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this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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Privacy Guides
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Rookie mistake, remove Play Services if you want to limit tracking.
good luck "removing" that while not breaking the system. It so deeply integrates itself that you can't really remove it even from a lineage os install
Quite easy. Simply remove it. It is not deeply integrated as you say. The Problem is using other apps that depends on Google thus sending data to Google. Is that the case: reconsider your app usage
And most of them still work, just can't display ads.
The most noticeable change in behavior would actually be lack of push notifications. At least by default - you can set up push without Google (like with UnifiedPush), but not all apps support that.
I dislike being bothered if i'm not actively using the device, so that's a plus for me.
I only recently got pushes working on this phone and very happy to have them again - but I absolutely get this. I only have them on in a few places, so they're convenient and not distracting - only on personal messages and on some chats I want to keep an eye on.
you can just silence all the notifications, and still know which messaging app out of the 5 has new messages, and whether you got emails, etc
Usually in app settings and Lineage has a notification permission. And calendar, phone and sms have their own things anyway. Nothing amiss.
the most noticable change is when the developer built all functionality around every kind of firebase service, and didn't care to handle the case when those are not available
that's not my experience, but maybe they changed something recently
I don't have one. GOS
ok, but that's not what most people on this world use. they are basically stuck with a rom that has google services integrated
Yes but internet exist so they are not stuck if they actually put some effort in. Unfortunately people don't care the way they should.
most people are not
even just considering the first point, it is really not just "some" effort. sure we can do it, but this is a very small bubble.
I think it's comparable to replacing the windows on your house all by yourself, from selection, across acquisition and taking out the old one, to installing the new one nicely and with insulation.
Or
Used phones exist. GOS is not the only option either. So basically any phone can be improved with at least lineage.
Yeah, that's why I don't like people saying it's "GOS or nothing".
Actually, it's sadly not "basically every phone" - some brands make bootloader unlocking hard or very complicated. And my old phone was one of such, not even in the list of supported devices.
Indeed that's why people should learn from it and not buy such crap in the future. If it's not a lineage official supported device next step is xda forums for a rom. And if its really bad at least root the stock one and remove/block the worst of it. I rarely seen a phone where there is nothing to do at all but the junk heap
Counterpoint 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywo-NT8K6B4&t=100
Counterpoint 2 You don't. I use a bunch of them from different countries and crappy builds. GPay sure , just get a case with a cardholder
counterpoint is 1) about grapheneos, a rom with extremely limited device support, so it is not at all representative of how easy it is to install, and 2) uses a browser tge privacy community advises to steer clear of for good reason.
also the webusb permission is very dangerous, because most people were literally trained by the advertising industry to always click allow and agree mindlessly, so I would not recommend anyone to make use of that, or any browser that supports it. and it is not only dangerous because of the unintended allowings.
in counterpoint 2) you make an assumption as big as portugal, which I also addressed above. lineageos and most other roms won't pass the Google Approval safetynet check, and lots of apps will refuse to work. banking apps, DRM-based apps like netflix, even some work related apps in my country
though I'll keep that advice in mind
Buy a used pixel in cash, install Graphene. This is probably the best way to accomplish running without google services.
The reason for pixel has to do with meeting graphene’s specific security and privacy guidelines. You can read them here https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices. I’m not a pixel fan specifically, but I am Graphene fan and I like my privacy and security.
Then maybe Graphene should amend their guidelines to address that not everyone can get that phone, especially after Orange Man tariffs
Maybe that should be the case. But according to them they are unwilling to budge on any of the guidelines as to not sacrifice any of their goals of privacy and security.
Hopefully someday they either support more devices, or preferably more devices meet the guidelines. I personally would like to see devices that are better supported from a repairability point of view, like the fairphone or hmd skyline.
But, none of that changes the fact that if you want to forgo google play services on android in a secure and private way today, a pixel with Graphene is going to be your best bet. What I would like to be, or what I think should be has no bearing on that answer.
Yeah, same. I'm a GOS user myself but hate the absolutism some people have about it. I would've probably gone with Lineage if I hadn't bought this particular phone (and would likely go there anyway after the support ends, as GOS' support is relatively short).
Edit: where I am, Pixels are also not officially available (although still surprisingly popular despite that, as they're easy to get from unofficial resellers) and expensive relative to average income - like, the latest models would be completely out of my reach, their cost is egregious, and even a generation behind ($300) was still a lot.
For me it isn’t absolutism. It is about trying to get the most private secure setup I can. Currently, that is Graphene and that required a pixel. If there ever comes a time where another device is supported, preferably one focused on repairability, I will go that way.
I meant "Absolutism" not in the way of "actually being superior in one way or another", but rather "considering other options invalid even though they might be good compromises for some people".
A fork of GOS for EOL devices would be pretty nice I agree , but GOS doesn't decise phone security, manufacturers do. Any phone with good enough security would be a target device for GOS.
Calyx OS usually run longer on EOL so I would go there before lineage.
I absolutely understand why GOS stops updates when it does. And that's precisely why I dislike the absolutism - the user might have other priorities.
Well . That's what forks are for. The aim of GOS is not to support a lot of devices. Since it can't achieve its goals of a reasonable secure device that way. But as I said a fork of GOS would be good , or longer support from calyx. I think I got a year more out of a pixel 3 on calyx OS. But if your goal is maximum security there is no way around the fact that without manufacturers updates and to a certain extent hardware limitations, it won't be possible to do.
But best would be a good Linux phone so we can move away from Android all together, hope we can see that soon
most people for whom I help configure their phones they don't want to buy a new one. and they are often terribly afraid of used phones. I don't have any google services on my phone, the problem is not about me, but lets be honest, the absolute majority of the world's population
Why such an obsession with used Pixels? While $300 for mine was expensive, it wasn't a lottery when buying at least, and its battery didn't come pre-worn. Also I had no trouble buying it in cash.
Because no one should give Google any more money! Buying second hand/refurbished is the only way it makes sense for me to get a device by a large corporation like that.
I've had a couple of refurbished pixel phones and they've each worked well for years. The battery health was at about 95% when I bought them I think.
But by that logic, the unofficial reseller I buy from has also already paid Google for the phones they're selling now...
Google do Google stuff not because they are evil. They do it because they can , which is true for any company in this system. If another takes the position it will do the same. Also its not like phones are Googles main income source. Buying a pixel and putting GOS on it probably is worse for Googles bottom line , no matter new or used, than using a stock any other Android.
they didn't mean to buy from a reseller who got it directly from google, but to buy from people who had it and are selling it now.
Yeah but you have no control over how other people spend their money. That second hand phone would still be there whether you buy it or not. But if you buy a new one you're giving google more money.
Ideally there would be no second hand google phones because nobody would buy them new, but that's not happening
Why would I buy brand new when I could provide life to a phone that might otherwise end up in a landfill?
Lineage by default has no gapps.
that's true, I meant when you install opengapps to it
Don't do that :)
you are making choices for others. some apps require it. and then the post was about removing gapps, and my point was that it's not possible to just uninstall it.
Nope. You want to add them I say don't do that. Post was not about removing Gapps. Adb commands for uninstalling system apps exist but there is like 10 minute of a learning curve to flash GOS
I don't want to add them. I want to remove them (if I had such a phone), like the top level comment in this thread says.
which in my experience causes bootloops. even App Manager's recent debloater feature warns of this
Yea its a lot easier just to flash a custom rom and not use it then trying to clean out a already google infested install. Usually a lot of headache , but usefull for really old cheap phone the runs out of storage due to updates.
that's a replacement to be used on a clean system, but it does not help removing an integrated gms