Not sure how many people were suffering from it, but Google Photos became adamant about pushing ads. I couldn’t find a replacement in Google Store which wasn’t doing the same. Downloaded F Droid, used alternative to website to find apps, downloaded and now the problem is solved. You can use Google Files to install the F Droid apk to start your journey of degoogling. I’m still using some proprietary apps which work with the Android UI such as Google’s Wallet but everything I could replace I did (unless I’d inconvenience myself like with Contacts). The open source apps have much better UIs and don’t bombard me with ads or other stuff the big corp wants to push like their accounts. I wish I had done it sooner and this post was made to encourage other people to do that. I tried Aurora Store, but Google doesn’t let me login. It tells me it would give me a popup to type a number into, but the popup never comes. Anyone knows what app pushes the popup? Is Aurora a full replacement for Play Store or do I need to have both installed?
Aurora is a full replacement for the play store. I’ve been using fdroid as my only source for apps for years now. It has everything I need.
I’m euro and our banks require mobile apps. Furthermore, there’s proprietary dating apps and I paid for a cute Android icon pack. I also use proprietary alarm app and wallet app for compatibility with the system, also the contacts app for sync. I’m stuck with Google Maps because I tried the open source alternatives and found them not suiting my needs. I’m happy you’re fully google free though. I’ve been lowering my YouTube usage to none because I replaced it with Netflix and I’m pandering buying Curiosity Stream or Nebula, but honestly I watch less and less, I just need occasional quick mind numbing so I’m not even sure if I’ll continue using any of the paid services. I tried the open source peer tube thingy but didn’t find anything of interest to me.I’m not ready for open source only personally, but I respect that. My desktop is mostly open source minus gaming.
Works in the browser for me
Works in the browser for me
Newpipe or clipious
Why?
I’ve been using osmand for years across Canada, works fine for me
😂
To each their own, and use whatever tool you prefer, but moving away from google and proprietary software is a lot easier than people think.
It’s not much easier than people think, as much as I’d like that to be true.
2 of my digital banks work only through apps, so browser is not an option. Same for some dating apps. I would also need to give up on a handful of proprietary apps or give in to inferior open source alternatives. And I don’t even play games, but I imagine the open source selection is really scarce in comparison. Replacing most apps might be easy, replacing all of them can be a headache.
You could make an argument that not using banking apps decreases your security, since most banks use either SMS or those apps as the second factor while confirming the operations. It is true that the apps are of varying quality, but SMS is not really a serious alternative. Some banks do have apps that are limited to confirming operations, and one bank where I live did recently start accepting U2F, which is amazing news.
I mean I wouldn’t put much trust into banking apps either honestly. I have found files suggesting the app is in debug mode in my bank’s app’s files. It also recommended me a true crime podcast once??
I’m from Europe as well, running GrapheneOS with Aurora (and also F-Droid). Had no problem with my banking apps. Also all my bought apps still are downloadable with Aurora.
The contacts apps don’t sync the contact’s (at least none of the ones I’ve tried), Android does it. You could try Simple Contacts as well as Simple Gallery. More important, use AsAway (or anything similar) that blocks ad everywhere! Beside of NewPipee (very recommend!) you could try piped.video (or any of the many other piped instances). Instead of F-Droid, try Neo Store. It can use F-Droid repository. On top of that you could abandon Gmail and use something like ProtonMail (and their drive, calendar and contacts). If you do, evaluate to buy your own domain, so you own your email address and you will be able to move it wherever you want without losing it.
You can just use the websites for any bank or credit card, etc. instead of the app. It’s less convenient and usually a way shittier experience, but, that’s the price of not using Google (or Apple, Microsoft, etc.)
None of the banks I’ve used allows not having a mobile app. It’s mandatory for all confirmations. Have some minimal respect and don’t assume someone else is dumb. Thank you.
There’s absolutely no way they force the usage of apps. How would people without smartphones use their websites? From a laptop, on the website? And if they use a non-standard browser like a fork of some weird shit? I know financial places are run by 70 year old boomers but there’s no way they’d try this as it just goes down a rabbit hole of constant IT work. Certainly not every bank anyway. The entire concept of a place even thinking to do this is hurting my brain because it’s some incompetent. You either hire a million CS people and try to fix problems all day or lose all your customers instantly. A large portion anyway. If this is true for the UK then that little island is gone in more ways than I previously knew. Pure incompetence.
Anyway I wasn’t assuming you were dumb, just maybe hadn’t tried it for some reason. It’s like asking if your computer is plugged in and the switch is on first.