Database Info

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(maybe on github) that get the apps straight from google via command line but all the projects I've seen are either out of date or not working...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.

Any way to disable "you must have Google play services to run (name of app that doesn

Any way to disable "you must have Google play services to run (name of app that doesn
Title cut off, rest should say "doesn't require Google play services to run"
I only use the play store basically, and have no issues with manually enabling before checking for app updates or to download new apps (on my newer device, my older device doesn't even require them for the play store at all)
But things like ccleaner, my emoji keyboard, a few other apps I can't think, of annoyingly claim to need these services to run... While I'm actively running them and using them just fine without.
On a device without the option "disable notifications for this app"either within the app itself, or within my older 4.0.4 device that runs just fine despite it being older... How can I get rid of these annoyances?
Play services are a huge battery and ram hog which I keep disabled unless needed. So any "just install play services" comments isn't exactly what I'm looking for...
I've looked around in disable service (the app) for these apps, unable to find anything looking relevant.
Any help would be appreciated

Play Services are often used for authentication reasons. Meaning the apps look if you have a genuine version. For freemium apps they check for any in app purchases you might have done.
Other common cases are for push notifications or location services etc. These are often only minor or optional features of apps. That's why they usually work nonetheless without having Play Services active.
The only easy option is to use an alternative app store like the Amazon App Store or F-Droid. All the apps over there are pretty much guaranteed to work without Play Services.
There are also some projects out there that aim for a system without Play Services. A quick search should yield quite some results.
If you are rooted and capable of using XPosed, then there is a module in the repo somewhere that does exactly what you are looking for - hiding the pop up.
Can't remember the name right now and don't know if it is still maintained, but searching the modules should provide it to you.
However, Google Play Service shouldn't be so much of a power drainer any more. Beginning with Android 6 / M the battery optimizations are quite enormous, even though the Play Services are excluded from the system wide optimization (because they take care of these optimizations). To further improve the footprint, you could disable the location services and wireless scanning services.

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.

Installation of google play services for a specific user profile

I wonder if I can create two (or more) user profiles on my android device, one of which I will use only open source stuff and everything else on the other.
As far as I know, it is possible to create several user profiles in Android that are isolated from each other.
I would probably install LineageOS for this as it doesn't have google play services pre-installed on it and it seems very "clean" in terms of these things (I have never used this system).
There is something like OpenGApps that allows you to install google play services but as far as I know it requires installation from twrp. So I suspect google play services will then be installed for all user profiles on the device.
So is there any possibility to install google services for one user only?
I also know that there is such a thing as microg (and Aurora stora). When I heard that there was such a thing as "LineageOS for microG" I thought it would be a very good option (on one android profile I just wouldn't use microg). But later I also found out that it is supposedly against the google policy and that they can ban my account for it, which I would prefer to avoid.
So I wanted to ask if the only option to do this is to install LineageOS, check what applications are installed by default, install OpenGApps to it and then disable all google related applications on one of the user profiles?
Does such disabling the application also ensure that Google will not be able to "work" on my device in any way? Does OpenGApps install any system level google stuff that will run in the background anyway?
And are OpenGApps not something that I should not install when I don't want to get a google ban?

You are confusing (Open)GApps - Google themselves call them Google Mobile Services (GMS) - and Google Play Services what are two completely different things.
Google Play Services is one of the most important parts of Android. It helps connect everything together and hold it all there. The Google Play Services are the interface to the Google Mobile Services as well as to the hardware functions of the Android device. Many of your apps use Google Play Services everyday.
GMS is a bunch of apps what includes
Google Play Store,
Google Now,
Google Play Music,
Google Maps,
Google+,
Gmail,
Google Photos,
Youtube
and the Android Device Manager.
Knowing the difference it should be clear that GMS can get installed on a per-user basis whereas Google Play Services not.

