Using the phrase "OK Google" to start a search or execute a command on your phone is cool, useful feature. But I understand that this isn't everyone's cup of tea - some people just don't like talking to their phone. Here's how to disable this feature.

There are several reasons why you want to get rid of this functionality. Maybe you've never used OK Google, so why keep it enabled? You may have used this feature but feel awkward saying “Okay Google” out loud. Or maybe you don't like the false positives of this feature. This is completely understandable.

But then the question arises about Google Assistant and how disabling “Okay Google” will affect it. The good news is that if you have Assistant on your device, you can turn off “Okay Google” without changing how Assistant works.

There are actually two different ways to disable "OK Google", depending on whether your Google device Assistant or not. The good news is that both function locations know about each other, so disabling in one location also disables in the other. So we'll look at a method that will work for everyone, regardless of having a helper: from Google apps.

Every Android phone comes with the Google app installed by default. So, find and launch the “Google” application.

In the Google app, tap the three lines in the top left corner (or just swipe right). Click Settings.

If your device has Google Assistant, then you can access these settings here if you want, but we're looking for more general option: « Voice search" This is about three quarters of the way down this menu.

Here, select “Recognition Okay, Google.” It should be second on this menu.

Click the switch next to "On Any Screen" to turn off this feature.

Now, there is one thing you need to know: "Ok Google" will be activated if you are in the Google app or on the home screen when using Google Now Launcher (which is no longer available). There is no way to disable this feature permanently. But, according to at least, leaving it active only in the Google app should dramatically reduce the number of false positives.

Google quickly went from being a small search engine to the gigantic infrastructure whose components run on our PCs, smartphones, tablets and even TVs. Google is constantly collecting information about us, search queries are carefully logged, movements are tracked, and passwords, letters and contact information are preserved for years to come. All this is an integral part of modernity, but we are quite capable of changing it.

Introduction

It's no secret that any device under Android control(at least what is certified by Google) contains not only components assembled from AOSP, but also an impressive number of proprietary Google programs. These are the same ones Google Play, Gmail, Hangouts, Maps and a bunch of other applications, including dialer and camera (starting with KitKat).

For all these components there is not only source code, but also no explanation at all about the principles of their operation. Many of them were originally created for the purpose of collecting certain types information and send them to Google servers. This is how, for example, GoogleBackupTransport behaves, which is responsible for synchronizing the list of installed applications, passwords and other data, GoogleContactsSyncAdapter, which synchronizes the list of contacts, or ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter, whose job is to synchronize browser bookmarks. Plus collecting information about all queries in the search engine.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with the fact of synchronization, and it is an excellent mechanism that allows you to configure new phone in a matter of minutes, and Google Now even manages to give us useful information based on our data (sometimes). The only problem is that all this destroys our privacy, because, as Snowden showed, under the hood of the NSA (and, most likely, a bunch of other services) there is not only some kind of evil empire under named Microsoft, but also Google, as well as many other companies from the “we are not evil, but fluffy philanthropists” crowd.

In other words: Google will merge us all without any problems, and it’s not a fact that its employees, sitting in their offices with masseuses and dogs, are not laughing at the names from your contact book (everything is encrypted there, yes), drinking 15-year-old pu-erh from Yunnan Province. Or maybe to hell with Google? Let's take their Android and let them go through the forest?

What's happened Google Apps

The latest version of the custom KitKat-based firmware for my smartphone weighs 200 MB, however, in order to get a real experience from the smartphone, I also have to flash the gapps archive on top of it, the size of which is 170 MB. Only after this will I receive a system similar to that pre-installed on Nexus devices, with all the goodies in the form of a desktop integrated with Google Now, a screen lock based on a face shot, a camera with support for spherical shooting and a kilogram of Google software, from Google Play to Google Books.

I repeat once again: all this is closed software from Google, which in a good way cannot be distributed at all without their knowledge (that’s why it is not in custom firmware like CyanogenMod), but since it is quite easy to extract it from the firmware of Nexus devices, you can find it on the Internet huge amount similar archives, including severely truncated ones. In order to release an Android smartphone with a set of gapps on board, the manufacturer must send it for certification to Google, which, after assessing the quality and performance of the smartphone, will either give the go-ahead or kick it (but this does not stop the Chinese at all).

