Re: What can't you do on Android WITHOUT a Google Account set up in the OS?

Theo wrote on 01 Jan 2025 22:33:55 +0000 (GMT) :

No, I had no Google account anywhere on the phone.  The Fitbit account
wanted me to 'Sign in with Google'.  This also *signed in the whole phone
with Google* (ie Play Store, everything).  If I removed that account from
the phone in Settings -> Accounts, the Fitbit app wasn't signed in and
wanted to 'Sign in with Google'.  Around the circle we go.
 The only way to avoid this is to create a separate user profile and install
the Fitbit app into it (as the only app besides the system apps).  That
signs that whole profile into Google, but doesn't affect the apps installed
in other profiles.  When are done with the Fitbit app, stop that profile and
go back to your other profile that has no Google account in it.  This only
works if your phone OEM has enabled user profiles.

I tested this and Theo is correct as far as my empirical tests showed.
   <https://i.postimg.cc/7ZRtbdHN/fitbit01.jpg>
My test just now was... 1. I never had a Google Account set up on my Android phone even as    I have many Google Accounts which I log into on my Android phone.
2. Anonymously, without using the Google Play Store app, I used the    canonical FOSS Google Play Store replacement app to install FitBit.
3. This anonymously installed the exact same FitBit app from the exact
   same Google Play Store repo that a Google Play Store app would install.
When I tried to use that Google FitBit app from the Google Play Store repo, the Google FitBit app gave me the choice of logging into FitBit or Google.
The choice of FitBit apparently requires a pre-existing FitBit account.
Which I don't have. (I don't even know what FitBit does in fact.)
My only choice was the Google login, which, surprise, did exactly what Theo
said it would do - and it said it would do it - it *infests* the Android
phone with a Google Account even when there is no Google Account integral
to Android settings (in Settings > Accounts and backup > Manage accounts).
  <https://i.postimg.cc/x1NZwj5G/account02.jpg>
This means we need to find an alternative (hopefully open-source) to FitBit
if we wish to have any possibility of privacy when using it with Android:
 *For privacy, what is a suitable alternative to the Google FitBit app on Android?*
 <https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=56645&group=comp.mobile.android#56645>
BTW, what does FitBit do?
Whatever it does - that's what we want to find a FOSS replacement for.