quotingWhat do Google Play services actually do on GrapheneOS, and should you disable them or just restrict them? I wrote this for GrapheneOS (npub1235…0ht5) users deciding whether to install them. Typical analyses answer only part of that: they look at the installation package or at the network traffic of one device. But Play services are just a host that downloads further modules based on a configuration from Google's server, so there is no single Play services that could be audited once for everybody.
nevent1q…cg42
So I also took apart the delivered modules themselves: 24 files pulled from a rooted emulator, and for each one I worked out where it connects, which permissions it inherits and what it could target. As far as I know, nobody has published that. For example, the map and ad modules run inside the app's own process, so denying Play services the network does not stop them. The article also has practical GrapheneOS advice: which permissions to take away, how to reroute location, and what breaks if you switch them off completely.
Article: https://juraj.bednar.io/en/blog-en/2026/10/30/what-do-google-play-services-really-do-on-grapheneos-i-looked-inside/
Audio version (MP3): https://juraj.bednar.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/play-services-grapheneos-GMS-audio-en.mp3
Technical teardown (PDF, 35 pages): https://juraj.bednar.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/play-services-grapheneos-GMS-privacy-teardown-v3-1.pdf
vult on Nostr: The hundreds of filthy tactics by google devil devs. ...
The hundreds of filthy tactics by google devil devs.