This is how Google Apps get to your smartphone. Of the users, 99% either use pre-installed applications, or install them yourself on absolutely clean and completely anonymous firmware. And then, from the moment you enter your username and password, synchronization and downloading of information begins.

To figure out how this happens, let’s unpack the same archive with gapps and take a look inside. We are interested in the /system/app and /system/priv-app directories; during installation, their contents are copied to the directories of the same name inside the smartphone. The second directory is new to KitKat and houses applications that use system APIs that are marked "private" and not accessible to regular applications.

In the /system/app directory we will find large number various Google applications, easily recognizable by the name of the package: Books.apk, Chrome.apk, Gmail2.apk and so on. Each of them will share information differently, but that's totally fine (yes, Google will know you're reading Paulo Coelho through their app!). The greatest danger here is GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk, which is only responsible for sending to remote server contact list. We write down the name in a notepad and move on.

Most of the files from the /system/priv-app directory are the services and frameworks necessary to run this whole synchronization and surveillance machine:

• GoogleBackupTransport.apk - synchronizes data from installed applications, Wi-Fi passwords and some settings;
• GoogleLoginService.apk - connects the device with a Google account;
• GooglePartnerSetup.apk - allows third party applications gain access to Google services;
• GoogleServicesFramwork.apk - a framework with various auxiliary functionality;
• Phonesky.apk - Play Store(oddly enough);
• PrebuiltGmsCore.apk - Google Services, as the name suggests, this is the core of the entire gapps suite;
• Velvet.apk is a Google search that includes a desktop search bar and Google Now.

In essence, this is the part of Google Apps that is responsible for leaking our private information. Let's try to get rid of all this.

Method number 1. Disabling through settings

The easiest way to unlink a smartphone from Google is to use standard settings systems. The good thing about this method is that it does not require root rights, installation of custom firmware, or custom recovery. Everything can be done in any stock firmware without losing access to your account and applications like Gmail (if necessary). However, no one can vouch for the efficiency, since it is quite possible that some gapps components will continue to send data.

The main location for synchronization settings is the menu “Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> [email protected]" Here you can disable things like syncing contacts, app data, Gmail, Play Music, Google Keep and more. All you need to do is simply uncheck the necessary points menu. Next, go to the “Settings -> Backup and reset” menu and uncheck the “Data backup” and “Auto recovery” items.

The Google Settings application, which is part of Google Services, is also responsible for many synchronization settings. With its help, in particular, you can disable Google access to the location (“Access to geodata -> Access to my geodata / Sending geodata / Location history”), disable sending personal data to the search engine (“Search -> Personal data”), disable Google Now (“Search -> Google Now”) and disable remote control(" Remote control -> Remote search devices/ Remote blocking and reset settings").

In the same “Google Settings,” by the way, you can disable any application that uses your Google account for authorization. We are talking not only about the software installed on the device, but also about all applications ever used, including websites. For example, I found a lot of sites on this list that I haven’t visited for at least a couple of years.

In the event that you do not intend to use Google services at all, it will be easier to disconnect your smartphone from your account completely, that is, simply delete it through the settings: “Settings -> Accounts -> Google -> [email protected]-> Menu button -> Delete account.”

Most Google applications can be disabled painlessly through the settings: “Applications -> ALL -> the right application-> Disable".

Settings Google account
Google Settings

Method number 2. Cleaning the official firmware

If the stock firmware has root rights, you can get rid of Google Apps by simply deleting them from the smartphone. As I already said, they are all stored in the /system/app and /system/priv-app directories. For example, in the case of KitKat, the list of Google applications in the first directory will be like this:

• Books.apk - Google Books;
• CalendarGoogle.apk - Google Calendar;
• Chrome.apk - Google Chrome;
• CloudPrint.apk - cloud printing system;
• Drive.apk - Google Drive;
• GenieWidget.apk - news and weather widget;
• Gmail2.apk - Gmail;
• GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk - contact synchronization;
• GoogleEars.apk - Google Ears (similar to Shazam);
• GoogleEarth.apk - Google Earth;
• GoogleHome.apk - home screen with integrated Google Now;
• GoogleTTS.apk - speech synthesis system;
• Hangouts.apk - Google Hangouts;
• Keep.apk - Google Keep;
• LatinImeGoogle.apk - keyboard with gesture support;
• Magazines.apk - Google Magazines;
• Maps.apk - Google Maps;
• Music2.apk - Google Music;
• PlayGames.apk - Google PlayGames;
• PlusOne.apk - Google+;
• QuickOffice.apk - QuickOffice;
• Street.apk - Google Street;
• SunBeam.apk - SunBeam live wallpaper;
• Videos.apk - Google Movies;
• YouTube.apk - YouTube.

