Right now a lot of us are trying to divest and diversify from having our entire lives on Google both because of the way Google spends its money and the long-standing privacy concerns seeming a bit more scary now.
What services have you switched to and what has your experience been? What do you like, what don't you like, would you recommend them?
Nice, I have also chosen most of the same as you. For custom ROM there's CalyxOS, which ironically makes a Pixel phone one of the best picks for deGoogleing
I don't like the proprietary style of Proton Mail, plus they charge to have more than one account logged in, which is very inconvenient, so I set up my own Mailcow instance
For YouTube I highly recommend ReVanced
For notes I use Apache-CouchDB and connect using Obsidian with the LiveSync plugin. Live sync is fantastic and is as close as I think I'll ever get to OneNote.
NextCloud is great, a pain in the arse to add existing files as you need to upload everything, but a few hours of uploading with Cloudflare set to DNS only is fine
I've considered CalyxOS but prefer the hardening of GrapheneOS with no gapps - still means a phone decent on privacy. However I do try to keep an open mind, so if CalyxOS has additional privacy benefits to my existing setup I'd be interested.
I agree with the proprietary style of ProtonMail point, and my workaround for multiple accounts has been to use my own domain and have email rules for delivering messages to the respective folder. I don't have immediate plans to move from them, but I am watching the news cycle and have considered Tuta as an alternative.
I haven't used ReVanced, but I remember the original YouTube Vanced was a mod of the original YouTube apk - if that's still the case, I feel like ReVanced would offer even less privacy than Invidious or NewPipe. However I'm happy to be corrected.
I personally use Nextcloud notes but the Obsidian setup you have sounds interesting, especially if it's like OneNote - I'll keep it in mind!
Completely agree on your Nextcloud points - I uploaded my uncompressed Telegram archive to it, which took like 12 hours over my Gigabit lan. I suspect it hated the sheer amount of small files
ProtonMail was the GMail alternative for awhile, until Proton CEO did a stupid move. Otherwise, ProtonMail had actually been a great service and it was nice having a data cap of 500MB. It told me that was all I ever needed for the few years I had with it.
Tuta also has a free tie up to 1GB. Been slowly switching over for a few years. It isn't perfect and you can only use the first party app for "security" but tuta supports a ton of privacy efforts within the EU also
Proton CEO endorsed Trump. Proton's stance has always been against Big Tech and how Big Tech is bad and that's all well and good. But, it's contradicting when you praise or endorse an administration that's more than likely going to let Big Tech roll over everyone.
The #1 Google service/app that I used in the past was Google Maps. I've replaced it with Magic Earth for the last few years and it's been great. It uses Open Street Map for its navigation data, handles addresses very well, has live crowd-sourced traffic and hazard data, and can record rolling footage if you want it to act like a dashcam.
It works on Android and iOS, and supports Apple watch and Android car play if you use those.
For email I use Protonmail, for Google drove I use Proton Drive and my own self hosted NAS. For browsing I use several different Firefox forks like Zen, Floorp, LibreWolf, etc. UnGoogled Chromium for the rare times that a website "needs" Chrome to run.
The traffic data, at least in my area of the US, is pretty good.
Road closures are a rough point for sure. Generally, Magic Earth does have them marked, but not always. And the map data is only updated once a month. So even if a new closure does show up on Magic Earth, it takes several weeks to a month.
This isn't a terrible issue for me in my area, because I know the major roads and highways decently well, but when in other states or cities, it can be a problem.
That being said, it's still about 80% accurate on the whole. And on rare occasion, it has actually had a closure marked correctly that Google Maps didn't.
SMS Messaging: Textra (It's not FOSS, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a FOSS app in existence that shows the actual name of the person who's sent the message in group chats. They just show an icon, which isn't enough for me to keep track)
App store: Droid-ify (F-Droid), Aurora Store
Password Manager: Bitwarden
eBook Reader: Librera FD
Books: Bookwyrm
Translation: LibreTranslator
Calendar: Proton Calendar
What I can't find good alternatives for:
YouTube itself - enough said
Phone screen translation - I still use Google Assistant, and I'm not aware of anything else that grabs and translates all text on my phone screen
Maps - Rant time. This one is so annoying because there are FOSS navigation apps based on OpenStreetMap that are excellent in every way except one that makes them unusable for me: Using POV navigation instead of observing the convention of up = north. I did find one that lets you maintain a normal map view during navigation, but it doesn't keep your position centered automatically, which makes it impossible to use while driving. I have no idea who all you deranged people are who actually like the POV navigation, but there are definitely a lot of you because I can't find a replacement for Google Maps. I even tried Mapquest because at least it's not Google, but when I tried using it to navigate the first time, it somehow autocorrected "St" to "Ave" and I ended up lost lol. This maps situation really grinds my gears. I do still try to contribute as much as I can to OSM though because it's an important project, and hopefully someday an uninsane developer will make a proper alternative to Google Maps.
