# microG 31 Hacker News commenters recommended microG and 24 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 1 years (3 owners). **Verdict:** Free, open source Play Services replacement that contacts Google only when needed and can be switched off. Critics say it still uses Google code and has had privacy leaks. ## Why people recommend it - Free, open source reimplementation (4 comments): "It reimplements the Play Services APIs, but is FOSS and only connects to Google servers when it's necessary for some functionality" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49523613)) "microG is a full, open source reimplementation and won't send any data to google" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45973187)) "Micro G is an excellent Google Play Services alternative which is open source." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46451453)) - Blocks Google tracking and ads APIs (4 comments): "provides dummy no-op implementations of Google Play tracking APIs, and allows you to select alternative Location Providers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47049022)) "MicroG is great because it limits Google's tracking as much as possible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50182917)) "Micro-G mitigates a large portion of the Google data harvesting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48160081)) - Can be turned on and off (3 comments): "MicroG allows me to disable it when I want to, and push notifications still work when I (rarely) need to enable it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48213268)) "I'd rather have control who to use for my location API and be able to turn it off entirely." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50182944)) "MicroG is awesome wrt. that as you can turn it on/off as you wish, and it just works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47754001)) - Lets apps work on custom ROMs (3 comments): "the Android contact tracing APIs were actually reimplemented in microG, allowing these apps to work even on custom roms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047654)) "It runs plenty fine enough even without GApps (or with shims like microg)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46337009)) "those that run LineageOS/microG without rooting are largely fine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48718598)) ## What people warn about - Still downloads and runs Google code (5 comments): "That would require expanding trust to a 3rd party, and granting privileged access to software that downloads and runs google code." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50173408)) "MicroG downloads and runs google code in a privileged context and has had many privacy and security issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50168687)) "it downloads Google's proprietary, obfuscated DroidGuard blobs (which they can change between requests)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773999)) - Leaks location and sensitive data (4 comments): "worse app compatibility, worse security (especially because of privileged access), and worse privacy (leaks)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50173574)) "microG has repeatedly had vulnerabilities leaking sensitive data to apps including location data." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50170481)) "microG's leaks and failure to implement other checks and there's arguably no real gain in privacy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50177827)) - Still connects to Google servers (3 comments): "MicroG is not an alternative to not using play services at all = actually avoiding Google, but a open source reimplementation that still has all the privacy and security issues of regular play services." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48192597)) "microG, which is an open source implementation of the Play Services, but it means that it sends Play requests to Play servers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46678140)) "With microG, your apps still connect to the Google servers, so you're not "breaking free"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47048836)) - Weaker app compatibility than Play Services (3 comments): "It's not obviously a better option: for instance, some things that are supported in Play Services are not supported in microG" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47049167)) "worse app compatibility, worse security (especially because of privileged access), and worse privacy (leaks)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50173574)) "microG offers worse app compatibility and is less secure. The cons outweigh the pros by a lot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50168504)) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "microG", https://hackerapproved.com/p/microg/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).