• iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Not only the play store is needed. You need to install an special package with the whole of Google services, often while in recovery/download mode.

    But, to answer/illustrate your question, as a matter of fact, you can install Play store apps even without Play store. Aurora store is an app that connects to the Google servers too get you the very same apks. That’s when you realize, after installed the banking app, that it starts bitching about the Google services missing. “This app was designed to run with Google Play Services, and cannot operate without it”. And poof, it auto closes in your face.

      • iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Google is the one reassuring them that this way their banking app won’t be tampered with by anyone. It’s how they convinced them to trust the Google/Apple in the first place. That’s why they moved away from physical tokens and the like, because the trusted agent is now Google. I’d rather go back to tokens and a webpage I could use from the phone, TBH, but that’s almost a non starter these days.