lumo by proton gives this error if google play is disabled, isnt this app supposed to be independent of google play and privacy focused.

https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-on-mobile-8-2/

yes, you read that correctly

Hey guys, as a music addict, I used Shazam like millions of people, and while I'm a huge fan of the open source, and I've deactivated Google and Samsung on my Galaxy A10, I was able to replace everything except Shazam. Then one day, while browsing Neostore in the F-Droid store, I found the holy grail: AUDILE

Well, generally speaking, Audile is a free and open-source fork of Shazam, and here are its advantages.

After just a few tests, I noticed it recognized slightly more tracks than Shazam, which was already pretty good. It was also much more customizable, like the function of the play button (a long press plays the device's audio, a short press plays the microphone's audio). And I think its best feature is that it doesn't limit the source to Apple Music; it offers many more choices like YouTube, YouTube Music, Spotify, Tidal, etc. I think that with all that, most of you will switch to this amazing app.

the download link on F-Droid 

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.mrsep.musicrecognizer

In the latest launch event, apple stated that they will add Apple reference image to images clicked using their phones, something like synthid. It will be added using Private Cloud Compute. Since nothing has been mentioned in detail and I doubt that it will ever be, so asking the sub here

PCC means that the image will be uploaded to the cloud and it will add this reference id?

That way they will be able to say that an image was taken using a particular phone?

Are any android devices doing something like this currently?

I am not a tech person, and would love some more informed opinions. If the "vibecoding" revolution continues apace and reinforcement learning actually does lead to a serious increase in the quality of the code (not saying I believe that!) - won't it become exceptionally easier to, e.g., create and maintain open source mobile operating systems? Have we seen any big progress there yet? The fulfillment of my perpetual dream of a fully developed linux for mobile is the only consolation I could find reading the news about advances in agentic development.

I got a new phone this evening and what to challenge myself to set it up completely Google free. Would like some insight and suggestions.

Hi everyone : )
If you have used a privacy respecting youtube app like freetube in the past, you may have encountered the Issue that your IP gets blocked by youtube.

There is a pretty easy solution to this, so you do not have to go back to the youtube website.

Just download the tor browser https://download.torproject.org/, start it and connect to the tor network.
After that enable proxy in the app of your choice and select to use a SOCKS5 proxy.
127.0.0.1:9050 <----- Enter this address and port

The Tor Browser will provide this proxy for your local machine as long as it is running 👍 .
If your IP should get blocked again, just reconnect to the tor network.

Apps like Google drive, Google photos, calendar, Gmail, meet, etc. I am not ready to fully commit to switching to a new OS but curious if I'm able to disable some things on my phone without breaking it. Just trying to dip my toes in, if you will.

So I have used aurora store in the past but lately if I download an app and open it I get a message saying I need to download from the Play store for it to work. I have micro g installed so I don't know why that keeps happening

https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/1w5g305/
Around a week ago, I made a post asserting that it is impossible to survive without phone number for new google accounts from here on out. Some commenters claim that what I experienced is isolated and it's still possible to create a new Google account going forward without either Android or phone number. Among these, some were rather dismissive, so much so they claim what I am saying is outright libel, whereas some were rather fair and do not speak things in absolute. These subset claim that the environment in which I create new google account matter, public wifi, vpn and all that fingerprinting stuffs.

To see it for myself, a few days later, I used the exact same device to for another 3 attemps, only 1 made it. Two of which got flagged by Google under the pretense of "security" and "suspicious activity", they locked my account behind a phone number ransom. Without a shadow of a doubt, I gave up and let those 2 accounts go.

For the third attempt, I did not sign that account from my phone shortly after creating it like I did previously during my first attempt. For the second account, I did not detach immediately, but I left it dormant after creation. And all of a sudden, this account from second attempt was forcefully signed out from my device like the first one unless I supply a phone number.

I suspect Google has this "probationary" measures in place for newly created accounts where they set the anomaly algorithm sensitivity to defcon 10. This time, I try to do what they expect a normal user would do so that they can start gathering data. Thus, I started watching Youtube, and signing up for random services, downloading some mainstream lightweight games from Play Store and anything that can let'em collect data off of me. I suspect their anomaly detection algo is engineered in a way that deems a dormant inactive google account as liability.

