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noorbeast t1_j6bp93t wrote

Sounds like positive changes to me, I would like to have those options.

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MarkusR0se t1_j6eu07y wrote

A true step forward would be to encourage third-party app developers to stop requiring access to the Google Services.

A lot of people don't know that, beside the Android OS, Google also offers some hard to avoid services like their Notification Services. In order not to keep all apps opened at all times, many apps are using Google servers to send and receive notifications even when the apps are completely closed.

Without the Google services, most apps can't receive notifications. The apps developed by Facebook circumvent this by installing some hidden background services and using their own servers instead of Google's servers.

The default notification system is not configurable at all. It would be quite nice for Google to develop a standard that can be implemented by any developer using their own servers or by subscribing to some alternative third party servers (as a service).

I don't expect Google to do this unless, some Government entity forces them.

If this would become the standard, then most modern apps released on the Play Store could run on any google-less phone.

Yet this remains a big 'IF' which is currently preventing any considerable adoptation of a google-less phone.

In my opinion, their apps/services should follow an opt-in behaviour and allow the complete functionality of a phone without them.

Currently, you can easily get most Play Store apps from 'Aurora Store', yet most of them would not properly work without the Google Services.

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the-gloaming t1_j6c4lgl wrote

Can the forked Android versions access Google’s play store? I would think not; if so, wouldn’t these forks have issues getting apps running on them?

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Stickiler t1_j6c9ths wrote

No, the forked versions wouldn't have the Play Store, not by default, anyway. They would be able to install alternative app stores, but they would need developers to actually release versions of their app for those platforms, which is a not insignificant amount of work for the developer.

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Le_saucisson_masque t1_j6ce7xf wrote

There is a very big Foss app community but some app that rely on Google play services to work wouldn't. Albeit that's an issue entirely made by Google position.

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Daedelous2k t1_j6ct50p wrote

Who knows, the play store has some protections built in and if the forked version is dodgy it might have issues, not to mention the apps themselves may require specific google services which could be stripped out of the new OS.

I'd imagine it's more hassle than it's worth for most devs.

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