Using Poweramp (paid Play version) without Play Store \ Services

[MRK17]

Hello. I'm a long time Poweramp user (bought it ages ago on a SonyEriccson phone with Android 4). Lately I'm trying to de-google my life as much as I can, but there is one problem, my favourite music app (Poweramp of course) was bought on Google Play. Using LineageOS on my main phone with no Google I wasn't able to use it (and if I installed Google Play and then removed it, Poweramp V2 at the time, would deactivate after a while) so I just used other players for a few years now. Now I got a new phone from my employer and even though I could probably mod this one as well, I'd rather keep it stock. Having Google and everything already on the phone, I could reinstall Poweramp from Play store using my original Google account. So I did to try out V3 on the new phone (it was still at beta last time I actually used it).

Now that the introduction is done, my question: I noticed that it says that I can uninstall the unlocker after two days. Does this mean that if I keep the Play Store and Unlocker installed for two days, after that I can remove it and my Poweramp will stay activated forever? Or will I still have problems if I remove Google Play and kill the Play Services? In other words, what are the requirements when it comes to Google crap if I want to keep my Poweramp activated?

While I'm at it, is there any way to have PA V2 or V3 stay activated even without Google Play or Play Services? Or any way to get the non-play version without buying it again or with a discount? I know the app is cheap enough at 5€ but it's the only app I ever bought and I honestly don't feel like buying it again. PA is by far the best player on Android and possibly out of any device, but I found many alternatives that just work even though not as well as PA. That is mostly the reason why I don't feel like paying it again.

Thanks in advance to anyone who may reply.

[andrewilley]

In theory the licence won't need to be checked again, but there are lots of situations which could trigger a re-check (system resets, updates, etc) so I wouldn't rely on a Play Store purchase continuing to work forever without the Play Store being present. 

As you say, you can purchase from the website as that's not connected with the Play Store and can work without gapps. They are not linked though, you can't migrate from one to the other. Website purchases are for a single device at a time by the way; if you install on a new system the old device's licence status is revoked.

Andre

[maxmp]

@MRK17 When license is stored on the device (you can see this status in Poweramp Settings / About) you free to remove Unlocker and Google Services (this will also disable Chromecast casting). The license will stay until Poweramp is completely reinstalled without data being kept or you otherwise reset Poweramp data.

[psychosunshine]

I am in the same situation as MRK17. Although, I have a Pixel 4XL with LineageOS 17.1  If I buy the website version? Can I use Any version apk that I want that is V3?  One of my favorite versions is V3, Build 853.  Once I buy the website version. Can I use any V3 version that I want? Or only the one that I install after purchase?

[andrewilley]

With a website licence you can use any APK that you have downloaded from the website here, yes. Only one one device at a time though, the website licence is not multi-device. You can't use Google Play Store downloads with a website licence, but then that's rather the point anyway.

I'm puzzled why on a Pixel you can't use Google services though, they are normally baked in? If you have a Google Play licence that you can access, you can still download and use APK files from the website.

Andre

[maxmp]

Actually, once license is "stored on the device" (which happens for the website version immediately after entering correct data in "Already purchased?"), it's possible to update with the next Google Play Poweramp version over website version as license is on the device and recognized by any Poweramp version.

[andrewilley]

Thanks for the clarification that a website purchase and APK install can now be followed with an updated installation from Google Play. Presumably that then means subsequent updates occur automatically from the Play Store?

Andre

[John Titor]

2 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Presumably that then means subsequent updates occur automatically from the Play Store?

Yeah, if you sideload the Play Store distribution build without "purchasing it on Play Store", it's possible to make Play store automatically update PA. But you won't be able to install unlocker from Play Store unless you repurchase it from there.