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?

  • NewOldGuard [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
    0·
    2 days ago

    1. I keep my options open. I default to signal or matrix if that’s available, then my fall back is iMessage which I run on a macOS vm, and finally id relent to proprietary services like discord, groupme, etc. I minimize my communications on unencrypted and non-private channels, and only talk about benign things there if I have to use them. But I don’t let my commitment to privacy completely isolate me, I know my threat model and change behaviors depending on the environment.

    2. My banking and money transfer apps all work under grapheneos in a user account with Google play services installed. I mostly manage these things on my computer though to minimize tracking and remove the need for safetycheck compatibility before it ever comes up.

    3. I never use these services but pretty sure they also work on Graphene with sandboxed Google play services installed

    4. Other users have posted programs to convert these coordinates on the fly, I have never needed those personally. When I need GPS I usually go for Organic Maps but thinking of switching to OSMAnd+ soon

    5. Yes and this is an area where I need to improve my privacy more. I just use the garmin connect app with a garmin fitness tracker I got for cheap. I think it partially supports gadgetbridge so I might look into that but haven’t had the time to investigate.

    6. Pixel+Graphene is really the gold standard for privacy, security, and compatibility. I’ve heard ok stuff about CalyxOS so that’s worth checking out. Also FairPhone devices tend to have good support for custom ROMs like Calyx and /e/os which are degoogled, but I don’t have personal experience with those so definitely research those topics before making any decisions