this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
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81
Tech sovereignty is possible! (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
34 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Degoogle + BuyFromEU + Privacy: I'd like to share about my smartphone apps replacement journey:

WhatsApp -> Olvid

Gmail -> Mailo

Reddit -> Lemmy

Play store -> Aurora store (no account needed)

Google (browser and search engine) -> Qwant

Google maps -> Here Wego

Gboard -> Heliboard

All trails -> Komoot

ChatGPT -> LeChat

Any recommendation to replace the following?

  • Google Drive,
  • Google photo,
  • Apple wallet (I'd like an alternative to pay with my phone)
all 35 comments
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

I switched from DuckDuckGo to Qwant a week ago and so far I'm happy with it. I'm in the US and it does a great job returning search results that are relevant to me here, even though it's intended for people in Europe.

I also switched from Gmail to Posteo, ChatGPT to Le Chat and Firefox to Waterfox.

I plan to replace Google Drive with Nextcloud, sometime in the next few months when I have the time to set it up.

Google Maps will be the hardest to replace. I've tried 8 or so competitors and they all pale in comparison.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

What about OSMand as navigation? Are they based in EU?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Did you change your OS?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Hi I did not because I have a neurological condition that make any use of regular LCD or OLED screen quite painful for me, so I need to have a special phone using Eink technology with an OS developed for that purpose.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Always missing an alternative to Slack. This is getting ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Have you considered Zulip?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Zulip is the same as Mattermost, open source but still American. I am not able to check source code, so I need it made by people I have common incentives with.

Whaller is closed source, but it is French and aimed at institutions which require high levels of security.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was considering my personal phone only as I don't have the hand on what my company uses but I'm sure there are some alternatives to Slack and Microsoft Teams. I only know about https://whaller.com/en but I'm sure there are others.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I like the idea of Whaller. But I would also love to have a non-US-developed open source solution (thinking about Mattermost).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Whaller is French not american! Mattermost seems nice too indeed!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I was saying Mattermost is open source, but still American and recently they changed their homepage to appeal to the American military, so no thank you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If tech for you means software, then yes, you can decouple from global supply chains with relative ease.

If, however, you look into some other areas of tech a different picture emerges. Global dependencies especially in semiconductors are much deeper. Products built from such components are the same. Decoupling in those domains would be significantly more difficult.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I feel you but although we're not chip producers, we have some of the key players such as ASML in NL, clearly they're just the main player in that field.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Tech sovereignty is possible!

Agreed!

I'll also share mine.

Gmail -> Tuta
Reddit -> Lemmy
Google -> SearXNG (several search engines)
Google Maps -> Organic Maps
Gboard -> FUTO Keyboard
ChatGPT -> LeChat
Google Drive -> Syncthing + Filen.io
Google Photos -> Filen.io (I'll be switching to Immich + Syncthing soon-ish) + Fossify Gallery
Google Wallet -> MBWay (obviously this doesn't work if you're not in Portugal)
Uber -> Bolt
Play Store -> Obtainium

Still working on the rest.

Notes:
I'll be switching off Filen.io soon and just use Syncthing. Nothing wrong with Filen.io (it's really good, as a matter of fact), but I just don't really need it with my setup. I was trying to replace Google Drive 1-to-1, but turns out Syncthing is just strictly better, for my use-case. I also created an Infomaniak Mail account, and it works great; I just prefer Tuta.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Dear, thank you so much for sharing your experience! Comparing yours and mine It feels not only we have solutions but we also have choice among several options!

I'll look at what you're proposing for cloud service and play store replacement! Also I haven't heard of SearXNG before..!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I recommend f droid as a source for foss apps. Aves is a well made photo gallery app. Don't forget that the most basic apps on your phone are also google and use trackers. There are foss versions of the phone, contacts, messages, keyboard, launcher, camera, notes apps and whatever else. The best thing you can do without moving to a different OS is get Canta and uninstall everything that's not needed (the app explains everything you need to know) and then replace it with f droid apps.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Thanks for mentionning, you're xompletely righ although that is a bit extreme for most people caring for their privacy but not to that extant.

As an alternative I block these stock apps for sending out my data using Rethink DNS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

It takes a bit of effort if you've never done it but it's actually quite straightforward. Canta works without rooting your phone so it's literally just those few steps I mentioned. But ultimately you're right. Every step away from google is a step in the right direction and the best thing is to just start somewhere.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

Google Drive -> Proton Drive

Google Photo -> Proton Drive (or Ente Photos if you want something dedicated)

Apple Wallet might be hard to replace for now because of Apple's anticompetitive practices. However, very recently the EU has tried forcing them to open this up, so it might change in the not too distant future.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Olvid

That looks very closed-source, even though it's French. How did you decide to pick that?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't understand it either. Buying european is important, but we should stop recommending weird unknown messaging apps. Signal, although US made, had multiple audits, is open source, vetted and secure. Just because a product is from europe we shouldn't recommend it. Especially if it gives a false sense of security and privacy.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Olvid has been proven secure, used by French president, governement members and many company executives.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)
  1. Their encryption system user to user which is the most robust.
  2. Total anonymity (no phone number to give unlike all their competitors.
  3. I tried it with my friends and family and we likes the app.
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

no phone number to give unlike all their competitors.

SimpleX would like a word.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Fair enough!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Magic Earth is also a nice navigation alternative.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Jottacloud for Google Photo

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I replaced google drive with koofr. Very happy so far! Still unsure what I'm doing about Google wallet/Google pay...

How are Heliboard and Here Wego?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Heliboard is awesome. FOSS, very customizable, no telemetry, and all the keyboard tools you can think of.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I also use Here WeGo, for me it’s really good for navigation, even for public transport or bicycle. But it’s really limited for location search, i noticed that when several places have the same name it doesn’t really sort them intuitively in the search results. Also for restaurants search i still rely it Google Maps for reviews and opening hours

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I used it for navigation by bike only and it's a great app!

Indeed there might be some places missing, and yesterday I had to type the full name of the restaurant I was looking for to find it - but it was there in the end.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

I really wanted to like Here WeGo, it feels like a very good foundation, but I don't think it's quite there yet. When I use it in the car, it never tells me which exit to take or which sign to follow, only the name of the road I should enter, which I never have any idea about, so it doesn't help me at all (unless it just says "follow the route," which happens about 50 percent of the time, which of course doesn’t help what so ever either).

I've tested it on two slightly longer trips so far, and on both occasions it crashed and I couldn’t get it to work properly again…

But cool if someone got it to work better than I did! As I said, the foundation feels good, and maybe it’s better for biking!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago
  • Google Drive

I use ViOffice, a Nextcloud based, privacy focussed cloud service from Germany for 7€/month