Are you "google free" ?
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird I got all my personal and business stuff off of Google … and then had to create a Google account so I could access meetings and files with clients who won’t/can’t get out of the Googlesphere. Sigh.
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@robparsons @futurebird Smartphone hardware/software is really the blocker. I only carried a feature phone for years but eventually gave in to a smartphone, primarily for the live public transport information. I keep hoping that a viable low cost, open alternative will emerge and everyone will tell me about it on here.
@kbm0 @robparsons @futurebird I'm hoping for a low-cost alternative, too. I'd love to get a (mostly) European phone with an independent OS, but I can't afford the current possibilities. I do understand that cheap often equals paying with something else, or someone else being exploited, but I'm just not financially there. Also, those phones are all huge, I'd like to get something smaller.
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@futurebird filen.io - nextcloud with collabora - tuta mail - quillpad - brave browser - forgejo - kubuntu with libreoffice - no MicroSlop here
Stuff that's also good : Cryptpad - proton
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I watch YouTube from a couple of steps removed. There are gems there and to eschew it entirely would be like vowing never to step into a library ever again.
Adam Harrison on Pennsylvania forests would be a painful loss.
@lionelb @futurebird Are you referring to the Learn Your Land channel? Love that channel.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
I spend way to much energy and frustration trying to figure out alternatives to an android device for running my consulting business (mobile payment processing is the big issue). So I'm stuck with an android device which means I'm stuck with a google account.
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@lionelb @futurebird Are you referring to the Learn Your Land channel? Love that channel.
Exactly. Razor sharp forensic ecology but linked to profound insights about what it is to be human.
With a bit of autism along the way
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird My Google account was stripped of it's data as much as I could, and now only serves to run the YouTube app on my game console. I don't use Google search either.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird I'm mostly using my Google accounts for spam and because I need them for my phone. And I use YouTube, but I block the ads and don't save my history.
I haven't used Google to search for years though.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird Alas, my e-mail is Gmail and I have yet to see a privacy-focused alternative that's actually as advertised. (I'm not very trusting of "privacy-focused" stuff since DuckDuckGo's browser started sending user info to Microsoft, Proton started dabbling with AI, and Mozilla's whole…everything.) And self-hosting just means spending the rest of your life fighting against spam blacklists.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird i can Not un-Google my Android 10
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird I'm mostly there, I haven't been happy with google map alternatives sadly. That's the last big hurdle for me.
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@futurebird I use YouTube. Even apps that strip the advertising (Re-Vanced, FreeTube) require a Google account to function.
My bigger concern is my phone though. I have plans to replace the OS, but that's a mighty big shift and I absolutely cannot be without my phone due to banks and travel and a whole bunch of shit that require I remain connected.
Once that problem is solved, I imagine dumping YouTube will be a smaller hurdle to overcome.
edit: after reading the other posts - I do have a gmail account that I use for some types of critical contact where a smaller server may have issues. And, yes, Google Maps. When I'm in France, I spend much of my time in a rural environment and things like OpenStreetMaps and such really aren't up to the task. Once I'm more settled and know my way around, that'll be easy to dump.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird I have an account because I've had it for decades and there's the rare occasion where someone tries to contact me there. I could set up a forwarding address but I don't really want that connected to my new emails. I try not to use it for anything.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird @GinevraCat I am 99% Google-free. The only service I use is YouTube, but I watch signed out. I deleted all of my previous Google accounts. It was fairly easy, since I never used Google for email. I still had old Yahoo or Hotmail accounts (which have since been deleted) when everyone was switching to GMail. The only other Google service I use, but it is only thru Tor, is Google Translate to read some foreign news articles.
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@futurebird @GinevraCat I am 99% Google-free. The only service I use is YouTube, but I watch signed out. I deleted all of my previous Google accounts. It was fairly easy, since I never used Google for email. I still had old Yahoo or Hotmail accounts (which have since been deleted) when everyone was switching to GMail. The only other Google service I use, but it is only thru Tor, is Google Translate to read some foreign news articles.
@privacy_guru @futurebird @GinevraCat instead of Google Translate, try DeepL:
https://www.deepl.com/en/translator -
Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird I'm in the boat of "I have a work account but not a personal one".
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@roknrol @futurebird FreeTube doesn't require a google account. Maybe it used to? I know it has the option to connect to one. But it works fine for me logged-out.
Mea culpa, that's only for the age-gated videos, which I refuse to watch because I'm not giving Google my f'ing ID. Just remembered seeing the error before.
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Are you "google free" ?
This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
@futurebird to people answer "I have no google accounts", what's your phone? An iPhone?
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@futurebird aiming for late 2026. Just ordered a pixel 8 pro for graphine. Which seems ironic
@tricethetraveller @futurebird The reason GoS uses Pixel devices is because Pixel's hardware security rivels Apple's and they are one of the few phones that allows you to relock the boorloader after flashing alt. Operating systems, improving its security, unlike other Android forks like LineageOS.
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@futurebird to people answer "I have no google accounts", what's your phone? An iPhone?
@geliga @futurebird I have GrapheneOS installed and doesn't require a Google account.
