DeGoogle Yourself

Here I will pin a list of recommendations for software. Getting started can be daunting, and it’d be great to pull that information together here for newcomers so they can take practical steps to degoogle their lives.

In August 2025, Google announced that starting next year, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:

With the recent false banning of tech channels, such as Enderman, I really want to find alternative platforms to watch tech content. I know a few YouTubers who have channels on Odysee, PeerTube, etc. However, I would rather watch them in a desktop app as opposed to a web browser.

I’ve stopped using Google Photos but haven’t really found a suitable android app (or two separate ones) which can replace two main features: 1. One-click post-processing - I think Google called it something like “auto awesome”, basically a single button which slightly tweaked brightness, contrast, and presumably a few other things to make snaps look a bit better 1. Automatic backup - I’ve tried proton drive but the app is a bit slow to load thumbnails, and critically it’s a one-way copy so you have to manually re-delete everything from your phone

Hey everyone,

Been putting a lot of work into degoogling my life, and I’m looking to move to GrapheneOS at some point in future. Still a total noob when it comes to tech, but more to the point…

It’s so toxic how Youtube will remove your comment on a video if you mention “Lemmy” or any other suggestion to descentralized alternatives to Technofeudalism. This has also happened to me on Reddit.

I see it coming, in a very short time every Android and iOS phone will come with AI built-in and so intertwined in the phone that it’ll be impossible to remove. I would like to investigate alternatives. I do have a few requirements–

Does anyone know of a keychain style bluetooth tracker (wallet and device trackers are a bonus) that works with Android that ideally doesn’t require having an account with some company? And most definitely not with Google. Understanding that such a device probably won’t have access to Google’s Find My Device network or something similar. I haven’t any luck finding anything definitive.

Before anyone suggests using alternativeto.net, I checked over there but all it is showing are the usual document scanners. While both are similar, Photoscan deals with reflections better because it takes 4 different photos from different angles to the centre of the image and then merge it to give a clean scan of the image. And I couldn’t find any FOSS alternative which does the same.

I’d like to start a thread for people to share what they’re using for search now that quality & relevance of results are in steep decline on all major search engines.

i have been on GrapheneOS for around a year now but the default one feels lacking of features like searching for texts etc. so what other sms apos out there that are foss and feature-full.

Don’t know if this is the right comm. Let me know if there’s a better one.

what alternatives to google.android.webview do we have?

I actually really liked the thing, hence it sticking around these 11 years since I got it. One thing I especially liked about it was that it initially just did the one thing. I went to a website or sometimes used an app, either in my phone or computer and pressed a button and whatever still image or video I’d been looking at on that source device, showed up on the TV I plugged the Chromecast in to.

Earlier post for context: https://lemmy.ml/post/35496495

Okay, so as the title says, I’m looking for a very cheap android phone that can support LineageOS. I know this is a stretch, but my current phone isn’t compatible. I’d also prefer a flip phone, but I’ll take what I can get. I’m trying to not break the bank with a phone as I’m trying to save for a car (I’m about 1/6th of the way there for a beater). Any help at all is appreciated!

I have switched everything to privacy alternatives is it safe to delete my Google account or is it needed for some android features also if I delete my account does Google delete all my data if not, can I request the deletion of my data under the GDPR

Just to point out collabora office available on android, through the obtainium app in f-droid. It’s an android fork of libreoffice

I’ve had my GMail account for what must be almost 20 years now, and it’s pretty ingrained in my life. My mortgage info comes via GMail, my bank statements come via GMail, my health insurance comes via GMail, etc.

Say a friend of mine has one of those dumb mobile game sponsorships, and if he gets 10 people to download the game through the play store, he gets paid. But instead it opens my browser where I tell it to open with Aurora store and download from there. Would that still count as a download with that code or not? Does that make sense?

I recently de-googled my phone by installed Lineage for MicroG. I want to find a good FOSS firewall app to use. I don’t want a firewall app that just uses a VPN as its method of running.

Yo yo!

If we want to argue that Degoogling isn’t just about privacy, but about protecting your digital life from being shut down at the whim of a tech giant with no real appeal process, what are some examples showing why we shouldn’t ignore the risk of Google banning users, locking them out of countless accounts, and deleting photos, emails, and records that often lack backups?

App: https://grayjay.app/ have any of you used this app? What do you think of it? Is it a good alternative to YouTube and such?

