And since you won’t be able to modify web pages, it will also mean the end of customization, either for looks (ie. DarkReader, Stylus), conveniance (ie. Tampermonkey) or accessibility.

The community feedback is… interesting to say the least.

  • count_duckula@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    If you don’t mind paying, Protonmail. I pay €12 per month for mail and VPN combined however it is cheaper if you only want the email option. I haven’t used Gmail in about three years now.

    Degoogling is a long and difficult process. I highly suggest you start with small steps. For example, you could start using Invidious to watch Youtube videos. It is definitely not without bugs and you will run into issues. Change your search engine to Duckduckgo or Brave or whatever else you prefer. For general searches, these are good enough. Unfortunately, for addresses and navigation, Google Maps doesn’t have a good enough competitor that I know of. I urge you to make Firefox your daily driver if you are still using Chromium-based ones. I have Brave browser as an alternative for sites like banking or to access Maps or Google search. Start an alternate Protonmail account while still using Gmail. Be warned though that the free tier has 500MB, the paid tier 500GB.

    If you want to go full hardcore, look into Graphene or CalyxOS as a replacement for your Android. I specifically bought myself a Pixel phone so I can get a degoogled OS for my primary phone. I still have a secondary phone running Android for banking and paying which I turn off when I do not use it. Look into Shelter to freeze apps. For example, Uber doesn’t need to know your whereabouts when you are not specifically looking for a cab.

    But please, please, DO NOT start doing everything all at once or you will get overwhelmed. I now almost fully use open source stuff, and I pay and donate for services. I think this is the only way to show support for the projects you love and to have a voice against big tech/ad tech.

      • count_duckula@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 year ago

        I agree. I only use Brave for very specific purposes - somehow my bank doesn’t like my Firefox configuration, and mostly to access Google maps. Otherwise I use Firefox and its profiles for all other activities.

      • mihor@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yes, Brave moved to chromium for some stupid reason.

    • N4CHEM@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I think the Google Maps issue depends on how you use it. The thing is that Google Maps is at the same time:

      • a map database
      • a business database with user ratings
      • an app to access those 2 things and get routing.

      I ditched Google Maps long ago and rely on OpenStreetMap and apps that use its data. But I had to change my mentality, because it is not all in one app:

      • OpenStreetMap is a database that has mapping data. This data is very complete in some regions of the world, and you can contribute to improve it.
      • Organic Maps or OsmAnd are very good, FOSS, Apps that use OpenStreetMap data and allow you to look up any address or business, and have their own routing engines.
      • I don’t really care about the businesses ratings, so I don’t mind missing that aspect of Google Maps