Comprehensive Guide to Signing Out of Google

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The Ultimate Lifehacker Guide to Data Privacy ): title The Ultimate Lifehacker Guide to Data Privacy We tell you everything you need to do to live the most secure and private life in the digital age.

Despite all the convenience and quality of Google’s sprawling ecosystem, some users are fed up with the suspicious privacy policies the company recently implemented in Gmail, Chrome and other services. To its credit, Google has made good changes in response to user feedback , but that doesn’t detract from the company’s shadow hanging over the Internet as a whole. If you are willing to give up Google, or even reduce its presence in your digital life, this guide will help you.

Since Google owns some of the best and most used apps, websites and internet services, taking a full break is difficult, but not impossible. We’re going to see how to leave behind the most popular Google services and how to keep Google from tracking your data. We’ve also spent a lot of time researching and testing great alternatives to Google’s offerings, so you can leave Big G without having to buy new devices or swear allegiance to another big corporation.

Our goal is decentralization

Google, Apple, Microsoft and others like it offer “ecosystems” – centralized, cross-platform software and hardware suites in which all your devices can connect and sync with the same data and applications.

These ecosystems are extremely user-friendly, but they can pose a security threat. While centralization is not a problem, things in itself become sketchy when the entity observing this ecosystem begins to dive into your data or manipulate your experience.

That’s why for most of this guide, we’ll look at how to decentralize your digital presence with third-party and open source solutions (although alternatives from Apple, Microsoft, and others will also be discussed where appropriate.You can make some Google tradeoffs) …

Despite all the benefits of moving to open source, there are also trade-offs: you will be outside the monolithic shadow of peer-to-peer tech companies, and you will also trade in the full connectivity, sync, and data consolidation that you get from one-size-fits-all ecosystems like Google.

However, with a little time and effort, you can make MacGyver a decent cross-platform system for yourself. Let’s start.

Part I. Backing Up, Transferring and Deleting Your Google Account

The first section of this guide will focus on the stem of your entire experience with Google: your Google account.

Do not delete your account until you have read at least the following sections. Deleting your account too early will restrict or deny you access to services such as YouTube, prematurely delete data stored in locations such as Google Docs, and may disrupt other third-party applications that you are logged into with your Google credentials. To prevent this, we will back up and disconnect our Google accounts and transfer our data to new homes prior to disconnection.

1. Archiving and disconnecting your Google account.

If you usually log into certain websites or apps using Google, please make sure you followed the correct steps to disconnect the two, change the email address you use on the service, and keep all relevant data BEFORE deleting yours. Google account.

Here’s a short (and by no means exhaustive) list of apps and websites you’ll want to double check are not tied to your Google account:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Blogger
  • Pokemon go
  • Pinterest
  • Feedly
  • Spotify
  • Behance
  • And many, many others

If all else fails, you can remove as much data from your Google account as possible and keep your Google account active only as a means to sign in to certain apps. We will discuss this option in the last section of Part I; For now, let’s back up your Google account data.

Downloading your Google data archive

To Google’s credit, the company leaves easily. Instead of downloading and backing up data from your Google apps individually, Google provides a handy one-stop backup service that lets you download everything. Here’s how:

  1. Start with https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout/downloads.
  2. Click Create New Archive. “
  3. Configure which data from which applications you want to put in the downloadable archive. We recommend downloading everything, but you can choose for yourself.
  4. Scroll down and click Next. “
  5. Select the archive format and method for downloading files.
  6. Click Create Archive. “
  7. Use the download link sent to the folder in step 5 (Gmail, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or DropBox) and save the file (s) to your computer.

Now that you have an archive of all your data, let’s talk about alternatives to Google’s most popular third-party apps.

2. Replacement of Gmail, Google Docs and Google Drive.

In the past we have discussed alternative Docs Gmail and the Google , and there are plenty of options, each with their use cases. Some of them are only for e-mail, while others are software enterprise-level packages.

