Background
This question is mostly about GraphenOS. I am trying to compartmentalize my profiles so all of the Google shit is in 1 profile.
I understand that there are alternative apps for the daily stuff, but that is going to take a while for people around me to change.
Profiles in GOS
The idea of profiles is very nice, until you realize you cant do much on a non Google profile, at least for me. Initially I have:
Owner - no Google
Daily - needs Google so sign in
Banks - well needs Google to download the bank apps.
So just that setup I have to sign into Google 2 times. It kinda defeats the purpose of compartmentalize when Daily and Banks have the exact same account.
GrapheneOS push apps feature
So i test around and find out that in Owner, you could “push” an app to other profle…I think the Youtuber SideOfBurritos does this too.
I also created a Test profile with nothing in it then pushed 2 apps downloaded from Google Play in Owner: Chess and Boost for Lemy. Those apps work flawlessly in Test profile…
Questions
What is going on here? Is Chess in Owner and Chess in Test the same? Same apk?
Why am i able to run Chess in Test when it has no Google stuff whatsoever? Aka no Gplay service or Gplay store installed. Test is completely fresh.
How does update work? If I update Chess in Owner, will it update in Test?
When will these “pushed apps” fail? Havent tried it yet but I would assume they will fail when you need to connect to Google service, like Whatsapp google backup?
Please anyone feel free to correct me if I get anything wrong.
From my understanding, Apps dont change based on the profile they are installed in. They are the same exact app regardless of profile. Profiles just serve to separate apps for different users and further separate apps from each other with them being in thier own directories.
Not all apps that you install from the Google playstore require google play services. Some apps will run just fine without them if the developer decided not to use them during development. If they did decide to use googleplay services, the app may function OK or completely break. Just depends on the app in question.
As far as I am aware, updates will happen separately for profiles. Most apps that are installed via googleplay will install automatically. Same goes for fdroid apps in most cases unless specified otherwise.
I’m not sure what you mean by your last question, fail how? Fail to open or update?
Also, profiles aren’t really necessary for grapheneos to separate google play services from other apps or whatnot because they are already sandboxed. I dont use them myself for this reason.
Play is already sandboxed and as was explained to me on their forum, separate profiles do not further isolate apps from each other so I operate with a single profile policy to keep the complexity down. Keep in mind that privacy is not my primary concern but rather the usability of a smartphone so Ymmv.
