Just 297 more days until I am set to DeGoogle from Android (2027, January 1st deadline) yet I am so far behind on my APK backup goal. I currently have my eyes on this phone to replace my aging and heavily damaged Samsung Galaxy S20:
https://itsfoss.com/news/motorola-grapheneos-team-up/
I hope it actually comes to fruition. However, I have alternatives in place if it doesn't.
#degoogle #degoogleyourlife #degoogled #degoogling #android #grapheneos #motorola #privacy #ungoogle #ungoogling #ungoogled #countdown
#deGoogling
@jeffjarvis You can't embed Google tools, because Google is embedded in you (and they don't give a shit). Sounds like you need a good #DeGoogling intervention. You can't preach against Big Tech while you feed their machine. C'mon, even old guys like us can make a difference.
Pixel Watch 2 - Privacy Preserving Setup
I've been trying everything i could think of to make the watch work under GrapheneOS - Here is what i learned:
- Unpairing the Watch means factory resetting it.
- Every feature (literally everything) is google dependent (who would have thought.. i know)
- Pairing with your phone requires the "Pixel Watch" -App to be installed on your main profile (not work, not private space) alongside Google Play Services. There's no way around.
This is obviously unacceptable. So i did a bit of research and found a way that will not only be way more practical, it will also be private.
First i created a second user on my Phone, installed Google Play Services and the pixel watch app on it, logged in with a newly created google account and completed the setup.
I know some people use a chinese version of the WearOS app to bypass the google login. Since i don't want a chinese app to configure my watch, i didn't even try that.
After the watch was set up, i continued and:
- Deleted the user profile from which i connected the Watch
- Enabled wireless debugging
- Debloated the watch as good as possible (i will have to root the watch in the future to properly do it)
- Removed the Google account in the settings
- Cleared all Bluetooth preferences
- Enabled Bluetooth discovery
- Installed KDE Connect on it (not meant for WearOS but it does work barely)
The watch is now in a state where i can use it daily.
But i also want to make use of all those fancy quality-of-life features, like heartrate monitoring, sleep tracking and so on.
Now comes the fun part.
I've created a basic Kotlin project with both a mobile and WearOS app.
I will implement features like:
- Notification sync
- Call notifications
- Media Player Control
- Weather (openweathermap)
- Heartrate monitoring
- Sleep tracking
- Do not Distrurb Sync
- Homelab integrations (Nextcloud, Immich, Uptime Kuma, ..)
- And much more ..
The goal is to keep the watch offline, let the phone do the heavy lifting and communicate with a selfhosted database. I may even add a frontend and an API so people can integrate it for their needs.
Sounds good but why don't you just buy an #opensource #smartwatch like the #pinetime - You may ask.
Because as much as i hate to admit it, i love the design, the look and feel of the pixel watch. And i'm sure that i'm not the only one.
I also bought this one cheap for around 120€ #refurbished. So the value i can get out of it seems pretty good to me.
So much for today. I haven't even started tackling the Bluetooth connection yet 😅. Let's see how that turns out
I have added a poll to this post to see how many people would be interested in a setup like this. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, ideas or expertise in that regard.
Cheers.
#privacy #security #android #google #pixel #pixelwatch #degoogle #degoogling #degoogled #adb #rooting #grapheneos #smartwatch #development #wearos #bluetooth #qualityoflife #GooglePlay #GooglePlayServices #frontend #api #selfhosting #selfhosted #homelab #opensource
I recently bought a domain name and hosting package so that my family and I could have email addresses separate from Google. However, changing my email address everywhere I have ever registered is such a hassle! 😫
For now, I have exported all my old emails using Thunderbird and set up email forwarding on Gmail, so I can update my address slowly over time, but this will take months.
Nevertheless, it's better than being dependent on Google forever.
Finalmente sono riuscito a testare anche Find My Device e, a parte le foto con la fotocamera frontale troppo scure, direi che funziona alla grande!