In this guide, we will focus on the best options for those who want to replace both Gmail and Google Docs. If you’re looking for something different, like email-only options or products targeted for businesses, head back to our full post on Best Gmail Alternatives .

Colab now

Kolab Now was our first pick on the list of the best Gmail alternatives. Great for documents and emails; More importantly, its parent company in Switzerland which are physically located all email service servers. This is important – Swiss privacy laws are incredibly strict and prioritize the safety and security of personal data. In fact, as long as your emails and files are stored in Switzerland, they are not available to everyone but you.

Kolab Now software is as easy to use as Google’s suite of apps. Mobile too, as you can access Kolab Now services through iPhone and Android apps, including a word processor, presentation maker, and spreadsheet app. You can even share (get it?)Edit and share documents .

As a cherry on top, Kolab Now provides a detailed navigation guide with links to services for backing up and importing your Google files, including copies of all your previous emails.

The only concession is that Kolab Now requires a paid subscription. It costs about $ 5 a month, which isn’t quite as good as Google’s free apps (unless you’ve already used premium versions of Gsuite without ads). However, all of Kolab Now’s features – collaboration, massive storage, extreme privacy measures, and cross-platform support – make it flexible and secure enough to justify its low monthly fee.

Other options

Kolab Now is our top recommendation, but for a change, we can suggest some other viable alternatives, including Mailfence and Zoho Mail , which are ad-free, fully encrypted, and have group document editing apps.

Mailfence has the same security measures as Kolab Now, although its servers are located in Belgium, not Switzerland. Its paid options range from $ 2.85 to $ 8.56 (depending on currency conversion at the time of writing), although free accounts with modest specs are available. Overall, while Mailfence is a solid choice for office applications, it is geared more towards email and calendar versus Kolab Now’s all-in-one suite.

Zoho Mail offers a huge set of open source cloud applications that may be more attractive to businesses or large groups. These include a meeting call application, instant messaging, Facetime equivalent, as well as the required word processor, slideshow maker, spreadsheet application, and cloud storage. There are free and email-only plans available, but it will cost you at least $ 7 / month per user to get the full package. The $ 4 per user option exists but does not have the full feature set or feature set.

3. YouTube

It’s complicated. YouTube content can only be viewed through YouTube and you will not find a true, personalized replacement for this service (although some proxy sites exist in varying degrees of quality). Plus, not having a YouTube / Google account robs you of many of the features that make YouTube so great, especially the ability to subscribe to channels so you never miss a new video.

However, it is possible to create a modest set of workarounds so that you can enjoy YouTube without ditching the platform entirely. The trick here is to keep as much of your YouTube account’s functionality outside of the Google ecosystem as possible – essentially, you’re going to make sure YouTube comes to you on your terms as much as possible.

Watching YouTube without YouTube looking back at you

By the time you work through Part 1 of this tutorial, you will have deleted (or at least unlinked) your Google account and your YouTube account, which will also prevent you from liking and commenting on the video. However, you can still pseudo subscribe to feeds even without a Google account by transferring your subscription details to an RSS reader. You can then use it to track new downloads and even follow new channels. Here’s how:

  1. Subscribe to an RSS reader such as Feedly , The Old Reader, or Inoreader . Most of the popular ones also have mobile apps that you can use to access your feed from smartphones or tablets.
  2. Find the YouTube Subscriptions .XML file in the previously downloaded Google Account archives. You can also find this by going to the YouTube Subscription Manager . At the bottom of the page, click Export Subscriptions to download the collective RSS feed data to which you are subscribed as an .XML file.
  3. Import / load the .XML file into your RSS reader.

Now that your subscription data has been exported and moved, you can use an RSS reader instead of the YouTube subscription tab.

