Android without Google Play Services

Many Android devices have no Google Play Services. GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, /e/OS and LineageOS without Google apps ship without it, and GrapheneOS installs it only as an ordinary app the user can remove. Huawei and Amazon devices have their own services instead. A Codename One application runs on these devices without a separate build: the same APK checks at run time whether Play services is present and uses a fallback, or reports a feature as unsupported, when it isn’t.

No build hint turns this on. The Android port never calls into Play services, Play Core or Firebase without asking first, and a CI check holds it to that.

What changes without Play services

Feature Behavior without Google Play Services

Feature	Behavior without Google Play Services
User interface, storage, networking, SQLite, media	Unchanged. None of them use Play services.
Location	Uses Android’s own location manager. Background location and geofences use the framework’s pending-intent updates and proximity alerts instead of the fused provider. The listener API and the `android.backgroundLocation.*` build hints are the same. An application built without Play services location uses the same fallback on Google devices too, where background location and geofences used to be unsupported.
Maps	`NativeMap` falls back to the vector `MapView` instead of the native Google map.
Push notifications	`PushClient` delivers through UnifiedPush (see below) or Huawei Push Kit when the build includes them. Without any of them, `pushRegistrationError` reports that no push service is available rather than registration never answering.
Google sign-in	`isNativeLoginSupported()` answers `false`, so `GoogleConnect` signs in through the browser OAuth flow.
On-device AI (ML Kit)	Works. The bundled models run locally.
Device attestation (Play Integrity)	`isAttestationSupported()` answers `false`.
In-app review	`isSupported()` answers `false`. The review prompt belongs to the Play Store.
Nearby connections	The transport reports `NOT_SUPPORTED`.
Wear OS data layer	Unavailable.
In-app purchase	Google Play Billing needs the Play Store; purchases are unavailable on these devices.

User interface, storage, networking, SQLite, media

Unchanged. None of them use Play services.

Location

Uses Android’s own location manager. Background location and geofences use the framework’s pending-intent updates and proximity alerts instead of the fused provider. The listener API and the android.backgroundLocation.* build hints are the same. An application built without Play services location uses the same fallback on Google devices too, where background location and geofences used to be unsupported.

Maps

NativeMap falls back to the vector MapView instead of the native Google map.

Push notifications

PushClient delivers through UnifiedPush (see below) or Huawei Push Kit when the build includes them. Without any of them, pushRegistrationError reports that no push service is available rather than registration never answering.

Google sign-in

isNativeLoginSupported() answers false, so GoogleConnect signs in through the browser OAuth flow.

On-device AI (ML Kit)

Works. The bundled models run locally.

Device attestation (Play Integrity)

isAttestationSupported() answers false.

In-app review

isSupported() answers false. The review prompt belongs to the Play Store.

Nearby connections

The transport reports NOT_SUPPORTED.

Wear OS data layer

Unavailable.

In-app purchase

Google Play Billing needs the Play Store; purchases are unavailable on these devices.

Test an application on such a device with the Android emulator’s AOSP system images (default target), which have no Google apps.

Push notifications through UnifiedPush

UnifiedPush lets the user choose the app that holds the push connection: ntfy, NextPush, Sunup and others, called distributors. A UnifiedPush endpoint is a standard Web Push subscription, so the push service delivers to it with the Web Push credential the application already has. It needs no server change and no other credential.

To enable it, copy the VAPID public key from the application’s Web Push credential into a build hint:

codename1.arg.android.unifiedPush.vapidKey=BExampleKeyOf87Base64UrlCharacters...

The key is 87 base64url characters. The build rejects anything else. With the hint set and PushClient in use, the application registers in this order:

Firebase Cloud Messaging, when Google Play Services is available and the build includes google-services.json.
Huawei Push Kit, when HMS Core is installed and the build includes agconnect-services.json.
UnifiedPush, otherwise. If the user has more than one distributor installed, Android asks which one to use. With none installed, pushRegistrationError explains that a push service is needed.

The device key the application receives starts with cn1-web-, and the push service routes it as a Web Push target. android.messagingService=unifiedpush forces UnifiedPush even without the key, for distributors that don’t require one. android.unifiedPush.connectorVersion overrides the version of the UnifiedPush connector library the build adds.