For example (just as rough proof of concept)

Hello everyone, I'm planning on getting a pixel 9 to put GrapheneOS on. When it comes to the right phone to buy, you need a pixel that is "unlocked," correct? Does unlocked refer to both root and carrier, or is there more than one meaning? Is there anything else I should keep in mind when buying a Pixel?

Looking for places to have realtime chats.

Looking to try installing a GSI to a device without any third-party ROMs ported to it yet. Want to back up the stock ROM in case something goes wrong. Manufacturer doesn’t offer the stock ROM for download and the only copy online is from a website that looks pretty shady. Can unlock the bootloader, but no reports of anyone rooting or installing a custom recovery environment for it. Every tutorial says to just look for a ROM on the internet, but how do people extract them in the first place?

Anyone here from the reddit degoogle im looking for something thats not reddit

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the awesome support! I left Reddit for Lemmy a few days ago and I’m already glad I made the switch! 🤗

Basically the title. I’ve installed Lineage already, however, I don’t know if it’s better than GrapheneOS

Pre-installed Google apps that can’t be uninstalled can be incredibly frustrating. But not everyone can afford a new phone (also not to mention the environmental impact), and rooting your device is not for everyone. The good news is, there is a simple solution for Android users: open-source launchers that let you hide those apps for good. Below, I’ve rounded up some options to help you take back control of your home screen:

Have you ever deleted a google account before? Any Experiences? What should one know about this? Do you trust them to really delete everything?

[I thought of posting this question here since it's the result of my avoiding direct use of Google search. Moderators feel free to delete it if it doesn't fit (apologies in that case).]

In my opinion we need to support other websites like odysee and peertube. If everyone here continue to watch content on yt we won't have a real alternative. This is my thought. For me the best alternative right now is odysee and I'm trying to watch only creator there. (If u want a list of content creator I can write it down)

Recently I've been looking for a phone that will allow me to install an google-free OS. I've never installed a different OS on a phone before. I've been looking online but haven't really found a clearly best option.

My biggest problem with any gmaps alternative is the missing ratings option. So far I only found mapy. I am very happy with the app but wanted to check if there are any apps that might also be worth a look. Gooing in a restaurant without looking at ratings is a bit to adventurous for me.

I have ADB, UAD, and even Shazuku with Canta. However, I tried removing Play Store and Play Services, but got my phone stuck in a boot loop. I have not tried to remove Gemini yet, but fear the same will happen. Insular (Island) will not allow me to move the services out of my persoanl profile, and Shelter will not work at all. Does anyone have a hack for this?

Accrescent, for those who don't know, is an alternative android app store. They aim to compete directly with the play store, so unlike F-Droid they include both FOSS and proprietary apps. They are also very security focused. They're still small but I find their approach interesting and their ambition worth supporting.

Made a new icon pack for Breezy Weather users 🌤️

I'm not buying a Pixel because I'm not giving Google any money. I'm in the US so the other OSs will not work for me. I just need this crap off my phone. I can't uninstall Youtube, and it came with Facebook. It's just infuriating. Can I just root it and connect it to my Linux laptop and just force uninstalls or something without bricking the device?

Been looking at the Fairphone 6 and damn, support until 2033? That's actually insane.

I normally default to SearxNG search engine but sometimes use swisscows.com.

Any other invidious users here noticed massive playback issues recently?

Making the jump from Samsung to iPhone soon, mainly for privacy reasons. Want to cut Google out as much as possible while I'm at it.

Hey, everyone. If you're looking for a fresh privacy podcast, we recently started a new one called Signal Jam.

Which Youtube alternative do you prefer to use and why? I've found PeerTube, Odysee, and Rumble. Thoughts on any of these?

I've been using DuckDuck Go since leaving Google Search, but that seems to be the first step away. I'm not keen on their AI assist. I tried Start Page, but the first four results were ads. I don't mind paying a small fee for good search. So Brave Search or Kagi?

So, I've been de-googling, and moved my email and calendar to Proton, and I've been using their VPN for a while as well. I really like it, and it works extremely well for me.

I feel like #degoogle seems to embody a greater movement to leave bigtech. Here are the crazy things I've done over the last month or so.

edit: Solved.

Hi, I'm hoping to get some help making my Pixel 5a more utility and less bullshit, but I'm not sure how to word it.

Do i just backup the apk and its data? Or do i need to sail the seven seas?

Hi everyone,