jwoegerbauer said:
You are confusing (Open)GApps - Google themselves call them Google Mobile Services (GMS) - and Google Play Services what are two completely different things.
Google Play Services is one of the most important parts of Android. It helps connect everything together and hold it all there. The Google Play Services are the interface to the Google Mobile Services as well as to the hardware functions of the Android device. Many of your apps use Google Play Services everyday.
GMS is a bunch of apps what includes
Google Play Store,
Google Now,
Google Play Music,
Google Maps,
Google+,
Gmail,
Google Photos,
Youtube
and the Android Device Manager.
Knowing the difference it should be clear that GMS can get installed on a per-user basis whereas Google Play Services not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification, although I still don't really know what you meant. I thought that google play services is the name for all those components that are needed to run, for example, the google play store. If the google play store needs also other components (?), then when I wrote google play services, I meant all the components that are needed to run the play store.
In any case, I mean in practice whether I am able to install both the play store and the components needed for it only for one user in Android, but from what I understand it is not possible in your opinion.
The questions at the end of my post probably still remain the same. I can only clarify that I meant more general cases in these questions:
Does installing the play store (along with the necessary components) install any system-level Google stuff that will run in the background anyway even if I disable these apps?
And isn't installing the play store (along with the necessary components) by hand something that I shouldn't be doing when I want to avoid a Google ban?

Again:
Google Play Store simply is an ordinary user app as any other user app, too, nothing else. It itself installs , except some Android OS libraries, nothing. Only thing is it requires Google Play Services ( which are running in background ) to properly run. As already said: Google Play Services can only get installed once because it extends Android OS. And Android OS always is the same for all created users.
Don't understand what you mean with "Google ban".

Dani3I said:
I would probably install LineageOS for this as it doesn't have google play services pre-installed on it and it seems very "clean" in terms of these things (I have never used this system).
There is something like OpenGApps that allows you to install google play services but as far as I know it requires installation from twrp. So I suspect google play services will then be installed for all user profiles on the device.
So is there any possibility to install google services for one user only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can install those apps but you have to flash it via recovery. Also, you need to do that prior to booting into the os for the first time, which I think is related to encryption.
If you already booted into your os, you need to boot into recovery and perform a factory data reset, then flash those gapps (as far as I know dirty flashing those gapps will introduce instability to those gapps. That's why you need a factory data reset).
Keep in mind that factory reseting will delete all your person data.
After you flashed it, those gapps will be available for every user
Dani3I said:
I also know that there is such a thing as microg (and Aurora stora). When I heard that there was such a thing as "LineageOS for microG" I thought it would be a very good option (on one android profile I just wouldn't use microg). But later I also found out that it is supposedly against the google policy and that they can ban my account for it, which I would prefer to avoid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aurora Store provides an anonymous google account. It's data isn't linked to you which means they cannot ban your account.
Dani3I said:
So I wanted to ask if the only option to do this is to install LineageOS, check what applications are installed by default, install OpenGApps to it and then disable all google related applications on one of the user profiles?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOS comes without any google apps preinstalled. So first flash LOS, then OpenGApps (follow their official guide. They describe it there).
And yes, after that you have to disable every google app you don't want to use for every new user profile.
Dani3I said:
Does such disabling the application also ensure that Google will not be able to "work" on my device in any way? Does OpenGApps install any system level google stuff that will run in the background anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you disable it for the current user, it won't run in any way, yes.
OpenGApps itself shouldn't install anything on system level. But those apps will be installed on system level since you flash them to the system (using your recovery). However, if you disable them they won't run in the background.
Dani3I said:
And are OpenGApps not something that I should not install when I don't want to get a google ban?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know.

jwoegerbauer said:
You are confusing (Open)GApps - Google themselves call them Google Mobile Services (GMS) - and Google Play Services what are two completely different things.
Google Play Services is one of the most important parts of Android. It helps connect everything together and hold it all there. The Google Play Services are the interface to the Google Mobile Services as well as to the hardware functions of the Android device. Many of your apps use Google Play Services everyday.
GMS is a bunch of apps what includes
Google Play Store,
Google Now,
Google Play Music,
Google Maps,
Google+,
Gmail,
Google Photos,
Youtube
and the Android Device Manager.
Knowing the difference it should be clear that GMS can get installed on a per-user basis whereas Google Play Services not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep that's absolutely correct

Question Am I better off just debloating google apps?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why do you want a less capable camera?

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

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

Sounds like you might be looking for CalyxOS

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

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

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

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

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