Un altro passo verso la degooglizzazione è stato fatto!
Po sklamaní z #mailboxorg skúšam #tutamail a teda zatiaľ som celkom očarený. Možno som našiel svojho #gmail nástupcu
I finally Vibe Configured my way into a home on the #Fediverse.
I wanted to move off my old power hungry server and into a proper Docker setup. I did the entire configuration using only Gemini 3.
There was some Docker chaos and a few missing puzzle pieces along the way. I even built a custom site for my domain.
Check out the video here:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/Dd45wi3DNls
PeerTube: https://tube.devwithzachary.com/w/oj8ZTGEnt8SvBJKA1hcbML
#VibeCoding #SelfHosted #Mastodon #PeerTube #GeminiAI #Docker #DeGoogling
Marketing fatto bene, l'oggetto in sé è esteticamente davvero bello secondo me. Sicuramente non tutti saranno d'accordo con la semplificazione di alcune delle complessità intrinseche nell'avere un serverino casalingo, ma al contempo a mio parere QUESTO è un oggetto in grado di far fare i primi passi nel mondo del selfhosting a quegli amici che "vorrebbero ma non possono".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOUQfxLFGT0
#umbrel #umbrelPro #selfhosting #digitalSovereignty #deGoogling
Leave big tech behind! How to replace Amazon, Google, X, Meta, Apple – and more
"A handful of companies monopolise the web, with unprecedented access to our data. But there are many more ethical – and often distinctively European – alternatives"
🇪🇸 ¿Qué buscadores, que respeten la privacidad, preferís? (Si preferís otro, responded a este toot)
🇬🇧 Which privacy-respecting search engines do you prefer? (If you prefer another, reply to this toot.)
A round up of some big tech alternatives from the Guardian. Haven't been through everything but it's nice to see mainstream coverage in general.
Early days but I'm now finally trying #Vivaldi which I'm preferring to firefox and duck so far.
Very happy with #LibreOffice now and unsure why I maintained my 365 account for so long. I finally ditched it last year when they tried to almost double my bill citing "new innovations" and copilot 💩.
Setup an instance of #immich today, on a proxmox VM. Pretty straightforward. #degoogling
Photos was used a lot by family members, endlessly growing library of photos and videos from phones, quickly exhausting free and paid storage. My only ongoing spend to google, and soon to end forever. Spinning rust is cheap.
@veronica Veronica Explains #GrapheneOS, (one of?) the most mature projects for #degoogling your phone:
@amorphophalex
I had a similar experience switching to #LineageOS recently - it made me realise how many other ways Google had crept into my life - contacts, keyboard etc... #degoogling
Replacing Google with Proton is not the best solution for #deGoogling
Use Protocols, Not Services
The most "futuristic" thing we can do is reclaim our data. I’m betting on the rise of Personal Cloud Nodes—small, low-energy home servers (think Raspberry Pi 6 or specialized ARM chips) that handle our AI locally.
No more sending your private thoughts to a corporate LLM. Your "smart assistant" lives in your living room, is encrypted with your keys, and doesn't have a marketing department eavesdropping on your life. 🛡️
The little #degoogling
I'm pretty happy with my switch to #ecosia right now. The search results are ok, the gui is better than googles current one. And though I'm no big AI hater but I prefer the opt-in approach way more.
You can't win »Search« in 2026 it seems, but you can make it a little nicer which is good as well.
I posted about degoogling yesterday, and ironically today this shows up in the mail.
"pwease can we have your data 👉👈 we will pay for it"
All jokes aside this is insane. I will never need money so badly I voluntarily handover things to Google.
#degoogle #DeGoogling #fuckgoogle #privacy #informationsecurity #dataprivacy
Well, finally made the dive into GrapheneOS in my degoogling journey. Feelsgoodman.
#degoogle #DeGoogling #privacy #security #foss #opensourcesoftware #grapheneos #fuckbigtech
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