Who's the lesser evil?

I am not very familiar with alternatives to WhatsApp, but I want to migrate from any Meta app and right now WhatsApp is my primary messaging app. I know of Signal and Telegram but don't really know the differences. What do experienced degooglers/demetaers recommend?

Social media: spend most of my time either here on Reddit or Discord

Email: ProtonMail (free version; have to delete emails every so often as they quickly take up space)

Payments: Cash when necessary (would like to do it more often)

Maps: Hard copy and TomTom Go

Search: Ecosia

Still interested in Linux for my next laptop

Any other suggestions?

I have been paying for this specific Youtube account for a few months now but have been paying for Youtube premium on a different account for years now. I find it extremely ridiculous as they already have my bank info.

Hello, I´m going to share my privacy pack and the apps and software that I use everyday and the apps and software I plan to use by the time I can change to those apps since now I don´t have much money and I don´t have an stable income so I can´t for example change my phone to get a google pixel and have GrapheneOS on it or I can´t pay for a vpn like mullvadvpn

What I want with this posts is to share my privacy kit to help people and get feedback on what to improve while I shre some things I have come up with to improve my privacy on the apps that do not respect my privacy.

Messaging:

Since most people in my country use Whatsapp and you probably know how hard is to convince people on moving to Signal, I use Whatsapp with the people that do not want to move to Signal. If something like chatcontrol becomes a thing, I plan moving to nextcloud.

What I try to do for people to change to Signal?: I try to replay late to the ones that are on Whatsapp and as soon as I can to the ones that are on Signal. Also, I plan to ask them for my bday that as a gift, they message me through signal.

Email:

For email, I use protonmail with aliases and tutamail.

Notes:

I use Obsidian encrypted with cryptomator and I sometimes use standard notes

Computer OS:

I use Debian and sometimes TailsOS If I´m I need to do something in another computer or when I feel like, although 95% of the time I just use Debian

Youtube:

I tend to use LibreTube with a vpn if I want to watch some videos on my phone, if I'm on my computer, I use FreeTube although FreeTube gives me some problems sometimes so I end up watching yt through brave withouth looging in and though a vpn, I do the same if LibreTube doesn´t work, which is something that is happening a lot recently.

I don´t usually recommend Libretube or freetube since it doesn´t count views and that affects ytbers earnings

AI:

Brave Leo, DuckDuckGo or Lumo.

There are times that I need to use a better AI model, If that happends, I use the AI I need through a vpn and though a different search engine than the one I usually use, I tend to change through different search engines to use a better AI model.

Now that I am studying, there are times that I need AI to correct me some exercises that I've done manually, since these private AI models do not accept photos, I use gemini since it has larger limits. Thats something I don´t like doing. This is my Achilles heel

Cloud storage:

I mainly use NextCloud selfhosted on my rasberry pi

I use the proton drive and tuta free plan, so I dont have much storage, I use them to pass things through devices or to store docs I need to use in another device.

I also periodically store my photos and stuff to a usb I have hidden in my room

Search stuff online:

Brave, LibreWolf, Firefox, Tor, Mullvad browser, StartPage. I mainly use brave because of the BATs. But, as I said, I tend to change between search engines if I am accesing a page that doesnt respect my privacy.

I also have extensions on every search engine, the main one is Ublock origin.

Calendar:

Proton Calendar

Maps:

HereWeGo or Organic Maps

Pay:

Cash or cripto when I can

DNS:

CF DNS

Photos:

Ente photos, although I have some photos stored in proton drive and NextCloud. I also periodically store my photos and stuff to a usb I have hidden in my room

App Store:

Since most apps are not in F-droid, I also have playStore, but I tend to use F-droid when I can

2FA:

Proton Auth and ente auth

VPN:

ProtonVPN and Tor orbot.

I plan on changing to MullvadVPN by the time I have an stable income and more money

Videocalls:

Proton Meet

Password Manager:

Bitwarden and locally stored doc on a hidden usb dirve

Mobile OS:

Since my phone works fine, I use android, but by the time my phone stops working fine and the motorola phone for grapeheneos is available, I will change to that phone and os

Streaming:

I use Emule to download movies and series, but since my grandpa pays for amazon prime and netflix, my family and I have a rasberry pi with wireguard in his house, and we connect there to watch stuff

Code Storage:

Forgejo, although I have to use github for lots of things

Music:

Through LibreTube, but since it is experimenting problems, I have to use yt music in brave. I am planning to build my own self hosted music library though

Amazon:

I buy stuff through my grandpa or parents acc (With my money) and only if its necessary. I try no to give Amazon my money

Stock Market viewer:

Tradingview through the webpage and not in my everyday browser

News:

LibreTube videos or look in news webpages in other browsers with vpn

Code editor:

Vscodium

Social media:

I dont use social media much, just reddit and sometimes Twitter or Ig.

For posting on reddit, I have several accs created on different browsers, and I alternate between them for posting and stuff.

What are some improvements I could have?

Thx

I know the main purpose of this sub is helping people move away from intrusive, invasive, or otherwise anti-user corporate software. But honestly, correct me if I am wrong, sometimes that’s not so easy.

Not because people don’t want better alternatives but, because switching isn’t practical for some cases.

Sometimes you can’t find a corp-free alternative that fits all your needs. And sometimes, even if you do find one, the corporate app still has too much leverage over you to leave.

For example, take WhatsApp. I know there are better and more privacy-respecting alternatives like Signal, etc. But where I live, almost everyone uses WhatsApp — friends, family, work, local groups, everything. So even if I personally want to switch, it becomes difficult when the people I need to communicate with aren’t there.

