this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
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Privacy

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Hello,

Im in the route of degoogling my life, just recently installed GraphaneOs. Where do you guys download apks? I need Synology apks like Synology Photos. I dont see if it is published on official website.

How you deal with that? How to avoid downloading malware by mistake?

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[โ€“] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Aurora store is interesting. It has two modes you can use to download, right? How well do they work

[โ€“] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Anonymous works fine 99% of the time if you only install occasional apps from Google. It works by grabbing a random Google account from a large pool of Google accounts that Aurora (or someone) runs, and accesses the store for searches and downloads after logging you in. You're logged out after a set period (several hours iirc) and then grab a new 'anon' account from the pool next time you do updates or search for an app.

The only issue you may face occasionally is if the app you want is geofenced to your area, and the 'anon' account was made in a different geographical location - in which case you won't be able to find the app in the store to install (or update) it. I usually just log off and on a couple of times and this resolves. It's a minor irritation.

Many create their own throwaway Google account on a different device (not linked to them in any way), but I haven't bothered.. Might be worth it if you install a lot of apps from Google store and want minimal issues though.

I think that would undo a lot of the attempted anonymity though, even if it's just for app istalls/updates. I've used Aurora for.. 4.. 5?.. years as my only means of apps from the Google app store, only using anon accounts and only having occasional hiccups where updates don't kick off automatically or geofenced apps can't be located. I only use maybe a dozen apps from the store though, all the rest are F-Droid/etc.