yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Software Development] alphabet257:
adb shell pm dump com.google.android.as:

Package [com.google.android.as] (ce7c3f8):
codePath=/product/priv-app/DevicePersonalizationPrebuiltPixel2022

LineageOS repo android_device_google_lynx/proprietary-files.txt:

# All blobs are extracted from Google factory images for each new ASB

# product partition

# AiAi
product/priv-app/DeviceIntelligenceNetworkPrebuilt/DeviceIntelligenceNetworkPrebuilt.apk;PRESIGNED
product/priv-app/DevicePersonalizationPrebuiltPixel2022/DevicePersonalizationPrebuiltPixel2022.apk;PRESIGNED

So indeed seems like this is Pixel 7-specific blob from Google included in LineageOS (this blob is also mentioned in proprietary-files.txt for regular Pixel 7 and 7 Pro).

@kurtn thanks for mentioning DivestOS. I'd hate to switch ROMs again now that this is running smoothly. On the other hand, the whole point of this exercise for me is to have a de-Googled Android phone. Since this System Intelligence app grabs pretty much all permissions on a whim (contacts, call log, location, camera, mic, phone, music, sms, photos, nearby devices), I'm not entirely convinced I have a de-Googled phone atm..
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
@kurtn Does DivestOS strip out this blob and other blobs fro Google from the vendor blobs before building?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
It seems that the DeviceIntelligenceNetwork and DevicePersonalization prebuilts are included in the vendor blobs of pretty much all Google Pixel devices: see https://github.com/search?q=org:TheMuppets DeviceIntelligence&type=code

This too suggests to me that this app is intended to allow devices runnign the app to be queried over the network by Google's Gemini AI engine.

In terms of de-googling, microG and others have done a lot in terms of preventing devices sending / uploading information to Google's servers. But it seems there is going to be a lot of work to do to to prevent Google pulling / downloading information from devcies
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
DivestOS is well documented. Sadly they lack money,
[Android Software Development] alphabet257:
$ adb shell pm list packages | cut -f2 -d':' | xargs -n1 adb shell pm dump | grep -B1 'path:.*Prebuilt'

[com.google.android.as]
path: /product/priv-app/DevicePersonalizationPrebuiltPixel2022/DevicePersonalizationPrebuiltPixel2022.apk
--
[com.google.android.as.oss]
path: /product/priv-app/DeviceIntelligenceNetworkPrebuilt/DeviceIntelligenceNetworkPrebuilt.apk

It seems on my device only those two apps originate from these blobs. For the time being I decided to

1. disallow all permissions for com.google.android.as

2. disable network access for com.google.android.as.oss (it hasn't requested any permissions)

com.google.android.as cannot be disallowed network access for some reason, the options are greyed out (but the toggle is set to enabled). So far it hasn't used any data apparently.

I don't know if this is a real solution. DivestOS doesn't currently seem to have a build for Pixel 7a though.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
IodéOS does, and it has a blocker app which is very granular

Release iodéOS 4.x for Google Pixel 7a · iodeOS/ota

Files for lynx.

github.com
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
If you are running an official 18.1 build then in the next day or two you are likely to see (or may already have seen) a new update in the Updater app . This is nothing urgent: we have started another build run for the 18.1 devices to test some changes we have made to manage disk space better on the download server. You can choose to install the update, or wait for the next regular monthly update in mid to late February.
[Android Software Development] humpty321:
You could disable them and see if this causes any adverse effects.

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.settings.intelligence

or, if you have root, use Watt to disable them.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
I have built an unofficial LineageOS for microG ROM, for Sony Xperia XZ1 (poplar). It uses the latest sources from the code from the LineageOS 20.0 UNOFFICIAL ROM, developed by @derf elot, @modpunk, @Rooted_Ansh and hosted in the Whatawurst hithub repos

The build is is available on sourceforge:

lineage-20.0-20240122-4microg-UNOFFICIAL-poplar.zip

It can be installed as normal using the TWRP built for this device: https://sourceforge.net/projects/yoshino/files/poplar/twrp/

Thanks to the developers credited in the first post.