In the future, when you no longer have a Google / YouTube account, you can add new channels you want to subscribe to either by searching for your YouTube channel account name in an RSS reader or manually creating an RSS link to add to your channel. … :

  1. Open a specific YouTube channel page on a desktop browser.
  2. The URL will end with “channel / [channel ID]” or “user / [user ID]”. Copy everything after “channel /” or “user /” and paste at the end of one of the following URLs, depending on whether it is a user ID, “ https://www.youtube.com/feeds /videos.xml? user = “ or channel id “ https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id= “
  3. Import this into your chosen RSS reader.

If you followed the steps above, you now have an offline auto-updating YouTube content feed. After we deactivate and / or delete our Google accounts a little later in this guide, we will move outside of the YouTube ecosystem but still be able to watch our favorite contributors on the site.

You can further protect yourself from Google’s prying eyes with some additional YouTube camouflage layers like dropping Chrome (and logging out if you do, although we discuss the best alternative in part 2 of this guide) using a VPN. , and launching ad blocking programs. Of course, one could argue that this is not quite a YouTube exit, but it is a reasonable compromise for those who are not ready to completely ditch the platform.

YouTube hosting / streaming alternatives

If you’re using YouTube as a tool to upload videos, there are alternatives, but they won’t have the same metrics, and they won’t be as big in audience or growth potential.

Vimeo has been an alternative for years, but it’s a paid service, and its download requirements are vastly different from YouTube, as are its audience and overall vibe.

Some YouTube creators have taken idiosyncratic measures such as migrating to PornHub from all locations, but we don’t necessarily recommend that, although the Safe for Work category exists and has been home to music videos, leaked movie trailers and even passing video games, that’s not really what the site is known for (although it has long been rumored that the company is exploring the entire YouTube-like SFW platform).

If you are a YouTube streamer, it will be easy for you to find a home on Twitch.tv or Mixer, and you may even find that a significant portion of your audience will jump with you. Twitch.tv is by far the largest and largest audience, but anecdotal evidence suggests Mixer is better for smaller streamers as the platform is less crowded, which translates into higher audience engagement and early viewership. Some streamers have also had success on Facebook and Periscope , but these are lesser-used platforms.

With that said, keep in mind that if Google’s ownership of YouTube is an issue, you might find that other major streaming platforms are no better. Twitch.tv is owned by Amazon, Mixer is owned by Microsoft, Periscope is owned by Twitter, and Facebook is basically Facebook.

While there are still a few niche streaming platforms like Mirrativ and Smashcast , they are still relatively small in comparison, making them difficult to recommend to both established streamers and newbies. However, they will at least take you away from the tech giants.

YouTube TV

For completeness, we include YouTube TV here as it is a Google service and can be linked to your Google account.

There are … many alternatives to YouTube TV, Google’s OTT live TV service. Instead of going back to your cable or satellite TV providers, you can switch to one of the many other paid streaming services like Sling TV , Hulu with Live TV , PlayStation Vue , FuboTV, DirecTV Now , PhiloTV, or AT&T Watch TV . You can even hold out until Apple’s upcoming 2019 TV service.

Of course, like YouTube TV, these are all paid services. However, there is one free service, Pluto TV , which is ad-supported and has a fairly limited volume.

Surprisingly, there is actually an open source option: using a wireless antenna (OTA) to watch HD TV for free. The channel list won’t be as robust as the live streaming options above, but it works well. There are even OTA DVR solutions out there, the best of which is probably Plex . Pair this Plex DVR with a full-fledged Plex server to store and access all of your favorite (and definitely legal) movies, TV shows and music, and suddenly you start your own mini TV network that you can even share with friends. and family remotely. If you’re curious, check out our Plex tips and tricks to get started .

4. Replacing Google Play Music / YouTube Music with music and podcasts.

Like YouTube, these services may seem difficult to replace at first, but there are several strong alternatives. However, before we pick one, we need to back up our music files.

