The premise behind this one is fairly simple: If you're a custom ROM user, you can just flash the base ROM file, and skip the Gapps package to save battery life and help keep performance as high as possible. At least, this was the case in the past-but now, an app called Yalp Store will let you download APKs and install updates directly from the Google Play Store without having to install Gapps or the GMS suite.ĭon't Miss: The 4 Best Phones for Privacy & Security Step 1: Install Yalp Store Users are directed to manually flash the Google Apps (or Gapps) package separately to get access to the app store-but this, of course, comes with all of the privacy, battery, and performance downsides associated with Google services.īottom line, if you're a custom ROM user, you usually have two options: Either flash the Gapps package and take the well-documented performance hit to gain access to Google's massive app library, or use your phone without it and sideload all of your apps instead. To avoid being sued by Google for a violation of the GMS stipulation, most custom ROMs are distributed without the GMS suite, and thus, without the Google Play Store. In other words, if you want access to Android's main app store, you usually have to put up with all of the extra Google nonsense. In order for a phone to have access to the Google Play Store, the full suite of GMS apps must be bundled along with it, so it's all or nothing. Aside from the obvious user-facing apps, there's Google Cloud Messaging, Google Connectivity Services, and the much-maligned Google Play Services running in the background, to name a few.Ĭollectively, these apps and processes are known as Google Mobile Services, or GMS. Android is Google's project, so of course you can see the search giant's fingerprints all over the operating system.

Play store installing