I am trying to give some new life to an old Samsung S9 plus which is not receiving official updates anymore.
LineageOS does not support this device anymore either but iode does, so I went for it.
The problem is with this microg apps replacement I lose some critical functionality to me like google maps location history and “find my device” remote wipe.
I understand that is the price to pay to avoid tracking but I really don’t care much about that and I figure google is going to track me one way or another anyway, so I just prefer to keep the convenient side of it.
So I’ve read I can install something like mindthegapps and move on with the actual google services instead of some replacement.
Is that true and if so where can I find a tutorial to replace microg with mindthegapps on iode? Is that even possible/practical?
In my understanding, you just have to remove microg (via preinstalled apps) or you dont install it during initial setup.
Then you can install youre preffered flavour of mindthegapps via (TWRP) recovery
It goes against my grain to do anything like - to infect a carefully degoogled Custom ROM like iodéOS with such targeted Google surveillance bugs like NikGApps, BitGApps, FlameGApps, MindTheGApps, BeansGApps, OpenGApps & Co.
My tip 1: Please install the ‘stable’ Android 13 CustomROM for S9+ (star2lte) from PixelExperience instead. There is no better Google Pixel clone. PixelExperience is an AOSP based ROM, with Google apps included and all Pixel goodies (launcher, wallpapers, icons, fonts, bootanimation).
My tip 2: Finder. Remote mobile phone searching via SMS requests. F-Droid Store.
My tip 3: PhoneTrack Nextcloud App. PhoneTrack is a Nextcloud application for tracking and storing mobile device locations. F-Droid Store.
Yeah I totally respect that, why even make it an option on a privacy focused distro when there are so many out there already doing that; Better do one thing and be the best and for that I have to say I am pretty impressed with the quality and value of iode.
Still I tried installing them as @AlphaElwedritsch suggested just to see if it was simple enough to make them work, but I found it is not possible (still thanks for the suggestion @AlphaElwedritsch ^^). Even with a factory reset, no google app can connect and the phone gets stuck on the initial setup assistant. I suppose either the firewall or the DNS is dropping those connections. If installed right after going through iode setup assistant instead, they kinda work for a second but keep crashing after restarting the phone.
Anyway I did consider the alternatives you suggest, particularly Finder because I’d love to have control of my own data (well it’d still be stored in some cloud instead of a home server, but that’s another bone to pick), but that’s too far from the simplicity and convenience I find on google’s location history and integration with every other app (specially maps, search and photos), and the remote wipe option seems to still be missing.
So I’ve moved to Evolution X and I am pretty happy with it so far, although it’s a battery hog and I do feel some performance drop in comparison (not surprised, with all that tracking). I did not know about PixelExperience but since you recommend it I’ll give it a go too.
Normally, custom ROMs with GApps don’t interest me. But my casual tests let me say - PixelExperience ‘Offical’ is a grant for highest compatibility and flawless functioning. And the look is like the Google Pixel Android like an egg.