Back up your Google Play Music Library

Your Google Play Music library should have been included in the archives we created earlier, but if not, here’s how to back up directly to Google Play Music. A small note: this only applies to music you bought or downloaded yourself, it will not apply to tracks that you just “added to the library”.

  1. Open Google Play Music and click the three lines icon in the upper left corner.
  2. Click ” Settings”.
  3. Scroll down to Download Library and click the orange Download button.
  4. Choose where you want to store your music
  5. Click Download Now
  6. Wait for the download to complete (this may take some time depending on how much music you downloaded / bought).

Now that you have backups of your songs, it’s time to find a new home for them.

Music streaming

You can easily leave Google Play Music and YouTube Music Premium completely behind by giving way to Spotify , Apple Music , Amazon Music Unlimited, or Tidal (ugh). Pandora and iHeart Radio are good, but they don’t offer curation, the ability to download your own library, or unlimited streaming of other options.

Whichever you choose, you will still subscribe to a service that is likely to track your listening habits and may even have advertising support. If that doesn’t bother you, we’d suggest using Spotify (though make sure you’re not signing in with your Google account!).

If not, the best open source option is to listen to locally stored music files with a proprietary software / app to play audio on your device (or find a suitable open source alternative) and buy DRM-free digital downloads through services such as Bandcamp , eMusic , Napster, and the Amazon marketplace , or buying physical copies and copying tracks yourself.

Podcasts

The fix for podcasts is a little easier, as the best option – listening to a locally saved file – can be done with a number of great third-party apps.

Our favorite is Pocket Casts, which has both smartphone and web versions of the app that can sync your shows across multiple devices. The app costs $ 4 on iOS and Android, or $ 9 for full web player access, but all versions are ad-free.

Unfortunately, while Pocket Casts is a third party company, it is not open source and owned by NPR. For an open source application, we recommend you Antenna Pod .

Another option is to download podcasts directly or listen to them through a web browser. As with YouTube subscriptions, you can add the podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to avoid missing updates, but you don’t have to use a dedicated podcast app to listen / subscribe.

5. Optimization of password and account.

There are many things your Google account does that you can take for granted, but one of the most convenient is that it makes it easy to sign in. Not only can you store data password or use a cookie in order to remain in the system, but you can also use your Google account to log in to many other websites and applications instead of having to create another username and password to remember. You can also link multiple Google accounts to quickly and easily switch between each account and its associated apps.

However, this has a downside. If you don’t carefully check every permission for every connected app that can access your Google account, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that you’re giving potentially sketchy services access to your data, and across multiple devices. Hence, a more fragmented web presence is likely to be in your best interest, regardless of the rest of your relationship with the Google ecosystem.

Honest warning: this will take a while. As you slowly leave your Google account, you will need to update your account profiles on these non-Google services with your new email address (s), and in some cases, you may have to completely create new accounts. records. It is inconvenient and time consuming, but it is part of the process.

However, you can easily lock these new accounts by setting up a password manager to store your logins and passwords. Here are your best options:

1Password and LastPass

A password manager like 1Password will make it easier to sign in, but it won’t require you to compromise your account, giving websites and apps full access to your data. Instead, 1Password simply prompts you to create an account with a master password and then install an app that will securely store your credentials for the various websites and services you visit frequently, with triple end-to-end encryption.

1Password costs $ 3 per month for individuals and $ 5 per month for the family plan. Plans are also available at the team, business and enterprise level. This monthly subscription brings you versions of the 1Password app for Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, and ChromeOS; travel mode that cleans up important data while you are abroad; password generator and security diagnostics; as well as customer support and plenty of storage space for your passwords or documents.

Another good password manager is LastPass . It’s encrypted, the basic account is free, and the premium team accounts can scale to include multiple users for just a couple of dollars a month. It’s reasonable to note that LastPass has made some security bugs in the past, although nothing is worth discrediting the service. While 1Password has clearer recording and more features, LastPass is free, making it more accessible to most people.

