MicroG Installation Guide

A complete walkthrough for installing MicroG on a supported Android ROM. Budget about 15 minutes.

1. 1

   Check prerequisites & clean up

   Your ROM must support signature spoofing — this is the single hard requirement. Without it, MicroG cannot impersonate Google Play Services and most apps will fail silently.

   If you previously had Google Play Services (GApps) installed, you must remove it first. Uninstall updates via: adb uninstall com.google.android.gms — then delete any remaining GApps packages from /system/priv-app (GmsCore, GoogleServicesFramework, Phonesky, Velvet, etc.). Reboot before continuing.

2. 2

   Confirm signature spoofing support

   The following ROMs include signature spoofing out of the box: CalyxOS, /e/OS, iodéOS, and LineageOS for MicroG.

   These ROMs support it but you must enable it manually in settings: LineageOS (builds from Feb 26 2024 onwards — MicroG-only), AospExtended (Settings → Apps → Advanced → App Permissions), ArrowOS, CarbonROM, crDroid, OmniROM 5–7.

   If your ROM is not on this list, you can still add spoofing support via the Xposed module 'FakeGApps fork by whew-inc', or by patching your ROM with NanoDroid-patcher or Tingle.

3. 3

   Download the APKs

   Head to the Download page and grab the correct GmsCore variant for your device (Standard for AOSP ROMs, Huawei build for EMUI/HarmonyOS). Also download MicroG Companion (FakeStore) if you do not already have the Google Play Store installed.

   Optionally grab MicroG Services Framework Proxy (GsfProxy) if you use older apps that still rely on the legacy C2DM push system. Most users do not need it.

4. 4

   Install GmsCore APK

   Install the GmsCore APK through Android's package installer by tapping the file, or via ADB from a computer:

   adb install -r com.google.android.gms-250932030.apk

   Do not install multiple GmsCore variants — pick only the one that matches your device.

5. 5

   Install MicroG Companion (FakeStore)

   Skip this step if the Google Play Store is already installed on your device.

   Otherwise install FakeStore the same way — tap the APK or use: adb install -r com.android.vending-84022630.apk

   FakeStore acts as a lightweight Play Store stub for apps that check whether the Play Store exists for license verification.

6. 6

   (Optional) Install GsfProxy

   Only needed for older apps that use the legacy Device-to-Cloud (C2DM) push system. Most modern apps use FCM inside GmsCore instead, so skip this unless you have a specific need.

   On Android 15+, normal installation may be blocked due to a low target SDK. Use this ADB command instead:

   adb install -r --bypass-low-target-sdk-block GsfProxy.apk

7. 7

   Configure MicroG Settings

   Open MicroG Settings from your app drawer. On the main screen, enable both background service checkboxes — these are required for Google account login and cloud messaging (FCM push notifications) to function.

   Tap Self-Check. Every row should show a green tick. If any row is red, tap it to see the fix — common failures are the signature spoofing row (check Step 2) or the battery optimization row (see Step 8).

   Optionally open the UnifiedNlp / Location section to configure location backends (see Step 9).

8. 8

   Reboot your device

   A full reboot is required after installation. Skipping this step can cause unexpected behavior — apps may crash or fail to detect MicroG even though it is installed correctly.

9. 9

   Disable battery optimisation

   Required on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and later. Android's battery optimiser can put MicroG Services to sleep, breaking push notifications and background sync.

   Go to Settings → Battery → (Menu) → Battery optimization → find MicroG Services Core → set to Don't optimize.

   On some ROMs this is under Settings → Apps → MicroG Services Core → Battery.

10. 10

    (Optional) Add Google account

    If you need FCM push notifications or Google Sign-In for apps, go to MicroG Settings → Google Account and add your Google account.

    This step is completely optional — many apps and all core MicroG features work without a Google account.

11. 11

    (Optional) Set up location backends

    MicroG replaces Google's location service with pluggable backends via UnifiedNlp. Install a backend from F-Droid to get network-based location without sending data to Google.

    Recommended options: Mozilla Location Service (MLS), Déjà Vu Location Service (offline, learns from GPS), or Radiocells.org backend. Install the backend APK, then enable it in MicroG Settings → Location.

    Note: Android 7+ also requires either an additional system patch or GmsCore to be installed as a privileged system app (/system/priv-app/GmsCore/) for full location functionality.