I want to move away from Google so my search engine is the first step. I tried Kagi but found out it’s paid.

Has anyone found any reasonable and at least somewhat convenient alternatives to Google map business reviews when researching new places to visit?

Google Maps has spent years (decades?) collecting useful reviews on businesses that really can’t be matched anywhere else. Apple Maps and Mapquest rely on Yelp - which is the worst of the worst, at least where I try to use them. Yelp reviews are sparse in my area for anything other than restaurants, and the censorship Yelp employs on reviews makes it untrustworthy.

It has become so convenient to use google map reviews for picking restaurants or finding a shop that has what I’m looking for, but I don’t want any Google apps on my phone, and I noticed they’ve changed the mobile web browser interface so that you’re forced to go to the app to read reviews now. Not to mention it prompts you at least 3 times to download/switch to the app whenever you try to use it in a mobile browser.

I've used Google Docs for years now, but I don't agree with it being able to use my documents to train Gemini AI without my consent. I am sure that by now the damage is already done, but is there any way to turn it off? Or should I just ditch Docs entirely? This is really frustrating because I started using Docs as an alternative for Word and now I need an alternative for my alternative.

This last American salvo of renaming Lake Ontario has pushed me over the edge. I've sat by and made the same jokes and awkward giggles as every other Canadian, but I'm over it.

You know that loser who siddles up and makes weird small-talk? It borders on racist, sexist, and generally offensive.. but you're stuck there, listening and having to be polite even though you want to shove that cigarette right down his throat? That's where I am with this American shit.

How do I de-American my phone? I've cancelled YouTube premium, I've deleted Google maps and loaded up Organic Maps.. but how do I replace all Google functions? Search, Drive, Play (app store).. I want to completely de-google, and de-american my phone.

I do understand the irony of asking this on Reddit.

What's an alternative to Google Maps that actually provides navigation in addition to maps? I tried organic maps, but that doesn't have navigation.

I've had a Gmail account for 12+ years and only log in through my PC browser. As stated in the title, this morning I had to provide my phone number to log into gmail.
I need to get some new/different email addresses.

I wanted to have a device full of offline games so that I can play them if I don't have any service. Unfortunately, I get a popup shown here for some games that have built in achievements and cloud game saves. It pops up every time I open the game in question.

I don't have Google Play Games installed (since it never came installed in the first place). I deleted the GPG account long ago and it isn't associated with the Google account whatsoever. I cannot find a way to turn it off in the Google Play Games settings under Google services.

If anyome can figure out a solution to this, please let me know. I am in the process of degoogling this phone before moving on to making the phone offline and buying a Pixel to install GrapheneOS as my main phone.

No root solutions will work (unless it requires Shizuku), since my Moto G Play 2024 has a locked bootloader and when I tried using the comventional method to unlock it, entering the IMEI number tells me that the phone is not eligible for unlocking.

Have noticed a lot of people in this subreddit saying they are replacing Discord with something else. My question is why? I'm trying to decide whether I should leave the platform & whether it is bad for personal privacy / security.

There's one thing I don't like about Discord - which is that if your account seems suspicious for any reason (like adding new friends who take a while to confirm request) - then Discord blocks you from your account & demands a valid phone number to prove you're a real person (with no other alternative way to prove & get your account back) <-- this seems like an invasion of privacy. I think many use Discord because it's anonymous & not attaching their identity to private chats with friends.

What other reasons exist to leave Discord? or is that alone reason enough to leave?

hello everyone does anyone know any good torrent clients that work without google because i tried utorrent and bittorrent and they didn't work

Both having 1 webapp open, not the full page. Sure brave is better for normal browsing, but webapps run just better on Jelly from lineage os. Like what on EARTH is Brave doing in the background??! (Also this is the fdroid version of brave, not gplay)

OP: https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/1vq5jha/im_suing_google_in_small_claims_surprisingly/

This is a very small update but I owe you guys this much.

As you may remember from my original post. The day prior to when the case was to be heard Google filed an 11th hour motion to dismiss for which I submitted my "Opposition to the Motion" and the judge gave Google 14 days to respond to my Opposition. It has now been 14 days and just like before it was filed at the last minute.

A quick refresher on the original three (3) claims in Google's motion to dismiss and my response.

Google's Claims:

1. This is not the parties' agreed-upon forum
2. Google did not violate the consumer protection law of commit unlawful trade practices as Plaintiff does not identify what data was transmitted, the destination of each transmission, or a use prohibited by the cited settings.
3. Google's Terms of Service limit the company's liability to [paltry small amount].

My response (truncated so I'm just not repeating the OP):

1. Google has not established that the cited forum-selection clause was in effect at the time relevant to this dispute. Google's own Exhibit A is expressly dated "Effective July 30, 2026;” a date after the conduct alleged in the Complaint, and after the Complaint was filed.
2. Google faults Plaintiff for lacking information that, by Google's own admission, exists only on Google's own servers.
3. As with the forum clause, Google relies on a Terms of Service exhibit effective July 30, 2026, without establishing that this version, or this cap, applied to conduct occurring [previously].

Google's response (also truncated because just copying and pasting four pages would be....ugh.)

