Do I really "need" Google

Sector11 · 2016-09-08 20:04:53

OK, our old "flip-top" dumb-phone died. My wife bought an LG Leon and neither of us have a clue how to use it. Oh we can make/receive a phone call and send SMS messages - and that's all she wrote.

She wants ring tones. Turned on WiFi and the phone says she 'must' create a Google account to use it on the net. Wide-eyed "What the ..." here. She's all upset.

I found a few ringtones and have them here:
~/Ringtones/darth_vader.mp3
~/Ringtones/minion_ring_ring.mp3
~/Ringtones/msg_text.mp3
~/Ringtones/psycho.mp3

I thought it waould be as easy as: Plug it in (USB) and upload to the phone .... Noooooooooo something about downloading an app to access the memory to allow uploading ringtone.

How the heck do we do that without getting a Google account a Gmail address and letting Google have access to our phone.

Do I really "need" Google to run a smartphone?

lcafiero · 2016-09-08 21:22:17

I'm not sure, Sector11. Obviously, since Android is Google, both are joined at the hip because, well you know . . . However, I usually just ignore the Google stuff on my Android phone (an LG K7) and use it as a phone and I monitor some (not all) emails from it.

However, I do have a Google account, FWIW, though I don't use it on my phone. But I don't think you need one to use an Android phone -- you should be able to use a WiFi connection with a browser to access the Internet.

There is some voodoo involved in transferring files via USB, and it can be done (I have transferred files back and forth via USB), but it's hard to pinpoint the exact location of where the mp3 files should go. I gave up a long time ago and got some ringtones from Zedge (mostly 2001: A Space Odyssey ringtones and message tones).

Sector11 · 2016-09-08 21:31:56

Zedge is where I downloaded the ringtones from, when I couldn't transfer them via USB my wife tried with the WiFi on by accessing the site from the phone. She found the ringtones and when she tried to download she was told she needed a Google account and gmail. WTFUN-NOT!

Found this: Here’s How You Can Use Android But Ditch Google . Still reading, but sounds complicated.

pvsage · 2016-09-08 21:36:44

@Sector11: While I don't have an Android phone, I have a contract-free Jellybean tablet. (I realize the two are not equivalent.) Assuming your version of Android isn't too different from my Jellybean, you should be able to find a "Settings" application on the main "Apps" (I loathe that term, "apps") page. From there, go to "Storage" , tap the button with three dots in the top right corner (you should see "USB computer connection") and follow that link. Setting my tablet to "USB large storage" on that page allows me to connect to it as a storage device. While this won't get rid of the Google rubbish, it should at let you put the ringtones on the phone; you might be able to set the ringtone directly from the file manager.

You should see a Ringtones directory under the top level directory once it mounts.

Last edited by pvsage (2016-09-08 21:50:26)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-09-08 21:43:33

The only way I could get rid of the Google rubbish from my smartphone was to wipe the (Samsung) operating system and put Cyanogenmod on it.

It now has a 5 day battery life (!) compared to 2 days with the stock OS

Unfortunately, installing CM is quite technical and can brick the phone; I can't seem to find a CM13 image for your model either

lcafiero · 2016-09-08 22:00:06

There are times when I look at my ZTE Open phone with FirefoxOS and think, "Hmmmm . . ."

Sector11 · 2016-09-08 22:07:55

pvsage wrote:

...you might be able to set the ringtone directly from the file manager.
You should see a Ringtones directory under the top level directory once it mounts.

I don't see ant 'file manager' type thing at all. She just found the ringtone and was tolds - she called me over - I saw the message - that it would cost her 500 pesos to install the 'app' to get it, she backed out in a hurry!

  $ exr
Exchange rates:
  From: ars
    To: usd
Amount: 500
------------
500 ARS = 33.2 USD

OMG!!

I hate this phone ... because it's not a 'phone'.

Sector11 · 2016-09-08 22:10:51

@Head_on_a_Stick

I am a noob here, imagine on this smartthing! Would love a 5 day battery life BUT I'd brick it in the blink of a byte.

Sector11 · 2016-09-08 22:16:47

lcafiero wrote:

There are times when I look at my ZTE Open phone with FirefoxOS and think, "Hmmmm . . ."