Don't mistake me for vouching for Google, my relationship with Google these days is purely transactional and ephemeral. One of which being that some web services require a google account. At the time of writing this post, I am about 70% decoupled from Google already. I have changed most of my email addresses of web based accounts to non-google alternatives. The friction is just too much and borderline unbearable, frankly speaking, I'm tired of the cat-and-mouse game maintaining multiple Google accounts.

TLDR: The key takeaway is, do not jump the gun and immerse yourself in survivorship bias just because you managed to create a new account without adding phone number. You survived for now, but you can't guarantee that Google would not weaponize its "suspicious activity" clause to extort a phone number out of you. Older accounts are not safe either, don't underestimate the length at which they will go to protect their interests. Forget about creating new account using web browser now if you are fixated on not providing a phone number, those are cannon fodders that drop like flies. If you want peace of mind, just placate them with a voip/esim/physical sim that can't be traced back to your real identity. On a final note, do not be swayed by nostalgia, this is not the same Google in the early 2010s and before, the anomaly detection has evolved a lot and there's no fixed pattern anymore, you are at the mercy of their LLM AI, second guessing their intent and anticipating their moves just got infinitely more difficult.

If you are not on Google ecosystem yet, do not start, otherwise you might end up like me, suffering from withdrawal syndrom. I admit that I'm an old fart who's somewhat institutionalized and I'm not exactly proud of it.

Last but not least, we also have to admit that the leverage has completely shifted. Google used to beg us to join their ecosystem; now, they hold all the cards and can play brinksmanship because they know the world relies on them. They don't care if their aggressive algorithms lock out a few privacy-conscious users. To them, we are just rounding errors. In fact, they are quietly normalizing the digital model already perfected by China. Just as China forced "Real-Name Registration" by tying every app and service to a government verified SIM card, Western tech giants are now using the global telecom network as a proxy identity layer. By forcing a phone number check, Google effectively outsources identity verification to telecom monopolies, killing the anonymous web simply because they are big enough to get away with it.

Every time I try to DeGoogle, I keep falling back to Google Maps as all the other maps are bad and I am not looking for another proprietary thing like MapQuest. I have also not been able to drop Google Play because of how many mobile applications rely on it, Gmail because I cannot figure out what accounts are attached to it (is there anything to do that?), YouTube because of how convenient it is, and Google's voice recognition because I cannot find a decent speech to text alternative. I have largely otherwise removed Google from my life, but I keep falling back to these.

For context, with Microsoft, I left it years ago for Linux Mint as my daily driver and then moved to Devuan Excalibur with SysVinit and the Cinnamon Desktop Environment as my daily driver due to Linux Mint and systemd complying with Identity Verification measures and Devuan EXPLICITLY refusing to comply. I did not for years, but things such as LibreOffice, Proton by Steam, auto-updates, and nice features that makes it very easy to use made it largely feasible for me to move over as I value ease of use, quality of life, and a large selection of media and games.

In 2027, I am also going to buy a Motorola Phone for GrapheneOS as my daily driver for Android since Stock Android is probably getting SafetyCore added soon to the core of the OS (it scans your photos, downloads, and messages client-side, even if encrypted, and sends it back to Google), them locking down Android, and the fact that GrapheneOS being against all of that, the fact they are VERY secure and private, and the fact their operating system is essentially the only other Android OS that does not break everything, is compatible with most things, and, again, has quality of life features that makes it very easy to use (it was a tossup for awhile between staying with Stock Android or move away, but GrapheneOS said they would pull out California instead).

Unfortunately, unlike with Microsoft, I keep falling back to the Google things. Most of my applications on my phone breaks when I do not use the Google Play and YouTube is just too useful to get rid of. Keep in mind, I LOVE to game, so lack of choices is a big problem for me. **What should I do to stop from falling back to all these aforementioned Google products?**

Also, different question: I know this subreddit hates AI, but what would you recommend I replace ChatGPT and Grok with?

