Although the nice thing about Aurora Store is it allows you to install apps without a google account linked to your device, keeping Google Play Services signed-out.

Somewhere in the FAQ GOS advertises that Play Services can be used without signing in, but they also recommend the official Play Store (which requires signing in) and explicitly don't recommend Aurora (which doesn't).

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how you can functionally use Play Services signed-out when in order to obtain those apps in the first place, you need to sign into a Google Account for Google Play.

That's personally what I used Aurora for, plus as an easy way to export APK files.

> Google Account that isn't tied to anything else.

At the risk of being a privacy absolutist / fatalist: Google’s entire business model is surveillance. They follow you around and track your habits so you can be influenced. Given that, a Google account is always tied to something else.

GrapheneOS (the project) might recommend for or against certain things in relation to their specific objectives, but that doesn't mean all GrapheneOS users have the same objectives or need to comply with the opinions of GrapheneOS.

For instance, I use GrapheneOS because it provides better security and privacy out of the box than LineageOS, but I'm also not so paranoid that I'm going to just blindly listen to advice against using F-Droid. What I want out of my Android instance is good security defaults with no bloatware, not to stop the NSA from looking at my travel photos and what HN articles I once looked at. It's okay if my OS is great but not perfect.

So yes, I am a GrapheneOS user who is [modestly] hurt by this. Signing in with a dummy account is just another one of those things that will end up being futile in years to come when Google requires iris scans, DNA samples, and anal probes in order to get a new account. Personally, I'd prefer installing whatever software I want on whatever devices I [pretend like] I own, without telemetry or jumping through hoops.

> a Google Account that isn't tied to anything else.

Isn't that pretty much impossible? You need a phone number for verification, which effectively ties it to that phone number.

Sometimes you just can't.

For example, the banking app I have refuses to be installed from the Play Store on GrapheneOS due to "not-certified" device, but works perfectly fine when installed by Aurora.

The check seems to be purely store-based and never enforced later.

It seems wise to have at least one alternative mobile phone app store. Even if it isn't very good. If the government can tell Google to do trivial things like, for example, change the name of bodies (plural now) of water, it can turn off your app updates, trapping you on insecure versions indefinitely. This probably matters more if you live outside of the US, but if I had a plan B for an app store on my phone, I would certainly at least evaluate it.

GrapheneOS is focused on absolute security. For those of us on more privacy-oriented ROMs with MicroG, we're very happy with Aurora.

Having to have a account is absolutely a downgrade and privacy-hostile.

A Google account is a personal identifier, it is linked to your person. Therefor trying to untie it from anything else is futile.

Google states: Using a false name or incorrect information when creating a Google account is against Google's Terms of Service.

The main reason for me to use GrapheneOS would be to sever the umbilical cord to google.

I don't really see the point of using GrapheneOS instead of Stock Android if I then have to use the play store.

Doesn’t Google make it very hard to create an account tied to nothing (no phone or alt email)?

> you can sign into the Play Store with a Google Account that isn't tied to anything else.

The problem with this is that increasingly Google is insisting on having a phone number to create a Google account. Further, they are aggressively deleting old accounts that appear to be dormant.

The good old days of creating a Google account with just an email seem to be swiftly becoming a thing of the past.

...with a Google Account that isn't tied to anything else

That isn't completely possible these days. Last I checked they want an existing email address and/or a cellphone number for verification. I guess "not tied to anything else" is proportional to how much you trust them to delete either of these bits of info after they are used, and not associate them with other accounts you might have used them with in the past/future.

Yes but Aurora isn't only for GrapheneOS.

I use it on a phone with (unfortunately) regular google play services. If I sign into the play store, that same account will be used for all other google services on the phone too. I'm not going to do that. I just don't want a google account (nor an apple one for that matter)

> GrapheneOS actually recommends against using Aurora and instead just using the Play Store, so this shouldn't really hurt users.

Interesting, I never tried Aurora on Graphene. For me the combination of Play Store and F-Droid worked really well so far.

>For extra privacy, you can sign into the Play Store with a Google Account that isn't tied to anything else.

Like my personal phone?)

Installing Google Play service is in itself a privacy downgrade.

It DOES still hurt.

For example the eBay app. Does not allow installing from the play store on grapheneos.

There are apps I cannot install via the Play Store in GrapheneOS, only via Aurora store.

GrapheneOS is defending against different things I guess. My personal threat model is protecting myself from the tentacles of these behemoth tech companies. To that end, GrapheneOS approach of "just install google play" is not good enough for me. I fail to see the privacy advantages compared to e.g. MicroG".

i don't even have google play serices installed, let alone the play store...

"For extra privacy, you can sign into the Play Store with a Google Account that isn't tied to anything else."

lol. lamo, even.