I'm wondering if there is anyone here who can speak to the stability of Google Apps (hangouts, Gmail, etc.) sideloading them onto the fire phone along with Google lay services. I'm really interested in this phone but am not sure if I can give up my gapps.
I've only had the Google Apps on my phone for a day. I don't use hangouts, but I do use Gmail and the Drive suite, as well as Maps. I'm using the most recent version of Amazon's OS.
Here's my take on some of the Google apps:
My Gmail isn't getting refreshing emails as fast as I'd like it to, though I'm not sure if that's some sort of issue on my side (connectivity or something) or an issue with the app (Note, while I'm typing this post, my Gmail just instantly got an email as soon as it was delivered and alerted me to it...). Gmail does nice little popup alerts and seems to integrate well with Amazon's OS, though.
Maps has some issues with road labels on the most recent version (seems to work fine with some older versions, as per a post on this forum somewhere). I'd consider this app a no-go for now, unless you don't need to read road names at any point. The Maps app that comes with the phone is good enough though (it actually looks a lot like a skinned version of Google Maps, without the social integration and "places to go" recommendations) and I've used it for a 2h drive already with no hiccups.
Drive, Quickoffice, Docs, all work well and I'm able to access, edit, etc, on my phone.
Chrome and Chrome to Phone work.
Google Play Music works for music downloaded on the device (unsure how it works with Google's cloud music service)
Google Play (the appstore) works and delivers updates to apps.
I can give hangouts a go, but I'm not really sure what to look for in terms of functionality.
Google Play apps install and run. I've tried Snapchat, Pixel Dungeon, Soundcloud, and some others. G+ login works, and your Google account is set up when you first try to launch the play services like it would be on a brand new stock Android phone so you get the same kind of Google account integration that you expect from Google's Android.
Edit:
I'd see if you can get some more info from other people... As far as I'm aware, installing Google Play and Google Services doesn't work for everybody. They have for me though, and I'm really happy with the device as it is now, especially considering what I paid for it unlocked.
snapplefish said:
I've only had the Google Apps on my phone for a day. I don't use hangouts, but I do use Gmail and the Drive suite, as well as Maps. I'm using the most recent version of Amazon's OS.
Here's my take on some of the Google apps:
My Gmail isn't getting refreshing emails as fast as I'd like it to, though I'm not sure if that's some sort of issue on my side (connectivity or something) or an issue with the app (Note, while I'm typing this post, my Gmail just instantly got an email as soon as it was delivered and alerted me to it...). Gmail does nice little popup alerts and seems to integrate well with Amazon's OS, though.
Maps has some issues with road labels on the most recent version (seems to work fine with some older versions, as per a post on this forum somewhere). I'd consider this app a no-go for now, unless you don't need to read road names at any point. The Maps app that comes with the phone is good enough though (it actually looks a lot like a skinned version of Google Maps, without the social integration and "places to go" recommendations) and I've used it for a 2h drive already with no hiccups.
Drive, Quickoffice, Docs, all work well and I'm able to access, edit, etc, on my phone.
Chrome and Chrome to Phone work.
Google Play Music works for music downloaded on the device (unsure how it works with Google's cloud music service)
Google Play (the appstore) works and delivers updates to apps.
I can give hangouts a go, but I'm not really sure what to look for in terms of functionality.
Google Play apps install and run. I've tried Snapchat, Pixel Dungeon, Soundcloud, and some others. G+ login works, and your Google account is set up when you first try to launch the play services like it would be on a brand new stock Android phone so you get the same kind of Google account integration that you expect from Google's Android.
Edit:
I'd see if you can get some more info from other people... As far as I'm aware, installing Google Play and Google Services doesn't work for everybody. They have for me though, and I'm really happy with the device as it is now, especially considering what I paid for it unlocked.
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Click to collapse
if you're getting successful results then you should consider sharing what you did and how you did it so we can get the ball rolling.
Also you're able to sideload most apps (besides google apps) and they work normally? Im considering buying this phone with the current deal
sram21092 said:
if you're getting successful results then you should consider sharing what you did and how you did it so we can get the ball rolling.
Also you're able to sideload most apps (besides google apps) and they work normally? Im considering buying this phone with the current deal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I detailed what I did here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57161714&postcount=24
(Here's the post where I got the instructions from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=57095260&postcount=9 )
I didn't change the directory where I sideloaded the Vending.apk, I just sideloaded it in with everything else. I don't remember if I briefly tried to install the Play store before without Google services, but that's probably why I had to adb install with the -r flag.
