I re-enabled the gms package again and everything worked again.
I noticed this behavior after upgrading my ColorOS to android 15.
It’s not only F-Droid that stops working. All apps doesn’t launch after uninstalling gms even apps that doesn’t use gms.
I think the new update was made to work that way.
This is forced in COS actually. Even on Xioami A15 it is forced. You can do nothing about it unfortunately.
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I went through the list of available non-Oogle phones more than once, even before this fateful announcement. Here in Trumpftaria, none of the options are realistic for me. “Trivially easy”? Not on any hardware that I have or that I can buy here, today, any other place than Amazon or Ebay (which I will not use ever).
And I’m a techie, OK? Unix/Linux admin and developer for ~30 years. Non-techy users probably don’t even understand how screwed they are.
Added in update: I forgot another major reason why it is not easy. The requirement to start with a particular version of stock Android, a version that is usually long obsolete and so not installed on any device I might buy, even off EBay.
I am sysadmin too. Approximately all life working only on Linux.
But even for me Android nowadays too fenced. If manufacturers will disallow bootloader unlock this means we will lose ROOT. Without root there will be no way to solve this without pain in ass or backdoor.
I bet most people will just leave ADB always ON which will lead to constant backdoor.
I afraid to say this, but for now China phones like Huawei is better since they have no Google shit. So they should NOT be affected.
This is like super strange. Probably issues with your firmware.
Probably root device and revoke all gms permissions. But this is risky.
This is what I’ve done.
Would adb install still works with this google developer-verification ?
One day, Google will get what’s coming for them for attempting all of this.
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If reflected upon the action will come across as an institutional self-preservation, looking after the investments of the investors, and other default automated reactive mammalian-limbic self-preservation mechanisms, etc.
Perhaps had we been in their place, as one of the employees, we would have collectively followed the same course of action.
Stepping back from participating in reactive mechanisms is very difficult for reactive ones on autopilot mode. But it is only the first of many steps. The next is to apply the Weights & Biases for all participants with historical hindsight and wisdom to assess whose values should be allowed and whose, to be thwarted.
Stepping back, all appear as victims of circumstances like we are.
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My 2 cents, if you have a spare old android phone knocking about, maybe keep it offline (airplane mode) to prevent this update, just for running offline apps. There is some stuff (mp3 player, camera, notes, calc, games, cbm64 emulator, x11 basic, books, pdfs, maps, etc) that are fine for offline use. keep a dev toolchain offline too. (maybe they will stop unapproved devs too. ) It may prove useful further down the line, maybe useful for some future solutions. Perhaps there should be a “retrodroid” section here for using/programming older devices!
I even have an Android 2 phone that can play mp3s, etc, but the dev tools cannot target it.
Maybe what I should do is accept one of the offers of my $TELCO and upgrade cheaply to a Samsung or a Pixel, then wait until the preinstalled firmware is obsolete, so I can switch to one of the alternatives … if they are still around by then.
Samsungi can no longer unlock irght?
You can. For now.
You won’t from One UI 8.0. So you should never update or unlock it NOW.
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This is the reason why ArceusLand is beginning to form. So companies & governments cannot control their people anymore, since we all deserve our fundamental rights. Goodness how horrible is this world becoming?
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The same fantasies that fueled those who 4 centuries ago migrated to the New World?
Then, over centuries, gradually eradicated the aborigines, kept the most toothless dociles in a reserved-forest- or a zoo- like enclosure, and turned the Dreamland into another Stratified Entitlement Structure, fueled by Oil, Pharma, War. Based on a social structure where no trust can expected, resulting in a paranoia for the lack of resources.
Repeating recursive nesting all over again.
What is within is always faithfully replicated outside.
But now in fantasies to relieve the sense of systemic oppression, right!? Next step: Meth. Philadelphia. New York. …
The Holographic Principle and the Illusory Reality …
Uh…I have no idea why you posted that here…
I’ve been navigating the Android + Gapps vs Fossdroid world for several years now. Since LineageOS was called Cyanogenmod; and XDA was an actually useful forum where people were actively hacking exploits to get bootloaders unlocked… I’m old
This announcement hurt me deep a couple months ago. Seeing the door close on the most powerful reason to use Android just destroyed my sense of ownership. Thinking in retrospect, it’s humorous almost.
The writing has been on the wall since the very beginning. We are Power Users, and we are not wanted here. Not on Android, certainly not on iPhone. This moment of clarity has me considering; perhaps I’m being just downright stubborn? silly? antiquated?
I have a limited supply of time and energy to live, and I’m wondering if my ideals of ownership and privacy on these “Android Smartphone” were delusional, or have become delusional as time marched on. These “phones” have outgrown their title. They’re how we shop, travel, and validate access and identity. They’re Virtual Financial Passports.
Really I just like tinkering with tech. Android was a playground, and now it’s a platform. Maybe I’ll just get a new toy that is actually made to messed with, like a MechaComet or a PlayDate. A phone that barely does anything for actual phone stuff, maybe running KaiOS. Finish with the smallest lightest Android or iPhone for my government tracking and any necessary Capitalism tasks/functions, throw in a Data Only Sim or eSim…
Or… maybe I’m just tired, and being a defeatist.
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Why not participate in a crowd-funding initiative to build that toy: an RISC-V Open-hardware smartphone company that builds phones and sells them at about the same price as the commensurate proprietary ones, that has pre-installed LineageOS or GrapheneOS instead 
?
Is the proprietary ecosystem that powerful to erase competition? A few more powerful than the public? Do the agencies need the back-doors as a means to safeguard National Security? Which is why the proprietary ecosystem is tolerated? Those are the question one must ask.
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As I already said… Make a FOSS equivalent than. An F-Droid privileged extension that uses ADB instead of root if you will.
This article doesn’t sound too bad. I think it’s great that there’s a manufacturer delivering GraphenOS. I once had a Wileyfox smartphone specifically because of Cyanogen OS. Unfortunately, after one or two devices, that was the end of it.
I would switch immediately if the devices were available.
Mein Krebstagebuch https://www.marcusradisch.de
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By this point, the best tactic for resisting Google’s planned changes would be to do it in ways that catch attention and use the element of surprise. If it gets enough attention and is spontaneous enough, they can’t just ignore us. It would focus much more on bringing attention and support to the cause in an unexpected way than frequency.