This is more or less information for those new to the NST/G and maybe contemplating whether to install Google Apps via NTGAppsAttack.
At the end of June 2017, Google ended Market access from Android 2.1 devices. That means no more direct access to market apps from the NST/G, not even through the SearchMarket app. It's over. Of course there are other ways to get apps. But this situation does beg the question "do I need/want GApps on my NST/G"?
The set of user apps installed is pretty basic (see list in the linked installation post). Of those apps, many now do not work.
GMail never worked properly. It picks up mail fine (still) but only sends a few messages and then has to be reinstalled if you want to send more. There is no apparent fix as this is a known issue for the version in the package. The simple email client I use can send and receive GMail on demand but does not require GMail sync to be working. Others may be similar. However, GMail is needed to set up sync for other things, as described in the NTGAppsAttack post.
Calendar never synced properly. A search of the forum will reveal various other apps people have used with varying success.
Contacts will not sync. Well, there actually is no Contacts app. Apparently the resident B&N contacts regimen interferes. Again, a forum search will yield various apps people have tried in place of Contacts.
Google Talk may or may not work. You can sign in, but that may not mean much.
Google News and Weather, aka Genie Widget, has been dead for some time now.
Calculator works Of course you could probably just drop that apk into your system/app folder and reboot. No GApps needed. And there are other calculator apps out there.
Other than Market access, the whole reason to want GApps is the ability to sync with information on Google servers. There is still one thing that works: Google Books (1.2.2). You can't just install Google Books and expect it to work without GApps because in addition to the apps listed, there is a slew of other stuff involving accounts and sync that is also installed with the NTGAppsAttack.
So the long and short of it would seem to be that if you're not interested in Google Books (for as long as it continues to work), then you don't need GApps on your system. If you do want Google Books, then you need GApps, but certainly not all of it.
Since the demise of market access I have been slowly disabling parts of GApps that seem safe to shut down. My list may not be exhaustive, but it does leave me with a functioning system. To disable an app in system/app, use a root browser to rename the apk file. I chose to rename Calendar.apk to Calendar.OLD, etc. Anything will do. GMail and GMailProvider can be disabled once you have set up sync for Books.
Here's the list of GApps I have disabled successfully:
Calendar
CalendarProvider
Gmail
GmailProvider
MarketUpdater
Talk
TalkProvider
Vending
If you have disabled others without breaking the system, I'd like to know. Always better to quiet the system down instead of having apps trying to phone home to no avail.
Edit: see also Regain Market access on your NST/G
Related
Earlier today I decided to try out an alternative version of Email.apk, so I backed up the original version of that file, installed the newer version...which proceeded to FC...and then rebooted and restored the original version. Now I can't seem to access information on my corporate Exchange server which was my only account in Email (I also have a Gmail account, but I use the Gmail app for that).
I've tried clearing settings for Email, Calendar (and storage), Contacts (and storage), and Google Services Framework, deleting and recreating the account repeatedly, rebooting after each attempt, etc., but still no luck. Basically it lets me add the account after successfully connecting to the Exchange server, but then it doesn't download email and it doesn't see any calendars or contacts. I know the problem isn't with the Exchange server because all of my other clients (Outlook, OWA, iPhone, etc.) still work fine.
It seems as if there's some kind of cruft floating around from before that's not quite enough to allow Email to work properly, but enough to keep it from properly recreating the account. Is there a particular app database I need to clear/flush in order to recreate this account?
Thanks much for any help!!!
A little research led me to this issue with Android 2.3.3 that seems to be similar if not the same:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15356
Looks like it's been fixed in 2.3.4. Assuming that the patch in the middle of that thread is the actual fix, it doesn't look like it should be that hard to integrate into CM7, though I've never done a build of Android/CM7 so I don't know enough to comment. Any thoughts?
I was just wondering if most people use the same google account for phones and their tablet or have people created a separate "tablet" account? I noticed all the apps i have installed on my phone reinstalled on my tablet the first time, which was ok, but I started thinking, what if i start putting roms on each, it seems it'd be very easy to start getting some apps on the phone but not on the tablet, and vice versa.
i.e facebook is not available for the tab, so now if i wipe my phone and put on a new rom is the auto restore not going to restore facebook anymore?
