Some Android distributions (e.g. OxygenOS) come with a load of Google proprietary apps, not all of us may want it. I simply don't want Google's hands getting everywhere for my information. While I may accept OnePlus's blobs, I want to clear my device of all Google's proprietary blobs. Or at least the ones that can access the Internet.
One can say: get an alternate ROM, but then the camera quality may suffer.
There's a lot of such apps, so I'd like to build a comprehensive list of the applications and their FOSS counterparts. But it's difficult from the start.
Do you know any decent alternative for the following Google's apps (apart from the ones listed here - in square brackets)
- Phone
- Messenger [QKSMS]
- Contacts
All of them have the unlimited Internet access permission (sic!)
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Hi all.
I have problems contacting google to get some info on Google Play service and obtaining license to use on specific device with firmware entirely build by me which is based on ICS 4.0.3 sources provided to me by chipset manufacturer..
I'll c/p last mail I sent to android-partnership [at] google.com for you guys to get the point:
****
Hello,
If somebody told me that I will have to write same e-mail three times to Google withouth getting any response I would not belive him, but things happen...
Again:
I'm CEO of Croatian company. We have OEM hardware producer in China who produces for us Android ICS and GB based media players. Because theese media players are based on Amlogic chipset (AML8726-M3 platform which runs ICS and AML8726-M platform which runs GB 2.3.4) and on Amlogic ICS which is not prepared for targeted region (Central Europe), we obtained partnership with Amlogic to get access to their sources to be able to customize it and prepare it to be used in our region.
Based on that, we are building our own firmwares for these devices. According to our hardware manufacturer's firmware versions, they do have access to Google Play service. Because of different fingerprints and keys used for our firmware build, same device with our firmware is not recognized by Google Play service and actually we are not licensed to use it.
My question to you (for 3rd time) is what we have to do to get Google Play working on our firmware builds. Your FAQ seems to be confusing... By that I reffer to theese Q and A's:
What kinds of devices can be Android compatible?
The Android software can be ported to a lot of different kinds of devices, including some on which third-party apps won't run properly. The Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) spells out the specific device configurations that will be considered compatible.
For example, though the Android source code could be ported to run on a phone that doesn't have a camera, the CDD requires that in order to be compatible, all phones must have a camera. This allows developers to rely on a consistent set of capabilities when writing their apps.
The CDD will evolve over time to reflect market realities. For instance, the 1.6 CDD only allows cell phones, but the 2.1 CDD allows devices to omit telephony hardware, allowing for non-phone devices such as tablet-style music players to be compatible. As we make these changes, we will also augment Google Play to allow developers to retain control over where their apps are available. To continue the telephony example, an app that manages SMS text messages would not be useful on a media player, so Google Play allows the developer to restrict that app exclusively to phone devices.
If my device is compatible, does it automatically have access to Google Play and branding?
Google Play is a service operated by Google. Achieving compatibility is a prerequisite for obtaining access to the Google Play software and branding. Device manufacturers should contact Google to obtain access to Google Play.
And this one, which tells me to contact you which I am doing for 3rd time in last few days:
If I am not a manufacturer, how can I get Google Play?
Google Play is only licensed to handset manufacturers shipping devices. For questions about specific cases, contact [email protected].
Will you please be so kind and answer to my questions?
Best Regards,
Stanislav Vlasic
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That was 3rd mail sent to them. I also tried to contact them to compatibility [at] android.com, but no response at all.
So, my question.... Does anybody know who to contact to get ANY kind of answer?
Regards,
Stane
I'm using a Nexus 4 and trying to get rid of all the Google tracking services and their built-in Android background communications with Google servers. I have already searched the internet and found a few articles about this, however most of them were outdated or didn't answer my questions.
I do like the look and feel of stock Android, which is why I would probably go for CyanogenMod for this. In an optimal world, it would retain its current look and feel, but without communicating with Google.
My questions that I currently have pretty much are as follows (when using CyanogenMod):
- is it possible to keep using SOME Play store / stock apps but taking their permission to send information to Google? For example, I still want to use whatsapp and I doubt I can find it in the F-Droid store, or perhaps i like the Google camera app, and so on
- is it possible to turn off all Google tracking services (obvious things such as Google Now, but also the less obvious, like the constant hidden communications with Google servers) using CyanogenMod?
Hi All,
I am new here, so sorry if I mess up something or don't know things obvious to most of you .
I am digging through many articles/review telling about mobile OSes, but can you tell me which one gives me most privacy and security?
What I mean by privacy?
First of all I do not want that any of my data is sent to any central server of some big company like Google/Apple/M$. I don't need synchronization.
I can live without gapps and fb .
I don't want to share my contacts, and don't want anyone to read my sms etc. so encryption would by nice.
By security I mean that I can restrict apps what they have access to.
So definitely open source os without any "under the hood" soft like "we know better what you need".
