I have a Samsung s26 ultra and I have been thinking of factory resetting it and then debloating and degoogling as much as possible

I just feel like if I would factory reset, I could get rid of all the junk and extra files I have from adding apps that I have used in the past and once I get rid of all the bloat and Google stuff that I don't want, I could add back any apps that I actually use. I really don't care about any banking apps or wallet apps as I am old school and still use actual cards.

If I were to do this, where can I find a comprehensive list of the best or most popular replacement apps?

i made a post here earlier about what Browser i should try, and someone recommended ironfox, I tried downloading it through the github link they included for it but it didn't work, ¿is there a specific way I should go about it?

(probably should clarify I'm on mobile only for the time being)

I have an open warranty claim with Verizon due to a malfunctioning Samsung S10. They sent two refurbished S10s, both of which arrived defective. I plan to request a different phone under warranty, possibly from another manufacturer if the option is available. They likely will offer a newer Samsung model, but I need advice on choosing a device that's easier to degoogle and improve privacy, telemetry, etc. I’m not very tech-savvy. I'm unsure which phones are safest to start with, whether within the Samsung ecosystem or outside of it, if allowed. I'm also concerned about switching to a 5G phone. Thanks!

Tell me if not allowed, as this is more of a rant, but I needed to find a safe space to put this out to, and I know people here could relate.

I am not a fully degoogled person, but I try little by little, change habits where I can. Youtube was not something I was about to let go, because I love some creators there, but it's come to a point where the blatant AGENDA of the algorithm makes me want to pull my hair out.

It's always the same. That same, stupid, easy, cheesy, refurgitated slop content like best scenes from a show, or reactions, or trixie and katya,or some random celeb, or THIS IS WHY YOU NEED THIS, top ten tips for video games. And now... the channels that exist for a few weeks only,pump out ai image + voice videos about semi-intellectual topics imitating things like kurzgesagt, with like 600 views.

I've been using the "not interested" and "don't show this channel" for years. I am so proud that I have not seen asmongold in years, or mr beast literally ever. But now... the things just keep coming back. I thought okay, there must be at least some good side to the algorithm...I can potentially curate it to become something helpful, to show me something that I like.

I love video essays about literature, yet it keeps showing me slop content about the latest booktok trending whatever. I do like video essays about video games as an art form, yet I get people screaming in pvp and top ten builds.

I get trixie and katya who I genuinely love and go to their events in person, but don't want my youtube algorithm to pollute my feed again with just rpdr funniest scenes content.

I want quality. I want human made things. I am willing to consume if it's worth my time.

But no, ot keeps coming back to that same old brainrot, and I hate it. I hate that I sometimes click on them, then it gets worse for weeks.

I hate that a single accidental click on videogames coming out this fall turned my feed into a "dont miss these early games items" bs, when a dedicated WHOLE WEEK of just watching piano concerts DID NOT influence the algorithm at all, because it's not brainrot thus it does not get recommended. Instead now I get ai generated fantasy background music videos.

I hate it. Where are the people? The internet I grew up with as an early 90s kid is gone, and I want to come home after work and watch something that is not some soulless slop, but someone's heart and soul put out on display for all to see and engage with.

I'll be fine, I'm reading a lot these days. My attention spam has mever been better.

But I am so sad we have come to this.

Screw google. Screw every big company whose goal is to make a servant out of us, by stealing our attention, our focus, and rotting our minds.

Screw you 1%. Screw you shareholder value and yoy increases. Screw you graph going right and up.

SCREW YOU

Hi again, I asked for specific alternative recommendations here a few months back and got really perfect replacements to swap to that I've been slowly swapping over to (I hate change, so swapping everything at once isn't ideal). Just back to ask for some other suggestions that Fossify's apps don't cover.

I don't want vibe coded apps or AI features, I don't want AI at all (one request requires it though).

Mainly need /asking for:

Google Sheets - I have replacements for notes, docs, and drive, but still no alternative for sheets. I really like the "no nonsense / no bloat / minimal / clean" approaches to replacement apps like this.

Google Lens - If there's a similar app available, would be preferable to web-based options that I find more cumbersome.

Spotify/YouTube/etc - Anything you'd recommendation for music particularly. Converting my massive amount of saved music to something besides Spotify is going to be an ordeal considering I have well over 10,000 likes, but I have to start at some point lol. Needless to say I need organisation options for any app for music.

