You can remove it if you disable "Google Play Services" in Settings -> Apps. Of course if you do then can't use the android store or most apps.
I use the alternative fdroid repository and it works fine.
F-Droid doesn't have Signal, Whatsapp, Firefox and VLC. No one can seriously expect a normal user to do without Google Play Services (I checked F-Droid every week to, one day, hopefully, turn Google Play Service off. Forever).
So 99.9% of Android users are forced to feed Google with all their location data. And the .1% who resists have very little influence on the surveillance state. That's infuriating.
Not sure about the other 3, but I use firefox just fine on my phone without google play services. I use aptoide as my appstore in the absence of google play, and while it does have stuff in there that don't work without GPS anyway (Uber, for instance), it's been a decent replacement for me for quite a while, containing most of the stuff that f-droid doesn't have (because they're not open source) without forcing me to taint my phone with google's crap.
No argument on your 2nd point though, it's the unfortunate truth. Which is why it infuriates me a bit when the technical .1% who could actually do it the other way still don't bother and just follow the herd. I know not every hill is worth dying on, but still.
You can sideload signal and it works without google cloud messaging. I use signal every day. It works fine.
> Firefox
You can sideload Firefox or use Fennec from fdroid, a firefox rebuild without proprietary software.
Yep that probably won't work. Most proprietary android applications use google play framework. This will only get worse. "Android" is less and less free with every release. Google keeps adding functionality to the proprietary libraries on top of the free base.
> VLC
It used to be in fdroid but is a nightmare to build so it was removed.
> No one can seriously expect a normal user to do without Google Play Services
Probably. I was just sharing my personal experience.
> very little influence on the surveillance state
Ha! Most HN readers are enthusiastically building the surveillance state.
Whatsapp distribute the apk directly from their site if you want it, and have done for years. My MiL uses it on a 2013 Nexus7 as she doesn't want a smartphone (even though they say tablets aren't supported)
i update apps through Yalp store
only app i really lost it's Google photos, sharing photos through 1TB Flickr or WhatsApp it's not exactly ideal compared to workflow with Google photos but i @willing to pay this price for not having Google in my life
Sideloaded whatsapp works fine.
Also F-Droid has Yalp now which lets you download APKs directly from the play store without running play/play services.
But I agree that's impractical for the average user.
You're perpetuating their control over you.
Sorry to be the messenger.
Also: That’s not what “forced” means at all.