Any / all feedback welcome here, or in the Unofficial ROM thread

Note this ROM is not tested, as I don't own one of these devices: use at your own risk
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
https://review.lineageos.org/c/LineageOS/hudson/+/381089
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
I need to remember that the default branch, and the branch to monitor is main not master :)

https://github.com/LineageOS/hudson/commits/main/lineage-experimental-targets
[Android Software Development] Jazzda:
Build server stuck again?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Apparently. Looks like something died during the build of `heart`.

Build restarted from there
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Testing the changes needed to the `lineageos4microg/docker-lineage-cicd/` docker engine for building `lineage-21`. If I build with `-e "SIGN_BUILDS=true"`

I see the following error:

ERROR: /srv/src/LINEAGE_21_0/out/bazel/output/external/soong_injection/product_config_platforms/products/lineage_sunfish-userdebug/BUILD:9:16: no such package 'user-keys': BUILD file not found in any of the following directories. Add a BUILD file to a directory to mark it as a package.
- /srv/src/LINEAGE_21_0/out/soong/workspace/user-keys and referenced by '@soong_injection//product_config_platforms/products/lineage_sunfish-userdebug:lineage_sunfish-userdebug_product_vars'

(More context at https://pastebin.com/nK4iM0sK)

If I build with `-e "SIGN_BUILDS=false"`, everything seems fine.

Any ideas how to fix
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Created a BUILD in user-keys, now I see

ERROR: /srv/src/LINEAGE_21_0/out/bazel/output/external/soong_injection/product_config_platforms/products/lineage_sunfish-userdebug/BUILD:9:16: no such target '//user-keys:android_certificate_directory': target 'android_certificate_directory' not declared in package 'user-keys' defined by /srv/src/LINEAGE_21_0/out/soong/workspace/user-keys/BUILD

Any ideas *which* directory I should specify for `android_certificate_directory`?

EDIT:

Fixed in this commit based on code from here (thanks @steadfasterX )
[Android Software Development] david003:
Did the February build for "sweet" fail?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Not yet! ;)

The build is still in progess
[Android Software Development] david003:
Sorry, jumped the gun.
[Android Software Development] Narada2XK:
Hi everyone, is the possibility of making slimmer repository sync if you create and use an xml file? I don't need Samsung or several other hardware vendors, if I just need OnePlus, for example.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Sorry - I don't understand the question.

What 'syncs` are you referring to?
[Android Software Development] enodo:
I have a new (refurbished) Google Pixel 6a, and I want to install LOSFMG on it. Unfortunately, it has Android 14 on it, LOSFMG is only currently on Lineage 20. Does anyone know if I will run in to a problem if I just install LOSFMG 20 on it? Or, failing that, does anyone know when Lineage 21 will show up as a download?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
I don't know whether there would be a problem installing los4microg 20 over stock Android 14. If it were me, I'd give it a try. If it doesn't work, you can always install official LineageOS 21 (from here) with GApps installed (as described here) until los4microg 21 is available.

We should be making los4microg 21 builds in the next build run which should start at Friday Mar 1 00:00:01 UTC. If all goes well, the build for bluefin should be available some time in the morning of Sunday Mar 3.However, as that will be the first time we make los4microg 21 builds, it is possible there may be problems with the build run, so no guarantees ;)
[Android Software Development] 2faraway2:
@petefoth:

Did you get a fix for the issue in the build pipeline for rel 21 (proper directory for the certificates) ? Honestly I can't help, but I'm very interested in .. ;)
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Yes - mentioned in an edited post above:
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Builds for devices which are no longer supported by LineageOS.​

We have a number of old builds available on the build server, for devices which are no longer supported by LineageOS. Of these, one build per device - the most recent - has been copied to a new `archive` directory on the download server . The intention in future is that a month or so after LineageOS drop support for a device, the most recent los4microg build will be moved to the archive directory. The delay is to allow time for users to get the final build via OTA.

