Why do Google services drain your battery so quickly? We untie the smartphone from the all-seeing eye of Google Google services framework no application

Google services can be seen in the Android settings section, showing the battery status, among the active culprits of a significant decrease in battery life. Of course, there are ways to solve the problem of disappearing charge through the functioning of unused built-in services, but first you need to understand the reasons for its occurrence. To do this, it is important to understand exactly what tasks are performed Google services.

Google Account Manager: Not much information is provided to users who access information about this service. Its main purpose is data synchronization Google account, including Email and other related tools with a mobile device.


Google Services Framework: the service is responsible for managing a variety of variable communications with Google, including cloud messaging.


Google Contacts Sync: the service allows you to synchronize Android contacts with Google account contacts. You can find them after this in official mail or at "google.com/contacts". Synchronization is bidirectional, so changing the contact in mobile device or on the Internet will result in widespread amendments.


Google Backup Transport: the service is carried out backup application data on Google servers. This way, when you perform a factory reset on your mobile device, they can be restored.


Google Play Services: a package of application services that Android can use to provide full functionality to third-party software. It includes location service, which is the biggest drain on battery power. The set of services is updated over the air without necessarily updating the operating system.


The main option that can help you choose a more efficient battery usage plan is the section of services responsible for establishing location. When an application needs to set the smartphone's coordinates, it accesses Google Play services, which in turn activate the built-in GPS hardware. In order to reduce the energy consumption associated with location services, you need to go to the settings menu and find the section " Location" and switch to the mode " battery saving" Activation will prohibit " Google Play» Enable GPS on your device when apps ask for location information.

A bunch of various programs They contact Google services with exactly this request. The official search program, which includes "services", uses this information to display weather information in specific areas. Complete shutdown " Google Now» along with location determination will provide significant battery savings. To do this, you need to go to the settings of the search application and disable the Google Now service in the corresponding section.


If Google services is still draining your battery after changing your location setting, it's likely that the integrated sync tools could be the culprit. To stabilize the situation Android settings They suggest removing the check mark from the item responsible for automatic data synchronization. The system will stop synchronizing data on its own. background. After this, the user will not receive notifications about new messages in Gmail, but the battery life of the device may increase.


In any case, Google services should not be the main burden on the battery. If the problem is still observed after disabling all the above services, and third-party applications are not the obvious culprits, there may be an error in the system itself. Performing a factory reset in some cases will help get rid of difficulties with Android. It is important to correctly prioritize services, understanding what each of them is responsible for, and disabling those that remain unused on a particular device.

You can buy a powerful and inexpensive (under $150) tablet or smartphone for experimenting with the Android system in the GearBest online store. In addition to the already low prices, there are often sales and promotions with big discounts.

Probably every Android device user has encountered the annoying message “Google Play services has stopped - send a report.” This system error, which is not your fault, but you can still take a number of measures to eliminate this problem and prevent its occurrence in the future.
Regardless of the reasons for the error, you can try the following solutions one by one to resolve it.

Solution #1. Clear cache

It may be enough to clear the cache of the Google Play Services application. To do this, open the settings on your device, tap “Application Manager” and select “Google Play Services” from the list. Tap "Clear cache".

After clearing the cache, be sure to restart your device.

Solution #2. Re-add your Google account

If this doesn't help, you can delete and add your Google account again. It is known that on an Android device you do almost everything through your Google account, which you entered at the very beginning after purchasing the device. So reinstalling it might help.
So, to delete an account, go to settings and find “Accounts”. In addition to other accounts, the list will include a Google account. Tap it and you will be given the option to delete your account.

After that you need to add it again. To do this, select the “Add” option in the “Accounts” section of the settings. account" A wizard will open where you will go through the data entry steps again. After this, the problem may disappear. But there are further options for solving it.

Solution #3. Reinstall Google Play Services

We have already tried clearing the cache in the first method, so now you can try reinstalling the services. Google Play Services is basic application on Android device, which is necessary for everything else to work. Therefore, it will not be possible to completely remove it. But you can reinstall all Google Play Services updates and thus get the latest version. To do this, you just need to deactivate the Device Administrator. After deactivating the administrator, you can remove the updates and install them again.

  • To deactivate the Device Administrator, go to “Security” in the settings, tap the “Device Administrators” section and check the box. The Administrator Shutdown screen appears.

The administrator has been deactivated.

  • Now go to Application Manager, select Google Play Services. You will see the “Uninstall updates” button appear.

  • Remove them.
  • To install the updates again, try using any application. Now they won't earn money right away. First, you will be prompted to install service updates. Install them.
  • After reinstalling the updates, activate the Device Administrator again
  • Reboot your device

The error should now go away

Solution #4. Clear Google Services Framework cache

And there is another way. Google Play Services is known to depend on the Google Services Framework application. This system application is responsible for exchanging data with Google servers and ensuring that your data is synchronized with them. If there's something wrong with the Framework, then there's something wrong with Google Play Services. So let's fix it Google work Services Framework by clearing its cache.

