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1 hour ago
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Joined 1 month ago
Cake day: June 30th, 2025
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That’s awesome, SomeAmateur! I used to love sending postcards when I was younger, can’t believe I never heard of it. Thank ypu!
In case somebody’s curious, here’s a link to the Postcrossing website.
I’ve been seriously thinking about going back to Nokia. De-googled a few years ago, stopped using iCloud and switched to cross-platform and open-source software.
Currently, the Murena Fairphone 4 is the only one you can use in the US (Fairphone doesn’t directly deal with US customers) and incompatible with Verizon and AT&T. They recommend T-Mobile for US coverage.
Also heard about Cape here on a Lemmy post But Fairphone is “not eligible yet”.
This is the old Nokia 3650 that’s in my drawer. I loved it! Then AT&T made me upgrade because they were no longer supporting the old networks.
Thank you, Zerush! It’s nice to know that someone else thinks the same way.
Stop using any sites that require ID.
Ditto. Also:
- Try to use Memoji to make fake ID
- Go to the mall =O
- Go to the library
- Go to the brick and mortar places I used to visit before getting everything online (eg. bank, fam owned businesses)
- Talk to people instead of AI (going to practice that this weekend)
- Go for a walk outside instead of updating the firmware on treadmill
- Buy stamps! (and stationery, no more ecards or evites)
- Learn to plant food in addition to flowers
- Use iPhone to make phone calls
- Maybe buy a newspaper… maybe
- Use my cookbooks more (after I dust them off)
- Think of a new name/alias(es) for myself and start acting the part
…just to name a few.
3·3 days agoLOL. Yes, suable is a word.
2·3 days agoCongratulations!
I de-googled a few years ago but rushed through the process and went to the whole Proton ecosystem. Your plan sounds great. This is my setup:
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BROWSER/SEARCH: I have both Firefox browsers, Startpage, Brave and DuckDuckGo (which is my default browser and use their Email Protection ).
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You can customize your browsers and add more search engines like Mojeek, Ecosia, Disroot , etc.
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YouTube ALTERNATIVE: Peertube is a good alternative to YT. They also have an app for iPhone.
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DuckDuckGo has Duck Player that will open in a new window without the ads! So, yes. If you prefer to stay with YouTube, use DuckDuckGo browser and enable the Duck Player in Settings.
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STORAGE: I use Ente Photo Storage for iOS. Currently, their Forever Free account is 10 GB (which you already use).
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Filen is also an option (downloaded it 2 weeks ago but haven’t used it yet); their free account is 10 GB and boasts Zero knowledge technology.
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I also use Proton Drive. It was glitchy at first but they’ve fixed and improved it. That’s another reason why I recommend using more than one of anything (backup your backup). Try their products first so you can decide if you want to subscribe to the whole ecosystem or just part of it.
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You can connect external storage devices to iPhone, depending on the model.
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Consider an EHD (if you haven’t already) in addition to cloud services. They’re great for storing photos, videos and music.
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Box and Dropbox are what I use for non-confidential files (recipes, ebooks, mp3s, blank forms, no PII, photos of not-people).
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iDrive is another backup service that has an iOS app.
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iCloud! Perfect if you’re just starting out with Apple or have one device. Pay attention to your storage! Make sure you have enough room for iOS updates.
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MAIL: I’ve heard many positive feedback from my friends about Posteo and Mailbox.org. Tuta, Proton and Mailfence are also good alternatives.
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Disroot emails are stored unencrypted in their servers so you’ll have to do that yourself .
PRIVACY (not sure what you mean but consider these:
- VPN! Mullvad, Proton (or both) Why? You need a back up VPN just in case there’s a glitch or a website is blocking certain VPN servers.
- Ghostery if you plan on using Safari. Safari has Profiles so you can create one for school, work, etc.
- AdGuard app is another option for use with Safari.
- Bitwarden or Proton Pass if you plan to use a password manager (which is highly recommended). Passwords is another Apple stock app which works well with Safari.
- Ente has 2FA but I’ve never used it before
- TURN OFF LOCATION unless you’re using Maps to go somewhere. You can turn it on/off as needed and add a location to your photos later. Unnecessarily running location services can drain your battery faster.
- As long as you don’t use google anymore and download their apps, you’ll be fine. Don’t forget to delete your accounts.
- At your earliest convenience, please read Apple Support’s iCloud data security overview regarding E2EE. Disregard if you’re in the UK.
OTHER:
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Before downloading an app, scroll down to the App Privacy and see what information they hoard from your phone. You can decide for yourself if it’s worth it.