The devices for which builds are now available in `archive` are Spacewar, X00P, X01AD, X01BD, YTX703F, YTX703L, caprip, d800, d801, d802, d803, d850, d851, d852, d855, f400, jasmine_sprout, jason, kugo, kuntao, lavender, lithium, ls990, m20lte, monet, obiwan, platina, scorpio, suzu, twolip, vs985, wayne, whyred
[Android Software Development] enodo:
Thanks petefoth for the reply. What I am afraid of is that the LOS instructions make it sound like something bad could go wrong, and I don't want to brick the phone, or even have to spend hours fighting with repairing things. I might install LOS 21 (without Gapps) if I get sick of waiting, but I think that early March will be good enough.

I am a bit confused about why it matters what the old OS was. As I understand it, when I am installing LOS I am overwriting the various partitions on the phone, and so what is going to remain from the old OS?
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
LineageOS overwrtes some partitions. But not all partitions on all devices. So there can be incompatibilities. Especially with baseband or bootloader.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
The February build run is all complete. There was one device, `zl1` that failed to build

FAILED: ninja: 'device/leeco/zl1/manifest.xml', needed by 'out/target/product/zl1/gen/ETC/vendor_manifest.xml_intermediates/manifest.xml', missing and no known rule to make it
08:27:06 ninja failed with: exit status 1

The 'missing' file was removed 2 weeks ago in the LOS repo in this commit two days after the most recent official LOS build.

With luck LOS will fix that before the March build run.

If all goes well, the March build run will include the first 21.0 builds :)
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
Looks like we soon can stop the Lineage4microG project:

review.lineageos.org/q/topic:"microg-eval"
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
I don't think so.

That only addresses the signature spoofing patches. And the LOS FAQs still say

So I would be very surprised if those patches get accepted.

Even if they are accepted, there's a bit more to lineageos4microG than that

- built-in MicroG, FakeStore, and location backends

- built-in F-Droid and privileged extension, FakeStore, location backends

- a CI/CD docker image to allow easy building for any device

- relatively non-toxic project support in this thread and our issue tracker
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
https://review.lineageos.org/c/LineageOS/lineage_wiki/+/383751
[Android Software Development] Regina Rainbow:
:eek:

Will 🐖🐖🐖 actually fly in the end?!

But jokes aside, I'm with @petefoth on this. Lineage4microg holds it's own value. I hope it continues, even if the patches get accepted in upstream lineage.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Fair play - I'm surprised - pleasantly 🙂 Looks like a genuine change of heart which is good.

I still think there is a place for LineageOS for microG, as a LIneage-based ROM with microG and its helpers built-in and ready to use. I'm guessing there's not a change in Gerrit saying 'Ship microG & F-droid with with LIneageOS'. If that happens, then I may be out of a job 😉

The proposed changes mean I won't have to maintain our signature spoofing patches muhc longer.

Serious question: (I don't know Gerrit) how can I find out when the patches to support signature spoofing are merged into the main branches?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
The patches are all in the frameworks/base code, so I am now watching the LOS android_frameworks_base github repo, so I should get to here about these changes being merged.

I may keep the patches anyway: they would be needed if users of our docker build engine wish to include apps other than microG which do signature spoofing. From a brief look at the proposed changes, I think that the upstream changes and our patches can coexist, but I'll need to do some testing.
[Android Software Development] ToughDBlue:
Appreciate all the hard work everyone on this project does. I go back and forth on my phone between LineageOS for microG and /e/ OS. I really like that LineageOS for microG has the new Aperture camera app and can be personalized with a selection of color styles unlike /e/ OS. My question is how secure and degoogled is LineageOS for microG compared to /e/ OS? Does LineageOS for microG use google DNS and other ways to ping google servers? /e/ OS removes most of the calls to google so that it's more secure.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
'Secure' and 'de-googled' are two separate questions.

Security

Neither /e/OS nor los4microg are targeted at users with strong security needs. As /e/ say here (which applies equally to los4microg)

If you are primarily concerned about security, then you should be looking at other phone ROMs designed with security as their main focus.

