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I run Cyanogen Mod on my phone without any Google services. I would like to see local bus times on my phone, but the app for that won't run without the Google map API. It's the same with many other day-to-day things I would like to do with my phone, but can't. Android without Google is a hobbled and limited experience.

> you have no right to change that anyway.

§69df UrhG

> zur Herstellung der Interoperabilität des unabhängig geschaffenen Programms

"For purposes of interoperation with an independently created software", decompiling and modifying software is legal.

So, yes, under German (and in general also EU law), you have the right to do exactly that.

The point is, there should be a plugin system, where the developer doesn't have to care what the mapping API is, so the user can slot in whatever they want.