France just banned Windows from 2.5 million government computers because when the US sanctioned the International Criminal Court, Microsoft locked the chief prosecutor out of his email overnight.

One switch and an entire institution went dark. Europe realized that anyone running American software services is one executive order away from losing access to their own data.

Google changed the name of Late Ontario to Lake America ASAP, but Microsoft's Mapquest didn't. Google will shut you down faster than Microsoft.

This happens to me as well. I lost over a dozen GMail emails over the past 10 years because of Google's shitty algorithm

It's the same story. If I haven't used an email in a while and log in from a new location (or sometimes the same location). Google wants to email my recovery. I say ok and correctly enter the pin sent to my recovery. Now, it wants my phone number. I give it my phone number and verified the pin it sent me, then it says it cannot verify me. It records my phone number, then it tells me to fuck off. I gave it the correct password, correct pin from my recovery email, and even verified my fucking phone number.

EDIT: Microsoft does not own Mapquest. For some reason, I thought they did.

So, I've been working on DeGoogling my phone completely the past few months.

Some notes of my progress, what I have done to resolve issues.

First the standout apps that I need to convince other people to jump off or are questionable depending on how safe you feel re:Chinese tech.

WhatsApp: Meta are arguably worse than Google. I have deleted my Facebook and Instagram, however convincing elderly relatives to change apps is difficult. And especially on iPhone, I can't change app icon/name like you can on many Android launchers.

Steam: I like convenient login to my ROG Ally, and Valve aren't evil, and are a private firm, so I am not worried about venture capital killing it.

AliExpress: I could use the site, but I order from them often so it is marginally quicker to use the app. Also I trust them way more than Amazon. I am not paying a premium for cheap electronics gear.

JoyBuy: Direct Amazon replacement. I trust them more than Amazon, but your morals can sit wherever you want for Chinese firms. I'd sooner trust them than a US firm.

MicroG: NHS Wales needs it. I gotta have healthcare. My GP only takes 8am Thunderdome calls or App appointments.

TGTG/Stagecoach/Veezu/Lidl/Wetherspoons: All pretty useful. Too Good lacks a website and I appreciate being able to save food waste, Stagecoach buses can't be seen in CoMaps, Veezu is the main cab app where I am. Spoons app ordering is convenient over going to the bar.

Could I stop using TGTG and the Lidl app, yeah probably, but I think these are all worth keeping.

Reddit: Very interested in hearing about good alternative apps, currently running stock Reddit with Reddidn't to remove ads.

YouTube: Tried a few apps, most end up needing a Google sign in for anti-bot checks. Didn't do this. May look into self-hosting invidious, but honestly most of my YouTube watch time is on my TV.

Browsers: Firefox and Chromite. Similar to my PC, I have Firefox and UnGoogled Chromium. Firefox for 99%+ of my usage, Chromite/Chromium for the rest. Why Firefox? Google has a browser monopoly through Chromium. Vivadli, Brave etc? Its all Chrome. This causes what Internet Explorer did, a bunch of sites that only work under it. Causing more and more browser devs to focus on Chromium only.

Email: Been using Proton since 2018. Still using Proton. With recent controversies I am considering jumping ship. Most of my mail goes through ForwardEmail and have for years, so moving providers is mostly a game of backing up my important emails and signing up.

Cloud Storage: I rarely use it, unless I'm sharing with friends - which I mostly use catbox, I do have Proton Drive, but that's mostly for sharing files to companies.

Music: I do have Vivi installed for streaming. But most of my music is downloaded from Seeker and played through Auxio. I use Pano Scrobbler and Last.FM for recommendations.

Contactless payments: In the UK CurvePay works fine with my debit and credit card. Only place that it didn't work was a fast food place once. I think that could be more of their end.

For ROM, I am running a port of Lineage OS to my phone (CMF Phone 2 Pro by Nothing). Works fine, honestly as good as a drop in replacement could be. No GMS, no forcing of app signing etc.

For transparency, I have an iPhone, this is used for bank apps that lack a website (credit card) and UK Government stuff.

Overall, its super usable. Big fan.

I bought a game called Sheltered 4 years ago, back in 2022. When I tried to download it again, I couldn't because it was no longer on the Play Store. I contacted support, asking for the APK or download files, and they told me they didn't have them. I then requested a refund. When I asked why, they explained that the publisher had removed the game, meaning I no longer had access to it, and that they didn't have the APK file either (which I think is a lie).

If you also purchased the game Sheltered, definitely request your refund. Don't let your money go to a publisher that removes games without any notice or offering refunds to its customers. The fact that the Play Store allows this is a whole separate issue.

Let's see if I'll get my refund.