Both /e/OS and los4microg ship security updates for much longer than device manufacturers. In this respect, los4microg is slightly 'better' than /e/OS in that there is usually a bit more delay with /e/OS in delivering the latest patches. And because /e/ use forked versions of some apps, any security updates made in the upstream apps will take longer to appear in /e/OS than in the apps.

But essentially there is not much to choose between the two in terms of security: for a 'general purpose' phone OS they are pretty good in terms of security, and significantly better than out-of-date stock software.

Privacy and de-Googling

Again, both OSs are pretty good in terms of privacy. They both include microG to allow users to use apps that rely on Google's libraries and APIs, without sending large amounts of personally-identifiable data to Google. A paper was released - and discussed at length - in the last year ago, which purported to show that LineageOS (not los4microg) sends considerably more data to Google thane /e/OS. In fact that study was comparing phones /e/OS with phones running LineageOS with GApps installed (i.e. with all the Google libraries and APIs that, in los4microG and /e/OS, a replaced by microg.

The main difference between the two, is in some anonymous calls to Googles passive servers. /e/ have either removed these calls, or replaced them with calls to other server. The calls that I know of are

Connectivity check

NTP servers

A-GPS and SUPL servers

Default DNS server

As stated, these calls are generally anonymous, though some contain details like device IMEI. It is possible that Google may store information from these calls, but I have never seen any credible evidence that they actually do so.

So, in my view there is not a lot to choose between the two OSs as shipped, in terms of privacy. They are both significantly better than using stock software, or 'normal' LineageOS with Gapps.
[Android Software Development] borisSweden:
I wonder about the change of heart. LOS has strict rules compared to CyanogenMod which was YOLO FAFO , it impossible to ask stuff like porting stuff to LOS, adding volunteering options to all devices, MAJOR Linux kernels.

My guess is Google anti-AOSP app rules, with every year AOSP apps get closed sourced for GApps. Or SafetyNet being redundant so they are adding signature spoofing.
[Android Software Development] ToughDBlue:
Thank you @petefoth for the detailed reply. I see what you're saying regarding the difference between security and privacy. I would like to de-google as much as possible, so my concern is LineageOS for microG still calling out to google servers using their DNS servers, NTP servers, connectivity check, etc. Especially considering those containing device IMEI. Is there a way to change that for LineageOS for microG without rooting?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
My personal view is that those calls do not pose any real threat to your privacy. The developers of e.g. /e/OS (and maybe other custom ROMs) think differently, which is why they make they effort to remove, replace or redirect those calls.

Not that I know of. And I don't know enough about rooting to know whether or not it would be possible even with a rooted phone running LineageOS for microG.

If those calls are a deal-breaker for you, then I suggest you try to find a different custom ROM for your device which has removed or redirected those calls. The /e/ Community Forums would be a good place to start.
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
Why then microG? It connects to Google aswell for most features.
[Android Software Development] ToughDBlue:
I see LineageOS will be allowing signature spoofing now according to https://review.lineageos.org/c/LineageOS/android_frameworks_base/+/383573.

This however doesn't mean LineageOS will include microG does it? If not, what does this mean to allow signature spoofing but not include microG?
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
You can install microG as user app or make it a system app by flashing minmicrog or unofficial installer. Advantage of system app is support for legacy location provider.
[Android Software Development] ToughDBlue:
What then would be the differences between having LineageOS for microG compared to LineageOS and installing microG myself? Also, what is the advantage of having support for legacy location provider if I have a newer version of Android?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
No. microG is not - and will not be - installed in LIneageOS builds.

It mean that if you want to install microG, you might be able to do so without having to patch your boot images or other hacks. I say 'might' because, as of now the changes have been code reviewed and merged int the LineageOS sources but

They have not yet been included in any publicly available builds of LineageOS

They have not yet been tested. Or of they have been tested, the results of any tests are not obvioiusly available.

For this reason, LineageOS for microG builds will continue to be made using our own signature spoofing patches (alongside the LineageOS changes, which do not affect the same files as our patches), at least until it is clear that our patches are no longer necessary. Signature spoofing is at the core of what our builds do, so we will not be relying solely on untested code to achieve that for us.

