this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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Google’s Gemini team is apparently sending out emails about an upcoming change to how Gemini interacts with apps on Android devices. The email informs users that, come July 7, 2025, Gemini will be able to “help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” Naturally, this has raised some privacy concerns among those who’ve received the email and those using the AI assistant on their Android devices.

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[–] commander@lemmy.world 55 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

I swear all of this was predicted to happen by open source advocates of the 80s and they'd be called alarmists/whatever and then 30 years later you had Snowden leaks and all the surveillance bills and now Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all advertisement companies mining data through the software and devices they sell

The best people can do is just keep using and advocating for Linux adoption. Try out degoogled Android or a more traditional Linux phone device. Need more users and funding to get the software kinks worked out. They're not as good as the high end Android and Apple stuff, but it's a process

[–] Typhoonigator@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I've been struggling with figuring out how to get google off my phone. I don't know if I'm doing a bad job of searching or if I'm just dumb, but are there any good communities in Lemmy you can recommend on the topic?

[–] commander@lemmy.world 8 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

Just searched degoogle in Lemmy

https://lemmy.world/c/degoogle@lemmy.ml

There are levels to it. The advanced level is using a custom Android ROM for your phone that has no Google play services/apps on it and that'll depend on what's available for your phone from community ROM makers. You can see if any of these support your phone or plan any future phone of yours around these

https://itsfoss.com/android-distributions-roms/

An easier first step is just starting with non-Google apps. You can start with replacing Google apps like replace Maps with Organic Maps or something similar. Replace Gmail with something like Proton Mail. Same with calendar and cloud storage. Proton has alternatives. They even have an okay Google docs feature. Use a different search engine like duckduckgo rather than Google.

F-droid as an app store. Instead of Google authenticator use Aegis. Instead of Chrome use Firefox or a fork of it.

It's difficult so a process over time of lessening dependency on Google applications

[–] IlovePizza@lemmy.world 1 points 26 minutes ago

But what about banking apps and surch?

[–] copdeb@crazypeople.online 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Do you have any good material to degoogle Android??

[–] commander@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Just saw there's a sort of large Lemmy degoogle community

https://lemmy.world/c/degoogle@lemmy.ml

Personally I think it's a good start to just replace Google applications. Organic Maps over Google Maps. Proton Mail/Drive/VPN/Calendar over Google stuff. Firefox and forks over Chrome. Duckduckgo over Google search. After that you can maybe find an old old Google Pixel phone and then start flashing ROMs off XDA forums as practice before you try a newer more expensive phone

[–] copdeb@crazypeople.online 1 points 5 hours ago

Ok!!! Thanks. I've done all that, so I Think I'm degoogling. It's Hard to avoid Android in my country, you risk to be out of communication Networks