To do this, go to the “Application Manager” and find “Google Services Framework” in it. Tap it and tap “Force Stop”. After that, tap “Clear cache”. Reboot your device.

After this, the error “Google Play services has stopped sending report” will most likely disappear.

More details about all error codes with additional solutions described If this does not help, it remains to advise turning to professionals.

Google quickly went from being a small search engine to the gigantic infrastructure whose components run on our PCs, smartphones, tablets and even TVs. Google is constantly collecting information about us, search queries are carefully logged, movements are tracked, and passwords, emails and contact information are stored for years to come. All this is an integral part of modernity, but we are quite capable of changing it.

Introduction

It's no secret that any device under Android control(at least the one certified by Google) contains not only components assembled from AOSP, but also an impressive amount of proprietary Google programs. These are the same Google Play, Gmail, Hangouts, Maps and a bunch of other applications, including a dialer and a camera (starting with KitKat).

For all these components there is not only source code, but also no explanation at all about the principles of their operation. Many of them are initially created for the purpose of collecting certain types of information and sending them to Google servers. This is, for example, how GoogleBackupTransport, which is responsible for synchronizing the list, behaves installed applications, passwords and other data, GoogleContactsSyncAdapter, which synchronizes your contact list, or ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter, whose job is to synchronize browser bookmarks. Plus collecting information about all queries in the search engine.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with the fact of synchronization, and it is an excellent mechanism that allows you to configure new phone in a matter of minutes, and Google Now even manages to give us useful information based on our data (sometimes). The only problem is that all this destroys our privacy, because, as Snowden showed, under the hood of the NSA (and, most likely, a bunch of other services) is not only some evil empire called Microsoft, but also Google, and as well as many other companies from the “we are not evil, but fluffy philanthropists” crowd.

In other words: Google will merge us all without any problems, and it’s not a fact that its employees, sitting in their offices with masseuses and dogs, are not laughing at the names from your contact book (everything is encrypted there, yes), drinking 15-year-old pu-erh from Yunnan Province. Or maybe to hell with Google? Let's take their Android and let them go through the forest?

What's happened Google Apps

The latest version of the custom KitKat-based firmware for my smartphone weighs 200 MB, however, in order to get a real experience from the smartphone, I also have to flash the gapps archive on top of it, the size of which is 170 MB. Only after this will I receive a system similar to that pre-installed on Nexus devices, with all the goodies in the form of a desktop integrated with Google Now, a screen lock based on a face shot, a camera with support for spherical shooting and a kilogram of Google software, from Google Play to Google Books.

I repeat once again: all this is closed software from Google, which in a good way cannot be distributed at all without their knowledge (that’s why it is not in custom firmware like CyanogenMod), but since it is quite easy to extract it from the firmware of Nexus devices, you can find it on the Internet a huge number of similar archives, including severely truncated ones. In order to release an Android smartphone with a set of gapps on board, the manufacturer must send it for certification to Google, which, after evaluating the quality and performance of the smartphone, will either give the go-ahead or kick it (but this does not stop the Chinese at all).

This is how Google Apps get to your smartphone. Of the users, 99% either use pre-installed applications or install them themselves on absolutely clean and completely anonymous firmware. And then, from the moment you enter your username and password, synchronization and downloading of information begins.

To figure out how this happens, let’s unpack the same archive with gapps and take a look inside. We are interested in the /system/app and /system/priv-app directories; during installation, their contents are copied to the directories of the same name inside the smartphone. The second directory is new to KitKat and houses applications that use system APIs that are marked "private" and not available to regular applications.

In the /system/app directory we will find a large number of different Google applications, easily recognizable by the name of the package: Books.apk, Chrome.apk, Gmail2.apk and so on. Each of them will share information differently, but that's totally fine (yes, Google will know you're reading Paulo Coelho through their app!). The greatest danger here is GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk, which is only responsible for sending a list of contacts to the remote server. We write down the name in a notepad and move on.

Most of the files from the /system/priv-app directory are the services and frameworks necessary to run this whole synchronization and surveillance machine:

  • GoogleBackupTransport.apk - synchronizes data from installed applications, Wi-Fi passwords and some settings;
  • GoogleLoginService.apk - connects the device with a Google account;
  • GooglePartnerSetup.apk - allows third party applications access Google services;
  • GoogleServicesFramwork.apk - a framework with various auxiliary functionality;
  • Phonesky.apk - Play Store (oddly enough);
  • PrebuiltGmsCore.apk - Google Services, as the name suggests, is the core of the entire gapps suite;
  • Velvet.apk is a Google search that includes a desktop search bar and Google Now.

