Android VS GmsCore

The issue should be fixed in the very latest version available. If you can try updating to version 5.181.1 (available in the Play Store or directly from https://github.com/duckduckgo/Android/releases/tag/5.181.1), that should fix the issue.

DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser (version 5.174.0): Privacy, simplified

We fixed this issue a long time ago.

https://github.com/duckduckgo/Android/pull/878

Thanks

DDG https://github.com/duckduckgo/Android

DuckDuckGo isn't sending your data anywhere, it's just acting as a filter between your apps and the internet. It's open source, so you can view the code to verify it yourself, and build it to run on your phone. And rest disturbed, if it was up to sketchy stuff, it would lose a lot of what it is staking its reputation on

Lots of things I like about the site. For one, I value that privacy has been highlighted.

They feature Firefox but it requires so much work to tweak. I feel this is a reflex recommendation though I do, very much, like that FF allows itself to be tweaked.

On the Desktop... I much prefer LibreWolf - which I didn't see listed. It is what Firefox should be.

On mobile, I prefer DuckDuckGo's Android browser. Firefox mobile comes bundled with 3 trackers! Why must you always shoot yourself in the foot, Mozilla? It's never ending.

DDG is not only open source (https://github.com/duckduckgo/Android) but it also does not have a single tracker. If that wasn't enough, it comes with a module called App Tracking Protection. It's brilliant. It blocks trackers from other apps. I cannot recommend this enough. The sheer amount of information collected from apps on your phone...

I have had apps at 30 attempts in the first few seconds and reach 1,000 tracking attempts within 1/2 an hour. Every single item - from contacts to specific location - is constantly being polled. Every app seems to be running spyware from various vendors - even my banking app.

Wall of text, time to stop. Nice site, love that it's not afraid to be technical.

DuckDuckGo is reputable and their browser is open source. They don't track and report the stuff they see, they just block it.

To be honest, I don't see any need for a DuckDuckGo browser. After their response to this issue, I personally wouldn't consider touching them. But even without that...why? Even without the horrendous privacy violation and the arrogant attempt to brush it away, is there anything DuckDuckGo's browser does that Firefox doesn't do better? I'm not aware of anything.

I, an engineer, am not doing this myself, too. There is a middle ground though: just use a privacy-oriented Android build, like DivestOS. [1]

There are a couple caveats:

1. It is still a bit tricky for a non-technical person to install. Should not be a problem if they know somebody who can help, though. There's been some progress making the process more user friendly recently (e.g. WebUSB-based GrapheneOS installer).

2. There are some papercuts if you don't install Google services on your phone. microG [2] helps with most but some still remain. My main concern with this setup is that I can't use Google Pay this way, but having to bring my card with me every time seems like an acceptable trade off to me.

[1]: https://divestos.org/

[2]: https://microg.org/

I have been running de-googled LineageOS since before it renamed/reformed from CyanogenMod, so since somewhere around 2013/14. That has looked rather different depending on what exactly I need from my phone but I'll share what my current set up looks like.

First, I have don't use any kind of Google/Samsung/Apple Pay wallets so if you do, this may not be helpful; I've never looked into trying to get any of those working. Also, by "de-googled" I mean that I don't have GApps installed on my phone. I do have microG[0] installed as a Magisk[1]/LSPosed[2] module; this allows a few apps to believe I have GApps while most apps do not see/have access. I do not turn on microG for any apps (i.e. no connection to the Google servers/services via microG).

Most of my apps come from F-Droid[3], a few from Aurora Store[4] (a 3rd-part frontend for the Play Store that does not require either an account or GApps installed), a very few from FFupdater[5], and have played with using Obtanium[6] but currently only have one (weather) app updating via it. I have several different repositories configured in F-Droid but I don't generally keep mental track of which repository I am dependent on for which apps; the default, IzzyOnDroid[7], Bitwarden[8], NewPipe[9], microG[10], and Collabora[11] are some of them.

I have two banking apps installed via Aurora Store, one of which requires microG and root-hiding (via Magisk module) while the other doesn't require either. My browsers (Firefox, Firefox Klar, Brave) come from FFupdater and none require microG. My texting (QUIK SMS), email (K-9 Mail), TOTP authenticator (Aegis), password manager (Bitwarden), GPS/Maps (OsmAnd), file syncing (Nextcloud), notes (Nextcloud Notes), HN reader (HN), and Contacts/Calendar sync (DAVx5, ICSx5) apps all come via F-Droid (either the main repo or others). I have many others apps which come from F-Droid or Aurora Store but the above are my most used.

For file, calendar, notes, photo, & contact syncing, I have a Nextcloud server set up and find it to work quite well; the Nextcloud apps are also quite good. Someone who doesn't want to run their own could use a hosted account[12]. Contacts & calendars are synced to Nextcloud via DAVx5 & ICSx5.

The primary challenges I am aware of at this point are hardware (it is increasingly difficult to install LineageOS on most hardware due to bootloader locks), and navigation (OpenStreetMap data usually doesn't include addresses in the USA). For hardware, the solution is essentially just to properly research the phone you want to buy; I always make sure the model is well supported by LineageOS before purchasing and then tend to hang on to it for several years. For navigation, I usually find the address on my desktop or mobile browser (via DuckDuckGo) and then manually input the location into OsmAnd before the trip but I also keep WeGo Here maps installed in case I don't have time for that (it usually takes <2 minutes and rarely more than 5 to manually find & enter the address). Additionally, getting the one banking app to work without GApps was a pain in the butt initially (requiring testing several Magisk & LSPosed modules), but now it just works and I don't really think about it.

Overall, I don't find my version of de-googled to be a detriment; my phone is useful and I have more control over my data and over annoyances (such as unnecessary notifications) than I would otherwise.

[0] https://microg.org

Is anyone here daily-driving microg and can share their experiences? https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Implementation-Status does not exactly inspire confidence.

...will need to be rewritten to avoid Google Play Services.

Not true.

All that needs to happen is for open source developers to "re-implement Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries".

https://microg.org/

microG itself connects directly to Google: https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Google-Network-Connec...

No shit, of course they do.

>In general, we obviously try to minimize the connections to Google, but some services strictly rely on them and would just not work without.

What exactly do you think they should do instead?

MicroG

In release notes for GmsCore v0.2.29.233013 (https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/releases/tag/v0.2.29.233013), I also see:

Yes, the Xposed module is one way. There are also other ways

Which one should I use? Is this MicroG's official website right? (https://microg.org/)