What is MicroG? A Beginner's Guide to the Free Play Services Replacement
MicroG is a free, open-source reimplementation of Google Play Services. Learn what it does, who it's for, and why it matters for Android privacy.
If you've ever installed a custom Android ROM like LineageOS, you've probably noticed that most Google apps and many third-party apps simply refuse to work. That's because they depend on Google Play Services — a closed-source background framework Google ships on stock Android.
MicroG (styled µG) is the free and open-source answer to that problem. It is a clean-room reimplementation of the Play Services APIs, written in Java and Kotlin and released under the Apache 2.0 license.
Where Google Play Services contains hundreds of megabytes of proprietary code that runs with deep system access, MicroG is around 12 MB, contains no advertising or telemetry, and respects the permissions you grant it.
Most apps that use Firebase Cloud Messaging, Google Sign-In, Maps, location services or SafetyNet attestation will work with MicroG installed. That includes messengers, banking apps, ride-sharing apps and games.
If you care about privacy without giving up the apps you actually use, MicroG is the most pragmatic option available today.