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How did you de-Google's your Android device?
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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Android
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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:
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.
I've found this to be a good Gallery replacement.
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.
Simple Gallery is potentially suspect now?! 🤦♂️
Unfortunately, yeah.
It has been forked, thankfully, under the name of Fossify. Following the project for updates.
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!
Gonna check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
the 'simple' apps have been forked, so maybe try that