I think this would only be interesting for a fraction of the user base, a tiny fraction that is. Considering they are low on man power and how they seem to be struggling getting the Nothing Gallery app going, I don’t think they’d free any ressources for such a side gig. Keep in mind that Google-free Nothing OS still needs regular updates and development, they already are at a rather slow update pace every two months.

Replacing Google also isn’t as straight forward: Some third party apps are relying on Google Play Service, if you don’t have Google Play Services, some apps won’t work correctly or not at all. It’s not just about replacing Gmail with a different mail app, Google Calendar with a different calender or Chrome with a different browser and use Fdroid instead of the Play Store.

Huawei was once one of the most popular brands for smartphones here in Germany, but after they were banned from using Google services, their marketshare and sales have fallen like a rock. People realized they can’t easily install some popular apps anymore and this simple issue led them to just a fraction of marketshare left. For Nothing, which is still a small player after all, chasing this as their major path forward could be catastrophic.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually wouldn’t mind an OS like this, but I simply don’t see it happening as Nothing will go either all in or just skip.

Related discussions
a month later

I managed to successfully debloat my unrooted Nothing 2a and now I run no google services. I removed all com.google.* packages from my phone that I could and replaced them with alternatives.

I say almost all, because:

  1. Google play store and Google Play Services are still installed, but disabled. If you uninstall Google Play Services, the phone will get stuck in a boot loop.
  2. Some other packages that provide local phone functionality or packages that would break the phone were not uninstalled. These packages are managed via Netguard.

I use Universal Android Debloater to remove the apps.

I use Netguard with traffic filtering to block internet access for certain apps. One thing I find very helpful during setup is to receive internet access notifications in order to be aware of all apps that connect to internet and block the ones I don’t want them to.

Also disabling background activity and background data usage for indiviudal apps is a good practice, leaving these options on for only a few apps that I use and expect notifications from or content updates.

I know is not perfect, but it works just fine.

Keep in mind that the goal of doing this is to avoid everyday data collection, not to completely anonymise activity with the phone. The first rule in avoiding data collection is not to keep your data online and this setup allows you to have a phone that use less cloud and more local.

Login with a google account, download all your apps (like banking and other specific apps) and then remove the acoount from the phone, disable Google Play Store and Google Play Services. Again, don’t uninstall Google Play Services as you will break the phone (boot loop).

Some apps will throw a notification that they won’t work unless you use Google Play Services, but you can just block the notification channel from app notification settings (blocking the channel allows you to receive other notifications from the app) and the app will run just fine.

List of uninstalled packages:

com.android.bluetoothmidiservice

  1. com.android.calllogbackup
  2. com.android.chrome
  3. com.android.egg
  4. com.android.hotwordenrollment.okgoogle
  5. com.android.hotwordenrollment.xgoogle
  6. com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks
  7. com.android.tracer
  8. com.google.android.apps.docs
  9. com.google.android.apps.maps
  10. com.google.android.apps.messaging
  11. com.google.android.apps.nbu.files
  12. com.google.android.apps.photos
  13. com.google.android.apps.restore
  14. com.google.android.apps.safetyhub
  15. com.google.android.apps.tachyon
  16. com.google.android.apps.turbo
  17. com.google.android.apps.wellbeing
  18. com.google.android.apps.youtube.music
  19. com.google.android.as.oss
  20. com.google.android.calculator
  21. com.google.android.calendar
  22. com.google.android.configupdater
  23. com.google.android.contacts
  24. com.google.android.deskclock
  25. com.google.android.dialer
  26. com.google.android.ext.shared
  27. com.google.android.feedback
  28. com.google.android.gm
  29. com.google.android.gms.location.history
  30. com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
  31. com.google.android.gsf
  32. com.google.android.inputmethod.latin
  33. com.google.android.keep
  34. com.google.android.marvin.talkback
  35. com.google.android.onetimeinitializer
  36. com.google.android.partnersetup
  37. com.google.android.printservice.recommendation
  38. com.google.android.setupwizard
  39. com.google.android.tag
  40. com.google.android.tts
  41. com.google.android.videos
  42. com.google.android.youtube
  43. com.google.ar.core
  44. com.mediatek.atmwifimeta
  45. com.mediatek.mdmconfig
  46. com.mediatek.mdmlsample
  47. com.nothing.smartcenter

