I think installing the apps via Aurora Store and running them should definitely work. There might be issues with syncing them to your Google account though. You can add the account via MicroG (preinstalled) but since I have no experience with running GApps on /e/os I can’t attest to how well this will work, if at all.

You can install Lineage OS and add GApps though, if you’re looking for a custom ROM but need extensive support for Google apps.

Might I ask what’s your incentive to switch to /e/os? Installing Google apps kind of counteracts the privacy aspect.

I’m currently using /e/os as there are no official custom Roms for my phone and they offer a GSI version (works on a wide variety of devices). For me it runs flawlessly, but I don’t use any apps dependent on Google Play Services, so YMMV.

I think their default apps are very usable and having MicroG on board for location services is pretty handy. Their contacts/calendar/note syncing via Murena also make the user experience quite seemless.

I’d recommend it.

Edit: If you have any questions about the OS, feel free to ask away

Yes, classic Moving the Goalpost fallacy. Basically an admission of having weak arguments.

Or… you could meet people where they are and help them build the skills in a field they are interested in. We need workers in all kinds of industries.

I hope you realize how distasteful (to say it politely) it comes across to wish for workers you don’t have to invest in that you can exploit for physically taxing labor in the hot sun. If you catch my drift.

I agree with the first part oft your comment. But don’t you think that providing people from abroad with the means to build those skills here is worthwhile?

Is it such a prohibitively expensive undertaking to teach somebody how to do construction? With the added benefit of them learning it with the tools and work environment common in Germany?

I’d argue it’s necessary even. By cherrypicking only fully educated/skilled workers we won’t be able to counteract the rapid decline in working age population.

At least you classify the AfD as a threat… Nobody’s advocating for uncontrolled migration, that would benefit neither the people already there nor those arriving. But deciding their fate based on their utility for the work force is inhumane.

Why not invest a little, educate them, and provide them chances they wouldn’t have had otherwise? Investments in education pay out manifold after only a couple of years. Many of the fields that desperately need workers don’t require a PhD level education anyway.

Even if you approach migration from a purely economic angle, it is absolutely necessary to ensure the continuance of the German standard of living in an aging and shrinking society.

If your argument is that we should see migration as a threat because a handful of radicalized people committed heinous acts of violence, I’m out. To conflate migration and terrorism is intellectually bankrupt and reprehensible.

Sure, these terrible events did affect the public’s view on the issue of migration negatively. But to infer from them that everybody who tries to find a better life in Germany is guilty by association (except for those delicious skilled professionals we can exploit, of course) is a take I cannot condone.

The absolute majority of people moving here simply want to build a good life for themselves and their families, just like everybody does. Will it change society to some degree? Absolutely. But what’s so terrible about that. “German culture”, whatever that is, will not suddenly vanish, just because there’s some pluralism.

And believe it or not, many Germans actually enjoy to live in a more diverse environment. I know I do.

Okay? First you used it as an example for a violent expression of disdain for German culture by migrants. Now you’re saying it was one of the catalysts for the shift of public perception of problems resulting from migration.

No apparent reference to my reply.

There are currently thousands of Christmas markets held in Germany every year (at least 3250, up to 7000). The rumors of the tradition dying out due to migration/terrorist attacks that were spread by right wing media don’t hold any water. They’re not going anywhere.

Offenbach am Main, which is the city with the highest share of immigrants in Germany (65%), holds a Christmas market every year. It is one of the markets with the longest duration in Hesse (November 17 - December 29 in 2025).

The attacker in Magdeburg was a mentally ill man, motivated by far right extremism. He claimed to be 'the most aggressive critic of Islam in history’ and was a staunch proponent of the AfD.

You’re asking me to suppose things about migrants and their effect on society and derive xenophobic viewpoints from that. But those are just made up scenarios based on preconceived notions. As made clear by the example you chose to illustrate your point, there’s not much substance to your claims in my opinion.

Could you elaborate on what constitutes the German cultural identity you mentioned?