The Pixel Camera app now requires Play Services for the silliest of reasons

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Credit: Rita El Khoury / Android Authority


TL;DR

• The latest Pixel Camera update (version 10.x) now requires Google Play Services, causing crashes on de-Googled systems like GrapheneOS.
• The app fails to launch because it can’t find a font that’s only provided through Google Play Services.
• Users can fix the issue by rolling back to an older version (9.9.106.773153235.19) of the app or by using sandboxed Play Services on GrapheneOS.

Earlier today, we reported that the latest Pixel Camera update (version 10.x) was crashing on de-Googled operating systems like GrapheneOS. The issue stems from a newly introduced dependency, with the app now requiring Google Play Services to function. Without Google Play Services, it simply crashes or refuses to fire up. We’ve since learned why that dependency exists, and the reason is surprisingly trivial.




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