The main idea is to make an f-android with google services apps and search out of our mobile device once and for all.
Steps that pause or disable or even better get google services and apps out.
Mirror apps that do the same or even better work inatead of default google android apps. First example forefox(?) Or other browser instead of chrome
Do not leave tracking steps as an os … make work indepedenly from contacts with owncloud maybe and with no sync of telephone calls sms and broadcast cell connectio to somewhere except your private encrypted place of data
If I understand you correctly you want to replace all G%$&e apps and features with FLOSS software?
I don’t think you’ll need anything but F-Droid and microg.
Maybe LOS for microg or /e/ would be the right choice of OS for you.
The easiest way to get a Google free device is to buy a Fairphone and use Updater to switch it to Fairphone Open. Or buy a Replicant device from Technoetic.
I am running without Google apps (and without bundled Device Manufacturer apps) but I’m not sure if the spyware is completely gone. I doubt it ever completely is. This is Google, after all: CIA and NSA. What’s worse is all companies are the same.
If someone can point to a newbie tutorial on how to do this then I’d love that. I am not running any custom firmware, but I also don’t use any apps that require Play Store Spyware or related Spyware infrastructure. Nor do I care for updates from State Mafia collaborators.
The basics to be free of Google apps for me:
First step: buy device that has a TWRP recovery for it. Root it. Install preferred keyboard and launcher. Uninstall all crapware, including manufacturer-bundled spyware, keyboard, launcher and ALL Google apps. Uninstall all Device Manufacturer bundled apps along with heaps of bundled Chipset Manufacturer components and Google system components. Disabling Google apps is useless: they can and do still run. Install your preferred browser(s) and apps. Install AdAway, firewall, etc.
It would be extremely useful to automate all this crapware removal but there are so many devices with so many different operating system versions. After crapware removal, I simply create a TWRP back-up so I can restore the system to a (mostly) crapware-free state in case of emergency or experiment-gone-wrong.
After uninstalling the default Gallery, Contacts, etc. a good place to start is the Simple Mobile Tools apps from Tibor Kaputa https://simplemobiletools.github.io/
These were one of the first stand-out apps for me when replacing the bundled crapware on my new Android devices. I can’t believe one guy is behind them all.
Instead of removing, removing and again removing, and still ending up with a closed source OS which could have anyway any sort of sorcery hidden in its binaries, wouldn’t it be easier and more effective to install (or even build yourself) an opensource Android distribution based on AOSP without installing GApps?
It’s not that easy, you need a device supported by a custom ROM (eg. Lineage), you need a device that can be bootloader unlocked, you need to be able to unlock it (codes or not blocked), you need to understand stuff about flashing, and most important, you need to understand that you’re at fault if stuff go bad and end up bricked… the user first and foremost must be ok with the thought of the possibility of never being able to use the device if stuff goes really bad.
@fimp suggested, as first step, to install TWRP recovery on a compatible device. Once you’ve done that, warranty is already gone and LineageOS is just a couple of clicks away…
Even with lineageOS and no GApps, the basic AOSP android system will still report to google servers with basic device stats including user apps installed, device id fingerprinting etc. I have observed this using MITMproxy. This seems to occur whenever a data connection is present, as I was using only wifi.
I have a feeling that it wouldn’t work. I already have AFWall+ and it has some options to block system apps via root access. Depending on which component it can be blocked, but it may break other things.
Maybe via host file and block an IP range?
I will have to set up my mitm box and have a look.
@kaputnikGo can you provide documentation of the tracking you say is built into AOSP? That would be big news around here, it is not something I have heard before.
No I was mistaken, it was the cyanogen stats that were being sent, not google. The only device stats sent by google are via google play/GMS which need to be installed.