Before I installed Google services, some apps were working fine without them. Notably, Snapchat complained every time I brought it up, but ran fine. I would wait a bit for some more input from people... From what I've heard around here, it's just me and another guy (Aztecwarrior, the guy whose method I used in that thread) who have it working at the moment. I'd say you can sideload most applications without installing Google services.
http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/ is what I used to pull APKs to sideload before installing the Google services and Play store.
EDIT: I should mention that the Play store doesn't just deliver updates to apps... I've been able to completely install and manage applications through it; it works just as you'd expect it to work on any other phone for the moment. i.e., you don't need to sideload apps first to get them on the phone if you've installed all the Google stuff. Sorry for the ambiguity in my previous post.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Another question: so far have you noticed that you've been getting a number of error massages/application crashes? I had previously installed google apps and services on my fire hdx and constantly received messages that various apps were crashing in the background, which I found super annoying.
Has anyone else had luck with play music? Does it work for all access?
Just a follow up on why I care about hangouts- I run all of my phone and text through google voice and this has been integrated into hangouts. I'm a cheapskate and can use the hangouts app to place calls and send/receive texts so I don't pay for minutes or texts. I'm one of the few people who doesn't care too much about missing play store, since I have the hdx, I've got a bunch of apps off of the amazon store.
bmbriefs said:
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Another question: so far have you noticed that you've been getting a number of error massages/application crashes? I had previously installed google apps and services on my fire hdx and constantly received messages that various apps were crashing in the background, which I found super annoying.
Has anyone else had luck with play music? Does it work for all access?
Just a follow up on why I care about hangouts- I run all of my phone and text through google voice and this has been integrated into hangouts. I'm a cheapskate and can use the hangouts app to place calls and send/receive texts so I don't pay for minutes or texts. I'm one of the few people who doesn't care too much about missing play store, since I have the hdx, I've got a bunch of apps off of the amazon store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No background crashes -- yet -- at all. I've also enabled background ANRs in the dev options, and nothing's popped up from that either.
I don't have all access for Music, so I can't comment on that.
I just installed Hangouts and gave it a cursory launch... It loads up, enabled SMS (loaded all my conversations from the Fire Phone's messenger app), has all my contacts loaded up to start a conversation. Is there anything specific you'd want me to try?
Thanks again! Glad to hear you're not getting the annoying error messages. I think this pretty much seals the deal for me.
On the fire phone, is it possible to change the default sms and dialer apps?
On last request.... could you give the hangouts dialer a shot? This allows you to place calls over wifi using hangouts.
bmbriefs said:
Thanks again! Glad to hear you're not getting the annoying error messages. I think this pretty much seals the deal for me.
On the fire phone, is it possible to change the default sms and dialer apps?
On last request.... could you give the hangouts dialer a shot? This allows you to place calls over wifi using hangouts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding default apps, everything is handled via intents (e.g. I set chrome to take all web requests)... when I enabled hangouts sms, I started getting texts to hangouts without being notified by the default app, so I think that much is configurable. The dialer, I'm not sure.
I'm in class right now (and pretty much until 9pm, and lots of homework), but I'll check hangouts dialer and default apps when I have time.
Did you root it first ,if so, did you use the same method as aztecwarrior?
No root. I used the guide that Aztec referenced, but not his exact steps. Check post #4 in this thread, the first few lines.
bmbriefs said:
I'm wondering if there is anyone here who can speak to the stability of Google Apps (hangouts, Gmail, etc.) sideloading them onto the fire phone along with Google lay services. I'm really interested in this phone but am not sure if I can give up my gapps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using the Play Store, Hangouts, and Gmail off and on the last 12 hours or so. It's been rock solid for me. No crashes. Haven't found any missing features. Maps does seem to have some issues but haven't tried navigation yet, which is what I really would use it for.
Thanks to you all for your input. I bit the bullet and ordered one before the sale ended.
Now I tried the procedure from scratch (all apks uninstalled and rebooted the phone) several times with different apk-Versions (mainly 2 different links as d/l source).
My Play Store is always not getting any connection and I am not able to d/l apps from the store. Additionally, G Servies crashes every few minutes. I did follow the procedure like apk installation order, reboot, etc. No luck .
Btw. my fire phone is NOT rooted and is on fire OS 3.6.2.
natter.
natter_deluxe said:
Now I tried the procedure from scratch (all apks uninstalled and rebooted the phone) several times with different apk-Versions (mainly 2 different links as d/l source).
My Play Store is always not getting any connection and I am not able to d/l apps from the store. Additionally, G Servies crashes every few minutes. I did follow the procedure like apk installation order, reboot, etc. No luck .