Just remember that these password managers do not save your master SSO password, like the other encrypted services we talked about above, such as Kolab Now, Mailfence, or Zoho Mail. This means that if you forget your Master Password, you could potentially lose access to your 1Password or LastPass logins if you can’t recover your account , which could mean you lose access to the offline network we create.

6. Deleting your Google account.

It’s time to take the final step in this Google exile ritual – delete your Google account. This is your last chance to check three times that you have backed up all your data. Once you complete this last step, there is no turning back.

If you’ve come this far, we expect you to be willing to disable it completely, but if you are in doubt or cannot completely disable all required apps, there is a half-hearted measure that allows you to keep your account but render it dormant. We’ll save that for the rest of this section, but you can skip it if you’re interested.

Completely deleting your account

This process will delete your Google account, completely removing you from the Google ecosystem (including any associated apps / games) and permanently deleting all saved data.

  1. Go to https://myaccount.google.com/
  2. On the Account Settings tab, click on ” Remove your account or services” and then ” Remove Google Account” on the next screen.
  3. You will be prompted for a password
  4. On the next screen, you will see a detailed summary of all data and associated apps that you will lose. Read this in its entirety; this is really important.
  5. If you haven’t backed up your data yet, this is your last chance. Click the link to archive your account information and follow the instructions in the first section of this article.
  6. Once you’ve backed up everything, scroll down and check the boxes at the bottom of the page after viewing all the information on that page.
  7. Click Remove Account.

And with that you are free, but the war is only half over (more on that later).

Maintaining your account

Since deleting your Google account can deprive you of access to numerous third-party applications with which it may be linked, and some hardware is unusable without them, we see deleting your Google account as a drastic measure that should not be followed by everyone.

If you would like to do this, please go to https://myaccount.google.com/ as we pointed out above, but instead of deleting your account, go through each menu section and delete any data or personal information stored, disable as many of the Tracking features as possible and collect data from Google, and disable any services that you no longer wish to connect to your account (although be careful not to delete or disable any applications with which you wish to continue to use your Google account, which would violate its purpose save.).

After the account is cleared, simply log out and leave everything as it is. You will be able to use your account to log in when needed, but otherwise you can ignore it and continue your (mostly) life without Google.

Part II: Replacing Hardware, Web Browser, and Google Operating Systems

With your Google account removed (or severely stripped down) and major third-party web apps / services replaced, it’s time to turn our attention to Google hardware and larger software offerings.

Unlike your Google account, some of these products will be more difficult to replace or completely remove, and we won’t blame you, for example, if you decide that replacing AndroidOS is just not worth the hassle. However, before we get into open source options, it’s time to discuss Google’s main competitors.

Apple and Microsoft: the wacky gold of Google alternatives

The easiest way to completely replace Google is to go with one of its main competitors, in particular Apple or Microsoft, but we caution you against this if your ultimate goal is privacy and autonomy.

Both companies have some level of privacy schema, and while Apple is arguably the most trusted, moving to either brand would mean investing in its closed ecosystem and committed to its business and privacy policies. Sounds familiar? Of course, we could argue which of the major companies is the “least worst” in this regard, but this is a moot point in the context of this guide.

Plus, even if you don’t care about the big companies that control your data, going from Google to Apple or Microsoft will require buying multiple new devices, which can cost you thousands of dollars if you invest heavily in Google products and want all of them. replaced. Here we are trying to remove Google from devices you already own without having to transfer your data to another large corporation.

1. Chrome and Google Search

You can browse without a Google account, but the real anti-Google stance is the lack of Chrome. To do this, you have several viable replacements. The most obvious ones are Safari , Edge , Opera, and Mozilla Firefox .

For PC users, we’re going to recommend Firefox , which has seriously expanded its capabilities recently and adopted some great security-focused features. Some may disagree with this choice, but we found Firefox to be the easiest browser to switch to after years of using Chrome.