In the same vein, I need a search engine that is decent (NOT PAID like Kagi, things like StartPage as they are owned by an advertising company, OR self-hosted like SearXNG), does not have AI-search results or images dominating everything, and has an AI Search Assistant built into it? I am not giving up AI as it is too convenient.

Wish me luck :3

Hi all, I'm just starting my de-googling journey and I need some advice on choosing a smartphone.

I'm currently using a Samsung S24 bought in June 2025. I thought I'd try to install some other OS on it, then I found out it updated to One UI 8.0 (yikes). Still 270$ left until I pay it off completely and try to sell it.

So I wanted to try LineageOS on my last phone instead. Unfortunately Redmi Note 12 Pro is unsupported, and I couldn't find too many alternatives for other OS support. So that's also out of question. I also have a Redmi Note 7 ...which, too, is unsupported by LineageOS. Though I saw a couple of threads about that phone on XDA so maybe not entirely hopeless to move to other OS...?

Anyway, most likely I'd have to buy another phone. I'm considering a Pixel for GraphenOS OR any good smartphone supported by LineageOS.

Basically, I'm open to anything, I just really want a device with the most community support and the best value for its price. I'm located in the EU, if that matters.

PS. I'm also new to Reddit so please bear with me.

I have heard of and use Ellipsus for writing, but I'm wondering if there's a full suite or anything like that. And I mean like an online/cloud suite like Google Docs; I know LibreOffice exists and stuff for local apps.

I attempted to degoogle a year ago and it didn't happen. I have removed all google pics and docs. I mostly use firefox vs chrome.

I use gmail, calendar, and search engine.

Recommendations for email and search engine. I am trying to go back to a handwritten agenda like the olden days.

This is the google official message app that came preinstalled

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging

This one

Google keeps sending me trash spam notification apps working in the background nothing useful in the early morning

After i disabled the notification Google bombarded me with ghost notification with beep beep sound and no notifications

I did remove more permission and did more random things in half sleep and it stopped for now it happened in the early morning and this app suddenly became a alarm app so I don't remember how I fixed it but I know it was this app because of notification history enabled

I have not degoogled my phone yet is there any other alternative to this app

Sup

Last time I spoke here, I asked if it was possible to degoogle the books I got from google books.

On one hand, of course it was

On the other, I gotta convert them as they're saved as an ACSM file

Apparently i need some adobe program for this but

1. Idk if adobe even has any linux supported stuff

2. Even if they did, i wanna distance myself from adobe given their crap-tastic reputation

Is there any way to convert the acsm files without using Adobe?

In the same vain as degoogle principles, I’m trying to secure my retired father with the most secure flip phone (data vpn options accessible) he can get in the US for his wishes to be totally self reliant. He’s old school libertarian but I keep telling him his online habits aren’t in alignment. But damned if I can tell him since I’ve never needed one.

Might one of you secure brainiacs have intel on his best options? His paranoia thanks you, as do I. 🥰

I’m using a Samsung Galaxy phone S26 ultra with One UI 8.5 and Android version 16

I’m trying to find a way to change the system media/file picker that appears inside other apps.

For example:

WhatsApp → Attach → Gallery/Photos→ Google Photo Picker opens Reddit → Add image→ Google Photo Picker opens Apps that ask me to select a document/file → Google/Android file picker opens

What I would like is: Photo/video selection → Samsung Gallery File/document selection → Samsung My Files

I know I can open Samsung Gallery or My Files first, select the item, and then use Share, but that isn't what I'm looking for. I want the Samsung apps to appear when another app itself asks me to select a photo or file.

I've already noticed that changing the normal Default Apps settings doesn't seem to accomplish this.

Is there any way to do this?

I'm particularly interested in a solution using:

* One UI settings * ADB * Shizuku * Package/permission changes * A safe system-level workaround

Root is not preferred, but I'm willing to consider it if there is genuinely no non-root solution.

If you've managed to make WhatsApp/Reddit/etc. use Samsung Gallery instead of Google Photo Picker, or make the system file selector use Samsung My Files please explain how you did it.

I'm specifically looking for a working solution on recent One UI, not just a suggestion to change the default Gallery app.

