Thread by @fs0c131y

There is a misunderstand in the #Huawei story.

The main issue is to lose the right to preinstall the GMS which contain the GApps and the Play Services android.com/gms/

1) People buy an Android phone to use the Google Apps. Not having these apps preinstalled is an issue. Maybe you are a techy but the average user will not install all the Google apps on the PlayStore. He want all the apps preinstalled.

2) The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is SUPER MEGA GIGA dependent to the Google apps… and this is on purpose.

Did you use a vanilla version of the AOSP? I do and it sucks.

Google create a service, add the support in the AOSP but to facilitate the work of developers expose higher APIs in the Play Services

Developers are using the APIs from the Play Services not from the AOSP. So if you don’t have the Play Services, what will happen? The app will not work.

The Play Services are a f*cking black box for years. This is on purpose.

Moreover, some of the Google Services need to be system. In order to be system they need to be compile with the firmware which means an average user can’t do it.

This is all the system apps on my Pixel 3 with Android 10.

GoogleExtServices, GooglePackageInstaller, GooglePermissionController are made by Google and are system

Another example: Firebase is a very popular suite of tools among the apps developers. Guess what they need? The Google Services plugin

Conclusion: Not having the GApps and the Play Services is a very big problem if you want to sell and Android phone outside China.