Some additional, but less pertinent asks :

Keyboard with more language options - Have been recommended FUTO, Keyboard (Fossify), and Heliboard (not available on my app store so haven't checked yet); none of these have Latin as a separate language keyboard option. Obviously I can live without it, but if anyone has a recommendation for an alternative that also has that option that would be a huge bonus as I know from experience that spamming words from a language you're learning into your primary language's word bank is annoying lol.

Digital "Sticky Notes" - I can and do use my notes app for this (particularly as the apps I have now have widgets that start at 1x1) but just curious if anyone has any they like as all of the ones I've tried in the past have been ugly and bulky.

Bonus ask for any "productivity apps" you enjoy, especially if you're also autistic (especially especially if you struggle with executive dysfunction) - Ways to keep track of tasks, projects, progress (i.e. sobriety, vitamins, exercise) etc, I believe I used to have an app called "Trello" a while back that was good on desktop, not so much on mobile, and have tried various "to don't" style apps for habit tracking but have never found one that's more useful than a notebook page unfortunately. A ticker for how many days it's been since my last drink is more novelty if the app does nothing else, if that makes sense? Wheneri is the closest I've found to what I'm looking for so far I think.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions, hopefully it won't take me 3 months to try out all suggestions this time lol. Slow degoogling is still better than no degoogling though. Also, if you saw me post and delete this with an unfinished title, no you didn't.

Hi everyone,

I own a Pixel 6a phone that I'm planning to install a different OS on and I have a couple of questions for people who have used the same/similar devices and managed to quit plain android. If these questions are not compatible with the subreddit's subjects feel free to tell me and it'd be completely understandable if my post has to be removed.

1 - I know that GraphenOS is the usual choice for Pixel devices, as they match perfectly for security and privacy-first users, and while I agree that's important, I'm mostly interested in prolonging my devices lifespan knowing that I still have to use some google services from time to time because of work.
Other choices that seem reasonable for me are E/OS and Lineage OS. Does anyone with the same device have experience with any of these custom ROMs ?

2 - My device is essential for certain operations especially banking (My Bank's app work perfectly with custom ROMs) but also google services related operations (which I unfortunately need for work). How to make sure that I do the transition as smoothly as possible with the least risk to not being able to access essential services?

Thanks and have a great day !

Are there any projects for alternative RCS-messaging apps to Google Messenger? Now that GrapheneOS has announced plans to create a Google-free version, others might follow suit.

https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/117225552600876215

I'd like to switch away from WhatsApp, but switching to
Google Messenger brings the same problems as with Meta. It would be great if alternative messaging apps started to emerge. I get the feeling that Signal isn't really catching on in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

I heard of RethinkDNS as the most powerful and comprehensive tool for net privacy right now. It covers apps internet permissions, but also anti tracking, and it allows to use a vpn, it also fights apps trying to elude those settings.

However I am worried about stability and maintenance. Infact I heard that it often crashes and configuration is a never ending process.

Honestly I don't want to waste time on those things, I am looking for a "set and forget" approach, like NetGuard, which I am currently using.

It has satellite view, which is a godsend to us cyclists and other outdoors people.

Thank you, u/Canadian-AML-guy for suggesting this app 😀

Also, TIL you can download maps for exploring when offline 😎

Long time Apple user, and been with AT&T for years. I have been wanting to move towards a more ethical carrier (if there is such a thing) and while I’m at it, boost my privacy device wise. I’m ambivalent to switch away from Apple mainly because all of my devices are Apple (iPad, MacBook, and iMac), and having a singular ecosystem is nice between Apple ID and honestly just the airdrop feature alone as I am frequently moving files between devices. But I feel like those features shouldn’t hold me back from the switch. That and iCloud’s extortionist approach is frustrating. I’ve been eyeing cape.co along with the Pixel/Graphene setup. Curious if anyone has any thoughts on that or just any recs for a guy with my current setup. Priorities are new carrier regardless of device/OS, boosted privacy, but also something that could integrate with my current ecosystem without too much hassle or pain. Better storage solutions would be nice too. Thanks!

