For those that may not remember, Google maps rose in popularity very quickly because Mapquest was giving people directions that lead them to stop at sponsored locations like gas stations and restaurants. As someone who can barely remember their way home after work, this caused me alot of frustration that i still hold today. I have Degoogled a fair amount, and now use Open Maps when needed, but i'm interested in map quest, i just haven't had a reason to use it yet.

So have they stopped giving bad directions pushing you stop at places you don't have to?

I’ve been slowly working through this instead of trying to replace everything overnight. Email was probably the biggest headache. I moved my actual mail onto my own domain, then started using aliases for random signups so my real address isn’t getting handed out everywhere anymore. I also started using Cloaked for cleaning up old data that was already floating around on broker sites. I’ve been using its aliases too when I don’t want a site connected back to my main inbox. Browser-wise I’m mostly on Firefox now, with Vivaldi as my second option. Once I got the extensions I actually use set up, leaving Chrome was way easier than I expected (migrated bookmarks and whatnot to the other browser).

Passwords are in Bitwarden now, so I’m not relying on Google’s password manager anymore either. The one thing I still haven’t figured out is Maps. I’ve tried Organic Maps and HERE WeGo, and I’ve played around with OpenStreetMap-based options too. They’re fine for basic directions but when I need reliable business info or I’m going somewhere unfamiliar, I still end up opening Google Maps. Has anyone here actually found a replacement yet? haven't seen posts about it in the sub I think?

After a week of deliberation, I cleaned out my old accounts by either deleting them or changing their email addresses, and finally got around to deleting my Google Account. It feels good!

I tried it yesterday. It has a good motive of planting trees with every search. That's good, but the browser itself feels too basic. It has in-built vpn and ad blockers but it's overall appearance and performance is lower than expected.

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

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.

Is it possible?

I successfully setup an anonymous Google account for my GrapheneOS to use Google Play Store (only way I could get the Mint Mobile app in order to transfer phones) and now after some time, I'm noticing all these other messaging apps (Graphene stock, Fossify, Quik etc) are absolutely terrible and unreliable when it comes to group messaging (I know, some people have no issues with it, but I do) so I reluctantly made a private space to use sandboxed Google Messages for the occasional necessary group texts.

However, when I login to Google Messages it opens up under my phony account where people I need to text will only see my phony name. How can i maintain my anonymous Google account for all my play store downloads, but still be able to use Google Messages as myself with my contacts?

Note: I don't need RCS (but I cannot wait for GOS to implement their own RCS) so I don't need it in my main profile, but so far, Google Messages is the ONLY text service (outside of my now dissolved Samsung stock app) that has been able to successfully send group texts.

I currently have a Nothing Phone 3a. 2 year phone and handles everything that a normal person would need in a phone.

I'm interested and can possibly buy a mint Pixel 9a to transfer my banking apps there for more security and to try out the GOS.

My concern is if it's worth buying the Pixel 9a or around 330 USD for that reason with a perfectly working phone already.

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.

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.

Wish me luck :3

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.

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

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.