Just switched to a new phone carrier, and they had a promotion that included a free phone: the Google Pixel 8. I’m not a fan of Google, but I am a fan of free, so I took the bait.

It’s already bombarded me with pitches for their new AI bullshit. I’ve opted out of as much as the settings allow, but I’m under no illusion that doing so actually provides any real privacy.

So, damage control time.

On my previous device I used YouTube Vanced for music and videos, but I guess Vanced isn’t around anymore, and I’m pretty out of date on what the current options are… any insight on streaming specifically?

 

*I’m a medic who’s only surface-level competent with tech, so please idiot-proof any instructions.

Thanks all!

  • @[email protected]
    10•6 months ago

    Before jumping to a whole new os, there’s a few easy things you can do.

    FUTO keyboard instead of gboard

    Install F-Droid app store to replace Google apps with foss versions: aegis, amaze, fossify gallery, grayjay, kvaesitso etc

    Obtainium can pull lots of apps straight from github: Firefox, wireguard, OSS document scanner etc

    Use DDG or something instead of Google search

    These are the easiest things you can do.

    After that there is self hosting things on your own server like immich for Google photos, Seafile for Google Drive backups etc

    Just because you can’t replace everything does mean you can slowly chip away at it and greatly reduce the amount of data you are sharing with Google

    The above steps make a huge difference in their own even without fully changing the os. Then one day when you are ready the option to change OS to graphene will still be there and you will already be used to your FOSS apps

      • @[email protected]
        1•6 months ago

        Never tried heliboard, I’ve been meaning to try it but you have to download the app, then add the swipe library then download futo voice to get all the same functionality that futo keyboard has. I’ve been meaning to do it but before I got to it futo released their keyboard that has it all in one

        • @[email protected]English
          1•6 months ago

          A couple of days ago I installed Futo’s keyboard, not bad. The swipe typing needs a lot of work but improving this is on their to-do list. Nice to have a keyboard where the swipe engine is not Google.

          I don’t use the built-in voice typing but the their voice input app. The large model is far more accurate and doesn’t take very long to process on a Pixel running GrapheneOS.

            • @[email protected]English
              1•6 months ago

              Futo Voice is in the keyboard but the separate app has the option of the large voice model which has more words and is more accurate. Downside is a larger voice model takes longer to process your speech into text and isn’t suitable for slower devices. The keyboard does offer a way to move to a larger voice model (settings > languages) but I couldn’t figure out how to make the switch. Maybe it’s currently not available.

              Edit: Clipboard is a keyboard feature I use nearly everyday. Turns out Futo keyboard doesn’t have it and it’s not a planned feature. Perhaps I’ll check in a few times per year to see if this has changed.