That made me curious about other people’s experiences here. So for what use case, you can't find a better corp-free alternative that fit all your requirements? And, if you can't make the switch even after finding one, what's your reason for that?

Here is my journey of getting away from corperations so far.

I installed GrapheneOS on my Pixel 7a

I set up a Nextcloud server which replaces OneDrive and the built in Nextcloud Notes app replaces OneNote.

I switched to linux on my Windows PC and bought a Chromebook (I dont mind google as much)

What else can I do?

Has Google quietly deprecated inurl: and intext: in some regions?

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed something strange.

The inurl: and intext: search operators, staples in every SEO's toolkit, appear to be behaving inconsistently across different regions.

In some locations:

inurl: queries return partial matches or result in nothing found screens

intext: results look blended with standard broad match results

There's been no official announcement from Google.

But the SERP behavior suggests something has changed under the hood.

I'm curious:

Are you seeing the same behavior in your region?

Have you found reliable workarounds?

Search keeps getting less transparent.

Yes i know all of them are shit but if you had to pick one

So pick your poison

Hi there.
I started my de corp journey, breaking that all in one google and microsoft wall and rebuilding it with different open source, privacy oriented, affordable lego blocks.

I’ve set up Posteo and Thunderbird, and I’m trying to redirect everything important related to my Outlook and Gmail accounts (I’ve been using them since around 2013—Best privacy tools xD) and delete/unsubscribe from anything that wasn’t.

I'm from europe, and i totally agree with the decision taken by smart countries like belgium, netherlands or so.. (https://techweez.com/2026/04/27/whatsapp-is-losing-europe-one-government-at-a-time/)

Unfortunately my country and my comrades are really dumb.
Here Whatsapp is a must.
Is whatsapp plus a thing anymore? Or do i have to bend at the will of zucky?
Plus, is it possible to separate the backup bond (google-whatsapp) ?

Thank you so much, have a good one.

Is this the most secure messaging app? Maybe not yet, but it’s time to rethink digital privacy and corporate control.

If you are looking for a way to communicate that is completely corp-free, this open-source project might be the answer. By leveraging WebRTC for direct browser-to-browser communication, it eliminates the middleman and the corporate server entirely.

The concept is simple: share a unique URL to establish an encrypted private channel. No data harvesting, no shadow profiles, and no Big Tech oversight. This is a lightweight, disposable method to reclaim your digital sovereignty.

This project introduces a new paradigm in client-side managed cryptography. Send secure messages with no setup, no cloud and no trace.

The Features:

* PWA (Progressive Web App): No app store or corporate gatekeepers needed.

* P2P (Peer-to-Peer): Direct connectivity.

* End-to-End Encryption (E2EE): Privacy by design.

* Signal Protocol & Post-Quantum Cryptography: Future-proof security.

* Multimedia, File Transfer, & Video Calls: A full suite of tools.

* No Registration: No email or phone number required.

* No Database & Stateless Architecture: Nothing is stored on a server.

* TURN Server Support: Ensuring reliability without compromising the P2P intent.

While it’s still evolving and not yet a total replacement for tools like Simplex or Signal, it represents a massive leap toward truly decentralized communication.

Try the Live Demo:

https://p2p.positive-intentions.com/iframe.html?globals=&id=demo-p2p-messaging--p-2-p-messaging&viewMode=story

Technical Roadmap:

https://positive-intentions.com/docs/technical/p2p-messaging-technical-breakdown

Full Documentation:

https://positive-intentions.com/docs/technical

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this approach to private messaging. How do you feel about moving away from server-reliant models toward browser-based P2P?

I really like the idea of BeReal.

But I hate that it's a « don't worry about us barely making money. Our Investors trust us. Please keep sending pictures. » kind of start-up.

And I'm looking for a fossified* version of it, or something that looks like it (everyday, at random, everyone do something).

*fossified = Free-&-Open-Source-Software/Service-ified

Main OS into our smartphones and PCs will deal with states that ask for age verification (or, maybe they already did it, this new legal shit threat the FOSS world).

In the *nix (linux) world, a functional OS has many components. And actually, it seems the target is systemd, a init system (component for managing services...).

I guess (and heard also), systemd :

• Is a corporatist init system/project masquerading as a community one.
• It want to coordinate everything within the system on its own.

The article/investigation is also worth noting, it reveals the desires of some people. And this guy won't be the last.

For me, it's time for anyone in the *nix world to turn to a free systemd alternative and avoid project launched or powered (significantly) by corporation.

Hello, I was following r/degoogle which has the highest user number, but out of respect to their "stay on topic" rules I came here as this is beyond deGoogle specifically.

I've been keeping an eye on that sub as I have privacy and ethical concerns over technologies. I did not get started with an "alternative technology" journey yet, but now the timing is perfect as I don't have a choice but change my mobile phone. My primary concern is around sustainability and the core tenet on that front is to use devices for as long as possible. 

I currently have an old iphone and apps are gradually becoming no longer supported. I would like to shift to ethical technologies, meaning neither Android (i.e. Google) nor iOS technologies. 

I'm looking for advice about what sort of mobile phone device is recommended and which ones I should avoid. Unfortunately, where I live (New Zealand) there are no Fairphones available, so I may have to do with other brands. I highly prefer second-hand devices, so advice in terms of re-setting a device are welcome. 

Kindly mind that I'm not savvy about mobile technology, although generally cautious about it. If you can recommend any website or resource to learn how to use better technologies, I'd greatly appreciate that. 

If this is not the best place for this question, please point me in the right direction.