User-Supplied Google Mobile Services

OpenPhone does not redistribute Google Mobile Services, Google Play Store, or Google apps. Those packages are proprietary and require appropriate rights or licenses to distribute.

Users may choose to install a compatible Google apps package on their own device after flashing OpenPhone. OpenPhone can provide a host-side helper for downloading and sideloading a public package into local ignored worktree state, but the project must not mirror, bundle, redistribute, or ship Google packages as OpenPhone release artifacts.

Supported Project Position

OpenPhone release artifacts:

• do not include Google Play Store,
• do not include Google Play Services,
• do not include Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Chrome, or other Google apps,
• should remain useful without Google services installed.

User/developer devices:

• may sideload a compatible package after installing the OpenPhone OTA,
• are responsible for package source, license, compatibility, and trust,
• may still hit Play Integrity, device certification, unlocked bootloader, account, DRM, or app-specific compatibility failures.

When to Install

Install the user-supplied Google apps package immediately after the OpenPhone OTA, before the first normal boot, unless the package's own instructions say otherwise.

Typical recovery sequence:

1. Sideload OpenPhone OTA.
2. Recovery asks: "Install additional packages?"
3. Choose Yes if the package requires recovery to reboot first.
4. Return to Apply update -> Apply from ADB.
5. Sideload the user-supplied Google apps ZIP.
6. Reboot system.

If the phone already booted without Google services, a clean data wipe and fresh OpenPhone OTA install may be required before adding the package.

Helper Script

For the Pixel 9a (tegu) OpenPhone target, the locally validated path is MindTheGapps for Android 16 / arm64. Download the latest release from the public MindTheGapps GitHub release and verify its release-provided SHA-256:

scripts/download-mindthegapps.sh

By default, this saves the ZIP under:

.worktree/downloads/gms/

The helper downloads from the public MindTheGapps/16.0.0-arm64 GitHub release repository and verifies the matching .zip.sha256sum asset. It does not commit, mirror, or redistribute the ZIP.

To use a package you already downloaded:

scripts/sideload-user-gms.sh --package /path/to/user-supplied-gapps.zip

If Android is booted and ADB is authorized, the helper can reboot to recovery:

scripts/sideload-user-gms.sh \
  --reboot-recovery \
  --package /path/to/user-supplied-gapps.zip

The script:

• verifies that the package exists and is a ZIP,
• prints the ZIP SHA-256,
• waits until the device is in ADB sideload mode,
• runs adb sideload,
• after a successful sideload, waits for Android to boot and grants Google Play Services the runtime location permissions and app-op modes required by fused/network location providers,
• leaves signature prompts and trust decisions to the user on the phone.

The script does not validate that a package is safe, licensed, or compatible.

If package-specific instructions require additional recovery packages before the first Android boot, pass --skip-location-repair and run the post-boot repair manually after Android starts:

scripts/repair-gms-location-permissions.sh --wait-device

Validated Pixel 9a Flow

This flow was validated on a Pixel 9a OpenPhone/LineageOS 23.2 Android 16 bringup device.

Download and verify MindTheGapps:

scripts/download-mindthegapps.sh

Install OpenPhone OTA from recovery, then when recovery asks about additional packages:

Install additional packages? -> Yes
To install additional packages, reboot recovery first? -> Yes
Apply update -> Apply from ADB

From the host:

scripts/sideload-user-gms.sh \
  --package .worktree/downloads/gms/MindTheGapps-16.0.0-arm64-*.zip

When host-side sideload finishes with Total xfer: 1.00x, read the recovery log on the phone. If recovery reports success, choose Reboot system now. The host helper waits for Android, then repairs Google Play Services location grants so third-party fused-location apps can use Play Services' location provider.

If the phone had already booted OpenPhone before Google services were added, Google apps may still fail. The clean supported flow is to reinstall the OpenPhone OTA, sideload MindTheGapps immediately as an additional package, then boot normally.

Compatibility Notes

The package must match the installed ROM's Android generation and architecture. For the Pixel 9a OpenPhone target, use an arm64 package for the same Android generation as the installed OpenPhone/Lineage base.

Many mainstream apps work better with Google services installed, but installing Google services does not make OpenPhone a certified Google device. Apps may still fail or degrade when they require:

• Play Integrity / device certification,
• locked bootloader state,
• DRM attestation,
• Google account features,
• proprietary push or location APIs,
• app-specific anti-tamper checks.

Troubleshooting

If Play Store immediately returns to the launcher or appears to crash, first check where Play Store and Play services are installed:

adb shell pm path com.android.vending
adb shell pm path com.google.android.gms

The supported recovery-sideload path should install Google components as system/product/system_ext packages according to the package's own installer layout. If both packages are under /data/app, Android treats them as ordinary user apps. Current Play services versions request privileged platform permissions such as android.permission.ACCESS_CONTEXT_HUB, android.permission.SCHEDULE_PRIORITIZED_ALARM, android.permission.START_ACTIVITIES_FROM_BACKGROUND, and android.permission.CHANGE_DEVICE_IDLE_TEMP_WHITELIST; as data apps they do not receive those permissions and com.google.android.gms.persistent may crash-loop before Play Store can remain open.

To confirm that failure mode:

adb logcat -d -v threadtime | grep -E \
  'com\\.google\\.android\\.gms|FATAL EXCEPTION|SecurityException|ACCESS_CONTEXT_HUB|SCHEDULE_PRIORITIZED_ALARM'

The clean supported recovery path is to reinstall the OpenPhone OTA, sideload the user-supplied GMS ZIP immediately as an additional package before first normal boot, then reboot system. Installing Play Store or Play services as ordinary APKs after first boot is not a supported GMS state for OpenPhone.

Fused Location Provider Has No Location Fixes

If Google Maps and raw GPS apps work but apps such as Uber or Lyft cannot get location, verify that Google Play Services itself has location permissions and app-op access:

scripts/repair-gms-location-permissions.sh

This is safe to rerun. It grants ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION, ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, and ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION to com.google.android.gms, then sets the COARSE_LOCATION and FINE_LOCATION app-ops to allow. This repairs the state where Android's raw GPS provider works but Play Services' fused/network provider receives no delivered locations for third-party apps.

If Play Store worked immediately after a recovery GMS sideload and later broke after an OpenPhone OTA, check for this exact state. OpenPhone OTAs do not redistribute Google packages, so a later OTA can replace the system/product partitions that previously held the GMS base while leaving Play-updated copies under /data/app. Android then has no privileged system package to roll back to, and cmd package uninstall-system-updates is not a reliable recovery path. Reinstall the OpenPhone OTA and repeat the user-supplied GMS recovery sideload before first normal boot.

Product Strategy

OpenPhone should support three paths:

• no-Google mode with a curated OpenPhone app catalog,
• user-supplied Google services for developer/power-user devices,
• official Google Mobile Services only if OpenPhone obtains the required commercial/OEM licensing.