The /system/priv-app directory, in addition to those listed earlier, also contains the following files:

• CalendarProvider.apk - stores calendar data;
• GoogleFeedback.apk - sends a report on the use of Google Play;
• GoogleOneTimeInitilalizer.apk - installation wizard for additional Google applications;
• SetupWizard.apk - setup wizard on first launch;
• Wallet.apk - Google Wallet;
• talkback.apk - voice notification about events on the device.

The Gapps kit for KitKat, among other things, also includes a proprietary camera with support for spherical shooting and a proprietary desktop with integrated Google Now.

But that's not all. Google Apps depends on several frameworks, which are located in the /system/framework directory. These files are com.google.android.maps.jar, com.google.android.media.effects.jar and com.google.widevine.software.drm.jar. There are also many libraries in the /system/lib directory that are used exclusively by Google applications. It is not at all necessary to remove them, but it is possible. Just to clean up the trash. You can find a list of them on the website ][.

In previous (and future) versions of the system, the content of Google Apps is different, so before uninstalling I recommend downloading gapps the required version from the site goo.im/gapps, unpack from using WinRar and view the content. You should also take into account the dependence of some applications from the market on Google applications, I will talk more about this later.

This is only a part of the libraries included in the gapps kit

Method number 3. Custom firmware without gapps

The previous method can be significantly simplified if you simply install it on your smartphone custom firmware without Google Apps. In this case, the smartphone/tablet will be crystal clear without any connection to Google. The disadvantage of this method is the absence of Google Play, but you can either replace it third party store applications (more on this below), or use next way, which includes installing a stripped-down Google versions Apps.

Method number 4. Google Play and nothing else

This method of partially decoupling from Google is a kind of compromise. It does not solve the problem of surveillance - at least without the settings from the first method - but it allows you not to clutter the system with a bunch of useless software, which will hang in the background and eat up memory. The idea is simple - install custom firmware and upload a minimalist version of gapps on top of it, which includes only Google Play.

There are many such minimal gapps assemblies on the Internet, but I would recommend using the time-tested BaNkS Gapps, namely the “month-date” file GApps Core 4.4.2 signed.zip". They work on any smartphone, are ART compatible and include only the basic gapps files, a list of which is given in the "What are Gapps" section, framework files, as well as several libraries. Essentially, it's Google Play, synchronization tools and nothing else.

Changing the search engine to DuckDuckGo

Even after complete shutdown synchronization, the “built-in” Google search bar will remain on the home screen. IN stock firmware Some manufacturers (Samsung, for example) are just a widget that can be easily removed from the screen. IN pure Android and devices from many other manufacturers, it is “built into” the home screen, but it can be removed by disabling all search from Google (along with Google Now) using the menu “Settings -> Applications -> All -> Google search -> Disable” or by installing a third party launcher. Next, just download DuckDuckGo from the market or another application store and add the widget of the same name to your home screen.

Third party market

The second and third methods involve completely getting rid of Google Apps, including Google Play and the ability to log in using a Google account, so we must find a way to simply and conveniently install applications that would not force us to download them ourselves, and then dump them on a memory card and install manually. One such way is to install a third-party market.

On at the moment there are three more or less viable Google alternatives Play. These are Amazon Appstore, Yandex.Store and 1Mobile Market. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, which mainly come down to the number of applications and payment methods:

• Amazon Appstore is the most famous application store after Google Play. Contains more than 75 thousand applications (compared to 800 thousand on Google Play), the quality of each of which is manually checked, just like iTunes for iOS. You can pay using credit card or Amazon Coins, which are given as a gift for a purchase Kindle tablet Fire or as a gift from another user. One of the most interesting features of the store is the daily free distribution of one of the paid applications.
• Yandex.Store is a store from the Yandex company. Contains more than 85 thousand applications, each of which is scanned by Kaspersky antivirus. It doesn’t particularly stand out, but it has a killer feature in the form of the ability to pay for purchases using the Yandex.Money service or accounts mobile phone.
• 1Mobile Market is the largest third-party repository of Android applications, including more than 500 thousand software. It differs from others by the presence of exclusively free applications (not to be confused with pirated ones), which is why it allows you not to go through the account registration stage and maintain anonymity.