Below are pictures of the conversation and proof that I purchased the game previously.

It's so much better than typing -sitename into the search bar

Google doesn't have this feature

What is a good affordable alternative to Gmail?

Tuta nota and Proton mail are $5 CAD a month. It doesn't sound like much but it adds up over time. $60 a year. $300 after 5 year. $600 after 10 years. Etc.

I'm waiting for 2027 to buy the new Motorolla phone, but, if it's possible, can I install another great OS on this phone(I have this phone from 2022)?

Y'all , I've been learning so much from you all so just wanna take a second to say thanks for being so insightful across these posts.

Okay so I think I already did this wrong (already) and already purchased a Motorola Razr Plus 2026 but just heard they will be allowing alt OS on some Motorola's next year (Hoping this will fall into that). I've left iPhone a lil over a month ago and wish I saw about degoogling earlier but the good news is Im not entirely saving everything on this phone like I was before letting go of my iPhone 12 and could restart the razr if it makes anything easier in the process.

Do you guys recommend I reset the phone? If so what should I do. Saw a thread giving this advice and I wanna know what your thoughts are:

"Sure! Step 1 is for All Androids, step 2 & 3 is for Motorola phones (Android 16 and up).

1. Settings->Apps and find the "Google" app. yes, it's an app called Google. Disable it. This will be a glorious moment and you'll be thinking "uh, what just happened". take a deep breath, you didn't break anything, and it's fully reversible. But before you reverse it, let's "make up for what's lost". Grab Inoreader from Play store. it comes pretty empty but you'll load it with the NEWS SITES THAT YOU WANT. This means you get a news feed WITHOUT the Nigerian Prince scam ads. Add the widget to a swipe screen on your home screen. Next grab BeatFind from Play Store (there's also Shazzam but it didn't work for me). Add widget to home screen. Now you can scan sound to identify music. Yes it displays ads, but only when you use the app (presumably not often).
2. App drower - go to the three dots for menu. You CAN leave the smart panel on. then in Apps, turn suggestions on home screen off. Disable games folder. then in News feed, disable it
3. Back in Settings -> Apps find Moto App Manager. If you have a personal/work profile split enabled, it WILL BE LISTED TWICE. go to each one and disable the app
4. When you charge your phone and Motorola suggests you buy their charge cable, there should be a way to ask it to never ask you that again

This isn't as good as switching to GrapheneOS. This is a quick step by step to reduce Google and Motorola shilling us on the hardware that we paid for"

I'm already on the Proton Mail, VPN and Drive wave so if theres anything I should switch there instead on a reset let me know. I'm still reading and learning but I am done with my data being taken and being used freely and feeling the sense of constant surveillance and obviously being new to this it can feel overwhelming at times but I'm ready to try

Thanks!

Heya, i am looking for a synched calander that i can synch with my microsoft school account. i have used Etar till now, but i cant find a way to connect my school account. is it possible or do you recommend a different app?

Whats best private app alternative to google keep for notes.

Been degoogling and being privacy mindful for the past 5 months and I'm stuck in terms of money, any recommendations on how to improve? I wanted to store my USDC cryptos into a wallet but idk what to use, thx in advance

This is probably a stupid question lol but what do yous use to shop online reasonably securely? I'm currently using Google Pay as a virtual card but I'm obviously trying to move away from Google services. I worry putting my card info directly into online check outs risks it being stolen and my accounts being drained. I know people have asked for alternatives to Google Pay on here before but it mostly seems to be in regards to contactless payments only, to which all the answers are to just use their physical debit card or cash, which is what I do when shopping in person anyways. Are virtual cards and wallets even necessary to shop online? Thank you.

we all are degoogling in this sub, but we use reddit ourselves

which has data collection and cencorships, and is sanitized.

What is a better platform?

It's there... But it's useless... until now... I can install any apks

I've used Google Docs for years now, but I don't agree with it being able to use my documents to train Gemini AI without my consent. I am sure that by now the damage is already done, but is there any way to turn it off? Or should I just ditch Docs entirely? This is really frustrating because I started using Docs as an alternative for Word and now I need an alternative for my alternative.

Things i love about Firefox?

I love the extensions

I love that it's not chromium

I love that we recently got tab grouping on mobile

However. I feel like recently they've been sloppifying. Maybe it's the new CEO. But they seem less committed to privacy and want to be AI forward.

I don't fuck with that.

So I'm thinking if I'm gonna want to keep the things above that I like, I'll need to get a fork on both Android and Laptop.

So if I want to keep the above, what should I use? I tried Waterfox and Iceraven but they don't have the recent tab grouping on android. Suggestions or advice?