Remove dependance on google play services
Protonmail android app is dependent on google play services and that is obviously against privacy and security.
Users who removed/disable google play services or used vanilla "lineageos" without gapps cannot get the mail client work properly.
Google play services collect every possible piece of info about the user; location, body sensors, application usage, and every other possible thing. So telling the use to enable/install google services you compromise his privacy and security by 3rd party app which is clearly against the idea if Protomail.
I hope you can correct this and have no dependence on google at all.
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Dr. evo commented
I back this up 100%. I believe that this feature request is not an optional issue, it is a must if Proton is claiming to be Privacy Focused. I've been a plus member for several years, as I believe in privacy. I hope that Proton is taking this as seriously as we do. Unfortunately, as this has been an open issue for 7 years and has not been completed, I start to think that maybe Proton does not believe in the values they advertise. Namely: privacy, freedom, and choice. There is no choice if people cannot choose between using Google Play services with better battery life, and a background service that checks the email with heightened security. There was also a project to publish an app on F-Droid, I thought would address these issues but it is dead now. I finally degoogled my android to find out Protonmail cannot push notifications, and found ways to get it done through a 3rd party app. To be honest, this might be the deal breaker for me to switch my email service to a service that works on degoogled phones.
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Midhun commented
Will only work if you guys collaborate with phone makers and app makers
1) Google play store alternative - apps are the major reason why phone makers include Google services (though there are alternatives like samsung's or Amazon's app stores, they are way behind Google in number of apps and then again they're also big tech companies who spy on their users) - it would be awesome if proton makes an alternative platform for this. I want to see an implementation similar to obtainium but with apps already listed - like app makers would host their apps somewhere (in their own website or in GitHub, or proton could use fdroid implementation to let app makers make their own repos) which proton can make some guidelines for and list those apps in this platform, appmakers could use their own payment system this way (so I think they would be interested in this)
2) android push notifications - all the notifications that we get go through Google servers
3) Google location accuracy for reliable navigation - there was an alternative to this by mozilla which think got discontinued
If guys can figure out these then it's the end for Google's dominance of Android
I've only seen murena and fairphone doing this deegoogling of android (also murena could be considered a competitor to proton cuz of their ecosystem)
I can also see mobile Linux OSs (mobian, phosh, plasma mobile) needing these - i can see them being adopted once they are able to run Android apps perfectly in a compatibility layer (like SailfishOS) -
[Deleted User] commented
I totally support this idea! It is an essential step to make all the apps available on F-Droid. This would make Proton apps much more convenient on DeGoogled phones
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Overuse commented
I don't think this is a privacy risk because there is no sensitive data transferred, but at least give everyone a choice.
Make one version without Google's notification service and one with it for people who have less battery capacity.
Privacy is about being able to have a choice, and if I want a de-googled phone and still get all the notification, than Proton shouldn't be in the way of it.
(At least Proton is not dependent on google play services to work, just for notifications, which is still awesome IMHO and seems to be often forgotten here)
Edit: e.g. Proton Calendar has no notification problems at all without google play services, at least in my experience -
NaN commented
ProtonMail should be using UnifiedPush or whatever even in fully googled phones.
Those constant pings to Google's Firebase server are ridiculous for a "privacy" service. -
Jeff Schmidt commented
100% back this request, this is needed ASAP. Honestly if I'd known this was a limitation I might have gone elsewhere for private email, and I may still decide to bail if this isn't taken seriously. A corp that's serious about privacy and security should have already done this.
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Hans Dieter Wurst commented
Not paying for the service if the basic function of notifications on a privacy friendly phone is not fulfilled.
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BrianD commented
For the degoogled folks who have a serious threat model, this is a must
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Dominik R commented
Any update on this? I'm using grapheneOS and I get notifications from Signal no problem. I'm sussing out the features on Proton mail over Tutanota, and I really want to make a switch for some crucial features for my business, but this one is a deal breaker...
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Wortig commented
This needs to be implemented ASAP.
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Romain commented
I disagree. The vast majority of people have a basic Android OS with Google Play Store (myself included). Not everyone knows (or care) how to install an alternative OS on their phone.
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Romain commented
I disagree. It's a very convenient feature for newcomers who want to migrate from Google. There are many people who have used Google services for decades, you can't expect them to migrate their data manually.
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Louis commented
I don't understand how Proton want fight for online freedom and have a such strong dependency to Google Play Services.
I am now running an AOSP rom without Play Services that is aiming to be more secure and better for privacy (it is DivestOS).
But I can't have email notifications because ProtonMail is only using Google Play Services with no fallback to local push. Even a regular (configurable) gathering of new emails every hours would work for me. I don't need it to be real time, as if I wait for an email, I just check myself! -
Ben Anderson commented
I can tell you with total certainty that if Proton did not offer to import all my items from Google, there is a 0% chance I would have switched to Proton. It is just too much work to manually copy literally decades of data. The import capability is there for people who need or want it; if you don't, then ignore it.
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Seth commented
Proton definitely should work to De-Google all of their services
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TheEliteGamer commented
I don't understand why people keep calling google an evil corporation. Just 10 years ago when google was a startup. everyone loved google. I think importing from google is convenient because you don't have to manage to mail service when the emails from one mail service is goes to your main one.
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commented
Absolute most important google service for proton to distance themselves from is GMS.
the options to import mail and contacts, fine it's a one time dump. if anything it sends a message to google that you've had enough of them and hopefuly they loose visibility of futre data from those services. But GMS, that is a constant feed of data that can be tracked back to our device IDs.
GMS must go! Putting all three posible votes I can into this one! -
Anonymous commented
Now ProtonPass is embedding Youtube videos directly in its onboarding process 🤦
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Mohamed Abdihakim commented
They should have moderators on these threads. The number of bots here is mind blowing. So annoying that I wouldn't mind doing it for free myself.
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Rzzzz commented
Reported, this is a spam.