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by salusinarduis 1715 days ago
Signal is specifically designed to work without Google Play Services, so expect a 1:1 experience when using it with these privacy conscious distros.

I'm confident Whatsapp will work, but I have not tried. Push notifications will not work without Google Play Services.

2 comments

According to Plexus, WhatsApp works perfectly on Android without Google Play Services, whether or not you have microG installed.[1] I think they implement their own push notification system if you download directly from them,[2] though I haven't confirmed this.

Discord works perfectly with microG, and has a 3/4 rating without it since notifications will only work if you have microG.

[1] https://plexus.techlore.tech/applications/whats-app

[2] https://www.whatsapp.com/android/

[3] https://plexus.techlore.tech/applications/discord

IME, the notifications do work. I downloaded .apk directly from WhatsApp.
> expect a 1:1 experience

Push notifications are bad and it drains significantly more battery.