A process that started roughly a year ago with just changing browser and search engine, now feeling that I got somewhere. The journey ended up being more than just degoogle, but also demetaing and taking more control over my data and privacy.

Before and after picture with notes:

Chrome -> Zen browser (Firefox on iOS)

Google -> Qwant

Gmail -> Proton Mail

NordVPN -> Proton VPN (I don’t use VPN very often, but have NordVPN through another subscription, now replaced with Proton across my devices)

Google Drive / Photos -> Proton Drive

Google Password Manager -> Proton Pass

Google Authenticator -> Proton Pass / Ente (Ente Auth is only used to store my 2FA keys for the Proton account, other keys are stored in Proton Pass)

Google Translator -> DeepL

YouTube -> FreeTube (Unwatched on iOS)

Google Maps -> Magic Earth (OSM on desktop)

WhatsApp -> Signal

Notion -> Anytype

Keep / Notes -> Notesnook

X -> Mastodon / Bluesky

Reddit -> Lemmy (Voyager on iOS, dreaming of an eventual complete migration)

Instagram -> Pixelfed

Facebook -> stopped using

Windows 11 -> Ubuntu (Only personal laptop, work laptop still windows)

      • Squizzy@lemmy.world
        9·
        7 days ago

        Neither do signal anymore i think

        Them dropping sms took away a big carrot for adoption though.

        • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
          10·
          7 days ago

          They absolutely do, but you can hide that behind a username after you’ve registered now. But you still have to come up with a number to register a new account.

          • Squizzy@lemmy.world
            1·
            6 days ago

            Ah perfect thabks for the clarity, yes it was the username introduction that confused me - didnt realise it was both.

        • LycanGalen@lemmy.world
          5·
          7 days ago

          Nope, they still require a number.

          From their site:

          Requiring phone numbers in Signal lets people see which of their friends they can easily talk to on Signal while limiting the potential for spam within the app.

          There are options to spoof a number in the States, and probably some areas of th EU, but many other places are SOL.

        • dogs0n@sh.itjust.works
          21·
          6 days ago

          Them dropping sms took away a big carrot for adoption though.

          Still miss that feature everytime I get an SMS or have to send an sms if data isn’t working.

          Not everyone can do this but I just deleted those other apps and only had signal, which forced ppl to use it to contact me.

    • airikr@lemmy.ml
      910·
      6 days ago

      Yes, but iOS is even more closed than Android which makes all iPhones a small prison for open-minded and privacy oriented people.

      Google is Big Tech, logs everything. Apple is Big Tech too, but only logs tiny less than Google. All Big Tech is a big no-no if you’re privacy oriented. This applies to all services that uses Big Tech, too.

      Here’s my response to the -2 votes or whatever it is called. I bet it’s because of the last sentence. If you surf a website with a browser with uBlock Origin and blocks Big Tech, that’s good. But a lot of people visits websites and allows everything, feeding Big Tech with even more data than they already have. That was why I wrote it is a big no-no even services that uses Big Tech. Signal included.

  • FreakinSteve@lemmy.world
    8·
    6 days ago

    Saving this post. I have been deGoogling as much as I can but havent done the research to find some of these options. Thanks

  • pyre@lemmy.world
    3·
    5 days ago

    Hmm people keep talking about qwant I wonder what it’s like…

    Thanks for your visit

    Unfortunately we are not yet available in your country.

    lol wtf

  • AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world
    3·
    5 days ago

    Reddit -> Lemmy (Voyager on iOS, dreaming of an eventual complete migration)

    I too long for when communities (Indian and some niche ones) have more activity on Lemmy. They exist here, but have no activity after their creation. Until things pick up, I continue to access Reddit on iOS using SinkIt.

    YouTube -> FreeTube (Unwatched on iOS)

    Thank you for sharing about Unwatched. It fills the void in iOS that Tubular fills perfectly in Android.

    P.S.

    I am not entirely sure why, but I remember seeing Unwatched’s creator @fer0n@lemmy.world/@fer0n@lemm.ee quite often back when Lemmy iOS apps were starting off (Mlem, Memmy, WefWef, etc.) in the fall of 2023, perhaps he was a major contributor or creator of such apps.

    • joelvdc@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      I didn’t know about sink it, will have a look! I currently use hydra to access Reddit on iOS.

  • brown_guy@lemm.ee
    51·
    6 days ago

    Am I only one who doesn’t like proton services?

    For some reasons, I don’t get the OTP emails in proton mail. Just the OTP emails…

  • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    7·
    7 days ago

    How you liking Voyager? I’m bouncing between Arctic and Thunder atm, one day I’ll find the perfect lemmy client.

    Mlem is competent, but isn’t especially good at anything, and lacks some features the others offer

    • panicnow@lemmy.world
      4·
      7 days ago

      After coming from Apollo and Reddit, at first I was just unhappy that the clients were not great. Once I moved past my grief state I realized Voyager was good enough. I’ve stopped re-evaluating (though I’m sure I will again at some point) and just appreciate what I have.

    • joelvdc@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      7 days ago

      I have not tried other clients. I am quite happy with Voyager, but maybe I will give the others a shot :)

    • sam@lemmy.world
      31·
      7 days ago

      (Not OP)

      At the moment I use both mlem and voyager. Personally I find that everyday browsing is a nicer experience using mlem, especially since their recent-ish 2.0 update. Though it’s missing many of the fancier features that voyager has (eg drafting posts).

  • pineapple@lemmy.mlEnglish
    3·
    6 days ago

    I feel like my story is a lot similar to yours almost a year ago now I saw a YouTube video about degoogling. It caused me to switch to Firefox with betterfox on the betterfox github pages there was a new oil link which I read and followed ultimately leading me to all of this and so much more.

    • joelvdc@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      As I mentioned in other comments, I didn’t buy a new phone to degoogle. I’m sure there are more people on the same boat. And this is a degoogle group.

      • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.world
        2·
        5 days ago

        After experiencing the iPhone 3 and MacBook pro 2009 I knew I’d never want to give Apple my money anymore. Boy did they try to scam me. “Broken hard drive? (500gb non-SSD) Sure, well fix it! 600 euros!” I’ll never sell my soul to Apple anymore.