While Opera is not as reliable as Firefox, it is quite a viable choice. It boasts a built-in ad blocker, battery saver, and even a free VPN. While you can easily find similar (and in some cases better) add-ons in every major browser, their prepackaged versions make it easy to customize.

For Macs, Safari is much safer than Chrome when it comes to user data, and Apple seems to be keen to keep its users’ identity and browsing data out of the hands of businesses. It is also by far the fastest and most efficient browser available on the Mac. Plus, if you’ve taken the easy route from Google and switched to Apple, Safari will link to your iCloud account.

Speaking of the easy roads, those using third-party Microsoft devices should try Edge . While we don’t recommend it among other browsers here, it can work quite well as a secondary browser for devices that come with it pre-installed, such as Windows phones or Surface tablets / laptops.

However, none of these browsers meet the open source requirement that we outlined at the beginning of this tutorial, so we need another option to fulfill that criterion. Ironically, the open source sibling of Chrome, Chromium , is the best fit. Basically, it’s a Chrome browser devoid of Google. You won’t get automatic updates, and there are no Google-specific Chrome features, but it’s an easy transition and much more secure.

With Chrome removed, we can now exist on the web without Google, but there is another major flaw that we need to address.

Using a VPN

Using a virtual private network (VPN) is optional, but highly recommended. VPNs redirect your internet connection to a proxy, essentially masking your location and any other identifying information from websites, software, and sometimes even your ISP (some VPNs still report user traffic to ISPs). adding an extra layer of protection and privacy to your internet browsing. Heck, using a VPN is a smart idea, even if you’re not going to get rid of Chrome or any other Google service in the first place, but are just reading this guide for educational or entertainment purposes.

There are many viable VPNs out there, but for US users, we are sure to recommend NordVPN , which we started using long before researching how to leave Google behind, happily charging a $ 4 monthly fee. If NordVPN doesn’t do it for you, Private Internet VPN ($ 3 / month) and StrongVPN ($ 10 / month or $ 70 / year) are highly rated and respected options as well.

Google search replacement

You have now installed a new browser and are ready to surf the web again. Maybe you are looking for a new dinner recipe. You open a new tab, enter your search criteria and … suddenly you realize that you are going to use Google search.

Don’t worry – we were amazed at how often we use Google searches. Fortunately, there is a great solution other than Bing or Yahoo: the third-party search engine DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo has been around for years and has been praised by many Google expats on the Internet . First, it’s a powerful search tool, but more importantly, it doesn’t track your search data or use algorithms to skew search results, which we believe makes it an ideal replacement for just about any other search tool. There are even applications DuckDuckGo for iOS and All Android , as well as extensions for browsers.

The only downside we noticed is that Google image searches are still much more powerful. If you ever have to use the Google search engine, be sure to do so in a browser other than Chrome with ad blocking software and VPN installed. However, we don’t expect you to – in our experience, DuckDuckGo is a great search engine and the case for using it is only growing.

2. AndroidOS and ChromeOS

Google’s integration into the Android operating system can be annoying for those looking to loosen Google’s grip on their phones. The first thought some might have is to switch to iPhone, but not so quickly. Remember that we are trying to get as close to an autonomous, decentralized digital presence as possible using the devices we already have.

As we’ve already explained, leaving Google doesn’t mean you have to switch to Apple, even when it comes to your smartphone. While Apple’s privacy and data collection policies are marginally better than Google’s, buying a brand new phone from another manufacturer doesn’t have to be your first line of defense.

Unfortunately, even the best AndroidOS alternatives currently available have drawbacks. Below we will look at three different solutions for using your Android without Google: using Android with a limited Google account; using Android without a Google account; two open source Android OS alternatives. None of these will replace – and currently cannot surpass – the average Android UI with full Google integration.

