I don’t really see the point of using microG? What’s the big benefit of a third party client if one does still continue to use Googles servers?
Personally, I use CopperheadOS without any google services. Works well for me, but I did not even use GMaps, Whatsapp and so on back when I had “Google Play Services” on my phone. Nowadays it’s fdroid and all its apps, like OSMAnd and so on. Signal from its self-updating APK with a websocket connection instead of “Google Cloud Messaging”. Works just fine, but uses quite a lot of battery.
Push notifications are a deal breaker for me, also, there are a lot of apps that purposely warn you and kick you out of the app if no Play Services are installed (Google has some security certifications where they mandate you to disallow users without play services from using apps).
Also, everything I can get from F-Droid that serves my need I do, but not every app that I need has a FOSS alternative (slack, bank, spotify, zoom - to name a few). Plus, I really dislike the idea of having a ~150MB system app that sits their just to “support apps with services”. MicroG serves the basic functionality to provide you with things like push notifications, it’s size is tremendously smaller and it’s open source.
I’m in the Copperhead camp and don’t really miss push notifications. Slack doesn’t ping me anymore, but that’s just another reason to migrate to FOSS apps designed to work without Google Play (riot/matrix, conversations.im, signal, etc). Cutting down on notifications from bank apps could even be interpreted as a positive side effect.
One security downside to MicroG is that you need to enable signature spoofing so that it can impersonate the official Google Play Services.
One security downside to MicroG is that you need to enable signature spoofing so that it can impersonate the official Google Play Services.
LineageOS people keep saying that, but I don’t see the security issue. There is no slippery slope, and there is literally no other way to replace Google dependencies than to pretend you’re them.
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been meaning to get this on my phone for ages, this post was just the reminder I needed. Posted from my newly LineageOS’d/microG’d Nexus 5X.
Q: Is it legal to use Yalp Store with my own Google account?
A: No. Yalp Store violates §3.3 of Google Play Terms of Service. Your account might be disabled, robbing you of any apps you have purchased.
Q: Is it safe to use Yalp Store with my own Google account?
A: Yes. Software like Yalp Store, Google Play Crawler and Raccoon has been used for years and it seems to be safe. Never heard of any real cases of accounts being disabled.
Although I personally wouldn’t use Yalp to get stuff I bought from Google. If I really wanted to not have Google on my phone, I’d try to download what I had bought and serve it through a different channel (like a cloud or something).
TL;DR use microG LineageOS
I don’t really see the point of using
microG? What’s the big benefit of a third party client if one does still continue to use Googles servers?Personally, I use CopperheadOS without any google services. Works well for me, but I did not even use GMaps, Whatsapp and so on back when I had “Google Play Services” on my phone. Nowadays it’s fdroid and all its apps, like OSMAnd and so on. Signal from its self-updating APK with a websocket connection instead of “Google Cloud Messaging”. Works just fine, but uses quite a lot of battery.
Push notifications are a deal breaker for me, also, there are a lot of apps that purposely warn you and kick you out of the app if no Play Services are installed (Google has some security certifications where they mandate you to disallow users without play services from using apps).
Also, everything I can get from F-Droid that serves my need I do, but not every app that I need has a FOSS alternative (slack, bank, spotify, zoom - to name a few). Plus, I really dislike the idea of having a ~150MB system app that sits their just to “support apps with services”. MicroG serves the basic functionality to provide you with things like push notifications, it’s size is tremendously smaller and it’s open source.
I’m in the Copperhead camp and don’t really miss push notifications. Slack doesn’t ping me anymore, but that’s just another reason to migrate to FOSS apps designed to work without Google Play (riot/matrix, conversations.im, signal, etc). Cutting down on notifications from bank apps could even be interpreted as a positive side effect.
One security downside to MicroG is that you need to enable signature spoofing so that it can impersonate the official Google Play Services.
LineageOS people keep saying that, but I don’t see the security issue. There is no slippery slope, and there is literally no other way to replace Google dependencies than to pretend you’re them.
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been meaning to get this on my phone for ages, this post was just the reminder I needed. Posted from my newly LineageOS’d/microG’d Nexus 5X.
Can you still access things like Play Books purchases when using microG + Yalp Store?
You can link your own Google account through Yalp
Although I personally wouldn’t use Yalp to get stuff I bought from Google. If I really wanted to not have Google on my phone, I’d try to download what I had bought and serve it through a different channel (like a cloud or something).