Hello, I'm contemplating removing Google from my phone, so I have a few questions to clear up before making up my mind on the best course of action. I tried a quick keyword search so as not to duplicate questions, but I haven't really found anything, so I'm hopeful that I won't be flooding the thread. I realise that many of these will seem obvious to veteran NoGapps-ers, but bear with me.
In principle, I have no problem with going cold turkey and removing Google altogether, as long as my apps actually work. Seeing some of the issues people have been having with MicroG, is it safe to assume that without any Google apps whatsoever, many apps won't work at all? Despite that, even if I were to find working replacements for some such apps, many of the apps that use Google to deliver notifications still won't work, and there's no standalone solution to spoof Google push notifications? So important apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram, etc. might be dead silent? Something tells me that all of these are true, and in that case MicroG seems to be the more effective option overall.
Now, in perusing the thread I became aware of a way to retain Calendar and Contact synchronisation through copying some of Google's apks, and I'm generally fine with that. My question is, does this mechanic include call history, messages, app setting backups and other things I seem to get restored through Google's setup wizard? If not, is there a way to include it? Which part of Google's suite controls backups? The way I see it, if I'm going to retain some of Google on the device, I might as well get some of the features that seem most useful. Alternatively, if none of that is doable, is there a way to extract that data from Google and add it in after a clean flash? Perhaps with something like Titanium Backup?
In principle, I have no problem with going cold turkey and removing Google altogether, as long as my apps actually work. Seeing some of the issues people have been having with MicroG, is it safe to assume that without any Google apps whatsoever, many apps won't work at all? Despite that, even if I were to find working replacements for some such apps, many of the apps that use Google to deliver notifications still won't work, and there's no standalone solution to spoof Google push notifications? So important apps like WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram, etc. might be dead silent? Something tells me that all of these are true, and in that case MicroG seems to be the more effective option overall.
Now, in perusing the thread I became aware of a way to retain Calendar and Contact synchronisation through copying some of Google's apks, and I'm generally fine with that. My question is, does this mechanic include call history, messages, app setting backups and other things I seem to get restored through Google's setup wizard? If not, is there a way to include it? Which part of Google's suite controls backups? The way I see it, if I'm going to retain some of Google on the device, I might as well get some of the features that seem most useful. Alternatively, if none of that is doable, is there a way to extract that data from Google and add it in after a clean flash? Perhaps with something like Titanium Backup?