I was testing few OSes on my Nexus 4 and my current summary is like:
- Stock android gives a lot of information to Google through gapps, so I don't want that
- Cyanogenmod - I heard about some rumors of closing some part, using proprietary libraries and in privacy policy I see that they also collect quite a lot of data. Big plus - Privacy control for apps.
- Ubuntu touch - although I like the feel it seems that Canonical is also collecting tons of data and when I was supposed to register while installing any free app from the market...?
- Omnirom - is considered to be open-cm - what you say? Is it almost the same? Does it control app permisions?
- Firefox OS - for me it looks most promising, they write on their webpage that every app has an access only to the part of disk dedicated to it (if I understand android policy "Access to SD card pemission" gives any app right to read/write anything on whole SD?). Also they explicitly say what they collect, the give possibility not to send reports etc.
So what you say?
I was considering Omnirom with F-Droid, K9-mail, Text Secure etc. OR Firefox OS. Any better options?
Thanks a lot for help!
Hello,
First of all I would like to say that I'm completely new to android (except for the occasional dabblin on a friends phone) so please go easy on me. I am tech savy, but just never had anything to do with this platform, due to my not so nice opinion of google...
I am on blackberry passport and am/was a loyal bb customer with all that follows. But please I do not wish to start android vs bb vs ios etc thread. It is a matter of taste in the end.
So long story short, never had anything to do with IOS or android as I prefered BB for security, productivity and slimeline OS. However due to recent BB swithc to android and priv (which id god awful imho) and apparent abandonment of OS10 i am faced with increasing frustraton over current passport usage as it is more and more laggy problematic every day. So seeming that bb has abandoned os10 I have finnaly decided that perhaps it is a time for a different platform.
I am considering getting the oneplus 3.
So my questions are:
- What kernel and ROM to flash? I explicitly do not want anything to do with google or google services, i do not have gmail and have no intentions to open one. I do not use any service connected to google, no cloud sync, no FB, no instagram etc.... I want my phone google free, bloatware, spyware, ads free, cloud sync free etc. so basically I want as much control over what is installed as possible, with preferably NO personal info shared to any service.
- What is the most open source build? (coming from a viewpoint that google is evil, apple too.. I am putting my trust in the open source community) - replicant project peaked my interest, but the supported phones are too old and too few. I would be extremely pleased tho, if sth like this existed for newer phones.
- Encryption is a must, both of memory and communication (pgp)
- advanced app permission control is a must
- if there exist sth like BB hub or other similar true multitasking option even better
to put it simply, what custom rom and kernel to flash to get the most secure, opensource, google and similar companies free phone with maximum control over os and no to minimum personal info shared.
I would very much appreciate if you could point me in the right direction. As i said no experiance with android, but am quick learner and tech savy. so no need to dumb it down for me.
Thank you !!
Whilst I understand that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to software development, and that the cost ultimately comes down to the scope of the project. It would however be nice to figure out as to how much it normally costs for a fully customised version of Android OS that can be used professionally. This customised ROM of Android would then need to be flashed to a device.
I understand that I have a choice of either reusing an existing ROM, or starting with AOSP. In both cases, I would need to customise that, and then package it along with the OEM vendor's kernel and drivers.
I know that there will be a lot of work involved, and also understand that I need to get a professional onboard. I don't however know / understand as to how much something like this will cost.
The plan would be to create a ROM that would be fairly similar to how the firmware on the Switch operates. In this way, the ROM must have the following features:
be devoid of all bloatware so as to increase performance of the hardware and to also allow apps to load and run faster.
tangentially... the ROM must "feel" native to the device, and allow developers to maximise performance of the device by creating and running apps that run as if they've been "written to the metal".
has a variation of the Google Play Store from which apps can be bought and downloaded from.
ROM is linked to host website.
has DRM and copy-protection features implemented where the OS checks for the authenticity of the device it's running on, and the authenticity of the app where only apps sold via the store will be able to run on the customised ROM of the Android OS. This would also probably mean that the apps would need to be authenticated by the server on a regular basis, otherwise there would be an online ban.
allows for Android apps and exports from gaming engines such as Unity, GameMaker, Unreal to be made available and to run on the device - with DRM / Copy Protection features.
development of all necessary API.
not allow the device to be easily hackable / rooted, or even be customisable by casual users.
acts as a launcher for (gaming) apps, and minimises / stops all other processes from running in the background.
I just don't know how much something like the above would cost...
How many hours would it take to create a ROM based on the above specification, and assuming that the developer charged $30 per hour, what sort of budget should I be looking at?
A stock ROM is the adaptation of the telephone's working framework that accompanies your telephone when you get it.
A custom ROM is a completely independent adaptation of the OS, including the piece (which makes everything run), applications, administrations, and so on - all you require to work the gadget, with the exception of it's redone by somebody here and there.
So what does the "altered" part mean? Since Android is open source, engineers are allowed to take stock ROMs, adjust them, strip them of trash, streamline them, add things, and essentially do whatever their creative mind and abilities permit.