[Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+ Cross Device Development] heintosz:
In reply to @woohoopd, @Handeman707, @xmanz, @LiNe1771 and everyone else who might be interested.

My goal was to de-googled my phone. First i tried LineageOS with MicroG and other Lineage based ROMs but they gave me trouble (wifi dropping, bad call and speaker quality). So i thought: why not take an aweseme Samsung based ROM, keep the features that i like (e.g. camera, edge lighting) and de-google it.

So first of all a big thank you to @AlexisXDA for this amazing ROM. Even though i took the Google part out of it, this ROM is a blast and i love it! Thank you!

Here's the procedure i followed. I'm going to summarize the steps below. But please follow the Link and read the whole post. Also read his Reddit post which is even more detailed. All necessary links are included there as well. All credits go to @Hritwik (AwkwardDifficulty on Reddit). Try at your own risk.

XDA: https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-degoogle-any-device-and-install-microg.4058743/

or his Reddit post here.

I would recommend to download all files that are needed beforehand and put them on an SD card. You can adb push or install or sideload later but i think SD card is easier most of the times.

Installing the ROM

"Normal" ROM flashing here.

1. Enable OEM unlock and USB debugging in developer options

2. Flash TWRP 3.3.1.1 through Odin

3. Go to TWRP and format data (flash DM verity script, if you want to)

3. Reboot to TWRP and flash Alexis ROM

4. Flash Magisk

5. Reboot to System

Enable OEM unlock and USB debugging in developer options. Make sure ADB works propperly. Try installing an app with adb install. Just in case we need it later.

Also i found out that to remap the bixby button you have to install bixby. So maybe keep that during the installation of this ROM.

De-Google Part 1

Install an alternative App Store like Aurora or F-Droid and install an alternative file manager app. I forgot this and had to adb install it later. After that:

1. Reboot to TWRP -> file manager and remove all Google apks in system/priv-apps/. See the Reddit post for the specific apps.

2. If you are not sure, keep it for now. You can de-google the rest later.

3. Reboot the device, ignore all warnings or notifications that might pop up.

Installing Smali Patcher to get Signature Spoofing

Follow the instructions here:

https://xdaforums.com/t/module-smali-patcher-7-2.3680053/

This took me a while. ADB didn't work correctly. Then the Download failed. But after about 5-6 tries it worked and the necessary files where created. I put the file on the SD card, rebooted to TWRP and flashed. Everything worked. Reboot to system and activate the module in Magisk.

Installing MicroG

Again, following the steps in the Reddit post, after Smali Patcher was successfully installed, i went back to TWRP and flashed the MicroG package.

(Just a sidenote: at first the download from Github took forever and failed twice. Then i figured out that if you use a VPN in the USA, Github download will be done in seconds. Crazy but it worked.)

Reboot to system and go into MicroG Settings. Follow the instructions on the Reddit post.

Congratulations! Now you have a working Samsung ROM without Google.

De-Google Part 2 (also de-bloat if you like)

So, if you still have some apps installed that you don't need you can go ahead and further debloat your device.

I deleted some apps in system/priv-apps. But here's an overview of what you can delete. Please be cautious. This has nothing to do with our ROM, i just took is as a guide on what can be deleted.

https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-stock...e-encryption-g-pay-s-health-wearable.3961024/

What works and what doesn't

So maybe the most important questions are what still works after de-googling your phone. Well you can go and google (oh the irony...) MicroG and see its limitations. These are just my personal impessions.

Working:

- All the usual like phone, calendar, camera, sound, bluetooth, wifi, fingerprint, etc.

- Aurora Store is a good Play Store replacement and basically all apps that i use work perfectly (i guess there are problems with Uber and Snapchat or whatever but i don't use them anyway)

- My banking apps and Paypal work

- Youtube Vanced works

- VPN works

Not working:

- Google Pay (also Samsung Pay i guess)

- Bixby button remap (because i uninstalled it during ROM installation)

I guess updating the ROM won't work either because it will reinstall all Google apps and services. Maybe i will try the next update and see what happens. But the ROM works perfect so far, so no real reason to update right now.

So i hope this was somewhat helpful. If you need tips on alternative apps after de-googling, just let me know. But that might be a topic for a different thread.