Applications in all three markets have original digital signatures application developers, allowing them to be used simultaneously. An application installed from one market can be updated without problems from another, and if will disappear if deleted from the list of installed ones in all of them at once. However, you will have to buy them separately.

Amazon Appstore
Yandex.Market 1Mobile Market

Open Source Market

In addition to those described in the article, as well as many other lesser-known application stores, you can find a different repository on the Internet. It is completely anonymous and contains only free software distributed under licenses approved by the FSF. There are only a thousand applications in F-Droid, but all of them are guaranteed to not contain backdoors or other systems for disclosing personal data. It is F-Droid that is used as the default market in the free Android firmware Replicant.

Solving the problem of application dependence on Google Apps

Even though gapps components are not part of the official Android API, some applications still expect to see them on the system, which can cause a number of problems - from the application not working at all to losing some of its functionality. Some applications will refuse to install due to lack of Google Maps API, others crash immediately after launch without detecting it, others include direct links to Google Play, which can lead to crashes and incorrect operation.

To solve these problems, XDA user MaR-V-iN started the NOGAPPS project, which is developing a set open components, replacing the original functionality of Google Apps. There are currently three replacement components available:

• Network Location is a Wi-Fi based geolocation service and base stations GSM. Based on Apple's IP address database and open database base stations;
• Maps API - replacement of the interface to Google Maps based on OpenStreetMap;
• BlankStore is an open alternative to the Play Store client. Allows you to install free apps from Google store, but is not recommended for use due to possible sanctions from the search engine (this is prohibited by their rules).

The components are installed separately and in different ways. Network Location simply needs to be manually copied to the /system/app/ directory in Android 2.3–4.3 or to the /system/priv-app/ directory in KitKat (in this case you should use the NetworkLocation-gms.apk file). Maps API is installed by flashing the nogapps-maps.zip file via the recovery console. To install the market, you will have to not only copy the file, but also generate an Android ID on a large machine, but since this is not recommended, I will not talk about it and will limit myself to a link to the instructions.

After all the manipulations, the software should work correctly.

Conclusions

For the company Google Android without its own applications it is useless, so it is not surprising that the company takes out the most delicious parts of the system in them and leaves the code closed. However, in this article I showed that there is life without gapps and it can be even easier and more convenient than with Google.

There are people who like Google+, and there are those who this service annoying and if you are registered there but do not use it, then you may receive unwanted notifications.

If you want to turn off notifications from Google+, then I have good news: turning off all Google+ notifications is actually a very easy task. And if you don't want to turn them off, you can control all notifications. That's the point.

Firstly, there are several different ways manage Google+ alerts: on the website and in the application. Each method is slightly different from the others, so we will describe each of them. Let's start with the website.

Manage Google+ notifications on your website

Firstly, go to Google+ website. Here, click on the Settings button in the left navigation bar. If the panel is not visible, you need to click on the three bars in the top left corner to show the sidebar.

There are several various options notifications in this menu, but we'll start from the very top. The first option in this menu is “Who can send you alerts.” There are several options (the default is “Advanced Circles”), so you can choose what works best for you. If you plan to completely disable notifications, then you do not need to configure anything here - we will do this below.

Scroll down until you see the Alerts section. Here you can turn it off completely Google Alerts+. Simply set the toggles to "Disabled" on any notification option you want to disable. Easy and fast.

But here's the thing: it's simple general settings. If you need more fine tuning, then click on the arrow next to each subsection (posts, people, photos, etc.) to deep customization notifications.

Disable the options that you consider unnecessary and you're done.

Manage Google+ notifications on your Android phone

If you don't like the website option, you can also manage notifications on your phone, but keep in mind that this will only work for email notifications. For other cases, you need to configure it on the website.

Launch the Google+ app on your phone, open the menu, then tap Settings.

Select an account, then Alerts.

If you want to completely turn off notifications, then set the top switch to the “Off” position. Ready.

But again, if you want more detailed setup, then scroll below. There are many options to choose from, and they are all quite simple, so you have to decide what you need and what you don't.

It's also worth noting that these settings are synchronized with your account Google, so anything you change here will change anywhere else. mobile device, which you use, as well as in the "Phone" section of the notification settings on the website. It's quite convenient.