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I love the stock apps (biased opinion), they’re easy to use and work well together.
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Most of the products I’ve recommended above are cross-platform in case you want to go back to android or if you’re in a cross-platform household.
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If you have a choice, use an app instead of a browser because it’s a better experience, sometimes it’s faster and some apps are available for use offline.
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@Corduroy_Pillows_Making_Headlines started a de-google group, the original post has a link to a PDF file with a schedule and recommendation on how to migrate your data. You might find it useful to your transition. Good luck!
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Yes.
“We’re not at all surprised the UK government is deploying this tactic now when the world is paying attention to the horrors unfolding, they’d rather silence the discussion than confront their own complicity,” the moderators of r/IsraelCrimnes told me. “By labeling brutally documented atrocities as ‘mature content’ and gate‑keeping access, they reveal themselves as hypocrites: preaching democracy and human rights abroad while trampling them at home.”
It gets better /s:
Reddit explained that it will verify users’ age by partnering with Persona, an identity verification company that raised $200 million in April in a series D round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Persona asks users to upload a selfie or photo ID in order to verify their age. Reddit says it does not have access to these images, and that Persona does not retain those photos for more than seven days.
Take a deep breath…
EDIT added /s for sarcasm
Never heard of it but I’m definitely curious especially when it states: “This website doesn’t use cookies.” I bookmarked your post; thank you for sharing.
Every year or so me and my friends will find Chinese gibberish entries in our calendars that link to phishing sites.
D@mn! That was an absolute PITA. In my experience, my calendars and contacts never synced properly anyway so I went to the Proton ecosystem a few years ago.
Anyway, thank you for sharing. I only know one other person who had the same problem and we both thought we were going nuts.
2·20 days agoShoofly Pie!
Ahh, apologies then. I thought OP wanted to de-google. I use DuckDuckGo because of their duck player; it opens YouTube on a separate window without all the extra stuff you don’t want (just the video you wanted to see). I guess OP can use PeerTube? I’m quite happy with my Proton Unlimited but it’s not for everyone. And yeah, I’m a browser hopper.
Yes, you can have multiple duck addresses at the same time. There’s a personal and private duck address.
Composing email: https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/email-protection/duck-addresses/how-do-i-compose-a-new-email
About duck addresses: https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/email-protection/duck-addresses/can-i-create-multiple-custom-duck-addresses
I also used SimpleLogin and loved it until I subscribed to the Proton products. Like you, I haven’t needed to use SimpleLogin because of Proton Pass. Haven’t used iCloud since 2021 and have no regrets.
Check out DuckDuckGo, they also have an email alias forwarding system like SimpleLogin. I have a different email address/alias for each account that I have and they all end up in my Proton inbox. Also, you’re able to reply and send email with the DuckDuckGo address from Proton mail.
@Corduroy_Pillows_Making_Headlines Created a Post/Group about how to De-Google. The details about my set-up is also there. Hope it helps:
😂LMAO, thanks!😂
Mullvad and Proton! But not these:
Thank you from a Lemmy newbie.
When my Android tablet wouldn’t let me do anything unless I was logged in to Google, I
ditchedgifted it away. Albeit, I like my apple phone, iCloud syncing has screwed me before so I don’t use any of the stock apps. I went full-on Proton (mail, calendar, drive, etc.). I also have a separate email alias FOR EACH account courtesy of DuckDuckGo. It’s been a few years since I’ve had this setup and I have no regrets.The default browser on my phone is DuckDuckGo only because it has “Duck Player” for YouTube videos. I also have both Firefox browsers, Brave and Startpage (I still have Safari but don’t use it).
Yes, I’ve been using EHDs and USBs since I learned how to use a computer and will do so for the rest of my life. I highly recommend it (redundancy, offline use, Cloudflare chaos).
I wanted to join your de-google team but I don’t have a Signal account (due to the phone number requirement). Speaking of phone numbers, TextNow was my Google voice replacement until the latest update logged me out and demanded that I take down my VPN and subscribe to theirs instead. Such audacity. App deleted and subscribed to MySudo just to have an additional phone number
Instead of Signal we’ve been using Session (The Loki Project). It doesn’t require a phone number to sign up which was my selling point to my fam/friends. My nieces/nephews use Simple X chat (no phone number required).
The Proton Blog has an article about privacy and big tech alternatives which is how I discovered Lemmy:
Wary of US surveillance? Try these European alternatives to Big Tech
Having read your post, I wish that I properly deleted my Google and TextNow accounts instead of just abandoning them. I look forward to learning more. Thanks again.