Issue 1404 65
GOOGLE-FREE
ANDROID
to connect via the phone network or use wi-fi andVoIP from the
same app. The first phones in the UK with CyanogenOS installed
are theWileyfox Swift and Storm (www.wileyfox.com).
Wileyfox is a new company, whichreleased the Swift early
last year and the Storm just before Christmas. Both phones are
positioned at the cheaper end of the market but offer pretty good
performance. The big selling point, though, is the extra security
provided by CyanogenOS.
Google-free?
TheWileyfox Storm we tested comes with the Google Play app
installed, plus Chrome, Music Player and a handful of other Google
‘system apps’. System apps are tightly integrated into the OS and
are tricky toremove (more on that below) but you can at least
remove the icons from the home screen. On first boot it pops up
tworegistration screens, for Cyanogen and Google.We registered
with the former and not the latter.
If you aren’t going to use Google Play, then you are going to
need a different app store. The first place to look is Fdroid (f-droid.
org) which hosts free, open-source aps for Android. The Fdroid
app, similar to any other app store, is downloadable from the
web page. On our test phone ‘Install from other sources’ was
already enabled, and clicking on the download notification ran
the installation. On some phones you might have to enable ‘other
sources’ in the settings menu.
If you’re determined toremove all traces of Google, then ‘/system/
app mover’ from Fdroid allows you to convert system apps to user
apps, which can then beremoved. The phone needs to berooted
and have BusyBox (a terminal emulator) installed. Some system
apps may be so tightly enmeshed with the operating system that
removing them will prevent the phone working. Presumably this is
why Cyanogen left them in. REMOVE SYSTEM APPSATYOUR PERIL.
Much safer to delete the icons and just forget the app is there.
OtherSources
Fdroid is the geek’s choice and offers a lot of apps to do things many
users would never think about, but it doesn’t host many mainstream
apps for the simplereason that their developers haven’treleased
them as open source. Android apps are packaged as .apk files and
a few moments on your preferred search engine willreveal dozens
of sites hosting .apk files, but not all of them are trustworthy. Before
downloading any app, try searching for warnings about it and for
the site you’re using. CyanogenOS is better than Google’s Android at
telling you what an app is going to do to your device, which files it
might access, which data it shares with whom and which networks it
connects to. But that isn’t a guarantee.Some we have used without problems are:
GetJar(www.getjar.com), which is often installed on cheap
imported phones. Advertising can be intrusive.
Aptoide(www.aptoide.com) is an open-source installer, but the
apps it hosts are not necessarily FOSS. Fdroid is actually a fork of
Aptoid using the same code base but only hosting FOSS.
Amazon(www.amazon.co.uk) hosts its own shopping app,
and with that installed you can also access Amazon Underground
and download music and videos. Whether Amazon is any more
desirable than Google is another matter.PackYourOwn
If you already have another Android device with useful apps on it,
then before you ditch it, install APK Extractor from Google Play or
Aptoide and use that to make .apk files of your favourite apps. The
files are stored on the SD card and can then be transferred to the
new device and installed.Wetested it with theGuardianapp, and it
pops up a message claiming that it won’t run unless Google Play is
updated. Ignore the message, though, and it works okay.
Before you go to a lot of trouble, check if youreally need
an app; many company sites these days automatically adapt to
mobile browsers and work very well. A few provide their own app
download site, though most just link to Google Play.mmMusic
It’s easy to give Google Play a swerve when looking
for music. For streaming, Spotify and Napster are
pretty unbeatable, and both their apps are available
from Aptoide. For downloads, try Amazon (see
above) or 7 Digital (www.7digital.com).Tesco (www.
tescoentertainment.com) has an uninspiring selection,
but you do get Clubcard points if that’s your thing.
Emusic (www.emusic.com) makes a point of being
staffed by people that like music, so it has a better
selection of esoteric tracks than most sites.