Btw. my fire phone is NOT rooted and is on fire OS 3.6.2.
natter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried checking for a firmware update in the settings? When did you get your fire phone? I think the ATT/Carrier-bound FPs have some slight differences in hardware and firmware.
snapplefish said:
Have you tried checking for a firmware update in the settings? When did you get your fire phone? I think the ATT/Carrier-bound FPs have some slight differences in hardware and firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi snapplefish,
there is no firmware update available, when I am checking in the settings. I did get my phone from Amazon Germany with T-Mobile Sim lock (German localization - maybe that is why e.g. there is no 3.6.8 fire OS firmware available yet) early october 2014 when it was launched here. They sold it accidently for 10 bucks w/o a carrier contract.
Is there any hardware id of phone that can be checked? I could find:
Fire OS 3.6.2 (122009420)
Model No. SD4930UR
Btw., latest versions of Account Manager and Framework from my second phone do not install. Play Services 6.5 and Play Store 5.0 will install, however, no change compared to the older versions linked in the tutorials --> no 'my apps' tab in G Play Store.
natter_deluxe said:
Hi snapplefish,
there is no firmware update available, when I am checking in the settings. I did get my phone from Amazon Germany with T-Mobile Sim lock (German localization - maybe that is why e.g. there is no 3.6.8 fire OS firmware available yet) early october 2014 when it was launched here. They sold it accidently for 10 bucks w/o a carrier contract.
Is there any hardware id of phone that can be checked? I could find:
Fire OS 3.6.2 (122009420)
Model No. SD4930UR
Btw., latest versions of Account Manager and Framework from my second phone do not install. Play Services 6.5 and Play Store 5.0 will install, however, no change compared to the older versions linked in the tutorials --> no 'my apps' tab in G Play Store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be on Fire OS 3.6.8 if you have unlocked phone. I had some issues with some launchers, but the standard Google Now Launcher for the most part seems fine. Appstore is very limited and playstore seems to have a lot of tools...unfortunately it's going to be playing with some apps and seeing if they are stable or not. Battery Doctor, clean master, home switch, and weather & clock seems to work for me.
frekey22 said:
You should be on Fire OS 3.6.8 if you have unlocked phone. I had some issues with some launchers, but the standard Google Now Launcher for the most part seems fine. Appstore is very limited and playstore seems to have a lot of tools...unfortunately it's going to be playing with some apps and seeing if they are stable or not. Battery Doctor, clean master, home switch, and weather & clock seems to work for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, checking the update status does not provide the 3.6.8 version to my phone. It is not rooted and after delivery with 3.6.0 I did nothing else to the phone but update it to 3.6.2.
Only the new GSM unlocked phones come with 3.6.8 Sounds like you got your phone before this all happend therefore you are able to downgrade and root, your one of the lucky ones. You can get a AOSP feel to your phone if you want. Not sure why your not following those guides. Heck if you don't want to root then I'll trade you phones lol.
Gmail conacts
I am transferring my contacts to the FIre phone from Android. All my phone contacts are stored in Gmail(google contacts).
Now the problem is i am not able to find a setting option which would show only contacts with Phone no.
It is showing all contacts of Gmail, but i only need contacts with phone no there.
I had the same issue in Android 2.3 or something, when Android had an option of enabling the contacts with phone no only. Later on in Android 4 they moved to keeping all contacts but at the dialup i could search for only contacts with numbers only.
Any suggestion here. May be a different launcher or app?
Thanks
I received my phone and mostly everything is working. Google voice works, and automatically places calls using my gv number. Only issue I'm having is that the hangouts doesn't send sms messages over WiFi (but will over let) and the hangouts dialer has the same issue, I can't place calls via WiFi either. Anyone else find this?
After having it for a day, my Pixel C is already getting replaced under warranty.
Whenever I try to make a purchase of a paid app on it, I just get an error message "Error retrieving information from server [RPC:S-7:AEC-0]". Purchases work fine on my Nexus6P so the issue seems specific to the tablet. Downloading updates, pre-purchased apps or new Free apps works fine, error only happens when trying to make a purchase.
Have tried all the troubleshooting steps I can find online, clearing data from Play Store and Google Framework Services, no effect. Have removed my Google account from the device, rebooted and then re-added the account, no effect. Done a complete factory reset but still the same issue when I go to the Play Store and try to make a purchase of any paid for app.
I had several payment methods on my account, one of which was expired, but I've removed that and still the same error. I've got over £11 of credit on my Google account anyway and was only trying to purchase something that costs less than £3, so payment cards shouldn't have come into it.