That a smartphone too isn't it?

lcafiero · 2016-09-08 22:35:53

Yeah, but Mozilla decided to stop development on FirefoxOS. I'm not a "features guy" and I don't use more than 10 percent of what my Android phone is capable of, however the email program on the FirefoxOS system was pretty wonky, so I had to pass on it.

stevep · 2016-09-09 00:17:34

Android 4 on up devices use MTP connections instead of a standard USB MSC connection. You need to enable the MTP connection: http://devicehelp.singtel.com/web/lg-le … ile-phone/

However, the libmtp 1.1.8 in Jessie might be a bit too old to have your 2015 phone on its list of supported devices; in that case, the newer 1.1.10 in jessie-backports might support it, or the 1.1.12 in Stretch can be backported to Jessie (having done that myself for MX 15).

Irulan · 2016-09-09 00:19:36

Is this overkill?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackphone
-H

Sector11 · 2016-09-09 01:16:55

@ stevep - Thank you! Will give that a try, probably tomorrow, and get back to you.

@ hinto - Over kill it is! Also probably not available here and if it would be it would cost double. "Tech" stuff here has a 180-200% markup. But it looks good.

ohnonot · 2016-09-09 06:11:02

tl;dr
to answer your question: NO, you don't need google on your android phone.
(it will be impossible to make sure that it never ever connects to a google server, but you do not need to set up a google account)

1 - it is not so different from a computer once you get used to the touch interface. long-tap = right-click, and so on.
most file managers should have a "right-click" option to "uae as ringtone" when you use it on an audio file.

2 - connecting to usb should work with mtp. no voodoo required (android lollipop should work under debian stable).

before getting started, have a look at f-droid. it will become your "playstore".

Last edited by ohnonot (2021-07-03 09:51:47)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-09-09 06:26:46

Why not just download the ringtones using the browser on your phone?

No need for ftp servers or any of that mtp/adb nonsense then, or am I missing something?

johnraff · 2016-09-09 06:31:36

What's the issue over setting up a Google account? We use accounts all the time to access various web services. If you just register with lies about everything, are there still some security issues? If it's about GPS tracking or the like, your device already has plenty of unique identifiers: MAC address etc...

ohnonot · 2016-09-09 07:33:31

johnraff wrote:

What's the issue over setting up a Google account?

the TOS?

also,
GPS and WiFi are always disabled on my phone.

Last edited by ohnonot (2016-09-09 07:37:10)

dolly · 2016-09-09 08:35:04

Sector11 wrote:

Do I really "need" Google to run a smartphone?

No there are alternatives, see above, but it makes life much easier.

brontosaurusrex · 2016-09-09 12:38:51

If you (anyone) have legal (things that will hold nicely on various courts) suggestions on how to ban spyware infected OSes (at least from EU), contact me. I belive those things are basically illegal, so all that is needed is a nice (legal) case (And I'am willing to spend smaller amount of my time on that).

There are various ways to approach this imho, starting with a word "smart", which is either a. fake or b. real AI (not) and both are really really bad.

Last edited by brontosaurusrex (2016-09-09 12:59:24)

Zill · 2016-09-09 15:25:08

Sector11 wrote:

... How the heck do we do that without getting a Google account a Gmail address and letting Google have access to our phone.

FWIW, my wife went through a similar process when she recently got her first smartphone! However, we established that, while a minimal Google account is quite useful to enable all the required functionality, such as cloud based contacts and access to the Google Play app store, a Gmail account is not mandatory.

She simply used her normal email account to register with Google and then only logs into Google from her PC when absolutely essential to update any details, logging out immediately afterwards.

The phone does seem to hook up to Google as it generally figures out where she is but this seems to be the price we have to pay.

However, as she doesn't have a Gmail account, she continues to monitor her normal incoming mail on the phone when away from home. "BlueMail" is a great mail app that allows her POP3 mail to be left on the server which suits us fine!

#1 2016-09-08 20:04:53

Do I really "need" Google

#2 2016-09-08 21:22:17

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#3 2016-09-08 21:31:56

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#4 2016-09-08 21:36:44

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#5 2016-09-08 21:43:33

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#6 2016-09-08 22:00:06

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#7 2016-09-08 22:07:55

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#8 2016-09-08 22:10:51

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#9 2016-09-08 22:16:47

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#10 2016-09-08 22:35:53

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#11 2016-09-09 00:17:34

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#12 2016-09-09 00:19:36

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#13 2016-09-09 01:16:55

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#14 2016-09-09 06:11:02

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#15 2016-09-09 06:26:46

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#16 2016-09-09 06:31:36

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#17 2016-09-09 07:33:31

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#18 2016-09-09 08:35:04

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#19 2016-09-09 12:38:51

Re: Do I really "need" Google

#20 2016-09-09 15:25:08

Re: Do I really "need" Google

Board footer