Confusion about installing apps

Using /e/OS User Queries
1

I am new to /e/ , just installed it a little while ago, and have a few questions:

Is there an established “app store” for /e /, or is there a recommended app store that works well with it and honors the principles behind /e /?

I installed APK Pure. So far I have done nothing with it. But, strangely it recommends an update to the Google Play Store. From reading about /e /, I thought that all Google “stuff” was stripped out of /e /. So, why would APK Pure suggest that I update something that isn’t there? I am confused.

Last question: In English, how does one correctly pronounce /e /? Is it simply the same way the letter “e” is pronounced in English? Do the slashes add anything to the pronounciation?

Thanks in advance for any help.

2

@dln949 to answer your questions

  1. At present /e/ does not have an app store in the ROM. It is under development and testing phase. Expect it to be released soon.
  2. You can also use FDroid app store for now. The update google message would be coming from APK Pure. As it is not a part of the /e/ ROM it can be expected to behave differently i.e. not in line with the /e/ idea of de-googling.
  3. The name /e/ is a temporary place holder and can be pronounced any way you like :slight_smile: The actual name for the OS would be announced soon.
3

Yalp also informs me of an available update for Google Play Store.

Indeed, @dln949 how could we update an app that we don’t have…

4

In the telegram support channel it was mentioned, that microg and google play services have the same package name (com.google.android.gms). That is the reason why this alleged update is available.

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5

Ok, so here is a followup question:

If APK Pure, and Yalp - and maybe others - propose updates to apps we don’t have (in this case, Google Play Store); and, they propose updates for Google products when we are using /e/ precisely to avoid Google products, how can I know which proposed updates from APK Pure, Yalp, etc, I can trust? I do not have great knowledge about the android system, so if APK Pure, Yalp, etc., propose an update to a “system” type app, I will not know whether or not I should accept that update.

What strategy should I follow? Until /e/'s own app store is operational, is it safe for me to rely on F-Droid only?

6

“In the telegram support channel it was mentioned, that microg and google play services have the same package name (com.google.android.gms). That is the reason why this alleged update is available.”

If that is the case, then how do I know if APK Pure is proposing an update to me for Google Play Store, or for MicroG? (It says the update is for “Google Play Store”.)

Also - How would I get updates for MicroG? How will I know updates for MicroG are available?

7

I’d guess you’ll get microG updates with /e/ updates. If you want to do it manually you can enable the microG repository for F-Droid and flash the F-Droid privileged extension so FD can update system apps.

8

Let /e/ handle updates for system apps. And use the appstores to update your manually installed apps.

That is correct.

This procedure however is not recommended, since /e/ tries to make their system-apps work together. Manually updating system apps can interfere with that (you will lose the adjustments made by the /e/-devs).

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9

You will not be able to install these updates like Google Play even if you tried, for numerous reasons including the fact that the signing key for any apps downloaded from any app store will be different than the key used to package the /e/ system. You can’t install an update to an app using an APK with a different key. So there’s really not much chance of you messing up /e/ even if you tried.
In Yalp you can mark these apps to be ignored. Go into the app description in Yalp, click on the button with 3 dots and select “Ignore Updates”. Then they will no longer show up in your update list.

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