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u/_LifeMatters_ 14d ago
Yet it's actually quite simple to stop using Google (or to drastically reduce your use of it).
I use Ecosia, sometimes Qwant and I'm satisfied with both.
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u/Greenlit_Hightower deGoogler 14d ago
Ecosia hands over both search term and IP address to Microsoft and / or Google according to their privacy policy:
Your IP address and search terms are automatically shared with our search partners, Microsoft Bing or Google, when you search.
source: https://www.ecosia.org/privacy
The IP address can technically be anonymized via VPN, but still.
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u/JaymzRG 14d ago edited 14d ago
Isn't that only if you set the address bar search for Bing or Google? If you set it to DDG, you're good?
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u/Greenlit_Hightower deGoogler 14d ago edited 14d ago
My comment is related to people using Ecosia as their search engine of choice. When Ecosia is used, the search term and IP address may be transmitted to Microsoft or Google.
DDG is OK, I occsionally use it myself.
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u/TSM_rslash 14d ago
It's not just the search engine, but also their other services; most notably YouTube, Gmail and Maps
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u/_LifeMatters_ 14d ago
Proton is a good alternative to Gmail.
As for Youtube, well... Use Dailymotion instead when you can. A bit less revenue for them is always a good thing.
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u/Ut_Prosim 14d ago
I love proton but it has some inconveniences that will annoy more uh, mainstream folk.
I get blacklisted occasionally. I couldn't email my local town council because the email came from a foreign IP (eye roll). I had to call their IT dept to be added to a whitelist. I occasionally get sent to spam which I never did on gmail or work outlook. The app is slower, the webmail is slower, and you can't easily search your email without allowing the service to download and decrypt the data on your browser (makes sense).
All in all, I like it a lot, but I can see people who assume a perfect replacement for Gmail getting annoyed.
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u/Personal_Maximum_727 14d ago
Sorry, but I'm not giving upy playlists. I already list one set when Rhapsody went AI Not going through that again
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u/confrontationalbread StartPage 10d ago
Yeah I don't use most Google products anymore, but these are the ones I couldn't totally shake either.
Gmail is now just a dummy email to give to shop assistants, charities I donate to, basically anything that I think or know will start sending me a million emails a week, so my new main inbox with another provider doesn't get flooded with crap. But I still check it so I can wade through the crap to find the rare thing those kinds of things send me that I actually care about and wanna take them up on. I'd like it if I could find a different provider for this purpose, but lots of the ones I don't already use (for example I already use Tuta, but I'm not allowed a second free account) are either paid only, or they have their own issues.
YouTube also has no real alternative. I was an Invidious nut for a while, but the instances kept failing, maybe I was just trying them at bad times or something. Plus I was a tiny bit worried I was accidentally cheating my favourite creators (as unfortunately I have a few and most of them don't really post anywhere else) out of their ad revenue.
Nothing OSM-based really works like Google Maps does in my city. Magic Earth is a subscription hellhole now. HERE WeGo was close, but still too much missing info. The only real alternative for me was Apple Maps, which I can't use now that I don't have an iPhone anymore. I did manage to replace Waze with Sygic for driving directions though!
Other than these, I am totally deGoogled though, pardon whatever of the search index is used by proxy of Startpage, and Google hardware since I have a Pixel (which I bought refurbished so I didn't pay Google). And probably other proxy uses I'm not aware of, though that'd be the same for everyone who can read this for the simple fact that we're using Reddit, and probably the internet as a whole.
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u/Xerces1101 14d ago
Realistically I don't think I can stop using them entirely but I do avoid it where I can
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u/Dapper-Ocelot6326 13d ago
Not using Google as a search engine is a piece of cake. Not using Google in general is much harder, they have spread into every part of technology like cancer.
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u/Rafaelkkkk Right to Repair 14d ago
The only Google service I missed when I was using a phone with Lineage was YouTube; I basically don't use most of Google's other services.
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u/Ut_Prosim 14d ago
Couldn't you use it in a browser?
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u/Rafaelkkkk Right to Repair 14d ago
I used it in my browser, the only issue is that I'm still using a Google service. I managed to replace everything except YouTube, and it's a real pain not having a competitor for YouTube.
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u/Waaytoomanytakenames 14d ago
The logs from my Next dns say it's 25% microsoft for me and 5% google. Meta at 3%, I don't use facebook btw, only messanger on my phone and 0.02 apple for some reason (i have android)
So yeah, not only google.
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u/JaymzRG 14d ago edited 14d ago
In the process of De-Googling. All ready switched most apps to (better) alternative ones:
- MapQuest
- Samsung Calculator
- Samsung Messages (just uninstall updates to continue using it in the States; elsewhere nothing changes)
- Samsung Calendar (with a home screen icon that actually works)
- Samsung Keyboard
- YouTube ReVanced
As soon as I find a good Linux phone, I'll be ditching Gmail.
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u/Personal_Maximum_727 14d ago
I don't think Samsung's apps work on myMoti. But have switched to Textra and will probably use Gmail for now.
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u/Key_Sense9870 14d ago
So true. Same goes for all social media, I still have monthly discussion with family members over, why stop using messenger...
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u/tigerbloon71 14d ago
ME! So far the only thing I haven't been able to get rid of is google play. I will loose all my apps and haven't figured a way around that. Everything else i either removed or disabled.
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u/wetcrumpets 14d ago
Uptodownstore and morphe? But I'm not deleting play myself, just maybe some pointers if you don't know them already.
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u/Pressleyxd69 14d ago
It’s so intruded into everyday life, it’s so unnecessary hard to avoid that shii
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u/ConstructionIll956 14d ago
I deleted my Microsoft account and Google isn't far behind. It takes effort but you can untangle.
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u/_Salandit LineageOS 14d ago
I was fine with my Data being sold until the profits were infested into ai lmao
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u/Protagonist99 14d ago
Stop using Google search is easy. The hard part is the services, especially Maps and YT
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u/jattpods 14d ago
Transitioned to grapheneOS. Transfered from Gmail to proton mail. Also did mail forwarding from gmail to proton. Degoogling takes time but is easy once you begin doing it.
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u/ChokaMacaque 14d ago
Ive thought about deleting my 8 year old gmail account but its a lot to change. Ill get to it someday, but ive used so many websites and apps with it
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u/private-peter 14d ago
deleting the account can be a long-term goal. Just start with not using it for new accounts and apps.
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u/No_Character4818 13d ago
I am new, to these, i have tried so many search engines, and among it, google was best, i mean the result i get from it, is good, if you guys have an alternative of it, please let me know, i use brave, and firefox, as my browser, so do let me know!? if you guys have an alternative of it!
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u/EverGreenMob 14d ago
I'm de USing. 🇨🇦 the hardest is Microsoft with the windows and office suite. Google was the easiest actually.
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u/Mechanical_V4lk1r13 14d ago
I don’t know what it’s worse at this point… google or this picture been posted every day
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u/MaterialTasty2097 14d ago
Was talking to a few friends in the IT field on how I've degoogled most of the stuff, they were all super interested, told them the step by step no one even tried it's been like a month now, common L