I appreciate the screenshots provided. Could it be due to version 0.19? I have not installed any google apps but could a non-google app installed these mysterious google assistant system apps? I have Microsoft apps installed but I don’t see why a Microsoft app would install a google assistant system app. Can someone with /e/ r 0.19 confirm if they have the google assistant system apps? @Manoj can you add your thoughts on this?
Interesting your g-assistant apps look different than mine. Here is what mine looks like. I’m curious if those are present on a fresh install of /e/ 0.19-r. If an /e/ support person does not reply I may do a restore on my phone to verify. Again, is a third party app installing those or does 0.19-r have it already installed?
I did fresh install, but still it’s there.
let me freshly install the os again, and then will reply
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The plot thickens. I checked my phone’s folders and files from my PC and found a “com.google.android.gms” folder in the Android\data folder. I also did a Seedvault Backup and checked the “.SeedVaultAndroidBackup” folder and found there is a “com.google.android” GMS file. So it’s likely that GMS file is hidden in my phone’s Android\data\com.google.android.gms folder.
@safikul It will be interesting to see what you find when you do the fresh install of /e/.
all /e/ devices have microG implemented in system apps to tell to mainstream apps that gogol services are installed even it is not the truth.
microG need this fake GMS package
Can we get /e/ support to confirm that these two apps and GMS file are fake and not real? I’m concerned because of all the possible google files that microG fakes these are the only ones that have the actual google name in them. Therefore are they really fake? As mentioned by others /e/ q and r-.018 do not have these google files. Why does /e/ r-0.19 have them? MicroG is able to fake all the google files without having to actually use google in the file and folder names.
they probably are real, only microG package is a fake GMS
no just mainsteam apps that need to be rassured
don’t think so, it is probably not due to e-0.19-r, but to your device model portage to lineageOS (they don’t care about gogol)
but yes, e-team have to check that, someone must open an issue on Gitlab for that !
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Pl open an issue in gitlab sharing the details of the device on which it was noticed. We had a similar issue raised on a Samsung s8 dreamlte. The person raising the issue marked it as confidential, so it might not be accessible to other users. This issue seems to be device specific and was closed for the s8. The developers had mentioned that these are proprietary files extracted from the original ROM just like other vendor specific files and is device specific and will not show up on other devices. All the same, you can raise an issue and share device details so that the developers can check if it can be removed from the OnePlus 7T
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I had a look on my Essential PH_1 (mata) to find I have three google system apps.
The os version is 0.19-r-20211030143465-dev-mata, which is a test build from the last R testing cycle.
EDIT: I also find same apps under e OS-q on the same device.
I have a POCO f1, been using Linage OS until I found those google assistant packages in apps/system. Tried everything to get rid of them. So tried a ported version of CalyxOS, they were still there…!
Now I have E Foundation (very nice rom guys), and they are still there…!! Have tried every wipe I could using TRWP, they will not go away. If I ‘force stop’ they reactivate after a while, they are like a virus.
I did find one suggestion online that stated that only a full partition format using fastboot would clean the system, looked too much like neurosurgery to me, did not want to risk it…
Anything that someone can come up with I will try, if I cant have a de-googled phone, I will go without a phone…
Which /e/ and Android version have you installed? (Details in Settings | System Updates)
My mata is mostly used for testing at the moment and I’m interested to try and get rid of these google apps, so in fastboot I erased system on both slots then reinstalled e with complete wipe in e-recovery first. No difference, the apps are still there.
Uninstalling the apps with adb is possible but they are not removed off the phone this way and can be easily reinstated later. Not a solution and the problem does seem to be device specific, as suggested above.
Hi Petefoth
Version I am using is e-0.18-r-20210831132813-dev-beryllium
Really happy with it, like LinageOS but has some very nice extras.
Hey Chrisrg…
Did you do a wipe or format in fastboot? Saw a list of partitions that are supposed to be formatted, was not certain my poco f1 had the same partitions so did not want to chance it…
After several more hours trying everything in twrp, the files are still there so am now willing to try formatting, if I can find that link again… Failing that, got a big hammer…
Just found this;
https://pastebin.com/bf9Hh4RH
3rd and 4th line down.
When I look at the google assistant apps, the first one shows at the bottom of the screen under ‘advanced’;
Version 11
com.android.hotwordenrollment.okgoogle
The second one shows;
Version 11
com.android.hotwordenrollment.xgoogle
Not 100% sure how to use those lines, but they look to be adb commands… Any idea anyone?
Just a wipe.
That is the package name of the app. The text in front of the package name is the command to uninstall; but slightly different to what I use because it has the additional -k argument (if that’s the right term) which is for ‘keep the data and cache directories’.
See here for more info:
For more info on adb commands enter adb help in terminal on linux ubuntu (in my case).
Thanks chrisrg…
Tried that, with the -k, and without… Always the same result, the apps are still there, although now it says;
‘not installed for this user’
but they are still there, and the network access and battery usage is switched back on again for both apps after a reboot.
Still not found a solution… Have removed viruses from systems more easily than these…!
Am also using linux ubuntu terminal…
but they are still there,
This would be expected for this deep running app (which I agree should surely not be there). Just to explain what you are seeing, the command
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.android.hotwordenrollment.okgoogle
does only uninstall for --user 0 (that is you!).
It is still there and it is not a root uninstall. So the system can can on using it, (while you cannot!)
On my Android 11 device (not /e/), those Google Assistant apps are located in the /product partition.
“OK Google enrollment”, “T Google enrollment”, and “X Google enrollment” are present on my Essential PH1 mata running /e/OS 0.11 Pie. Located under /system.
No trackers and data usage is 0.
My FireHound Oreo (LOS-based) has the same three. The Nougat ROMs do not.
I wonder if these files are largely inert or non-functioning without Google Play Services, et al.
I don’t know.
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And no battery usage either. So nothing to be concerned about but still it would be better if they weren’t on the device at all.
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