11

Is anyone here living Google free?

I've switched to using DuckDuckGo and ProtonMail for a while now, but I still find YouTube to be unreplaceable.

And also all the Google stuff on Android, like the play store and other integrations.

I know there's F-Droid and ROMs I might be able to install that wouldn't use any google service; just curious if some have done this successfully.

Comments
  • 2
  • 3
    Not entirely google-free, still using the pico-Package of OpenGApps with LineageOS on my smartphone (works well) because I use the Play Store every once in a while - that's about it.

    YT sadly is a thing I have to use also because some people publish their videos there ... and nowhere else.
  • 2
    Besides recaptcha (ffs people use something human friendly) and YouTube I am.
  • 1
    I have done it for a year when I was still in highschool though. Failed one class because of it, khans academy doesnt work if you block all google.
  • 1
    @nin0x03 I think you can use YouTube without a Gmail, just a regular email. In that way Google wouldn't be able to use the information they gather from YouTube elsewhere.
  • 0
  • 2
    @YousifMansour Idon't even have an account, just a collection of bookmarks I check on a regular basis. ^^"
  • 1
    @nin0x03 hahaha wow didn't think of that
  • 2
    I'm slowly moving to ProtonMail.

    My default dev browser is Firefox and I'm starting to use Cliqz for normal browsing.

    Good luck attempting to live completely Google free.
  • 6
    @Collie Youtube: hooktube.com (although it does download from YouTube, it can't do all the YouTube tracking)

    Email: tutanota.com
    Maps: openstreetmaps + osmand
    Phone: Android phone without custom rom right now but root firewall blocking anything from Google to access the internet.
  • 1
    apkpure is a good playstore mirror. you might have problems with paid apps though.
  • 1
  • 2
    I've been a long time user of both DuckDuckGo and ProtonMail. I used Google Authenticator, but then I noticed I could set that up in 1Password as well (works with all 2FA services). I only use YouTube, and Gmail for spam-mail.
  • 2
    @Codex404 how is recaptcha not human friendly?
  • 1
    Pretty much the same as you.

    DuckDuckGo, Protonmail, Firefox

    But also

    Android, Play, Maps, YouTube (via Newpipe)

    But I'm okay with that. I don't feel the need to go on a Google abolition mission.
  • 2
    @AL1L it sometimes takes 20 minutes to get access to your account because of it. Sometimes after 15 tries I give up and try the next day again.

    Yesterday I was like fuck it im gonna try it a different way after 20 minutes actually trying and 20 minutes using the tactic described in my last rant I got in.
  • 1
    That would be too hard for me. I'm still a Gmail and chrome user
  • 1
    @linuxxx not anymore, its all embeds
  • 1
    @bugreport Oh, that'd be actually a lot more practical to me. Old habits etc, I guess. :D
  • 2
    @Codex404 it never takes me more than 15 seconds to solve one.

    One after the major things it looks at is organic mouse movements, so try making some of those right before clicking the check box.

    On average, recaptcha takes significantly less time for users than other types of captcha
  • 2
    @AL1L even though Im not using a VPN of any sorts Google has always been confused by me. While using international google from the netherlands I still get quite a lot of wikipedia results in German and French while almost never in english or dutch.
Add Comment