The future of open source smartphone operating systems is with a few promising projects like Eelo, but since they’re still in development, they don’t solve the problem. At this point, your choice will be a potentially messy trade-off between privacy and application compatibility. That is, of course, unless you are just using iOS or Windows Phone.

Using Android without Google

If you chose to keep your Google account and followed the steps to isolate it from Google tracking, you can continue to use your Android phone, although you will lose some functionality and some apps will not work correctly. This is especially true for location-sensitive apps like Google Maps, but otherwise, using your phone will be the same as you for the most part.

On the other hand, if you’ve deleted your account or don’t want to sign in on your phone, the good news is that Android can mostly be used without a Google account, but with some serious trade-offs.

Without a Google Account logged into your Android phone, you will lose the ability to use certain apps and features, and you will not be able to re-download any previously purchased apps. Most Android apps require Google Play services and must be downloaded from the Google Play app store. Both apps require a Google account.

Although you can install alternative app stores, such as the F-the Droid , which provides only the application of open source and even some good replacement for applications that depend from Google, or shop Amazon Underground applications on Amazon’s , which offers many of the same applications as the Google, but no Google Play services – you’d be surprised how many apps require Google Play services.

If you agree to these compromises, we may continue to disconnect your phone from your Google account (or lack thereof). This will require a factory reset, which will erase all data stored on your phone, including contacts, pictures, texts and all non-standard apps, so be sure to back up anything you want to keep on your computer and external devices. hard drive or cloud drive. After backing up your files, you can factory reset your phone to use it without a Google account:

  1. Open settings from your application window
  2. Select “System”> “Reset” and click “Erase all data (reset to factory settings)”.
  3. Scroll down and tap “Reset phone settings”.
  4. Follow the further instructions, then wait for the reset to start.
  5. After the reset, you will have to go back to the initial phone setup step, during which you will be prompted to sign in to your Google account. You can just skip this step and use your phone without it.
  6. You can then turn off data collection features such as location, etc.
  7. Once the setup is complete, you can go to an additional step and uninstall / disable any Google apps on your phone, but this is optional. Since a Google account is not tied to a phone, you don’t have to worry about apps interacting with Google in some way, but freeing up some potential additional storage space is a good thing.

You now have a phone with a fresh reset that doesn’t have a Google account linked to. You will then want to install one of the alternative app stores we linked above and start replacing the numerous Google apps that you no longer have access to. This includes the basic text messaging app for which we offer Signal , which supports full encryption of your messages.

AndroidOS replacements: LineageOS and MicroG

If you want to completely get rid of Google-flavored AndroidOS from your smartphone, instead of bypassing it, you can install an open source OS like LineageOS, which is probably the most widely used and supported one available. This will be a high-tech process and we encourage anyone interested to check out all the relevant materials and guides provided on the LineageOS website .

Having an operating system without Google definitely provides a more personal experience, but there is one catch: since you’re not using Google’s Android, you won’t be able to use the Google Play Store or apps that require Google Play services. As we recommended above, you can install F-Droid or Amazon Underground, or upload your APKs to get around this problem as best as possible, but there are simply no open source replacements for all the apps on Play. Score. Fortunately, some developers have recognized this problem and are taking steps to bridge the gap between Google Play compatibility and open source freedom. This is where MicroG comes in.

Just as Chromium is Chrome without Google, MircoG is basically AndroidOS without Google , except for one important element: it includes the appropriate components (built-in or emulated) to run apps that depend on the Google Play service. The OS is unfinished and still in development, but it can be used and works pretty well in our experience (although it took a while to install). It’s still a limited experience compared to Google’s version of Android, but promising. It is also technically not a completely anti-Google alternative, but open source and compromising to have Google Play Services supported is worth it in our opinion.

ChromeOS alternatives

Android isn’t the only operating OS that Google is distributing. Fortunately, ChromeOS installed on tablets and laptops is much easier to replace than Android. There are several viable Linux-based operating systems that can be easily installed on laptops, including GalliumOS , ChromiumOS , Lubuntu , Void, and BlissOS , among many others.

