(Why) Do I need Network-based location? (specifically: µG UnifiedNlp)

[Roboe]

You need microG Services Core, not UnifiedNLP. The latter is only for location services, the former replaces more Google services. Add the microG’s repo to F-Droid:
https://microg.org/download.html

And update to the latest microG Services Core:
https://f-droid.org/app/com.google.android.gms

[jme]

i installed microG from fdroid according to the abovementioned guide (5.5).

there it says

Install the latest
*microG Services Core
may be called “µg UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)” instead, but make sure it displays “microg” and not “F-Droid” as the repository.
*microG Services Framework Proxy
*FakeStore

• and at least one Unified NLP backend (from F-Droid repository).

I did all of this. Do I still need to install the apk from their website? (i.e. your link)
If yes, then our guide should be updated.

[ale5000]

Just be sure to have version 0.2.4-39 or higher

[Roboe]

@jme

signal still does not work.

Enable the Google device registration from microG Settings and try again, maybe?

[ale5000]

After checking the version, check also that everything is OK in the self-check then enable “Google device registration” and “Google Cloud Messaging”.

After that to be sure Signal is registered in GCM clear the data of Signal and restart it.

[jme]

well ok. something’s wrong. I do not see any “microG settings” only “UnifiedNlp”-settings. I did add the µG fdroid repository and I made sure to install everything I quoted above. And yes, fdroid did not list “microG Services Core” but “µg UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)”.
So something might be off with the repo and/or instructions. I will try with the apk from their site and report back

[Roboe]

@jme

fdroid did not list “microG Services Core” but “µg UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)”.

Don’t mind the name, it fails sometimes. See more here about this naming issue: Strange F-Droid microG Services Core update behaviour - #5 by Roboe

@jme

So something might be off with the repo and/or instructions. I will try with the apk from their site and report back

Did you update repos ( symbol at F-Droid main view) and installed the latest listed version? Preview, 0.2.4-39, not stable

[ale5000]

It is easier to download the apk from web browser at https://microg.org/download.html than get the correct version on F-Droid.
Check that you have removed UnifiedNlp before installing microG.

[paulakreuzer]

The guide you used explains very explicitly how you get the right version:

@paulakreuzer

may be called “µg UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)” instead, but make sure it displays “microg” and not “F-Droid” as the repository.

[jme]

my original post was moved here.
so for the sake of making this thread complete, i will just quote the “solution” part of that post:

@jme

ok, I still managed yesterday. it was indeed the microG version which was wrong.

Here is how it happened:

After adding the µG repo to fdroid, when i searched for “microg” among the results are

• FakeStore
• microG DroidGuardHelper
• microG Services Framework Proxy …
• µG UnifiedNlp (GAPPS)
• µG UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)
• µG UnifiedNlp (GAPPS) (legacy)

When I selected “µG UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)” it showed that it is from the µG repo. So I installed it. It installed version 1.6.7.After it became obvious to me that this is not the real version (you asked me to check the "microG Settings, I only hat UnifiedNlp settings), I had fdroid only show me the contents of the µG repos. And only then did “microG Services Core” appear in the list. When I selected it, it indicated that it is installed and that it wants to “update” from version 1.6.7 to 0.2.4. After I did this, everything worked.

(And now I see that I could have achieved the same by selecting the version 0.2.4-39 from the list it gives you in fdroid when you select “µG UnifiedNlp (no GAPPS)”. By default it installs version 1.6.7 which is from the “F-Droid” repo (which I did not notice, because it is somewhere down in the list! I just saw that it says “microG F-Droid repo” (first list entry) and thought that it’s ok then.)

I see now that this is pretty much the link that you posted @Roboe (twice )

thanks @paulakreuzer
and thanks @all for your support and clarifications! =)