this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025
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Privacy

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Can't we do anything as google is killing AOSP and custom ROMS (programming.dev)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by Timely_Jellyfish_2077@programming.dev to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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It feel like we’re losing to Google, day by day. They aren’t killing AOSP directly, but they are making it useless step by step.

Now it’s Google Play Services, Play Integrity checks, installation source checks… more and more apps just refuse to run without GMS. Banking apps? Most of them don’t work. And it’s only getting worse. I run vanilla AOSP on my main profile, no Play Services. I keep GMS only in my work profile for the apps that absolutely need it. But now even some regular apps that don't need any play services won’t work on my main profile anymore. They simply block your from running , like le chat.

Maps is google's most important app there is no way to run without play services. Sure we can use webview or gmaps wv, but they don't provide turn-by-turn directions. Earlier maps used to work without play services, but two years ago, an update stopped it from working. Now that old version is out of date and no longer works.

Google is slowly making GMS very important to run. The problem with GMS is they require to run as system app and has to have all the permissions by default.

Hope EU puts pressure to make google allow apps to run independently without GMS or atleast install them as user apps(like graphene os sandboxed play services).

If we keep going on like this, AOSP can only run fdroid apps in the future.

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Then why don’t GMS apps work?

[–] EnsignWashout@startrek.website 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

GMS apps work fine. The only ones that don't work are ones that act invasively enough to notice they are sandboxed and disable themselves.

Mostly bank apps. Which is irritating, since they all have mobile friendly websites that work fine without needing to know my location and everything else about my phone.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What I was envisioning was a more “open” sandbox that feels like an entire (but barebones) phone, an imprecise location, things like that. But with the rest of the phone secretly shut out.

[–] EnsignWashout@startrek.website 2 points 2 days ago

That's a pretty good description of what GrapheneOS does with the sandboxed Google services.

I have found that the only apps that don't work well with Samdboxed Google services are ones that work hard to invasively probe their runtime environment.

Thwy usually fall into these three categories:

  • Bank apps that do it "for my safety". Nevermind that a website version exists for attackers to target without the same (dubious, invasive) "protections".
  • Streaming apps that do it "because this paid subscriber might be some kind of dark web pirate and we need to protect our content from being uploaded to the dark web one more time."
  • Apps whose developers are shitty at writing code for memory management. But GrapheneOS has good options to allow these to run, anyway.