In essence, this is the part of Google Apps that is responsible for leaking our private information. Let's try to get rid of all this.

Method number 1. Disabling through settings

The easiest way to unlink a smartphone from Google is to use standard settings systems. The good thing about this method is that it does not require root rights, installation of custom firmware, or custom recovery. Everything can be done in any stock firmware without losing access to your account and applications like Gmail (if necessary). However, no one will vouch for the efficiency, since it is quite possible that some gapps components will continue to send data.

The main location for synchronization settings is the menu “Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> [email protected]" Here you can disable things like syncing contacts, application data, Gmail, Play Music, Google Keep, and more. All you need to do is simply uncheck the desired menu items. Next, go to the “Settings -> Backup and reset” menu and uncheck the “Data backup” and “Auto recovery” items.

The Google Settings application, which is part of Google Services, is also responsible for many synchronization settings. With its help, in particular, you can disable Google’s access to your location (“Access to geodata -> Access to my geodata / Sending geodata / Location history”), disable sending personal data to the search engine (“Search -> Personal data”), disable Google Now (“Search -> Google Now”) and disable remote control (“ Remote control-> Remote device search / Remote blocking and reset settings").

In the same “Google Settings,” by the way, you can disable any application that uses your Google account for authorization. We are talking not only about the software installed on the device, but also about all applications ever used, including websites. For example, I found a lot of sites on this list that I haven’t visited for at least a couple of years.

In the event that you do not intend to use Google services at all, it will be easier to disconnect your smartphone from your account completely, that is, simply delete it through the settings: “Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> [email protected]-> Menu button -> Delete account.”

Majority Google applications can be safely disabled through the settings: “Applications -> ALL -> the right application-> Disable".

Google Account Settings
Google Settings

Method number 2. Cleaning the official firmware

In the event that the stock firmware has root rights, you can get rid of Google Apps by simply deleting them from your smartphone. As I already said, they are all stored in the /system/app and /system/priv-app directories. For example, in the case of KitKat, the list of Google applications in the first directory will be like this:

  • Books.apk - Google Books;
  • CalendarGoogle.apk - Google Calendar;
  • Chrome.apk - Google Chrome;
  • CloudPrint.apk - cloud printing system;
  • Drive.apk - Google Drive;
  • GenieWidget.apk - news and weather widget;
  • Gmail2.apk - Gmail;
  • GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk - contact synchronization;
  • GoogleEars.apk - Google Ears (similar to Shazam);
  • GoogleEarth.apk - Google Earth;
  • GoogleHome.apk - home screen with integrated Google Now;
  • GoogleTTS.apk - speech synthesis system;
  • Hangouts.apk - Google Hangouts;
  • Keep.apk - Google Keep;
  • LatinImeGoogle.apk - keyboard with gesture support;
  • Magazines.apk - Google Magazines;
  • Maps.apk - Google Maps;
  • Music2.apk - Google Music;
  • PlayGames.apk - Google PlayGames;
  • PlusOne.apk - Google+;
  • QuickOffice.apk - QuickOffice;
  • Street.apk - Google Street;
  • SunBeam.apk - SunBeam live wallpaper;
  • Videos.apk - Google Movies;
  • YouTube.apk - YouTube.

The /system/priv-app directory, in addition to those listed earlier, also contains the following files:

  • CalendarProvider.apk - stores calendar data;
  • GoogleFeedback.apk - sends a report about using Google Play;
  • GoogleOneTimeInitilalizer.apk - installation wizard for additional Google applications;
  • SetupWizard.apk - setup wizard on first launch;
  • Wallet.apk - Google Wallet;
  • talkback.apk - voice notification about events on the device.

The Gapps kit for KitKat, among other things, also includes a proprietary camera with support for spherical shooting and a proprietary desktop with integrated Google Now.

But that is not all. Google Apps depends on several frameworks, which are located in the /system/framework directory. These files are com.google.android.maps.jar, com.google.android.media.effects.jar and com.google.widevine.software.drm.jar. There are also many libraries in the /system/lib directory that are used exclusively by Google applications. It is not at all necessary to remove them, but it is possible. Just to clean up the trash. You can find a list of them on the website ][.

In previous (and future) versions of the system, the content of Google Apps is different, so before uninstalling I recommend downloading gapps the required version from the site goo.im/gapps, unpack using WinRar and view the contents. You should also take into account the dependence of some applications from the market on Google applications, I will talk more about this later.

This is only a part of the libraries included in the gapps kit

Method number 3. Custom firmware without gapps

The previous method can be significantly simplified if you simply install custom firmware on your smartphone without Google Apps. In this case, the smartphone/tablet will be crystal clear without any connection to Google. The disadvantage of this method is the absence of Google Play, but you can either replace it third party store applications (more on this below), or use the following method, which involves installing a stripped-down Google versions Apps.

