What Happens if You Don't Sign In to a Google Account on Android?

hydroGEN@lemdro.id to Android@lemdro.id – 72 points –
makeuseof.com

Do you need a Google account to use an Android phone? Here's what you'll lose—and gain—if you choose not to sign in.

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My experience: I got a Nothing Phone 2 recently and decided to degoogle it. Using ADB commands, I removed every google app from my phone, from the Dialer all the way up to the PlayStore, apart from just 2: Play Services and Maps. Both work fine without a Google account. I did take away all permissions of Play Services and it still works fine. Without this app, you will stop getting notifications from most of your apps so it is necessary.

Open source alternatives that I turned towards:

  1. Google Dialer -> Simple Dialer
  2. Google Contacts -> Simple Contacts
  3. Google Photos -> Simple Gallery Pro
  4. Google Play Store -> Aurora Store and Droid-ify
  5. Google Messenger -> QKSMS
  6. Google Calendar -> Proton Calendar
  7. Google Drive -> Proton Drive
  8. Google Chrome -> Mozilla Firefox
  9. Youtube -> Youtube ReVanced (Not FOSS, I use a throwaway account here with Vanced Microg)
  10. Google Translate -> Translate YOU
  11. Google Files -> Material Files
  12. Google Docs/Slides/Sheet -> Collabora Office
  13. GMail -> Proton Mail
  14. GBoard -> OpenBoard fork with glide typing

Everything works fine :)

Getting a Pixel 7 and installing GrapheneOS on it was another option but I just don't like the low performant and inefficient Tensor G2 chip. 8+ Gen 1 is an excellent chip, both in terms of power and efficiency.

The Simple suite by Tibor K(aputa?) is so good.

Indeed. Simple Dialer is I think the only FOSS dialer app that is actively maintained. And Simple Gallery Pro is fairly advanced for a FOSS app, even having a video editor!

Google made a change a while ago that disabled some apps from having hidden folders, but you can just get an old version of Simple Gallery from F-Droid from before that change so you can still use hidden folders for your pictures and videos of.... nature ':D

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