Contacted Google Support and they called me back, said they're going to send a link for me to order a brand new device and instructions on returning the old one.
On the one hand, it doesn't seem like something that would be caused by a hardware issue. But on the other hand, it doesn't seem like an account issue since it's specific to just this one device. Looking around it seems this is a relatively common error, but just removing and re-adding the Google Account should normally fix it.
I'm not running a custom ROM or anything, not even rooted, just running the tablet as it comes (with updates installed)
I've not had any issues like that on either of my Pixel Cs (replaced one under warranty due to the lockscreen pattern bug) so I'd imagine a replacement should sort your issue.
Very strange though... Fingers crossed it gets sorted for you.
Someone has mentioned to me that it could be an issue with the hardware storage of the root certificates that's the problem, which makes sense since the error occurs after the Permissions prompt, at the stage where the Play Store attempts to access the payment information on my account.
Received my replacement Pixel C and still got exactly the same issue.
Whenever I try to purchase an app that costs money, I get an error,
"Error while retrieving information from server.
[RPC:S-7:AEC-0 ELVS-P3QO-E625O]"
(Everything after the AEC-0 is different every time)
This is immediately after turning on the tablet for the very first time and going through the setup process.
Worried that something is wrong with my Google account and that I'm going to have exactly the same issue even if I return it and got a different tablet. But it still works fine on my 6P phone is the thing.
1. In our Android terminal, we go to the Settings
2. Then to Applications
3. Here locate the following FRAMEWORK OF GOOGLE SERVICES:
4. We select Google Services Framework, stop the service, and then delete the data.
5. Then, we locate the service also Google Play, and do the same operation, stop and delete data.
6. After doing this with the two services, reniciamos our Android terminal and will try to download an application from Google Play, we see that already operate normally. Disculpame by Google translation.
chinimen said:
1. In our Android terminal, we go to the Settings
2. Then to Applications
3. Here locate the following FRAMEWORK OF GOOGLE SERVICES:
4. We select Google Services Framework, stop the service, and then delete the data.
5. Then, we locate the service also Google Play, and do the same operation, stop and delete data.
6. After doing this with the two services, reniciamos our Android terminal and will try to download an application from Google Play, we see that already operate normally. Disculpame by Google translation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did all that on a call from a Google troubleshooter, but still the same error.
Definitely looking to be an issue with my account from some further testing though.
Just created a new account and added my card as a payment method. Tried to make a purchase and it goes through fine.
The only difference with my regular account and the new account is that my regular account has some Google Play Store credit on it from the Opinion Rewards app, and has a fair few devices registered against it.
I'm wondering if it's possible that my account just has 'too many' devices against it, but I can't see any way to actually remove an old device from my account (My old S3 phone seems to be on there 3 times and I now have two Pixel C tablets registered against it)
Removed the new account from the tablet and re-added my original account. If I go to the "My Account" section of the Play Store on the tablet, I get the same error message when it tries to retrieve/display my payment methods. But again, only with my primary account on a new device. My old devices that were already registered can do this no problem. So the issue seems to be that new devices aren't correctly registering against my account, or something along those lines.
https://security.google.com/settings/security/activity?pli=1
chinimen said:
https://security.google.com/settings/security/activity?pli=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see my current devices on there, but not the older ones. But I can see the older ones on my Play Store devices list strangely enough.
The device I'm having trouble with is listed on there and doesn't state as having any problems.
I had another callback from Google and the issue is being escalated, so we'll see how it goes.
El goog don't advertise this, and might be reticent at first, but you can get them to delete all your devices (not the same as you account) from 'registered' and then you begin again. Usually you only have a number (4?) you may disconnect every year from the total of 10 (I think).
In your case, I've no doubt they'll do it.
Had this problem too on my Sony Android TV. In my case the problem was a voucher code (and trying to pay with it, paying normally worked fine), I've activated over the chromecast offers page. The google support wasn't able to delete it, but the unredeemable voucher disappeared after a few months.
Hm, will see if I can get Google to remove some devices from my account. There's 8 showing on there at the moment when I go to Settings on the Google Play Web store, 4 of which need to be removed (3 old phones and the first Pixel C tablet), though these don't appear in the Android Device Manager.
I'm also wondering if the issue lies with the Google Credit I have on my account, all of which was earned through the Opinion Rewards app. I'm tempted to try just spending all of it via another device to clear it from the account and see if that sorts things. Even if it doesn't it's only about £8 worth, and it's not like I paid anything for it.
Cracked it.
It was something weird with my account, but also something I could fix.