List of disabled packages:

  1. com.android.devicelockcontroller
  2. com.android.vending
  3. com.google.android.gms
  4. com.google.android.gms.supervision
  5. com.tools.datacheck

Maybe I missed something, but Netguard shows no traffic to Google Servers, and I also manage system apps, so I consider this experiment a success.

As for the default apps, I replaced Phone, Keyboard (Gboard), File manager, Gallery etc with FOSS apps from F-Droid (free apps with no internet access).

Perks: Using a phone app other than the default one might cause problems with calling Emergency Services (that’s why I keep a “stock” profile on my phone and I can always login to that profile to use the default apps). Sometimes you will have to unlock (fingerprint) in order to receive a call (but that’s manageable).

I took the time writing this as I hope this will help others eliberate and still use the beautiful Nothing phone / OS.

I also hope that if you find ways to improve this setup, you will take the time replying this thread.

Kudos!

    wtf984 THANK YOU FOR HAVING SOME COMMON SENSE. WHICH IS NOT SO COMMON IN TODAY’S WORLD .

      nothing_enrich326

      Awesome, but I think Google play and play services are most difficult to replace because nothing is build on them, I think it would be easyer to do this if nothing had tried this from start. If they had build on open source alternatives. It same on software developing, some programs are not working on Linux because when they started build it they didn’t believe in Linux.

      Because of that I posted this discussion jet and not in teen years when nothing is bigger, I think it’s not possible to replace Google play services as a user without root right and so on, for this we need support from nothing. For example we wouldn’t have any updates without play.

        Ok, it would have been nice to have such a greatly designed phone with no bloatware and open-source, but the costs will have been a lot higher. Cheap things comes with tradeoffs, but this is a fairly good way not to trade off your data.

        What do you mean by saying that you cannot replace Google Play Services? Why would you need to replace them in the first place?

        Again, the goal is to have them disabled for everyday use and activate them only when you need to install an app. Assuming that you don’t install apps everyday, I think this is a very good tradeoff.

        Also, you might get some issues with some notifications, but this might be a good thing for your personal digital wellbeeing. That way you will get a more intentional use of your phone, thing that I advocate to as achieving digital maturity.

        Sepparately, before de-google-ing your phone, make sure you can live without Google.

        Do you still use Google Contacts, Calendar, Photos, Drive, Mail, etc? If so, maybe you should stick to your stock setup and accept Google as part of your life.

        If you are able to delete your (typo fix) Google account without losing important data (as in not keeping important data on Google), then you might try this setup.

        Bottom line, you don’t need to replace Google Play and Services, but prevent them to be constantly monitoring phone activity and only activate them when you need them.

        Am I missing something regarding your statement?
        Google play and play services are most difficult to replace

        nothing_enrich326 Even when the app isn’t installed. There is usually two Facebook services to mine data in most OS’s. I don’t know if Nothing chose not to include this or not but pretty much every phone I have purchased in the last 5 years has had Facebook stuff installed on it right out of the box.

            Lien

            I think too😆😆😆

            I want more Nothing apps,Officially or Fan made.

            I am using Nothing official apps and Musiccore music,N Dial,Samsung browser and Balmuda scheduler.

            I want Nothing’s File manager,E-Mailer,Browser and Scheduler🥺🥺🥺

            from Tokyo🇯🇵

              4 days later

              PrakashGadhveer yes, we raely need a messages app! dont like googles. But why Samsung browser? Why you don’t use chrome? - Google, but Firefox why not, I think it’s the really best service (example: synced passwords, bookmarks and tabs with you laptop) and also open source!

              I’m hopefully that sth lole N calc will come soon🙏.,..