Google Play Is Worse
Running an Android without the Play Services, like I used to when I ran Lineage OS, would save battery. Google Play has so many services running in the back ground that it could actively eat at your battery at a rate that was noticeable.
However, installing Play would:
- Handle Push Notifications
- Location Services
- Play libraries, some apps needed those
- And keep your apps up to date
This was of course, also with the cost of sharing all your personal data with Google.
It was not hard to recreate a lot of these features. Projects like microG and geolocation stumblers could feel the void far more efficiently than the play services.
A few years back I decided to switch from Lineage to a Samsung phone. At that point in time, that was the only way to get the best in class camera on Android. I decided that might be worth a trade off. Admittedly, the experience has been far better than I expected it too. Though it does not come up as much as I thought it would, the lack of root access is also a major limitation.
Google Play no longer keeps applications up to date.
Even though it is such a small annoyance, it does really dig at me. One of the features that was my deciding factor for going back to using Google software and it no longer does it.
My only conflict with switching back to lineage OS is that this phone is still very useful, and has a few more years of updates scheduled. It’s hard to justify the purchase of a new device if the current one is technically working as designed.
So I guess that’s what I need to noodle around with, figuring out if this irritation is one big enough to open my wallet.
Having said that, the newer Google pixel phones have unlocked bootloaders and most of them have full Lineage OS support. Even without play services these phones have a really good Cameras. This is a possible solution.