The Android Googlfication Spectrum
The impacts and futures of Google integration in Android devices
In the world of Android forensics, the Android operating system is popular, common, and is found on millions of devices worldwide - and it’s also an extension of the Google ecosystem and services. This is not terribly surprising, as the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is created and maintained by Google itself. [1]
For investigators, this means that Google applications and services will contain vast amounts of information on a user’s activity on (or around, or near) their phone. However, as Google’s authority over device data has grown, so has consumer wariness. From the current Google anti-trust case to the landmark 2026 settlement regarding Google’s tracking of user activity for targeted ads, more and more users are growing concerned about their personal privacy. This has led to a surge in “de-Googlifying” phones, where users customize their devices to remove Google integrations, along with other unwanted applications. A common way of doing so is installing a custom operating system, such as GrapheneOS, which allows users to remove Google services altogether.
Despite these privacy shifts, Google’s footprint is set to expand with the announcement of their new operating system, which will combine features and functionality of Android and ChromeOS. As we look forward to the future of Android forensics, understanding the current state of Google artifacts and integration is essential for modern investigations.
Forensic Breadcrumbs
Google services are woven into a typical Android user’s digital life, tracking movement, habits, and whereabouts across interconnected apps and data. While potentially unwanted by consumers, this can greatly aid in a forensic investigation. These services create and store data and forensic artifacts on the device that offer critical insights, allowing investigators to piece together a narrative of activity. Some of these include:
Google Play Store
Along with application downloads, the Play Store helps map user interests, timeline of app usage, and timeline of user activity on the device. Databases are found under /data/data/com.android.vending/databases, and include:
● frosting.db: Provides a list of applications, including filesystem paths, installation sources, and timestamps for updates.
● suggestions.db: Stores searched terms in the Play Store, along with a timestamp for each query.
Google Maps and Timeline
Location data remains a cornerstone of any digital forensic investigation. The Google Maps “timeline” can help reconstruct a user’s physical location and movement, along with movement types (driving vs walking), and specific directions followed. Files can be found at /data/data/com.google.android.apps.maps, and include:
● Apps_tts-temp and app_tts-cache: Contain audio files for turn-by-turn directions
● Gmm_sync.db: Contains saved locations.
● New_recent_history_cache.cs: Contains Google Maps search history
Some great Google Maps artifacts and analysis can be found here:
● https://thebinaryhick.blog/2023/10/17/finding-phones-with-google-maps-part-1-android/
● https://kibaffo33.data.blog/2021/12/30/at-the-roundabout-take-the-second-exit/
Google Assistant
The Google Assistant is an AI-driven service that keeps logs of voice commands and text-based queries, providing more context into user activity and interests. Voice recordings and conversations are recorded and stored on the device at:[2]
● /data/data/com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/app_sid
● /data/data/com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/databases/opa_history
Tracking and The Power of System-Level Permissions
If you caught Hexordia’s talk at the 2026 MSAB Virtual Summit about remote wiping applications, then you’ll remember our dive into Android application permissions and different permission levels. (If you missed it, then you can watch the recordings here: https://www.msab.com/digital-summit-2026/recordings/).
Google applications are baked into the operating system by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), so they may hold “Signature” or “System” level permissions, which are only available to privileged apps, and to nothing third-party. One example is the MASTER_CLEAR permission, which we discussed in our talk. This grants an application authority to trigger a factory reset of the device and wipe user data.
For an investigator, these high permission levels are great, because these applications are inherently able to access and store the information that we look for during an investigation.
For an end-user, this can be concerning; Google is tracking user activity, and they know it. In fact, on March 5, 2026, a landmark settlement was reached and agreed to by Google. For the potential surveillance and collection of cellular data from all consumers (excluding California, who was covered in a separate settlement) who used an Android device between November 12, 2017, and the final date of approval, Google will pay $135,000,000. [3] The supposed reason behind this collection was for targeted advertising; Final hearing for this settlement is set to happen in June, 2026.
The rise of De-Googlification
As privacy concerns grow, so to does the amount of users who want to remove Google apps and services from their device and “de-Googlify” their phone. This can be achieved on a lighter scale by rooting the phone, which gives the user previously-restricted system level permissions and access, so they can remove unwanted applications. Some of these apps are coined by users as “bloatware”, and they typically run in the background collecting data. Users will remove these for privacy reasons, and/or simply because they may be eating battery and system performance.
On the more extreme side, users will overhaul their phone’s operating system entirely and install a custom operating system, or custom ROM. A custom ROM is a custom operating system built on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) that has been modified in some way to edit, add, and/or remove features and software layers created by the original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Google. Notable ROMs like GrapheneOS and LineageOS market themselves as a privacy and security-focused operating system, and have the ability to largely or entirely remove Google apps and services all together. Graphene also has the option to install Google services, but to “sand-box” them to a specific user profile, so users can choose whether or not they want to use them. Sandboxing these services also restricts their usual system-level permissions, and reduces the amount of data on the device that they can access.
GrapheneOS is arguably one of, if not, the most prolific custom ROM for Android currently available. It is currently only officially supported on Google Pixels, but recently the project announced that they have partnered with Motorola to have the operating system installed on new phones as the default; they are still working out the details (GrapheneOS has a long and strict set of security requirements, and can be seen here: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices). These new phones are expected to ship out sometime around late 2026 to 2027.
The new AluminumOS
The landscape continues to change with the announcement of AluminumOS, which is Google’s new and upcoming operating system. Officially confirmed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, it will be a combination of Android and ChromeOS, and will be usable on Android mobile phones, tablets, and computers to promote one unified platform.
This new operating system was set to come out sometime later this year, but the release may be delayed due to Google’s recent antitrust case, which allowed Google to keep ownership of Chrome, but cracked down on specific beneficial wording and clauses that it can use with other companies and manufacturers. [4]
Another recent case was Epic v Google, which recently proposed to settle with Google allowing third-party app stores to be listed in the Play Store, and to allow them to access the full catalog of Play Store’s offered applications. [5] Additionally, the Play Store can no longer require third-party applications to only use Google Play Billing.
These recent announcements and court cases are interesting, but they also directly impact end-users and, therefore, forensic investigators. The operating systems and applications that are available to consumers will influence what they use on their personal devices, which will then in turn determine what we see commonly used, and what will increasingly likely end up on an investigator’s desk. It’s a digital forensics’ version of trickle-down technology.
Digital forensic will always be a game of cat and mouse. While Google apps and services provide a repository of user data, privacy concerns, along with larger economic and legislative issues, are and will continue to affect how these are integrated into mobile devices. New Android operating systems, both proprietary and open-source will continue to change and expand the Android landscape, and what artifacts we will see and use as investigators.
References:
1) https://source.android.com/legal
2) https://kibaffo33.data.blog/2021/12/30/at-the-roundabout-take-the-second-exit/
4) https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/05/judge-finalize-remedies-in-google-antitrust-case.html
5) https://www.androidauthority.com/google-epic-settlement-3613077/