I have degoogled my phone few years ago it really hit me how much the phones depend on Google services. Few examples from of my daily usage when I compromised:

  1. Communication

I’m in students group, people there have own group chat on facebook messenger. They share info regarding tests, deadlines etc. Basically standard uni messaging. Unless I had fake Facebook account to be there I would have to collect all info by myself. The alternative is a discord server, which in privacy terms is questionable choice too.

At least I have few friends who use Signal or Element, but it’s minority.

What do you usually use and offer when people ask you for contact?

  1. Banking app

Banking app I used has blocked me from app after few years of using it when they realized I have it from “unofficial” source - Aurora store. That motivated to switch the bank and app, which doesn’t really on Google Play services. The easiest way to do that was browsing Huawei app store and finding the most suitable app. Do you use baking apps?

  1. Taxi/Transport

Of course theres no way to use Bolt/Uber for transport on degoogled device. What’s your way of transport after having few beers in pub? Do you use taxi via calling it directly or use that weird Telegram taxi addon?

  1. Map directions

Is there a way to convert google map pins to open source solutions and vice versa? What’s your recommended software for directions? What do you use for driving?

  1. Fitness

Do you track fitness activities?

  1. Phone

Do you have good phone recommendations? I know that GrapheneOS+Pixel is one, but what about others?

  • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
    1·
    19 hours ago

    1. At school lots of students use Discord. So I just use Discord along with them. I don’t give Discord phone number and I expect all metadata, DMs, and server messages to be publicly available.

    2. I don’t use a banking app, even though it does work on my phone (graphene)

    3. I don’t use taxi/transport app so I actually haven’t come across this yet. I guess I could try calling an old fashioned taxi.

    4. Man, this is a toughie. I’ve tried Osmand, Organic Maps, and Magic Earth. None of them work flawlessly. Recently I’ve succumbed to using Waze with no account.

    5. I don’t, I kinda just try to be as healthy as possible. Although, if I had to, I would look into Garmin watches. I’m not sure about privacy but it seems they’re one of the few that don’t require a subscription.

    6. Graphene is the best choice for privacy and security. You could try out Linux phones but it’s very developmental. Calyx is an option but it’s not security focused.