Interesting, I've had the exact opposite problem with Osmand last summer: Could not get it to use POV mode (not smart enough to navigate otherwise when cycling), it was always stuck on North Is Up (there's a button to change that on the upper left corner which they now changed to click and hold so I have my hopes up that it'll work now).
I wonder if Osmand is the one I tried that was so close to being usable for me, but didn't keep my location centered when North was up. I spent a day trying everything I could find, so I can't recall exactly. I'll give it a go though and see if it works.
I don't think you'll have much trouble finding one that works the way you want it because everything I tried used POV as the default for some perplexing reason. (Like if I was facing East for example, then East was up.)
I have no idea who all you deranged people are who actually like the POV navigation
I use both POV and up=north depending on my use case. For some routes where I don't care about the details of the route I find it useful to have the POV view with what I need now zoomed in and correctly oriented and what I'll need soon still visible and smaller but still distinguishable.
The problem with up=north is that when you've zoomed right in to see the detail, all the wider view stuff is missing, especially when out of built-up zones. It'd be better if the detail level would be replaced/augmented with a detail density setting, so that when you're out in the sticks with only you, a small single track road with grass down the middle and one sheep visible all the way up to the horizon in any direction that you don't have to zoom right in to the individual blades of grass before you see the road you're on.
Other times I do care about the route, and in those cases I'll use up=north and manual zoom as needed. I still get caught out though when travelling south and the arrow pointing left means I need to turn right.
When I first saw POV I thought it was a stupid gimmick. But then I tried it out and really liked it, but not always.
I always like seeing the details, and I can't imaging looking at a map and up not being north. It would be like reading a book turned sideways -- hypothetically I could do it, but it would require far more brainpower to interpret than it's worth. I do like my location kept as the centerpoint though. That's really nice, but apparently hard to implement. The "re-center" feature on Google Maps is my friend.
Oh, and I go back and forth between Sear XNG and Startpage for search engine. I know Startpage is Bad, but there's no search engine in existence that really makes me happy.
I have moved away from Google Contacts and Google Calendar and am now using Synology Calendar/Contacts.
I've left Google Drive for Synology Drive and I've left Google Photos for Synology Photos. Everything is self hosted and self maintained.
Tutamail shared calendars (which is a must) subscription was so confusing I didn't understand it. Like their whole subscription model is needlessly complicated.
Google sheets is simply... Really good. I haven't been able to find anything else close. I've tried libre and even excel but sheets is by far my favourite. And I really love spreadsheets so I feel I'm in a horrible position and so torn.
Tell me about it. Wallet is literally the only good option. The alternatives to Maps don't come even close, it's simply the best and most convenient app. Same with Earth (use it rarely but still).
We tried it but my wife hated it. With Proton, you have choose one subscription. I already use Pass plus so I can't have Mail plus (shared calendars) without Proton ultimate which is an overkill in my situation and too expensive.
Honestly I just use AntennaPod on Android. I've used Gpodder Desktop before but I don't really listen to podcasts on desktop... So I don't really need the sync but it's nice to have especially if you're moving phones/OS
Regarding AntennaPod it's honestly the perfect podcast app it does everything (chapters/chapter images ...) I want from a podcast app and it's open source
Just as a small note just in case, since this data is quite irreplaceable: raid isn't backup. Especially if the drives are of the same model, they're fairly likely to fail at the same time. Speaking from experience sadly
I use restic for off-site backups, hosted with a friend
Mail: Posteo
Maps: osmand for walking, hiking, cycling, skiing and magic earth for car navigation (because of real live traffic)
Drive: nextcloud
Phone: second Hand Google pixel with graphene OS installed (degiogled Android)
There are like 10 communities called something like privacy and a couple with degoogle in their name specifically. If you need more alternatives check them out. ;)
As online advertising becomes ever more ubiquitous and unsanctioned, AdNauseam works to complete the cycle by automating ad clicks universally and blindly on behalf of its users. Built atop uBlock Origin, AdNauseam quietly clicks on every blocked ad, registering a visit on ad networks' databases. As the collected data gathered shows an omnivorous click-stream, user tracking, targeting and surveillance become futile
for speedtest, fast.com is pretty great as it's a pretty lightweight page and uses netflix's servers which mean it's not really possible for ISPs to game it
I see from the "View source" option that your comment has everything in a neat, line-by-line fashion, though the final markup is decidedly not.
So, a pro-tip I've noticed from my own commenting experience: even if you have a line break, Lemmy (for some stupid reason) won't apply one when rendering; so if you want it to show, you have to use two line breaks, though then there will be an extra half-line or so that you probably never wanted.
Yes, I switched to Proton as well and so far it's been really painless. Proton pass in particular is amazing.
It was a little hard to pay the real value for something I've gotten used to being so heavily subsidized, but I just am reminding myself that it's because they're not making money off of my data.
