I used Android without Google — here are the pros and cons

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You tin feel Android on a smartphone without any trace of Google's software. I know, considering I merely spent iii weeks living that manner.

My Google-free Android feel was made possible thanks to the eastward Foundation, an open-source developer focused on providing private alternatives to Google. Normally, if you lot install plain old AOSP — that stands for Android Open up Source Projection — you get a barebones system that is pretty difficult to live with. You can also install Lineage Bone without Google Apps and get a slightly better experience.

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Word has it, yet, that even in the open up source version of Android, there are still remnants of Google's influence. This makes sense, since the company does well-nigh of the work on the Bone. However, if you want to live totally exterior of Google (or Apple in the case of iOS) and still use a smartphone, your options are relatively limited.

Enter /e/OS from the same e Foundation. This privacy-focused software is meant to provide a usable Google-less Android feel. For one, in that location's access to many of the apps available in the Play Store, which are scanned and analyzed for how privacy-conscious they are.

Of course, you tin't merely roll with /eastward/Os and pretend similar it's an feel yous'd exit of the box from a phone congenital past Samsung, Google, or OnePlus. There are limitations and compromises that you accept to make in society to become by.

I installed /e/OS, based on Android x, on my OnePlus 6 and used it for 3 weeks. Read on for how that went.

What is /e/OS?

At its core, /e/OS is a privacy-focused, "de-Googled" mobile ecosystem as the e Foundation puts information technology. Information technology's Android that has been stripped of anything Google, even relatively i-off things like using different Network Time Protocol and DNS servers.

The e Foundation went to great lengths to remove anything Google. Location is handled by Mozilla, microG replaces Google Services, and connectivity checks don't rely on Google. It'south a lot to sift through, merely the entirety of /eastward/Os remains open up source.

This is important because that means you can bank check the lawmaking for yourself to see what /due east/OS is doing. This ensures accountability and privacy, ensuring that you stay in command of your data, at least on the Os level.

Since /e/OS is still Android, you can install many apps. There are several means to exercise this, from sideloading the APK files, installing a third-party store like F-Droid, or using /e/OS' own App Installer. With the latter option, yous can access several of the Play Store's applications, and each one comes with a privacy rating so that y'all tin see if the app is going to be a weak point in your privacy-witting life.

Using de-Googled Android

One time I got /e/Bone upwards and running on my OnePlus six, I immediately noticed that, past default, the entire domicile screen experience strongly resembles iOS. At that place is no app drawer for starters, but there's also something uncannily similar iOS' Search part and Today screen. I become that /e/Bone is as far from Google as possible while yet existence Android, merely I found this whole iOS copying a scrap much.

Yet, that'south just the home screen and you lot can alter it to something else, using i of the all-time Android launchers. For example, the costless version of Nova Launcher is available in the App Installer. (As I understand it, the App Installer is about similar a mirror of the Play Store without tapping into annihilation paid.)

While I could download the complimentary version of Nova Launcher, the paid Nova Launcher Prime upgrade isn't bachelor from /e/Os' App Installer. This is probable to prevent Google'southward ire from coming down on /e/Bone. I also couldn't use my banking apps, instead resorting to mobile websites.

Despite the lack of Nova Launcher Prime, the App Installer has a lot of the aforementioned Android apps you can go from the Play Shop, only its limitations mean all of your previous purchases are moot — purchased games, premium app upgrades, and subscriptions aren't available. If yous've been on Android for years similar I have, this comes as a serious blow.

As shortly as you pull down the notification shade or head into Settings, the core DNA of Android shines through. /e/OS is based on Android ten currently — at least the OnePlus 6 build I'1000 running — so things aren't quite every bit smooth and pretty equally they are on Android 11 and certainly a far cry from the vision in the upcoming Android 12.

If you forego the iOS-y feel of the stock launcher, you can accept yourself a far more functional Google-less feel than what you'd observe on Lineage Os (which simply removes Google Apps unless you lot install them separately). I used to be hardcore into the rooting and custom ROM game, but present I just don't accept the time. Having /e/OS work so well out of the box was awesome.

Overall, I didn't listen using /eastward/Bone for the iii weeks I had it equally my daily driver. Going all the mode dorsum to the OnePlus 6 was more jarring than losing access to many of the Android conveniences I'm used to. That phone's camera feel was just awful, especially outside of OxygenOS and OnePlus' software tweaks. (OnePlus cameras have improved dramatically in the ensuing iii years, as the OnePlus nine proves.)

Yous tin install /e/OS on several devices, or y'all can buy a phone direct from the due east Foundation if yous'd like. While flashing /e/Bone isn't hard, prepping your telephone can be — I wasted several hours a few months ago when I tried the ROM on my Essential Phone considering of firmware alignment issues. I digress.

Google-less Android outlook

Using /eastward/OS and de-Googled Android in full general is definitely not for everyone. It has serious challenges such as the loss of many staple conveniences. Plus, e/OS doesn't run on the latest and greatest hardware out there, often meaning that you're relegated to devices that are at least two years one-time on average. However, if you want a lot more privacy in your smartphone life, /e/Os is nearly as skillful as it gets.

Of class, app availability is the weak indicate and tin can nevertheless throw a wrench into your plans. That means you accept to decide what's more important to you. If yous're more concerned with privacy, then you'll demand to find alternatives in some cases.

I don't recommend the Google-gratis Android experience for anybody, but I all the same establish the experiment to be rather interesting. Like I said, I had more grievances with the hardware rather than the software — the OnePlus half-dozen definitely shows its age.

Given all that, I don't recollect I will proceed to apply /e/Os every bit my daily driver. It might be fun to play with it from time to fourth dimension, but I think that's all it'll ever exist for me. But if you're particularly zealous about privacy, your experience may be different.

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Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things telephone-related. He'southward written about phones for over 5 years and plans to keep for a long while to come. He loves goose egg more than relaxing in his domicile with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Jordan tends to lurk on social media, simply you can best reach him on Twitter.

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I used Android without Google — here are the pros and cons