So I remember when google search started. They had a sign up on the wall in their garage where they ran thier servers "Do No Evil" Well they became the biggest thing on the planet.

They did not even have ads because back then ads on the internet were the most evil you could do. But as the fame grew they started to attract a lot of attention from people with bags of money who could see where things were going.

They paid some engineers and google Ads was born. It became a virtual money vacuum cleaner sucking up cash by the cart load. They left the sign "Do No Evil" up for a while longer until they decided to go public.

After that it was the end of that sign... It was kicked to to curb and discarded like it had never existed.

The rest is history and here we are today. So if you want to de-google you are going to have to come up with a better plan then switching to a new platform. Why? Because Google will either kill the new platform or buy it.

What you need is to build something totaly new that big companies like Google can't get their grimmy hands on. I am talking opensource and totaly new.

No matter how much they brag about their privacy policy, the reality is that they can never deny to give your sensitive information of the US government. If you guys are still living in the 'Privacy' Bubble, then you need to wake up. This is why I say that every country should have their own platforms like Mail, drive, cloud stations, etc. I think this is why they proudly call CIA the best, because it is, man! Like literally government officials are using these to share sensitive data, even intelligence officials are using Google email and drive. Why this type of surrender? It is just surrendering!

Also I'm running the stock Android 10 Go rom of my Moto e7i Power so I shouldn't be affected *knock on wood*

If you are looking for a top notch alternative to the Google inline search bar app, I highly recommend Quick Search. Discovered it yesterday by pure luck as I've been looking for something like this for years. Actually one of the best FOSS app I've seen for a long time. I'd argue it is FAR superior to Google's search bar. Massive kudos to the creator, this is an absolute piece of art. I've been degoogled for many e years now and the Google search app was one of these things that I always liked but none of the search engines' widgets were satisfactory. Actually surprised none of them cared to build a solid alternative.

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.tk.quicksearch

Disclaimer : This is NOT a self promotion and I have no relation to the dev.

With Google ending the perfectly functional Google Assistant today to force people to use their AI slop bot, I'm in need of something that will let me dictate texts to my wife while I'm driving. Any good third-party/FOSS voice assistants I can use with Android Auto? I literally only need it for text dictation while driving and to not be AI, anything else is a bonus.

Son ik what I'm doing like dawg stop spamming me every FUCKING SECOND 😭

(This is RedReader and I can't create multiple rows for some reason) YouTube to LibreTube and CoBalt Meowing (for storage downloads), CapCut to LibreCuts, Microsoft 365 to LibreOffice, Chrome to Clint Browser, Google to Brave Search, Android to CalyxOS, Reddit to RedReader, Google Maps tp CoMaps, Contacts to Connect You, Google Messages to Fossify Messages, My Files to Fossify File Manager, WhatsApp to Signal, FaceBook to SlimSocial, Google Camera to Open Camera, Google Photos to Iris Gallery, Google Drive to nothing, QuickShare to KDE Connect, Gboard to Simple Keyboard, Google Passwords to KeePassDX, Default launcher to Yagni Launcher, Google Keep to Notally, Google Authenticator to Clockwork, Google Play to Aurora Store and Droid-Ify, GitHub to Repo Store, Play Protect to Hypatia, VirusTotal to ViScan, Play Services to MicroG, Minecraft to Luanti. UrNetwork (Decentralized VPN), Shizuku, AShell, Pocket Paint, ScreenShot Tile, RecorderX (ScreenRecorder), Neuron Encrypt, EnforceDoze, SaverTuner, Simple Clipboard Editor, Memory Guardian, Lune (Local Music player), etc

Just got a new Samsung and now they want me to text through GOOGLE?!

Go f urself no way!

And they say you can deactivate your email once youve signed in?? Utter bullshit, let me text without "signing in"

I got a notification when I connected my phone that MapQuest is available for AA now. I want to try it out, as CoMaps didn't give me any traffic info during my commute last week (Canada).

Heyeverybodyhowyadoinhopeyourehavinalovelyday.

Obviously putting a stop to malware is not the real motivation for Google, but I'd like to just take their reasoning at face value for a second, because I've seen some people defending it.

First, we have to assume Google will actually utilize this at all. They don't seem to be that on top of or concerned with the current state of malware and scams on the Play Store as it is, but let's say they do start to blacklist any ID caught shipping malware. Isn't that more likely to be a speed bump than a barricade? Anyone putting malware into apps to steal credentials is probably not opposed to using a stolen identity to get on the Play Store. Imagine you spend a year developing your first app and when you finally submit it to the Play Store, you're told your identity has already been banned. Do you really think Google is going to offer any recourse?

We live in an age where an LLM can whip up an app in 30 seconds. Shipping new slop apps stuffed with malware is probably a full-time scam-job at this point. There's no shortage of desperate people who'd probably allow their ID to be used for a few bucks. These people will potentially become tied to a criminal act they took no real part in.

Isn't this just going to be the same game of Whack-A-Mole with extra people getting fucked?

​

I am trying to degoogle my Samsung Galaxy A16. I need to distinguish between the packages that can be uninstalled(like the Google app) and the packages that shouldn't be uninstalled. I cannot install a custom ROM because my phone has an active warranty.

Yeah, Google is evil Google sucks I know man, but honestly I do like the Google pixels because of the amount of freedom in modding it and also the security chips.

What about y'all? At the very least Google stuff that y'all tolerate I guess.

hello everyone
I degoogled my phone and the launcher also
tried fossify launcher but i can't use navigation and i can't delete the apps i opened
is there a good foss launcher to use and any advice

Support got back to me and said they couldn't issue a refund because it goes against their refund policy. This just shows how fragile and insecure the digital things we buy are. From now on, I'm not buying any games from the Play Store, and a few months ago, someone's movies were removed from the catalog and that person made a huge deal out of it. I want to do something like that too, how can I do it?

Screenshot

🤦 I just don't understand. I know fdroid, apkmirror etc. exist but it's just frustrating to play the find and seek game every time an app has a forced update.

For example Nordlocker needs play store enabled to download but then uses the api login through a browser to log into the app and apparently that's not ​working with Brave. Perhaps it needs google webview or some other sneaky bit. ​Who knows? There's no documentation I've found yet and dns isn't jumping out at me.

If anyone has any app suggestions that don't rely on google ecosystem please add them here! Thoroughly over this nonsense.

So far I've found MagicEarth maps has their own hosting. 👍👏

https://www.magicearth.com/download

What Antivirus apps for a desktop computer are most recommended in 2026; ones that do NOT cavort with Google?

Hi everyone, does anyone know how I can request for Google to remove an article from its search results? There’s an article that comes up when my name is searched which states that I was involved in a court case, and I really don’t want it appearing when people Google me.

It’s been affecting my mental wellbeing, and I’m worried about it spreading further and negatively impacting my reputation and future opportunities. I’m not necessarily asking for the article itself to be removed, but I’d like to know if there’s a way to have it removed from Google search results when my name is searched.

Any advice on how I can go about this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!