One difference is that LineageOS for microG comes with F-Droid pre-installed.
[Android Software Development] fumbles22:
Hello,

I installed the LineageOS for microG ROM this morning (petefoth posted it in the XZ Premium thread). It works really well - calls, texts, and installing apps all work without issue.

I have noticed a few strange things though:

1). The ebay app (and also signing in to ebay through Brave browser) do not work. This is the same as the LineageOS+MicroG that I installed on my Dad's XZ1.

Does this mean that the ebay app contains some kind of spyware that MicroG is blocking?

2). "Swipe typing" does not work on the AOSP keyboard.

I'm not too bothered about this if it removes some spyware. However, is there an "open source" way to get this working again?

3). Aurora store wants me to update Google Play Services:

I did some googling and found that this is because of signature spoofing - Aurora store thinks that I have a different version of Google Play Services and they want me to download the new one.

Do I just blacklist this update?

Overall, i'm happy with the ROM. I wanted to completely de-google for some time now, and this ROM makes it really easy.
[Android Software Development] kurtn:
1 i don't know. Maybe you need google account ot google cloud messaging?

2 There are swipe libraries. Those work offline. You can install alternative https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard

3 Yes. Blacklist.
[Android Software Development] fumbles22:
Thanks for the reply. I think i'll leave the glide typing feature disabled for now. Heliboard says that it's a closed source library.

Typing with the keys isn't that difficult anyway.

Thanks for all of the great work with this ROM. One of the big things i've noticed is the better battery life.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
The Ebay app works fine for me, and always has done for a couple of years, since I figured out the following:

1. You need to enable 'Google device registration', 'Cloud Messaging' and maybe 'Google SafetyNet' in Settings |" System | microG Settings

2. After doing that, you may need to clear storage for the Ebay app, or even uninstall & re-install

I haven't tried to log-in to Ebay with a browser,since I got the app to work. I hope that helps
[Android Software Development] fumbles22:
Thanks Petefoth.

After reading your message, I don't think i'll access ebay on my phone. I want to disconnect myself from google as much as possible.

I reinstalled the XZ Premium ROM this morning using the correct TWRP file. I didn't realise that TWRP version 3.6 posted on these forums was newer than TWRP version 3.7 from the TWRP website. It's pretty weird nomenclature if you ask me.

Also, how does MicroG recognise my other phones?

I reinstalled this ROM this morning, and I haven't signed in using google. I've only signed in to Telegram, Whatsapp and session.
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
When you first flashed the ROM, did you do a factory reset, or wipe, or format your data partition? That screen looks like something you migh see if you 'dirty flashed' (i.e. flash without wiping / formatting data) over a system with GApps installed.

That leaves some of the Google apps in place. and might leave you signed in to your Google account, which would be one way that the phone could know about your profile.

You really must do at least a factory reset, and preferably format data when flashing over a system with GApps installed. MicroG and GApps cannot coexist, and having both present on the device will cause unpredictable bad things to happen :)
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
Lots of problems withe the March build run, mostly caused by my incompetence 😥

I've cleaned everything up, and started from scratch.
[Android Software Development] hollol:
Looking at the latest LineageOS change logs I stumbled across this (more or less for all phone models and for LOS18 to LOS21):

Allow signature spoofing for microG Companion/Services

https://review.lineageos.org/c/LineageOS/android_frameworks_base/+/383573

Do I actually see this right, that LOS is now officially supporting MicroG and I don't have to use the "LineageOS for MicroG" fork anymore in the future?
[Android Software Development] petefoth:
They are 'supporting' it, in that they now allow signature spoofing, so that the MicroG components can work. But they do not include MicroG in their builds.

That depends. If you are happy to install MicroG and all of its components for yourself, then you don't need LineageOS for MicroG. But of you want a ROM with MicroG 'built-in', then that is what LineageOS for MicroG provides.

Please see this post for more details

BTW LineageOS for MicroG is not a 'fork' of Lineage OS (or anything else). It is a custom ROM, based on Lineage OS, including LineageOS (now unmodifed) plus MicroG etc.