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CyanogenMod and other custom ROMs for Android devices don’t come with Google’s suite of apps pre-installed. This is because Google’s Play apps are proprietary and OEMs/developers need proper authorization from Google to ship the apps on their devices or ROMs.
Custom ROM developers bypass this issue by providing a separate Google Apps package that users need to flash on their device after installing the ROM. However, most ROM developers avoid linking to the Google Apps package in their ROM thread as well, which means that most users are left to themselves to find the appropriate Google Apps package for their device.
During the Ice Cream Sandwich era, users had to download the Google Apps ZIP file depending on the resolution of their device. For Android 5.0 Lollipop based ROMs though, a single Google Apps package works across all devices. However, they still are available in quite a few different packages with different apps bundled. This is particularly useful for users who want to keep as much free space possible in the system partition of their device, but still want basic access to basic Google features, and don’t mind downloading other apps from the Play Store.
Below, you will find the download link along with a description of all the apps that every Google Apps package includes. Keep in mind that the below packages are only meant for Android 5.0 Lollipop based ROMs like CyanogenMod 12, SlimLP and others.
Stock Google Apps Package: As the name suggests, this is the stock Google Apps package containing all the apps and services that Google bundles on its Nexus devices by default. This includes Sound Search for Google Play, TalkBack, Google Wallet, Hangouts, Google Earth, Google Keyboard, Now Launcher and all the other apps from Google that are available on the Play Store.
Due to the sheer number of apps the stock Google Apps package comes bundled with, it weighs in a pretty hefty 453MB. Until and unless, you want all the Google apps to be installed on your device for a complete stock experience, I will not recommend users to install this Google Apps package on their device.
Read: How to install CyanogenMod 12 (CM12) on your Android device
The ‘recommended’ Google apps package: In my opinion, this is the Google Apps package that everyone should use. The package comes with all the core Google apps including Play Store, Exchange Services, Face Unlock and offline speech files. The package also comes with most of the popular apps from Google that are already available on the Play Store including:
- Google+
- Google Calendar
- Google Now Launcher
- Google Play services
- Google Search
- Google Text-to-Speech
- Gmail
- Hangouts
- Maps
- Street View
- YouTube
Compared to the Stock Google Apps package, the ‘recommended’ Google Apps package is only 223MB big.
Core Google Apps package: If you are looking for the absolute minimum Google Apps package that will only install the core Google apps like the Play Store, Calendar Sync, and Play Services, this basic Google Apps package is for you. This package does not include offline speech files, Live wallpapers and other such goodies.
If you are using an older Android device that frequently runs out of storage space, this is the Google apps package that I will recommend for your device.
Read: CyanogenMod 12 features walkthrough
Credits to the Paranoid Android team for the Google Apps package!
