November 2025
De-bloating and de-Googling an Android device using CantaIf you can't run an alternative, privacy-sparing firmware on your Android device, you can still assert a measure of control by disabling certain packages. You don't need to root the device to do this, and Canta is an app that sets out to make it easier.
Categories: degoogling
Running the Google Pixel Camera app on a robustly de-Googled cellphoneIs it possible? Would you want to do it?
Categories: degoogling
Two years without Google, et al. -- has it been worth it?What's changed in the last two years? Would I do it again, knowing what I know now? TL;DR - yes.
Categories: degoogling
The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprintingIf you were worried about tracking cookies, you really don't want to know about browser fingerprinting.
Categories: degoogling
How to get a dark background on the K-9/Thunderbird e-mail widget for AndroidGetting a proper dark theme for the e-mail home screen widget is worth spending hours building the app from source. No, really it is.
Categories: degoogling
Comparing Android alternatives: Lineage OS, ∕e∕OS, and Graphene OSHow are these alternative smartphone firmwares similar and different?
Categories: degoogling
Custom ROM versus extensive package removal, for de-Googling a Samsung cellphoneWhich is the easier way to get to a phone you can feel safe using, without your personal data being sent to goodness-knows-where?
Categories: degoogling
The 2nd-generation Nokia 105: a smarter dumb phoneThe terminal stage of de-Googling is to go back to using a 90s-style dumb phone. Devices like the Nokia 105 aren't as old-fashioned as you might think, but can they substitute for a smartphone in day-to-day use?
Categories: degoogling
Is it worth rooting an Android phone in 2025?The costs and benefits of this somewhat controversial procedure.
Categories: degoogling
No more Lineage OS on Samsung cellphonesIt looks like the end for Lineage OS on Samsung handsets, at least in the UK. Here's why.
Categories: degoogling