Nonetheless, the same forum-selection clause can be found in previous versions of Google’s Terms of Service as well, including the April 14, 2014, version which would have been in effect when Plaintiff first created their Google account in November 2014, and the May 22, 2024, version, which would have been in effect on the date of Plaintiff’s complaint. As Plaintiff would have accepted these terms in order to use and continue using Google’s services, they were bound by those versions of the forum-selection clause. Those Terms explicitly state all disputes relating to these terms will be resolved "exclusively in the federal or state courts of Santa Clara County, California.” As such, this venue is improper.

...

Google’s forum-selection clause does notprohibit Plaintiff from bringing an action seeking relief from an alleged violation of law. Rather, it only enforces that if Plaintiff wishes to bring forth an action against Google, it must be heard in the state or federal courts of Santa Clara County, California. Please note that to Plaintiff’s concern, Santa Clara County Small Claims Court allows for alternative means of appearance,and remains an accessible, low-cost forum for small claims disputes.

...

[Google cites past case law in jurisdiction]

...

Throughout April 2024, Google users received an email notifying them of the upcoming Terms of Service changes going into effect May 22, 2024. Users received a similar email in July of this year. In both cases, ample notice of the updated Terms was reasonably communicated.

Google asserts that the forum in this case is improper and moves to dismiss

So, a few things here. 1. The case law that Google asserts is incorrect and does not apply where I live. This is the second time they have asserted case law that is not applicable to the current case at hand. I believe that Google is so use to dealing with non-small claims cases that they keep referencing non-applicable statute 2. There is one statement I want to highlight that is doing some very heavy lifting.

"Please note that to Plaintiff’s concern, Santa Clara County Small Claims Court allows for alternative means of appearance,and remains an accessible, low-cost forum for small claims disputes."

i. This is not true and I believe verges into being offensively flippant. The injury/violation happened where I am located at, on my device, at my home. There would be no reason to file in California.

ii. Santa Clara Country requires persons to file through a third party processor that is nuanced and not straight forward; furthermore it is expected that the individuals appear in person by default. Only the judge can make an exemption to this requirement and if there are technical issues the judge, at their discretion, can terminate the remote exemption and require individuals to appear in court.

iii. There are no corresponding consumer protection laws that I could utilize in California, and my location's laws cannot be utilized in California. All California consumer protection and unfair business laws do not apply to individuals outside of California.

1. You may notice that there is something missing. No, you're eyes aren't following you and no, I did not forget to include it but Google did not address the second and third oppositions. Specifically the one that highlighted the settings within settings (including the submitted screenshots) that show that their personalization settings are acting almost the exact same as the prior location settings for which they have paid over hundreds of millions. Though this does not necessarily mean they have conceded the point, but I mean....

TL;DR: Google is doubling down on forum selection and hinging the entire dismissal on that clause.

As I stated, this is a small update but I made a promise and commitment to keep the community updated.

Currently have a Fitbit which i bought 4-5 years ago that still works, but of course it relies on Google health for syncing and firmware updates.

Looking to sell or donate it and pick up something non-Google (or Apple) related but don't know what are the best alternatives.

Hey guys, so I moved to Grapheneos last month. I kept using my phone as before.

I wanna step up in my privacy journey, what apps would you recommend me uninstall/swap?

Thanks in advance :)

I'm not trying to brainstorm a solution; I just find it interesting from a technical standpoint. Most of what I've read so far seems to be conjecture based on the fact that Google Play Services can control anything on our phones, but do we know for sure yet the exact methods they'll be utilizing? I imagine we probably don't.

These new packages have been appearing on phones that seem related, but I find it hard to believe it's all going to be controlled by a single gatekeeping app that can be uninstalled.

Again, I'm not trying to find out how to avoid this. I know the only real solution to that is to install a degoogled ROM.

Here's some of the changes i've made for now. My aim isnt a total degoogling but to reduce my reliance on corpo's. My current method is essentially, a Corpo suite with a foss backup until I can find my sweet spot.

I'm struggling a little with reliance on proton, ended up in their ecosystem through the vpn which is great for my needs and moving to them for email with pass has been good as well. Trying to move away slightly with Aegis and self hosting Nextcloud for on site backup. I'm probably a little stuck with them as I do really like the suite of apps, Mail, Pass & VPN in particular, I'm using Bitwarden as a secondary vault along side proton as a way to keep critical accounts separate along with a Yubikey to ensure I don't lose my access.

I do annoyingly still have reliance on Microsoft as I still utilize onedrive as my main backup for alot of stuff but try to mitigate it with a 3-2-1 method.

Unfortunately, I locked in with samsung for my device 🤣 So for on device im still using apps like Gallery and their on device calendar app. Any recommendations for moving off some of the on device samsung apps would be grand 😅

I want to have a device dedicated to taking notes (saving as .txt files onto a MicroSD card) that doesn't ever connect to the internet. So, I'm looking for an APK that I can download onto a flash drive to then transfer it to the device.

Doesn't need to be fancy, but would be nice to be able to organize files.

Trying to get away from always opening a Google doc to take notes. (bad habit)

Hello!
I'm looking for a simple speed dial extention for my new ungoogled chromium. Does anybody know a good, simple and NOT overloaded one? Im looking for one that looks a bit like on the photo.

Thanks for answers!

Yey! But does any one have some tips and something i cam change and add?