Compatibility and installation will differ for different devices and software, but the home pages for each of these OS contain instructions and manuals that at least will generally apply to your device.

3. Google Home, Smart TV and streaming devices.

Our final section explores some of the newest products from Google: the many home appliances, which we use as a generic term to include smart TVs and streaming devices using AndroidTV and / or Chromecast; Google Home devices such as Google Home Hub, wireless smart speakers and Pixel Stand and home appliances / accessories from Nest and other manufacturers.

Unlike the previous sections in Part 2, we cannot offer any guidance on using open source. We’ll discuss a few workarounds here and there, but for the most part these are single devices with little or no developer communities.

AndroidTV and Chromecast

A number of smart TVs from manufacturers such as Sony, JBL and Sharp run the AndroidTV operating system, and the version can also be found on streaming devices such as Nvidia Shield TV, Mi Box, AirTV Player and others. Apart from AndroidTV, there are many other Smart TVs and streaming devices that don’t use AndroidTV but still have Chromecast built-in, not to mention numerous Chromecast devices themselves.

In truth, Chromecast is pretty harmless as it just streams content played from other apps, but AndroidTV requires you to be signed in to your Google account in order to get full functionality, and takes part in the same data collection processes as any other Google product. or service.

You can disconnect your Smart TV from the Internet and still use it as a display for any other devices connected to it, but this is not recommended if you are using your TV as the only viewer for Netflix, Hulu, or other Internet-dependent Programs. Beyond that, the only way to get away from AndroidTV entirely is to buy Smart TVs and streaming devices that run different operating systems.

However, you can use AndroidTV on both smart TVs and streaming devices without a Google account without signing in during the initial setup. You can also deactivate your account at any time by following these steps:

  1. Press the Home button on the TV remote control.
  2. Open Settings and scroll to the gear icon also labeled Settings.
  3. Scroll down to the Personal tab, then highlight and select the Google icon that displays your Google account email address.
  4. Scroll down and select “Remove Account” .
  5. Click “OK” and the account will be deleted.

This will prevent your smart TV or streaming device from using certain features and not being able to install new apps, but you can get around some of the feature limitations by installing a third-party Kodi media streaming app before disconnecting your Google account. Kodi is available on both AndroidTV and Chromecast via the Google Play Store (you need to be signed in to download it) and can be used to download third-party apps. While these settings aren’t going to root Google from your Smart TV or streaming device, they will at least protect you from Google’s watchful eyes so you don’t have to buy a brand new home theater setup to watch your TV in peace.

Google Home and Nest

Google’s only hardware alternatives to home appliances come from other big companies, usually Amazon, Apple, or Samsung. Moreover, even though hacking smart home devices has recently become legal under US law , developing and distributing tools and alternative firmware remains illegal. As such, there is currently no open source firmware or operating system alternatives, and there probably never will be. In addition, it is impossible to use these devices without being part of the Google ecosystem, as Google Assistant uses Google’s store of data and specialized algorithms that cannot be replicated.

So we are forced to choose between two options here if we want to ditch Google: either ditch the interconnected home network entirely, or swap our Google devices for third-party devices and accept the sketchy nature of having a Wi-Fi group. connected devices can potentially eavesdrop on your conversations, track what you are watching, or access your personal information.

Final Notes

Taking Google out of your life won’t be easy, especially if you’re on an Android and PC-centric system and / or investing in Google’s app ecosystem. And even after you’ve escaped from Google’s hands, it’s likely that the specter of this tech giant will remain in your life in some form or another.

In all fairness, some of the recent changes Google has made to Chrome are not as disturbing as some think, and we applaud the company for increasing its transparency and user control over their data across all Google platforms and services. However, it’s helpful to know what the different apps and services we use and the companies that make them are doing with our data, and what options are best for replacing them.

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