Google began blocking its services on devices without certification
At the beginning of last year, Android device manufacturers began to prepare for the idea of device certification if they plan to use Google services. Now the Internet giant began to tighten the screws to those who did not react to the suggestion and tried to bypass the system.
What happened?
Nobody wants to see this when you first start a brand new smartphone
According to a source working with an unnamed OEM / ODM manufacturer, Google completely banned access to its services in the latest firmware. Until now, messages about such cases have been received only from individual users, and the problem could easily be solved by deleting all the Google Play Services data in the settings. Apparently, in 2017, the developers ran a new system, and soon this method will stop working.
The employee of the company said that access to the services was blocked on March 16. Apparently, Google checks the ro.build.fingerprint key, which contains the date of creation of the assembly. But it is not exactly.
Prior to all these changes, the manufacturer had to sign the MADA contract and return the devices for certification to officially include Google's services in the firmware. So did almost all the famous manufacturers. Small brands considered this a costly occupation and used by-pass ways of loading services.
Now everyone will have to accept the new rules of the game. To make it easier for software developers, Google outlined all the requirements for device compatibility in the Compatibility Definition Document (CDD). The manufacturer must comply with them in order to successfully pass the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) compatibility program. This also ensures that there will not be a dozen spies and adware Trojans on the new device from the factory.
And what about custom?
Users feared that Google might prohibit the installation of modified firmware (for example, LineageOS ), but this did not happen. On this page, you can specify the Android Device ID to circumvent the restrictions. You can find this code using the ADB tool and even utilities on Google Play.
Centrally on the manufacturer's side, this can not be done, so either the brand certifies the device, or the users will be provided with a dancing with a tambourine.
Is there life without services?
Of course, the manufacturer can use the fully free version of AOSP without Google Play store, Gmail, Google Music and so on. However, applications often use Google Play Services to send push notifications, and if the desired service does not appear on the device, this feature may stop working. In addition, developers often use Google services to synchronize achievements in games.
Source: XDA Developers
