Degoogling
This site is now webmention-aware (Feb 2026)This site now supports webmention, so you can notify me easily if you respond to one of my posts on your own site or blog.
Categories: degoogling
Battle of the privacy-focused search engines: Kagi vs. DuckDuckGo (Feb 2026)Kagi and DuckDuckGo both provide reasonable alternatives to Google's and Microsoft's search services, without compromising your privacy. How different are they?
Categories: degoogling
Digital voice assistants vs. privacy in 2026 (Feb 2026)What's going on with digital voice assistants? Are they really snooping on us all the time?
Categories: degoogling
Using a Garmin fitness watch completely offline -- no accounts, no app (Jan 2026)Using a Garmin fitness watch without a smartphone or Garmin's services: how practical is it, and would you want to?
Categories: degoogling
Google Pixel and Sony Xperia handsets for budget de-Googling (Dec 2025)These days, there are comparatively few up-to-date smartphones that can run a well-supported, non-vendor firmware. Sony's Xperia range and Google's Pixels are among the better choices.
Categories: degoogling
Some thoughts on de-Googling Google Pixel phones (Dec 2025)There are good reasons why these handsets are so popular with de-Googlers, even if we have to grit our teeth and try to ignore the vendor.
Categories: degoogling
'Sideloading' restrictions on Android: how big a deal will they be? (Dec 2025)Is this a minor irritation, or the end of Android as we know it?
Categories: degoogling
De-bloating and de-Googling an Android device using Canta (Nov 2025)If 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
The privacy nightmare of browser fingerprinting (Nov 2025)If you were worried about tracking cookies, you really don't want to know about browser fingerprinting.
Categories: degoogling
Comparing Android alternatives: Lineage OS, ∕e∕OS, and Graphene OS (Nov 2025)How are these alternative smartphone firmwares similar and different?
Categories: degoogling
Custom ROM versus extensive package removal, for de-Googling a Samsung cellphone (Nov 2025)Which 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
Is it worth rooting an Android phone in 2025? (Nov 2025)The costs and benefits of this somewhat controversial procedure.
Categories: degoogling
Running the Google Pixel Camera app on a robustly de-Googled cellphone (Nov 2025)Is it possible? Would you want to do it?
Categories: degoogling
Two years without Google, et al. -- has it been worth it? (Nov 2025)What's changed in the last two years? Would I do it again, knowing what I know now? TL;DR - yes.
Categories: degoogling
How to get a dark background on the K-9/Thunderbird e-mail widget for Android (Nov 2025)Getting 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
The 2nd-generation Nokia 105: a smarter dumb phone (Nov 2025)The 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
No more Lineage OS on Samsung cellphones (Nov 2025)It looks like the end for Lineage OS on Samsung handsets, at least in the UK. Here's why.
Categories: degoogling
Lineage OS vs /e/OS in 2025 (Oct 2025)These platforms both offer a Google-free, privacy-sparing smartphone experience. How are they similar and different?
Categories: degoogling
FastMail -- still good value in 2025? (Jul 2025)FastMail is a good, Google-free provider of e-mail, calendar services, and the like. But it isn't the only one, and it's due for a price increase in 2025. Is it time to switch?
Categories: degoogling
Social media: it's not me, it's you (Feb 2025)It's not my fault that my avoidance of social media makes me hard to contact. It's your fault for letting yourself become hooked on it.
Categories: degoogling, security
How de-Googled is Lineage OS? (Oct 2024)Lineage OS is based on the Android Open-Source Project, whose primary maintainer is Google. To what extent can it be considered Google-free?
Categories: general computing, degoogling
Some notes on installing Lineage OS on modern-ish Samsung Android devices (Aug 2024)Although Lineage OS installation is pretty well-documented, there are a few things that might benefit from some more detailed explanation.
Categories: degoogling
Some thoughts on using a small cellphone as a media player (Feb 2024)Modern portable media players are generally smartphones without an antenna. So why not repurpose a real smartphone as a media player?
Categories: degoogling
Does the use of custom Android ROMs improve or worsen security? (Sep 2023)This question is not particularly easy to answer, but understanding the implications helps.
Categories: degoogling, security
What you give up, when you opt out of the surveillance economy (Aug 2023)Is it possible to live without Google and the like, and still use modern, portable computing devices? I still don't know.
Categories: general computing, degoogling
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