Previously on Lemmy: Tablets
Let’s talk about deGoogling Android this week, since it’s a common topic of interest around here to talk about GrapheneOS and CalyxOS.
I feel like Google services has been lacking for the better part of a decade to the degree that I am reluctant to rely on most Google services nowadays. However, I don’t think I have the effort to actively remove all traces of Google from my phone, as the cost of bootloader unlock and rooting is a bit too much for me.
So, I would like to hear what your deGoogling experiences, since I’m unlikely to do it myself.
Past Discussions
I think if you attempt to degoogle all at once, you will fail. Slowly migrate your essential things and look for e2ee, privacy respecting, FOSS and sustainable alternatives. Unfortunately I can’t quite rid of the play store, but I’ve migrated mostly privacy friendly services. I’m still stuck with my friends being on discord, Spotify, and Google Maps for finding essential data (sorry open maps lacks too much info for where I am).
Tutanota controls my email, calendar, and contact syncing. I’m using ente for my cloud photo storage. I use Bitwarden for my password manager, pass key manager, and totp 2fa codes. All those services I listed are entirely FOSS and e2ee. For my browser, I use Fennec (Firefox fork) from f-droid. I use Droid-ify in place of the terrible official f-droid client. I try to use f-droid alternatives as much as I can.
My entertainment is my Feeder RSS feed, Boost for Lemmy, Moshidon (Mastodon fork), Twire as a twitch client, Newpipe for YouTube, and then Genshin Impact lol.
If you want to help make OSM better, there are a few apps that make it really easy to add details to your local area.
Street Complete has gamified quests to add details to things, including hours to shops.
Every Door is a step more detailed, but makes it really easy to add new things to the map.
Organic Maps is a nice Google maps competitor that does make it easy to make edits while in it.
Also, if you use maps in any other app, like bike share or fitness tracking, they probably use OSM data, so it can be worth making improvements where you can since it’ll make those services better too.
Agree with you, there doesn’t seem to be any good alternatives to Google Maps on Android (Apple Maps is seriously impressive with their animations at this point).
And outside of TripAdvisor, one of the only good places to find restaurants reviews, because Yelp is… not good.
Have you tried Obtainium as f-droid alternative? It’s a really cool project with some degree of customization !
Migration takes some time specially if you have a dozen apps, but after that everything is automated !
LineageOS and simply not installing Google Apps.
Here’s the thing – I really like Google’s products. For the most part they make good stuff. Google Search at one point was great. YouTube for all its faults is an invaluable resource. Maps is critical to me for navigating and determining traffic on the way to somewhere. Android (when Google isn’t busy locking it down) is extremely powerful. I loved my Nexus 4 and love my Pixel 6a. The Android/Pixel-exclusive features are great party tricks and conversation starters – Call Screen, Now Playing, Emoji Kitchen on GBoard, etc. Chromecast is super handy.
In the end though, they’re an ad company, and to them I’m nothing but commodity. Every interaction or thought of mine is a resource for them to monetize and abuse, and that’s not something I am comfortable with.
I also do not want my entire life tied to a Google account. If anything ever happens to it, I don’t want to get locked out of everything.
I haven’t deGoogled completely. Going through the process slowly. For the services I’m still using, I have search history, location history, watch history, etc. disabled.
For apps:
- Chrome has been replaced with Firefox.
- Gmail app with Spark, but I’m in the process of moving away from Spark to K9 Mail (soon to be Thunderbird)
- Google Authenticator with Authy
- YouTube with NewPipe
- Google Keep with Standard Notes
- Google Photos with Simple Gallery (may have to look for a replacement soon since it was sold to a sketchy buyer)
Google Search was replaced with DuckDuckGo and Kagi. Gmail with a custom domain and Mailbox.org for hosting. I have a Nest Mini speaker with its mic turned off used exclusively for casting music.
I’m still using the Play Store because of paid apps, but if there’s a FOSS app I need, I get it from F-Droid.
The one service I’ve actually gone back to Google on is GBoard. Emoji Kitchen is far too good for me to give up right now.
I’m still using stock Android because of the Pixel-exclusive features. I’ll maybe experiment with GrapheneOS in the future.
Looks good!
From the screenshots I saw, it doesn’t appear to have the editing capabilities of Simple Gallery. That was a huge plus - especially for video.
If you want to replace Google Photos’ backup you can try Ente. Paid, but start under a dollar a month.
Another really powerful Google Keep alternative is Quillpad, does basically what Google Keep does and supports Markdown and Nextcloud syncing.
Also Joplin! It’s a cross-platform Markdown notes app with many syncing options (including local storage, Dropbox, Nextcloud, and others). I’ve been using it for 2 years now, after trying different apps to see what fits. I’ve been using local storage and Syncthing to keep my Android phone and Linux PC synced, and really like it. It even lets you use an external text editor to edit your notes!
If you need to remain on stock android for various reasons then I highly recommend de bloating your system yourself with the Universal Android Debloater tool. Super easy to use, but also super powerful, so be careful.
My own build of GrapheneOS with MicroG that allows Android Auto.
I’m not fully degoogled (I still use Maps and Tasks), but I’m closer…
Personally I’ve been writing/using my own docker container to help and (eventually) just build it for me, but I’m not finished and it’s the first project of it’s kind I’ve worked on.
I’d make the repository public (it’s on GitHub) I just didn’t think anybody wanted or cared
