openGapps - a blessing!
Repository
https://github.com/opengapps/opengapps/
OpenGapps is a name which would not be alien among Android developers or power users who like tweaking their phones to their liking. They, I am sure, would agree with me in saying that openGapps is indeed a most essential and crucial resource.
My first encounter with it took place in 2017. At that time, I did not have a phone, so used Genymotion to run a Google Pixel VM on my laptop. At one point I realized that I required the use of some Google services which I could not find on the image installed, and so began my hunt for a solution. I did not have to look far, however: it appeared that openGapps was as common as table salt among the community of developers. But there were problems, oh yes.
And that brings us to the question: what exactly is openGapps?
As the name (might) suggest, it is a package of all the services and functionality offered by Google on Android devices - Play Store, Calendar, Play Services, etc.
But why would someone need it?
When a person flashes a custom ROM on his device, the new operating system is devoid of any traces of Google whatsoever - because Android, too, is open source and the device manufacturers add the Google things. So, the new ROM, which is made by changing open source code, does not and can not offer any Google services. But experience tells us that they are, in fact, quite necessary and useful.
And here's where openGapps comes in. One just has to flash it on top of the ROM and that's done - easy!
The packages of openGapps come in different varieties. You can visit their website https://opengapps.org to see for yourself the classifications.
They're classified on three bases: platform, Android version, and then the variant.
The first step is to determine which platform the mobile device you're going to flash the package on runs. There are four:
- ARM
- ARM64
- x86
- x86_64
(This is where I got stuck, that part comes later 😉😂 )
When you've figured out the platform, you pick the Android version the ROM you've installed is based on, and then finally you choose a variant. There are many, and the basic difference among them is the number of apps and services offered: lesser apps, smaller size! Most of the apps can be downloaded off the Play Store later, however: it's the basic functionality that's not available from the Play Store that you want.
After you've decided on all three, just hit the download button and a zip file will materialize itself on your storage shortly (or taking time, depending on your internet speed 😂). When it's done, you just have to flash it on the device using a custom recovery such as TWRP and you're good to go!
So, back to my story, I couldn't figure out what platform would be suitable for a virtual machine running an x86 image but inside an x64 machine... and so two unsuccessful attempts later I had Google set up on Genymotion. Nowadays, however, a button to install openGapps is provided with Genymotion already (Ah! How time changes!).
And after that, it was a constant friendship. Every time I update my phone with a new ROM, I pay openGapps a visit.
I wonder, what would we do without it!?
Cheers!
ArnavR
@arnavr
Thank you for your contribution to Utopian.
I appreciate your efforts, but I think there are still quite a few areas where you could improve your work.
On the content side, much like your previous submission, there's very little there there. It's a story of your experience using an open source application suite, but it tells us nothing about the suite itself. Plus, it's the Google apps. I'm hard pressed to think what new information or insight can be delivered on the topic in 2019. I'd love to be proven wrong, but that would take significant expertise. Before posting, I would urge you to consider two questions: What unique value am I bringing to readers? What unique value am I bringing to the open source project?
On the presentation side, I'm certainly happy to see the shorter, clearly separated, paragraphs. The writing, however, still needs a lot of work. Near the end of my weekly report on the Blog category, I have tips for writers. I suggest that you read them.
Specifically, I'll point out that "lesser apps" means "apps that aren't as good," not "not as many apps." You would have been better served by writing "fewer apps."
Your contribution has been evaluated according to Utopian policies and guidelines, as well as a predefined set of questions pertaining to the category.
To view those questions and the relevant answers related to your post, click here.
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Thank you for your review, @didic! Keep up the good work!
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