I use F-Droid and Aurora Store on my phone and replaced the Google apps, that came preloaded on the phone, with FOSS apps. NewPipe on my phone and FreeTube on my PC to replace YouTube. I don't use Gmail. My Google account is on a Proton account. After I am sure I have all my desired apps switched over to email sign in, I will delete the Google account. I am also switching my Proton mail for Tuta mail. Proton is on the wrong side. I also dumped Microsoft over a year ago. I have been on Linux since then. I have avoided FaceBook for over a decade and never maintained a Twitter account.
I recommend, as a bonus, to use Universal Android Debloater, it has an easy to understand GUI and it uses AndroidDebugBridge to connect to the phone via USB. It shows all the installed apps, recommends with various tiers the apps that are worth uninstalling - every app has a helpful description - and blitzes the fuckers. System or factory bloat isn't safe from it.
Proton Mail: super painless to migrate over and a very similar user experience. Feels good knowing that Google can't read my emails and that they can't be subpoenaed by our insane government. Highly recommend. There's a free plan that offers 1GB of storage but I went straight to a paid account so I can't speak to that.
Proton Pass: LOVE this. It was easy to import my passwords from LastPass and Google. The best feature is the "hide my email alias" which on my plan I can make unlimited ones. It's basically making an anonymous throwaway email that automatically forwards to your inbox. If you start getting junk mail you can see who sold your address, but also with one click you can delete it if it gets compromised. It's basically the equivalent of making a bunch of different Google accounts but way easier.
Proton Drive: It came with my subscription but I haven't gotten that deep into it yet. It has a Docs alternative but not Sheets which I use a lot, so I'm hoping they develop something like that. Otherwise like a lot like drive. It's technically a photo backup too but the interface is trash (see next item). My goal is to get enough transferred that I can cancel my Google One subscription and maybe just use that for Sheets as needed.
Ente Photos: Cloud-based photo backup. I'm slowly getting my photos transferred over but it seems to be pretty user friendly. It has some but not all of the features of Google Photos, like organizing by faces.
Brave Search: They have a browser too but I'm just using the search in Firefox at the moment. I like that it's not based on Google's index but it sometimes means the results are not quite as good. Honestly for the payoff of not being algorithmed to death I'm fine with that.
I guess I'll share my setup aha. Forewarning: I invested heavily into self hosting and being in full control of as much as possible, mainly to try to be 'Internet independent'.
Google ads, APIs, telemetry and everything else that is not necessary: AdGuard Home (selfhosted)
Android app store: Fdroid with IzzyOnDroid repo, failing that Aurora Store, if apps still whine about not being to use Play Services then I use the Play Store
Gmail: Mailcow Dockerized (selfhosted) with K9 Android client
SMS (not that I use it anyway): Fossify SMS
Instant messaging: Matrix (selfhosted) for Discord/Telegram style with Element client, or Telegram FOSS
File Manager (I goddamn hate that Google Files forces itself onto any phone after initial setup, even when there's a manufacturer installed one already): Material Files
GBoard (It's also really fucking invasive): HeliBoard
YouTube: via Revanced Manager, with Odysee as a hopeful replacement. Much lower userbase though, obviously.
Google Photos (refuses to settle for less than 100% file access): Part of a self hosted Samba share that I keep synced to via FolderSync (from Play Store - they charge €10 for the app outside of Google)
Chrome: Brave (I downloaded a script to debloat it of crypto and AI)
Google Search: My partner uses Ecosia for environment reasons, and I use DuckDuckGo for privacy reasons
Chromecast: I recommend a Roku
AndroidOS: CalyxOS if Pixel, LineageOS if not
Play Services: Gapps pico or nano because some things are still tied to Play Services
Maps is superior, unfortunately, but OSMAnd is a good alt
Google DNS, used by default by a lot of things like routers: Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
I've tried HeliBoard as already suggested elsewhere, but I find its autocorrect and suggestions absolutely abysmal in English and even worse in my native Bulgarian. With Gboard I can usually type a letter or two and it already knows what's up, and it often knows what's the next word based just on the previous one.
The problem with Google services is that they will be probably one of the last ones (from big tech companies) I will stop using. I wanted to switch to Proton this year, but there has been some controversy of its CEO supporting Trump...
Google's CEO literally showed up to Trump's inauguration and pretty sure even paid millions or billions. So if you're not using Proton because their CEO made a tweet supporting Trump, then Google should probably be one of the first companies that you must boycott, in my opinion.
https://cartes.app/ is a new kid on the block to replaces Gmaps, looks very cool bit is also very alpha atm. But I'll keep checking it, it has some very cool features already (French only atm which I don't speak at all but it's still super usable.)
I tried to minimize my dependency on Google by signing up for various email services like Petal Mail by Huawei, Proton Mail, and Yandex Mail. I also tried to find smartphones that don't have Google by default, such as Murena smartphones and Huawei smartphones. But it seems like it's too late to look for those gems without Google because I have so many apps that I bought on Google, amounting to around five digits in Malaysian Ringgit, which is not cheap. So I think I'll stay with Google for now, sadly.