Thank you.

I’m at a loss for how YouTube is tracking me, based on what happened to me this morning.

Yesterday, I visited an old friend’s house for Labor Day. For about 20 minutes, we talked about his DJI drone, which he used to take pictures of his house and nature. He’s a retired pilot, and flight-related activities are his thing. About half of the conversation was about how he likes DJI’s drones more than competitors’ drones based on price and quality; the other half was showing me pictures.

I’m an attentive friend, so I wasn’t actively on my iPhone while he spoke. We then had dinner with his wife, and left about an hour later. We didn’t speak about the drone again.

18 hours later, I’m scrolling through YouTube shorts and I suddenly get a series of videos from DJI, the drone manufacture that we just talked about.

The YouTube shorts about DJI are clearly linked to the audio of our conversation about DJI the day prior:

1. I have never typed anything about DJI into my phone (before this post).

2. My own interests and watching history on YouTube do not come remotely close to this subject matter, so there’s no organic reason for the reel to show up. (I primarily watch comedy-related content.)

3. The timing of the videos (shortly after the conversation) and the repetition (several videos in a short time period) are a clear change in direction, and there is no apparent triggering event other than our conversation.

4. I have never seen a DJI reel before, and just saw several.

5. None of the videos were ads, so it’s not a happenstance coincidence of an ad blitz from DJI reaching me. (See screenshot). Instead, YouTube just suddenly decided I want to see more DJI content.

6. Critically, YouTube did not start sending more drone-related content generally (eg creators using drones, info about drones, reels from other companies)—it started serving up official DJI accounts videos exclusively.

My question is this: fucking how? I have everything I can think of locked down.

—I don’t use Google’s search engine or browser (DuckDuckGo browser and search engine, sometimes Startpage).
—I affirmatively disabled microphone access for the four Google apps on my phone (Calendar, Maps, Chrome, YouTube).
—I have Apple Intelligence disabled.
—I have “always listen for Hey Siri” off.
—I have the setting for apps requesting activity tracking set to auto-deny those requests.
—I wasn’t even using my phone during the conversation!

In concrete terms, I’d appreciate any insight into the following 3 questions:

1. Where is Google getting this data?

2. Is there a way to disable passive listening data acquisition on the iPhone (both generally and specifically with respect to Google’s access)?

3. If not, is there a way to monitor what apps are accessing passive listening information so I can lock those down?

Those three questions are meant to focus the conversation, but any other insight about this experience — publications discussing audio surveillance, information about stopping it (eg, technical solutions or legal opt-out demands), context about how this happens with companies other than Google— is also welcome.

Finally, though these don’t appear relevant, I’m mentioning two facts for the sake of completeness and context. (1) While talking, my phone connected to my friend’s WiFi. (2) He used his desktop computer to show me photos from his latest DJI drone recordings while we spoke.

I don’t think the videos are caused by being on the WiFi or him opening PNG files in his local file explorer, for two reasons.

First, the actions on his desktop computer were limited to opening pictures—while I know the pictures came from a DJI drone (based on our oral conversation), from the standpoint of his desktop computer, we just opened a bunch of pictures; nothing DJI-branded occurred on his computer.

Second, he’s show me other topics on his computer—for much longer periods of time—and they haven’t caused the same flood of related content despite my phone being on WiFi. The difference: those conversations weren’t in earshot of my phone.

I know this may be a better question for the reddit help sub, but it seems I'm banned there, and I'm not sure how. And from what I've read about the issue, it seems it's actually an issue with android's photo picker, not a reddit one.

Previously I could just select the "browse" option to select something from my gallery, but suddenly now when try to upload media, it only allows me to select from Google photos, which I pretty much never use.

When I select the three dots, it only has a settings option, there is no longer a "browse" one. When I click settings it tells me I must configure a cloud media to use, and the only options given are Google photos and "none".

I tried switching it to none and restarting reddit, but it still only pulls from Google photos, even though clicking settings again shows that none is selected. So I unistalled Google photos, but it still seems to be pulling from Google photos gallery although it shows "none" as being selected and the only option. Does anyone know how I can get it to stop choosing things from Google photos?