Technology

Only apps by Google I use are gboard, gmail and translator. If someone knows well designed alternatives please share.

Google still runs a good chunk of my life and some of it I know I could use some of the great alternatives that others have mentioned but some of it I'm not really sure about.

Namely:
Maps
Messenger (web browser access to my texts)
Contact sync and backup
Google voice
And all the various services that let my phone operate...

I degoogled by switching to an iPhone 😅 DuckDuckGo is my default search engine.

After hearing about the three strikes YouTube thing, I just signed up for peertube. Already trying to get my photos back from google photos, but takeout destroys the metadata. GOOGLE PHOTOS IS NOT A BACKUP SOLUTION.

so far i've done:

gmail - iredmail

youtube - peertube for my stuff, invidious to watch yt google search - searxng

google news - miniflux

drive and photos - nextcloud

chat - matrix

google play music/yt music - funkwhale

there's probably others just can't think of them. i still have an android phone and still use maps, google play store, and google voice.

I used to be on GrapheneOS, but the drama with the developer plus mainly not being able to put my university ID on the wallet, forced me back on stock Android.

Besides Android, I use Google Play Store, YouTube, and Maps. For YouTube I've technically degoogled, using Invidious and NewPipe, but that's obviously still using Google services.

I really wish that digital payment didn't rely on two proprietary services (Google Wallet and Apple Wallet). It would be so much easier for phone companies to ship privacy friendly versions of Android if there was a FOSS alternative directly integrated into AOSP. I also wish apps didn't have to use Google service framework just to function, it seems stupid af. I don't think this will ever improve, so I'll probably end up on a true Linux phone whenever those catch up (2030 YEAR OF THE LINUX PHONE???)

We also need open collaboration on mapping. There is the OpenStreetMaps and Overture maps from Linux foundation, but those aren't really there yet unfortunately.

Not much honestly. Still use Gmail and Drive

Tried DDG a few times over the years. Sorry, but it just doesn't do it for me. Results were terrible. Google had lots of results and it was just too much effort to keep switching from DDG if it doesn't provide an answer. Because I know Google will.

Not much. I consider Google to be one of the least offensive players in the category. Besides, using another provider to handle your data exposes it to new risks. Is the other provider actually more privacy preserving? How's their security track record? Do they have a sustainable business model that complies with providing better privacy? Is there anything preventing them to make a 180? Are you paying for it? Who are their investors? Etc. 🤔

Self hosting using open source software is a real alternative but it's far from trivial and therefore not available to most but the more knowledgable technical people. It requires significant work even when automation is used and security can be botched fairly easily. If the data leaks, privacy evaporates. I run a lot of self hosted services.

I was degoogled until late last year. Then 2 things happened. 1, I got a Fitbit watch, and 2, I started a delivery gig job where I needed play store and google services. Fortunately I might be getting another job soon (got a conditional job offer yesterday) and quitting the delivery since I'm making less money now. Also, looking at getting a different watch. When these things happen, I'll probably reinstall LineageOS without play services and delete the fitbit account (which is soon going to require switching to a google account.)

I have hosted email and nextcloud that I use for storage, calendar, etc. I've lived without google before with no inconvenience and I can do it again.

I've been running my own Nextcloud instance since 2020, which, combined with ProtonMail, has replaced basically everything I was using Google/Microsoft for

I'm still in the Google android stuff just because of convenience but I have ditched Chrome and Google search. Eventually I would like to do more.

Lemmy definietly got me into degoogle and foss. Or rather latest reddit situation interested me in these concepts :p

I always liked the idea of decentralized web a lot but it wasn't until the reddit fall that it stopped being abstraction and instead there is a real platform it seems with a future

I use DuckDuckGo for search. Firefox for browsing. Just moved from Gmail to ProtonMail. And will do the same for Calendar.

I still watch Youtube and use Google maps as that's build in on my car, and I have an Android phone. I installed Lineage OS in my previous phone but started missing access to the play store and my banking apps.

It's honestly kinda frustrating how hard it is to move away from the convenience of big tech products, especially most of my friend use them already and companies usually don't care to support open alternatives if the user base is so small.

Definitely a continuing effort, not enough people care yet

The only thing I still hold onto my account for is YouTube. I pay for mailbox.org which covers email, calendar and cloud stuff. Their website could be better but the service is quality and their privacy policy is tight. When I was on android I used a bunch of custom roms with microg. My favourite ended up being calyxos but they all had a little jank here or there. I dearly miss NewPipe for android as a replacement for the official youtube app.

Edit: I also pay for Kagi for search. The price is a bit steep but I have found it justifiable in terms of the value I get from it. Whoogle and Searx are good options too

Proton's services, Cryptomator, Invideous, GrapheneOS, a handful of apps from f-droid.

Also, quick plug - !privacyguides@lemmy.one is the official Privacy Guides community on Lemmy!