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September 17, 2025 - @429.93 (what is this?)
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Author Topic: DeGoogling Yourself  (Read 1218 times)
WhiteFelineWonder
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« on: August 30, 2025 @547.03 »

I decided to make this topic for folks that don't wanna deal with Google's products. Figured we could curate a list of resources for people that either are new to this or have been away from Google products for a long time and show them that Google isn't the only thing out there. Is it late concerning some current news? Better late than never if that's the case (though you're free to give some more info about this in case I've missed a detail or two).

I'll start off with these:

Android Debugging Bridge (ADB) - It's a handy swiss knife tool for doing things that Android normally can't do because of the usual vendors. You should probably have access to developer options beforehand though.
F-Droid - It's an alternative app store for Android devices that has tons of open source software (and even things you wouldn't find on Google Play) plus even more if you add extra repositories. Haven't looked back ever since.
Universal Android Debloater - A wonderful tool used to list what's installed and with the click of a button, it can be removed or disabled! Use with caution though, as it can definitely ploof your Android device if you're not careful.
MicroG - A reimplementation of GPS for AOSP ROMs, but less data is sent to them.
LibreOffice - An open source office suite, no internet connection required. (Plus it's an inclusion amongst Linux distros!)
Newpipe & Pipepipe - YouTube frontends for Android that let you watch videos in peace. No ads, and you can download videos! Pipepipe extends this to other platforms too & includes SponsorBlock so you can get to the actual video!

If you know of any alternatives to Google products don't be afraid to share them here!
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« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2025 @389.55 »

If we are talking about degoogling phones there are a couple of options, though some technical knowledge is required.
1)Lineage os ( check which phones are compatible ) which will allow you to add g apps but you dont have to when you install, fdroid is pretty awesome
2) the more hardcore e/os which has pretty much zero google stuff but is still android
3) super paranoid levels (but only really works on google pixel phones) Graphene os
4) Linux based postmarket os but steep learning curve if you dont know linux and battery life is not great ( personal experience , your experience may differ depending on phone ) - lots of phone compatability but some things like cameras are a hope rather than expectation.

also the first three are all awesome also should mention ubuntu touch which works really well but for my purposes not useful , but the camera does work and the interface is nice.

for online services its hard to remove yourself from googles touches but there are some good alternatives  cloud storage I use pcloud ( swiss based good pricing) for email and docs i use mailbox.org eu based in germany. youtube is hard to escape peertube is great but doesnt have the same reach or variety that youtube has - but thats not the point is it. Chrome browser is easy to escape havent used it in years - meeting software either big tech like zoom or jitsi or if you want go hardcore vdo-ninja , i mean google meet is pretty appalling so its not that hard. Loads more I could add but lets see what else comes up 
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IndigoGolem
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« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2025 @829.91 »

LibreOffice is good, but i see it more as an alternative to MS Office than to Google Docs. For that i have used CryptPad, but i don't need it often because i only have one computer and prefer to keep most of my files local. LibreOffice is what i usually use for rich text and spreadsheets.

Android (i think, i'm no expert) is developed by Google but they make available barebones versions that don't have any of the usual bloat or tracking. That's what devices running Android-based operating systems use.
    If you don't like that, Ubuntu Touch has already been mentioned. And Apple has their own mobile OS that i'm not familiar with.

Startpage is a search engine that uses Google's web index, so you get pretty similar results without having to directly interact with Google.
    Other search engines i use are Wiby and Marginalia.

