De-Google your phone?

[Golfdriver97]

I've been noticing a trend in my YouTube recommendations. The De-Googling of phones. Now, I can understand why someone would want to. The amount of data Google has on people is astounding, and we may not know the half of it. Sometimes, I am tempted to do it.

The caveat for me is, one time I did take a spare phone, flashed a custom ROM on it, and no GApps. The experience was dreadful. And that is putting it mildly. I took a peek at what was different today, and it doesn't seem that much more appealing. FDroid being the go to for apps. FDroid, back in the day was great for apps; and malware too. Maps options don't seem that viable. Office tools like WPS are ok. They can easily work.

I'm just curious if anyone else has entertained the idea, but might be in the same place as me: It's tempting but the compromises are too much?

 

[belodion]

There are online sellers who specialise in de-Googled phones, for buyers who are worried about privacy. I’m not sure that I’d know what to do with such a phone myself, except to get Google back onto it.

 

[mustang7757]

No way i would de-google my phone the good far outweigh the bad

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

There are online sellers who specialise in de-Googled phones, for buyers who are worried about privacy. I’m not sure that I’d know what to do with such a phone myself, except to get Google back onto it.

I've always found it funny and ironic that some people are so concerned with"privacy" that they will buy a phone that someone else has rooted and rommed lol.

OP, you could get a Huawei... or install a ROM... but you will have to trust someone. Do you trust custom ROM makers more than Google?

Personally, I agree with Mustang. When I used to play with ROMs, the first thing I flashed on a new install was a GApps zip.

 

[mustang7757]

I've always found it funny and ironic that some people are so concerned with"privacy" that they will buy a phone that someone else has rooted and rommed lol.

OP, you could get a Huawei... or install a ROM... but you will have to trust someone. Do you trust custom ROM makers more than Google?

Personally, I agree with Mustang. When I used to play with ROMs, the first thing I flashed on a new install was a GApps zip.

Good point, you have to trust someone.

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[Morty2264]

I haven't been tempted. I'm uncomfortable with the amount of personal information Google likely has on me -- but I've kind of accepted it, I suppose.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

I was lent a Huawei P40 Pro a few years ago and it had no GApps. I was able to load a few apps I wanted but the main ones I needed were either Google apps or needed GApps to work. It was a horrendous experience.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[L0n3N1nja]

I've thought about it and quickly realized how pointless it is.

Sure I can stop Google from getting some info, but severely inconvenience myself in the process, while still accepting countless others get my data. It's basically allow the data mining or live off grid without utilizing internet or a phone.

At the end of the day what we do online is tracked by so many companies I just try not to think about it.

 

[bkdodger2]

This is definitely a trend that I'm not following, especially coming from a guy carrying around a Pixel phone ...

 

[Laura Knotek]

I can't see the point of this. If I didn't like Google I'd get a dumb phone.

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[davidnc]

I would not de-google my phone either ,, tad bit extreme . The short answer would be to just get a dumb phone

 

[Annie_M]

I haven't been tempted. I'm uncomfortable with the amount of personal information Google likely has on me -- but I've kind of accepted it, I suppose.

This is my feeling as well. I've tried other search engines, but keep going back to Google. And then there's YouTube. I use that all the time.

 

[B. Diddy]

If you don't want Google on your phone, and you don't want a phone intended for the Chinese market, then consider a PinePhone, which is purely Linux: https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/. But don't expect nearly as good an experience: https://news.itsfoss.com/pinephone-review/

 

[mustang7757]

If you don't want Google on your phone, and you don't want a phone intended for the Chinese market, then consider a PinePhone, which is purely Linux: https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/. But don't expect nearly as good an experience: https://news.itsfoss.com/pinephone-review/

Nah.. if someone doesn't want Google then get flip phone it will work just like a calculator just calls and texts .

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[Morty2264]

I was lent a Huawei P40 Pro a few years ago and it had no GApps. I was able to load a few apps I wanted but the main ones I needed were either Google apps or needed GApps to work. It was a horrendous experience.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

I really wanted a Huawei phone but when Huawei went rogue I was hesitant. It's always a gamble when you separate from Google!

 

[Golfdriver97]

To a degree, that is where I am at...it is tempting, but there are too many services that I would have to give up. It's just not viable.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

I really wanted a Huawei phone but when Huawei went rogue I was hesitant. It's always a gamble when you separate from Google!

There may or may not have been legitimate issues, but let's not blame them for things that were forced upon them by the US government.

 

[EnthalpiousKitten]

De-googling is not for the average user or even for "regular" advanced users. They're more for ultra tech-savvy people who know what goes on under the hood, how to source apps with no play store, how to check if a dodgy APK is safe or not, etc... I personally run my secondary phone and with no Google account logged in (can't do anything to the ROM cause locked bootloader and, probably due to the stupid carrier I sourced of from, it lacks fastboot so cannot be unlocked). For years I actually used my first Android device on custom ROMs w/o Google stuff installed (especially when it got way too old and outdated to run smoothly with Google stuff working in the background) and was pretty happy tbh. If you're just a casual user looking for a zero-tinkering "good experience", steer clear. There are things you can do to hide your activity reasonably well even on a normal phone. If you for example wanna just stealth browse stuff and dont even wanna pay for a reputable VPN, get a secure non-tracking keyboard app like OpenBoard and use Tor browser to access your oh so secret online stuff. If you're a tech enthusiast and white hat hacker who really enjoys tinkering, like I am, go ahead and play with de-googled phones or ones with no Google account logged in even as just a secondary device alongside your normal one. I also would NOT trust pre-modified phones, as you do not know what was done to them by the seller.

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[bembol]

No way i would de-google my phone the good far outweigh the bad

I'm just not the type to worry.



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[mustang7757]

I'm just not the type to worry.



Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using AC Forums mobile app

Yeah everyone different