I was also curious about how google talk or apps like that might handle multiple logins, anyone have problems with that yet?
I use the same account.. that way I don't have to buy apps twice!
Also added my wifes gmail/gtalk accounts on there without any issues. It just prompts you for what user you want to sign in with when you start the app.
I also just use one account so I don't have to pay twice (especially since I paid for the $30 Slingbox app).
Google Talk handles multiple concurrent logins fairly well, as has been the case since it was available in the browser email.
If you don't want apps automatically reinstalled when flashing a new ROM, just uncheck the box during the initial setup. I find it annoying and tend to only reinstall apps when I have a need to use them.
I needed to change the Google account in my NSTG but couldn't find an obvious way to do it from the existing apps or tools in my rooted device. Removing accounts.db from /data and rebooting seemed to do the trick - I was then able to add a new Google account by using the Market app. Mail, calendar, etc. sync, Google Talk works and installed apps can be updated via Market. I don't know what effect this has on the B&N account and on-line library as I don't use their services but at least the stock reader app and library continue to work OK.
You might have been able to do it through the Gmail app's settings.
Thanks. At least in the Gmail app that I have there's only an option to add an account. Maybe it would allow me to delete the old account after adding a new account but I'm not going to test that now that everything is working perfectly. If someone could confirm that - whether one Google account can be deleted if there are multiple accounts present - I'd appreciate it.
Hey all,
I attached my gmail account to the gmail app in my rooted nook. Now, I'm finding that I'm eating a lot more battery life than I used to. I'm guessing it has to do with the work of syncing the google mail. The problem, is that in the app, whenever I get into the settings area for controlling the account, the nook reboots. I'm not sure why.
I'd love to disable the gmail app or otherwise keep it from updating, but I can't get at it from any menus on the device. I was thinking ADB, but I'm open to other ideas.
AN IMPORTANT POINT: I don't want to remove my google account from the device, because I'm loading apps via the Market that way. I just want to stop the gmail mail account app from eating my battery through it's activity!
Something is fishy about that Gmail installation. Maybe try reinstalling the app? Or if you used the GappsAttack (or whatever), just redo that.
Failing that, you can disable the apps (as I did when Gmail kept failing to send mail without deleting the accounts and adding them anew--a known issue with older versions of the app) by renaming the apk files as .old or .bak or something. To do that you will need a Root Browser of some sort (like the free app of the same name). Then go to system/app and there rename Gmail.apk and GmailProvider.apk
When I was using Gmail I had it set to check "never", meaning I could check manually when I wanted. Now that I am using the Email.apk provided by NFHimself here I have it set the same way and it works great--all the time.
I recently got rid of my old gmail account and created a new one. I deleted accounts.db from my nook and re-registered with my new gmail address through the Market.
Gmail and calendars synced fine after this, but the Market will not download any apps and the Nook isn't listed as a device under my new google account.
Is there any way to fix this besides re-rooting? I was about to re-root, but after thinking about all the apps I have to reinstall and the settings I have to fix, I decided it wasn't worth it. I have my nook set up nicely and won't necessarily need the Market, plus I'm pretty sure I can still side-load apps anyways so could just find the APK for stuff instead.
But, if there is a way to fix the Market without re-rooting, I'd love to know.
It may be too late unless you have a backup containing the accounts.db file, but take a look at this.
Thank you so much for your response.
Although it was a frustrating process, I did end up re-rooting. It was worth it in the end to re-root. I also did not back up my accounts.db when I had deleted it, so as you said, I think it was too late to do anything about it.
But to add to the discussion, when I go to manage applications in the launcher I use, Home[+], there's no option to clear data for Google Apps, only to clear the cache. Other apps like Google Talk allow for their data to be cleared.
I use ADW Launcher and checked in the Manager section to see if I had the same situation. I do. Some Google apps have the "clear data" option, others do not.