big issue. QR unlock works with Lime. That's all I've tested so far though.
Google Location Services does not work
No matter how you got GMS onto your Huawei Phone / Tablet that doesn't come with GMS, no matter what workaround you use to get everything working (i.e freezing GSF to get push notifications working), there doesn't appear to be any solution for GLS. It simply doesn't work. Any app that relies on it exclusively is broken. For instance Google Location Sharing, or Google Timeline. Probably others, but those are the ones I use the most. Google Maps, Waze, and other navigation apps will just use your GPS to get your location (which doesn't work if you're in an enclosed building with no view of the satellites). You can try to turn it on: Settings->Location->Location Services->Google Location Accuracy->Improve Location Accuracy, but it will turn itself off shortly.
My timeline works fine and "improve location accuracy" was on by default when I just checked. I even turned it off and on again and it stays on.
Mine works as well as does location sharing.
frogdr1ver said:
Mine works as well as does location sharing.
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OK, that's great. Maybe you could tell me how you accomplished that? A working Google Location Services is probably the last thing I need to get going on my P40 Pro+. With GSF frozen, "improve location accuracy" keeps getting disabled. If I try to share my location, I get "Location sharing isn't enabled on this device. Fix", but Fix does nothing. With GSF unfrozen, I get a never ending stream of Google Play Protection messages (which can be turned off, but I'm sure still affect the phone), I can turn on Location Accuracy, but Location Sharing still says "Location sharing isn't enabled on this device. Fix" and a message "Unable to get an accurate location" when I press Fix even with a good GPS lock.
I didn't do anything other than follow the guide from 26th sept, I don't freeze play and canceled the notifications as per the guide. I also manually manage maps rather than let it be automatic.
frogdr1ver said:
I didn't do anything other than follow the guide from 26th sept, I don't freeze play and canceled the notifications as per the guide. I also manually manage maps rather than let it be automatic.
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With Google Services Framework unfrozen, Google Play Books no longer works. And even though Location Accuracy is enabled, I still get the ""Location sharing isn't enabled on this device. Fix" message when I try to share my location through Google Maps. Do you know what versions of Google Play Store, Google Play Services, and Google Services Framework you have installed? Are any patched or are they all unmodified Google apps?
The Google Maps app before sometime in 2020 or early 2021 used to recalculate without a problem if you missed a turn, if you had the maps of the area downloaded and the app set to "Wifi only".
But for well over a year now, Google Maps simply refuses to recalculate if you miss a turn any more, even if you've made sure to take all the steps I've mentioned.
If you miss a turn, you have to stop and manually enter the route again, or else have data turned on and then it will recalculate as it used to. So if you run out of data, as people on set data plans often do, then Google Maps becomes essentially useless as a reliable car sat nav even if you have the maps you need downloaded offline.
So I guess this is a Google decision to force their users to use more data, maybe they don't like people using their app economically in that way? Perhaps they resent people trying to save money and are trying to force you to spend more money on data?
Why are tech companies always determined to make things worse? They always needlessly remove functionality from their products that just make the users' lives more difficult.
I did read speculation online that this is just a "bug" and Google plan to fix it, but I don't believe that. The Google Maps app has behaved in this way for so long now that I can't see how it is anything other than a deliberate move on the part of Google. I don't understand why Google Maps still pretends to offer offline functionality when the reality is it does not any longer and hasn't for a long while now.
Report Google your issue.
What's the point? There are threads on their support forums where people have reported it, they clearly don't care as it's been this way for over 2 years now. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas as to why Google have decided to do this, or what exactly they have changed in their app.
I guess a lot of people just dismiss my views on this as me being a cheapskate who should just pay for the data to use Google Maps, but what about when you go to a foreign country and have no roaming agreement? Just pay the rip off data fees per MB?
Maybe people think I should just buy a new sim card in each country, and just pay pay pay all the time rather than being able to download maps and navigate offline? Maybe that's the answer and I'm in the wrong?
triangulumair said:
The Google Maps app before sometime in 2020 or early 2021 used to recalculate without a problem if you missed a turn, if you had the maps of the area downloaded and the app set to "Wifi only".
But for well over a year now, Google Maps simply refuses to recalculate if you miss a turn any more, even if you've made sure to take all the steps I've mentioned.
If you miss a turn, you have to stop and manually enter the route again, or else have data turned on and then it will recalculate as it used to. So if you run out of data, as people on set data plans often do, then Google Maps becomes essentially useless as a reliable car sat nav even if you have the maps you need downloaded offline.
So I guess this is a Google decision to force their users to use more data, maybe they don't like people using their app economically in that way? Perhaps they resent people trying to save money and are trying to force you to spend more money on data?
Why are tech companies always determined to make things worse? They always needlessly remove functionality from their products that just make the users' lives more difficult.
I did read speculation online that this is just a "bug" and Google plan to fix it, but I don't believe that. The Google Maps app has behaved in this way for so long now that I can't see how it is anything other than a deliberate move on the part of Google. I don't understand why Google Maps still pretends to offer offline functionality when the reality is it does not any longer and hasn't for a long while now.
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Click to collapse
Have you tried clearing cache and data for Google Maps?
Maybe Google made changes to Google Maps to improve accuracy, changes that require data to be enabled to more accurately pinpoint your actual location while navigating.
triangulumair said:
What's the point? There are threads on their support forums where people have reported it, they clearly don't care as it's been this way for over 2 years now. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas as to why Google have decided to do this, or what exactly they have changed in their app.
I guess a lot of people just dismiss my views on this as me being a cheapskate who should just pay for the data to use Google Maps, but what about when you go to a foreign country and have no roaming agreement? Just pay the rip off data fees per MB?
Maybe people think I should just buy a new sim card in each country, and just pay pay pay all the time rather than being able to download maps and navigate offline? Maybe that's the answer and I'm in the wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using OsmAnd+ offline with OpenStreetMap, and I'm very satisfied. Actually, I don't use anything by Google, no Google Play Services by microG.
OsmAnd~ | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
Global Mobile Map Viewing & Navigation for Offline and Online OSM Maps
f-droid.org
Got my OnePlus 9 Pro today, before I start flashing LOS I wanted to ask a couple questions about my Google choices.
Is it possible to not have any Google apps/services on the phone but still have access to the Play Store? I've seen Aurora store mentioned a couple times, but it doesn't seem like it works that well on my current device (searching for apps that I know are there but get no results, etc.). Those apps would likely still rely on Google services and break without them, correct?
Is it possible to use Mozilla's location services instead of Google's?
If no to the above, can I use Google's location services through a proxy?
What are the differences between OpenGApps/MindTheGapps/microG? I'm considering the latter (microG) but it looks like there hasn't been much progress on it and I don't know how functional it will be.
I want as little Google on my phone as possible while still having access to GPS, apps that rely on Google having bare minimum functionality, and privacy. What is the best way to do this?
1. You have access to the web of Play Store. play.google.com