Manage Google+ notifications on your iPhone

If you iOS user, then things are a little different from the Android version, instead of having its own notification controls, the Google+ app literally just redirects to the settings website. Still, it's better than nothing.

Open the Google+ app, open the menu on the left, then click Settings.

Select Alerts.

The app will then open Google+ web settings in the app window, where you can manage email and app notifications.

Similar to the settings we talked about in the first section of this article, you can enable or disable notifications for email and mobile phone or touch each subsection to get more detailed settings.

Hello friends! After purchasing a new phone with operating Android system you've probably noticed that a lot of various services from Google. In this article, let's talk about one of them - the Google search bar.

Many users do not use it at all, but simply open it Chrome browser and they are already looking there necessary information. So why is it needed at all? This service called Google Now. You can type into the line or, by pressing the microphone, dictate the text to search. By adding this widget to the screen, the company is simply trying to make the product itself more popular.

If you have never written anything there, you want to place icons on the screen as you wish, or the widget itself is simply in the way and takes up a lot of space, then let’s figure out how to remove Google search from the screen of your Android phone.

Disable the corresponding application

You can remove Google search from the main screen of your smartphone by simply disabling the application that is responsible for it in the settings. Therefore, open “Settings”.

IN earlier versions On Android it's called " Google Search" Go to the “All” tab and click on it.

A window like this should appear. Click “OK” there.

Now the button will turn gray, which means that the application has stopped working.

For those who have one of the latest versions Android, in the list of applications on the “All” tab, you need to look for “Google”.

Stop it working and agree that you are doing it forcibly.

After the button becomes inactive, the problem will be solved.

In the early Android versions Next to “Stop” there may be a “Delete” button - use it. It’s just that if the OS is higher than version 5, then there complete removal impossible. It will only be possible to stop the application, but after restarting the phone, it will be launched again and the line will appear on the screen.

Removing Google search by dragging a widget

You can remove the Google search bar from the screen by simple drag and drop, since this is a regular widget. But on different devices this is done in different ways.

Press on the line and hold your finger.

If an image of a basket appears at the top of the screen, simply drag the widget onto it. After that, it will disappear from the desktop.

There may be this option: hold your finger on the line, a small context menu will open. In it, select “Delete”.

Google search will disappear from the main screen, and if necessary, you can always return it back by selecting it in the list of widgets.

If you want to remove Google search from your desktop on your tablet, the steps are very similar to what you need to do on your phone. Hold your finger on the widget, and then either move it up to the trash can image or the word “Delete”, or select from context menu suitable item.

Through installing another Launcher

If you don’t just need to remove Google search from the screen on your Android phone, but customize the desktop completely “for yourself,” then you can use the installation of a third-party launcher. You can find them in the Play Store, just write “launcher” in the search bar. They are both paid and free. Consider Nova Launcher, which is free and has a large number settings.

After installation, simply press the Home button on your device. It can be sensory or mechanical. Then a window will appear: “What should I use?” Just indicate installed application and select "Always". Your desktop will change. Customize it as you wish. To delete a Google search line, just hold your finger on it and select “Delete” from the list.

Using Root rights

AND last method- is receiving full rights for your Android smartphone. If you already have Root rights, then you can use them to remove the Google search string. If you haven’t set them up for yourself and have a desire, you can do so. You just need to take into account that after you have the opportunity to fully control your phone, the opportunity disappears warranty service devices.

I think you finally managed to remove the Google search bar from the desktop of your phone or tablet.

You can choose to see suggestions that appear in Google app recommendations and in your phone's browser, such as news about your favorite TV series or football club.

Step 1: Enable app and web history

Step 2: Select Tip Types

How to add or remove topic subscriptions in the Google app

​How to remove topic subscriptions in the browser

Note.

How to subscribe to a new topic

If you are looking for something interesting, you can subscribe to news on this topic.

Note. This feature may not be available in all languages ​​or countries.

Note. This feature may not be available in all languages ​​or countries.

How to set up automatic video playback

Videos in the app may automatically play without sound. You can specify exactly when video files will be played, and you can also disable this feature.

How to set your advertising preferences

You can't turn off advertising completely. But you can choose which ads you want to see in your feed. Such tooltips will contain the inscription “Advertising”. To remove ads from a specific advertiser, follow these steps:

You can't prevent ads from appearing, but you can specify the categories of ads you want to see in recommendations. Ads are personalized based on your activity and settings. You can view and customize the history of your actions on the page