18 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
18 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
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## How to bypass GooglePlay Store and use your messenger of choice
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Without a minimal google installation package (like GApps) it is no more possible to use the GooglePlay Store. This doesn't mean that you can't use its popular apps.\
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One of the most important apps for most of the users is the messenger of choice. We proposed the Open-Source based **F-Droid App Store**, but unfortunately there you can only directly download the **Telegram** messenger, although Signal is also FOSS (Free and open-source software) it is not yet available ([more information][signal]) in the F-Droid store.
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But there are many workarounds, e.g. if you want to use **Signal** you can just download the apk [here][signalapk] (either install it directly on the smartphone or through your computer). Even if you still want to use WhatsApp you can go to the official WhatsApp [page][whatsapp] and the same will work there. The only disadvantage is that the backup functionality won't work because it's based on GoogleDrive.
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Another easy way to install apps like Signal, Threema, DeltaChat and almost **any other app** from GooglePlay Store is to use the **Aurora App Store**. The Aurora Store is available in the F-Droid Store and you can easily download APKs from the PlayStore without a GooglePlay account, but nevertheless supports important security updates. Furthermore, Aurora gives you information about in-app trackers and many more.
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Before you ungoogle your smartphone, it might be a good idea to backup your chats from your phone. Therefore you just have to store a backup file on your computer and after the installation you can copy this backup file back to your phone and restore your chats.
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[signalapk]: https://signal.org/android/apk/
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[whatsapp]: https://www.whatsapp.com/download/
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[signal]: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/281#issuecomment-21762482
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