Non Google apps don't work sometimes too.
Even signal wont work without the Google kernel stuff. I actually can't use signal on my phone because it doesn't have Google's kernels. A lot of people who "don't use Google on android" are still using them.
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Signal explicitly chooses to use Play services SDK for certain functionality. It works fine without any form of Google Play being supported by the OS. Android SDK does not include Play services by default. It's their very explicit choice to include those proprietary libraries.
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There's no kernel integration for Play services. It's a set of apps which vendors bundle into the OS and grant extensive privileges via custom SELinux policy, privileged permissions and configuration for the OS setting Play services as a provider for various APIs.
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It doesn't do what's claimed in this thread. It's not how things work and the things that are claimed to exist here do not exist. I don't know where that's coming from but it's extraordinarily inaccurate / baseless. Android SDK is open source and doesn't include Play by default.
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You have to explicitly choose to include the Play services libraries. They're proprietary libraries, but they don't impose any kind of DRM on the app.
There's a Play Store license check API which paid apps can explicitly use.
What is describing simply doesn't exist.
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I said if you're using Android studio and it does exist. I've run into this plenty of times as someone with no Google kernels on my phone. Even stuff I've written won't work. I need to use my old western phone.
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I did not choose any play libraries. Even stuff on fdroid sometimes won't work on my phone if it targets a newer Android os
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Apps have a minimum SDK version which is the oldest Android platform version they support. It has nothing to do with Play services. Android SDK and AOSP are entirely open source and nothing resembling the stuff you're describing exists.
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It's the same open source Android SDK whether or not you use Android Studio. It doesn't do anything resembling this.
Only thing remotely resembling anything that you've described is an app developer explicitly choosing to use SafetyNet attestation to check device certification.
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It sounds like you simply have a device with a very old version of the Android platform and have noticed app developers have moved on and chosen a minimum SDK version higher than the platform version of your device. The explanation you've come up with for it isn't accurate.