Hi
Love the idea of a Google-free world. Years ago many tried to live Microsoft free but . . . .
Anyway I've just detailed the problem to bazcfc 1 below. Do you think that if I go for a custom ROM my phone will not be recognised as a Huawei (the enemy) and I will be left alone unmolested. I will still need to load some Google Apps, (Android Auto, Maps and Gmail) but not much more than that. Do you have any user experience of Custom ROMs. Ive looked at a number of variations on
https://www.getdroidtips.com/best-custom-rom-huawei-p20-lite/ and will probably go for a Lineage or the Pixel Experience ROM as thes seem to be judged as the most stable. Glad to listen to anyone else's experience about ROMs good, or bad. Thanks
PS I've never done this before but I've seen a few YouTube videos and it seems not too complicated
This sort of thing can sometimes be a bit of a b@$t@rd sometimes if you wade in unprepared. Do your research on your make and model and on your target ROM.
I suspect that your recent difficulties are coming about as a result of the Google and Huawei diverging from each other as version updates of all the different elements that make up things (or lack of some of them at least) come to pass. I could be wrong, as I have said, personally I am not willing to use the services of the axis-of-evil.
Lineage is probably the best documented and supported of all alternative android ROM's. When you flash to it you will be offered the opportunity to also install google play services and subsequently to associate everything with a google account. That in turn will allow access to the google play store just like any google OEM device. Many people do exactly that - - - cannot see the point of doing that myself, but hey, to each their own.
Procedurally different devices will often require a different approach in order to install a custom ROM. This is due to the different (vast range) of hardware types available, so do not always expect the procedure for your device to be the same as another device even from the same manufacturer. (like I said, do your research on your exact make and model of device).
If you are minded to step away from google's all encompassing talons, there are alternative app stores available. You will find that you will probably need to make compromises in terms of choice and use a different app to what you have traditionally used in the past. The F-Droid app store is a place where most of the apps are issued under the GNU-GPL license (so Free Software as defined by the FSF). Where apps depart to another permissive Open Source license then that is made very clear in the F-Droid app store's info. Additionally there are alternatives to gaining access to apps that are hosted in the google play store, which you can think of as a proxy that you use in order to get at the app you want. Perhaps the most well-known one is called Aurora with Micro-G running a close second. Using a combination of F-Droid and Aurora is probably a line of least resistance for anyone new to this type of thing. However, custom ROM's such as those provided by the /e/foundatation come with Micro-G already built-in. (The /e/ ROM is basically a fork of Lineage and aims to offer a Google and Apple free experience).
Some apps will however give you problems and are sometimes difficult to troubleshoot. Perhaps the best example of that is banking apps (personally I am not willing to use internet banking on a mobile device). You might find that one bank's app appears to be available in a store like Aurora but will not download. Others will download but not install, Others will download and install but will not run or not run properly. This is because of different banks placing different criteria when searching for information about the target device that you want to install the app on, and the point in time or stage when that discovery procedure is undertaken. There is no common standard for that sort of thing. Those sorts of issues can usually be got around, but not without a fair bit of effort. Aurora for example will offer you a choice of different installation 'modes' as a way of combating this, but many banking apps will either not install or work on a device that is running in 'root' mode, so in some cases it is just of switching-away from 'god-mode' after the ROM has been installed. Once again, research is usually called for and you will typically find that someone has been there before you and has documented it. (industrial-stregth opterx at the ready, as you will be in for allot of reading).
Running a custom ROM on your hardware should not give you 'enemy' type of problems.
I often run some pretty whacky looking setups using things like Sailfish OS as the ROM running on the bare metal and then (Docker) containers in which I place certain android apps or other Linux apps. That type of thing is not for the faint of heart, and probably not the type of thing to do on a device that you have as your 'daily-driver' and you have to be prepared to wear out the old shoe-leather making mistakes and learning before the thing can be considered reliable or 'production-use ready'. Truth is, Sailfish OS actually offers way more apps than I am ever likely to actually want or need, but hey, how else am I supposed to learn about this sort of stuff.
Anyway, I hope that those ramblings are of interest, and good luck