I downloaded the Firefox browser onto my Pixel C and accessed the Play Store webpage through there, going to the My Account section where my Payment Methods are listed. I noticed that there's a payment method for my mobile carrier that I set up on my old Sony Z2, but was also available on my Nexus 6P. I removed that payment method, then on the Pixel I cleared the Data/Cache for Google Play Framework and Google Play Store apps, then restarted. After that, my Pixel C Play Store app can now access my payment information and make purchases.
No idea if it was removing the carrier payment method that did it since that method was causing some kind of conflict on a non 3G tablet, or if it was accessing the Play Store via a third party browser app which kicked some kind of authentication into gear.
Either way, a very weird issue thankfully solved! I've responded to my Google Support ticket with the update as well, so hopefully they can become aware of a possible issue.
Howdy,
I've got a AL-00, and it has built-in Google Play Services version 20.04.14 (120408-294335909). I've grabbed an APK of Google Play Market version 16.2.25-all [0] [PR] 263465627 from ApkMirror. That's a 32-bit universal architecture image listed as armeabi + armeabi-v7a + mips + mips64 + x86 + x86_64.
I know, that's quite an old version, but it the only I've tried that worked stable. For some reason, all other packages that I've tried over at ApkMirror were classified by package installer as not having passed verification in Huawei Appgallery. Could it be that these packages were tampered with? Or does it only mean that their checksums (or root root certificate?) were not present in ApkGallery?
My internet and my cell provider are having problems with Google services. If I open Google.com from any of my devices, Google.com raises CAPTCHA test which I have to pass before I'm able to access Google search.
All Google apps that I've installed by using the Google Play Store that was installed from the APK dl'ed from ApkMirror are having problems connecting to Google Services. Some apps like Google Pay are having problems to start, others, like Google Chrome or Google Maps are having issues with synchronization of my Google account. If I open account profile, from any of the Google apps, I get the cloud icon shown indicating that Google services or servers are not reachable.
However. These connectivity issues I only experience when connecting though one specific mobile provider. If I route the Huawei EVR-AL00 phone via shared connection from another cellular provider, I can open Google.com in the browser without having to solve CAPTCHAsl tests, and I don't experience connectivity and synchronization issues with Google apps on Huawei EVR-AL00.
So far I see it so I could've solved my synchronization issues by simply switching from my current cell provider that get filtered by Google to another one. Meanwhile, it looks like I could've stayed with my current blacklisted provider if I could find a proper untouched APK of Google Play Store that fully matches version of Google Play Services shipped with EVR-AL00. Where do I get the properly signed APK of Google Play Store with version and architecture matching those used in built-in Google Play Services and Google Services Framework?
Why do I feel that using non-genuine Google Play Store may be the root cause? If I use one of my non-Huawei phones and connect through this my blacklisted provider, I DON'T EVER get a CAPTCHA from Google if I type search requests right in the Chrome address bar without opening Google.com first. Quite the contrary, if I open Google.com first, I ALWAYS get CAPTCHA test from Google before I can do my searches. It looks like requests sent from the Google device (that's a device with a clean Android) are somehow signed by Google components before they get sent to Google.
Since I'm using non-genuine Google Pay Store (installed from unsigned? self-signed? APK), I suppose that Google treats every connection request
to Google servers issues from my Huawei EVR-AL00 phone as untrusted. That renders my Google apps to fail to connect and as a result I get account synchronization issues.
I expect if I could a proper signed Google Play Store APK that matches Google Play Services shipped with the Huawei phone, this would've solved connectivity issues and fix sync problems for me.
Thank you in advance.
But can you still ude playstore in L29 version?
Hello, hoping someone has a recommendation:
I have a new latest generation Kindle Fire 8 Plus (9th?).
I did not root it, I just installed the 4 .apks needed to add the Google play store.
The installation went smoothly and I am logged into my Google account in the Play store, and I have used it to install several apps. However I'm running into two issues:
1) Google Chat downloads and says it's installed, but still not open. (Google chat work around is to use it through the gmail app-this works fine).
2) A game called Rise of Cultures works but to synchronize with game progress on other devices, requires to "Connect with Google Play". Every time I try to connect it, it says "account connect failed, try to connect at a later time."
Any ideas? Would rooting help? I didn't use the Kindle Toolbox because I only wanted the Google play store while retaining the Amazon skin since the primary use for this devices is to browse and buy Kindle books. Other Google apps seem to be able to sign into my Google account without any problems...
Any tips are appreciated!
Have you tried to wipe the application data with which there are problems?
Thanks, that was a good suggestion but it didn't work, still same issue.
If it is possible uninstall the google store and services (or restore to the factory version) and install older versions of the google store and services from apkmirror.