Method number 4. Google Play and nothing else

This method of partially decoupling from Google is a kind of compromise. It does not solve the problem of surveillance - at least without the settings from the first method - but it allows you to avoid cluttering the system with a bunch of useless software that will hang in the background and eat up memory. The idea is simple - install custom firmware and upload a minimalist version of gapps on top of it, which includes only Google Play.

There are many such minimal gapps assemblies on the Internet, but I would recommend using the time-tested BaNkS Gapps, namely the “month-date” file GApps Core 4.4.2 signed.zip". They work on any smartphone, are ART compatible and include only the basic gapps files, a list of which is given in the "What are Gapps" section, framework files, as well as several libraries. Essentially, it's Google Play, synchronization tools and nothing else.

Changing the search engine to DuckDuckGo

Even after complete shutdown synchronization, the “built-in” Google search bar will remain on the home screen. IN stock firmware Some manufacturers (Samsung, for example) are just a widget that can be easily removed from the screen. In pure Android and devices from many other manufacturers, it is “built into” the home screen, but it can be removed by disabling all search from Google (along with Google Now) using the menu “Settings -> Applications -> All -> Google search-> Disable" or by installing a third-party launcher. Next, just download DuckDuckGo from the market or another application store and add the widget of the same name to your home screen.

Third party market

The second and third methods involve completely getting rid of Google Apps, including Google Play and the ability to log in using a Google account, so we must find a way to simply and conveniently install applications that would not force us to download them ourselves, and then dump them on a memory card and install manually. One such way is to install a third-party market.

On this moment there are three more or less viable Google alternatives Play. These are Amazon Appstore, Yandex.Store and 1Mobile Market. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, which mainly come down to the number of applications and payment methods:

  • Amazon Appstore is the most famous application store after Google Play. Contains more than 75 thousand applications (compared to 800 thousand on Google Play), the quality of each of which is manually checked, just like iTunes for iOS. You can pay using credit card or Amazon Coins, which are given as a gift for purchasing a Kindle Fire tablet or as a gift from another user. One of the most interesting features of the store is the daily free distribution of one of the paid applications.
  • Yandex.Store is a store from the Yandex company. Contains more than 85 thousand applications, each of which is scanned by Kaspersky antivirus. It doesn’t particularly stand out, but it has a killer feature in the form of the ability to pay for purchases using the Yandex.Money service or a mobile phone account.
  • 1Mobile Market is the largest third-party repository of Android applications, including more than 500 thousand software. It differs from others by the presence of exclusively free applications (not to be confused with pirated ones), which is why it allows you not to go through the account registration stage and maintain anonymity.

Applications in all three markets have original digital signatures application developers, allowing them to be used simultaneously. An application installed from one market can be updated without problems from another, and if deleted, it will disappear from the list of installed ones in all of them. However, you will have to buy them separately.


Amazon Appstore
Yandex.Market 1Mobile Market

Open Source Market

In addition to those described in the article, as well as many other lesser-known application stores, you can find a different repository on the Internet. It is completely anonymous and contains only free software distributed under licenses approved by the FSF. There are only a thousand applications in F-Droid, but all of them are guaranteed to not contain backdoors or other systems for disclosing personal data. It is F-Droid that is used as the default market in the free Android firmware Replicant.


Solving the problem of application dependence on Google Apps

Even though gapps components are not part of the official Android API, some applications still expect to see them on the system, which can cause a number of problems - from the application not working at all to losing some of its functionality. Some applications will refuse to install due to lack of Google Maps API, others crash immediately after launch without detecting it, others include direct links to Google Play, which can lead to crashes and incorrect operation.

To address these issues, XDA user MaR-V-iN started the NOGAPPS project, which is developing a set of open source components to replace the original Google Apps functionality. There are currently three replacement components available:

  • Network Location is a Wi-Fi based geolocation service and base stations GSM. Based on Apple's IP address database and open base station database;
  • Maps API - replacement of the interface to Google Maps based on OpenStreetMap;
  • BlankStore is an open alternative to the Play Store client. Allows you to install free apps from Google store, but is not recommended for use due to possible sanctions from the search engine (this is prohibited by their rules).

The components are installed separately and different ways. You just need to manually copy the Network Location to the /system/app/ directory in Android 2.3–4.3 or to the /system/priv-app/ directory in KitKat (in this case you should use the NetworkLocation-gms.apk file). Maps API is installed by flashing the nogapps-maps.zip file via the recovery console. To install the market, you will have to not only copy the file, but also generate an Android ID on a large machine, but since this is not recommended, I will not talk about it and will limit myself to a link to the instructions.

After all the manipulations, the software should work correctly.

conclusions

For the company Google Android without its own applications it is useless, so it is not surprising that the company takes out the most delicious parts of the system in them and leaves the code closed. However, in this article I showed that there is life without gapps and it can be even easier and more convenient than with Google.



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