Probably everyone here already knows about Firefox. It's the main alternative to Chromium browsers. I use LibreWolf (a fork of Firefox) as my primary browser, and keep a few others¹ on hand mostly for testing my site. Firefox has plenty of forks that take things in different directions. LibreWolf, Pale Moon, and more i haven't used.
    Linux has GNOME Web, which uses the same rendering engine as Apple's Safari.
    There are some smaller browsers not based on Google's Chromium, Mozilla's Gecko, or Apple's WebKit engines. NetSurf uses its own engine but doesn't have the same support for modern CSS and HTML features that the big browsers do. Ladybird is not yet available but looks like it's trying to become a viable option like Chrome and Firefox are, with its own new rendering engine. There are also text-based browsers like Links2, Lynx, and w3m.
    Some gaming consoles have web browsers too, though i think these tend to be less useful. Last i checked the Wii U's still works. I don't know about most other consoles since everything else i've owned is too old to use the internet.

I've never owned a Chromebook so i don't know much about those, but it should be fairly easy to replace whatever OS they use with some flavor of Linux or your other OS of choice.

Some websites (w3schools, tvtropes) embed Google for searching within the site. I don't know a way to avoid that besides not using the search features or adding "site:w3schools.com" to your usual search engine when you need to find something.

Every Email client i've used does basically the same thing. Gmail, Proton, Tutanota, they're pretty interchangeable. Find one whose ToS you can stomach and fees you can afford. Also, you can write messages on paper and send that to people without using the internet. Ask your local post office for details.

Google Maps was hard to replace. Open Street Map and OsmAnd work as maps, but i've always struggled to get them to show me routes or details about a place. You can still get a real GPS though. I use a HUTNVEA GPS that works except i guess nobody who designed it knows about displays that are visible in sunlight (E-Ink, LCD, TFT, etc.) so it's hard to see when i'm in my car.

Google Drive is similar to Dropbox, MS OneDrive, CryptPad Drive, and every other cloud storage service. If you want your files backed up to someone else's computer any of them will do that for you. An offline hard drive that you maintain manually will also back up your files.

YouTube has some alternative frontends like Invidious, and there are also other ways to host video like Peertube instances.


¹Firefox, Links2, NetSurf, Vivaldi (Chromium), GNOME Web (WebKitGTK) for HTTP, Amphora and Alhena for Gemini.
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alexela64
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« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2025 @844.99 »

Gonna brainstorm some more alternatives but in the meantime everything here is good.

I'd like to toss in that in general i think people should move more towards FOSS (free open source software for the uninitiated).

I would also like to ask if I should put my list of photoshop/adobe alternatives here or start a different thread for that. Particularly Canva alternatives, as someone who is an amateur graphic designer and HATES the chokehold that Canva has in the amateur part of the field.
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WhiteFelineWonder
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« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2025 @695.56 »

I feel a list for Adobe alternatives could work here in the same thread. Might have to alter the subject title maybe going forward.
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« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2025 @683.62 »

I've degoogled my laptop (rather, never-googled-it, lol.)

Here's what I use for software on the laptop, that is not Google (Or Meta, Adobe, etc)

Browsers:
Firefox and Waterfox

Music:
Winamp (ui may look bad on win11) and Musicbee - musicbee website seemed to not load today, haha.... great look.

Chatting
Signal, Escargot MSN and AIM by the same group. (And Discord...)

Word processing/Spreadsheet, notepad, etc:
Libre Office, EditPad Lite

Photo-processing/Drawing:
Paint.net, Krita

Coding (simple, like a notepad):
Sublime Text

Video-editing:
ShotCut (DaVinci Resolve if my PC was more powerful.. it's great)

Search Engines:
Startpage and DuckDuckGO


Websites:
Invidious (youtube alternative), Proton (email and more), Tuta (email)

For legit free streaming, I use Pluto TV, but I think it may be Nordic countries only, maybe European only? Idk. The URL is pluto.tv. It's legit, with ads. Has a lot of great stuff. I think it's similar to Peacock? For americans (or VPN users I guess), there is also Tubi (tubi.tv)

On my Android, I use the F-Droid store to find some apps, and I use NewPipe for youtube.

ps, I've linked the software I use, but I dont take any responsibility in any changes to website or anything. Click at own risk and use at own risk! xD
« Last Edit: September 11, 2025 @432.92 by grubbyfox » Logged

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