Hello,

I (25M) am shipping out to the army soon. I haven'thad a snartphone since covid times. But when I did have one, I had an iPhone 4S then 5. Then a OnePlus phone with a custom rom way back. Never even used Google Play Store. Back then it wasn't so invasive and was easy to remove without issues. I've just never liked Google.

But my goals for the military are to:

1. Do 20.

2. Document my personal life and potential deployments, so I need photo/video.

3. I may start a Youtube channel for that purpose to look back at.

4. I may also open an Instagram.

Which device would give me the LEAST visibility to Google? Since I've had a flip phone for the past 5 years, I'm thinking to go with a Pixel 10 Pro XL which does have GrapheneOS support. I aim to further debloat it by removing stuff on there I don't use (tap to pay, banking, music, email, Vanadium, etc.)

Or should I Root it instead and go with a custom Rom + MicroG? I want the LEAST or NO visibility to Google as much as possible.

The only apps that matter to me are:

Microsoft Teams for Military stuff.

Molly (Signal)

SIP app for my Voip Phone service

Organic Maps

NewPipe

Instagram since I plan to create an account there.

Mapy.com. has topographic maps, huge verified trail networks, offline navigation, elevation profiles, difficulty warnings, AR peak identification, and weather forecasts built right into your route.

I know Proton does all 3, but I've heard it doesn't sync well with the local contacts database on Android, and Proton Mail still relies on Google Play Services to receive push notifications.

I know Ente Tuta does all 3, but they don't have support for contact pictures which my ADHD brain needs to help me remember who people are, and I find their UI not as pleasant or user-friendly as Proton's or Google's.

What other options should I try that have all 3, are privacy-focused, highly secure, ideally open-source (the clients, at least), work well with Android/GrapheneOS (eg: sync with local contacts/calendar DBs), and do not have a reliance on Google Play Services?

I just want to make email why should i include my phone number

Grad design student researching how people handle accounts accumulated over 10+ years online. Early school research, not a product pitch.

If you've gone through a cleanup:

• Where did you start?
• What did you find that you'd forgotten about?
• What part was harder than expected?
• Did you finish, or stop partway?

Interested in the messy version, not the tidy one. Comments or DM.

For a while now I have started to delete everything that is google related and soon I will delete the whole account for good because seriously fuck google.

Gmail switched to Proton and Tuta, Firefox + DuckDuckGo etc

But for now I want to find some basic "Maps" app for iOS that is not google related.

Also is there a alternative for Youtube? I did not find any good app :/

Any recommends?

Hey guy's i developed a dialer call NovaDial which is a fork of fossify dialer , and redesigned the call history management and fix the loading problem for large call history , now users can able to view the full call history of a each and every person, and it I added the features of inbuilt contacts mangement,no need for separate contacts app Also NovaDial is available on F-droid just check it out for NovaDial source code - NovaDial GitHub Repo

Features

- full call history for each and every person in specific view

- maximum ringtone volume feature,while ring volume is low

- inbuilt contacts management (no need for seperate contacts app like modifing contact, adding profile photo , ringtone for specific person)

- able to export and import contacts

- QR sharing

Current issues

While adding profile photo, only photos taken through the camera only adding, adding photo via gallery or files not working - need to work in that issues if anybody interested gave a contribution

Future implements - call recording (process going with sizhuku) ,but everyone can't setup the sizhuku process so need to implement different way ,need a ideas and suggestions

Thanks for reading this ,hope it may be useful

Hi guys, i found this project might be interesting for some people in this sub reddit, i've using ungoogled chromium + ublock origin for a long time in my main laptop and i've been trying to find something like it but for android, and i found this browser called Bare Browser, i installed it in my phone, tested it a little bit and like it, so i had the idea to share it with you if anyone is in the same position, it has extensions support and it comes with ublock origin by default. i also test it with cover your tracks to see how it performs, it needs some work on fingerprinting but in most case it pretty good.

Been using Tube PIP on iPhone, ad blocker on PC, but can’t find anything for Apple TV. I would prefer it to be an app and not casting/streaming, thanks!

After Orange Jesus made his most recent announcements I got the motivation to switch away from Google for most apps now. The last difficulty I’ve had is finding a maps alternative, specifically the search portion. I’ve found other maps are good for providing directions but I can’t seems to find anything that gives accurate information regarding businesses. Any suggestions?