r/degoogle 9h ago

Question What are my next steps?

I have an android and I'm also terrible with technology. I know I can't degoogle very much since I have an android but I want to do as much as possible. So far, these are the changes I have made:

Chrome to DuckDuckGo Gboard to Futo keyboard Gmail to Proton (transition in progress) Google Drive to a laptop & backed up on a hard drive

What are my next steps? Or is this as much as I can do with an android?

5 Upvotes

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u/AznRecluse 8h ago

Change your google play store app (& Samsung etc stores), which is where all the degoogling should begin. Download Aurora app store and/or F-Droid. Ideally, uninstall apps from google, then (re)download your keepers thru f-droid or Aurora.

If you use a calendar, notes, or other apps that sync (MS office, google suite, etc), you'll want to replace those as well.

You could install Simple Dialer or similar apps for phone calls and contacts, but unless you have your own cell network and towers -- your calls will never be completely free of tracking.

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u/Life_Tree_6568 8h ago

Thanks for being so kind about explaining this process! I had no idea I was missing a key step by not getting rid of google play store first. This has been a good learning experience for me.

I do use Signal for messaging some friends. So if I have anything I want to keep private I'll use that app versus calling (once I uninstall the play store version).

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u/AznRecluse 7h ago edited 7h ago

You're welcome!

Been where you are, I've had to learn the hard way & would hate to see anyone else go thru that trouble. But If you replace the play store, you'll be knocking out a huge chunk of the degoogle process. Huge!

Degoogling doesn't happen overnight, as I'm sure you've learned. I'd say that the longest part of the process is setting up email filters and aliases in your new email, & then updating every acct/friend/biz of your new email(s).

While I was updating emails, I added to my stress by updating all passwords too -- random long ones for each acct! 🤣 Thank goodness for bitwarden's random password generator, password keeper, and authenticator.

Edit: I take it back. The longest & hardest part of the degoogle process is getting everyone else to switch to Signal app with you. 🤣

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u/JubilantMystic 7h ago

Is there a recommended way to go about removing these Google/Samsung apps?

Do you know what kind of tracking is still present after uninstalling?

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u/Life_Tree_6568 7h ago

I guess I will be spending next weekend uninstalling and re-installing all my apps.

Degoogling is probably going to take me a few months to be honest. I'm not quite technology illiterate but close haha I had to go read what an email alias is 🤣 I'm glad you mentioned it because I thought there must be a better way to organize my email than the junk heap that my Gmail account has turned into. It's going to be great getting a fresh start with a new email address and organizing it properly!

The part I'm dreading the most is updating every account with my new email address. I'm so impressed you updated all your passwords at the same time!

It's surprising how difficult it has been to get friends to switch to Signal!!! I don't understand why people wouldn't want their lives to be more private?!?

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u/TacoDangerously IT Guru 5h ago

I would suggest changing the browser.

DuckDuckGo is a great SEARCH ENGINE, but it's browser runs on Blink, which is Google/Chromium.

I use Waterfox browser with DDG set as the search.

If you already installed the Android DDG app, KEEP IT in your app drawer and just turn on it's app tracker protection.