Google alternatives?
Tags: discuss, watercooler, indieweb, motivation
Published: 2022-01-26 09:26:24

Some years ago, I tried to use Android without using Google. While my wife was using a [Fairphone](https://www.fairphone.com/) One with Google services, I had a rooted Samsung Galaxy S II with open source Android 7 (AOSP) thanks to [cyanogenmod / LineageOS](https://www.xda-developers.com/history-of-lineageos/). I could have used Google apps, play store and Google location provider etc. but that time I preferred to try the hardcore google-less way.

![Cyanogen mood: my old rooted Galaxy phone](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9500i3xik81qn4vwpbzd.png)
Cyanogen mood: my old rooted Galaxy phone is still part of [my device lab](https://dev.to/ingosteinke/low-waste-tech-reduce-reuse-repair-and-more-18pl#device-lab).

## Cyanogen mood

It's inconvenient, yet possible, to use Android phones without Google services. No assistant, no spyware, no convenient online services at all, unless you explicitly choose and install one.

I felt a bit like a yokel wearing a tinfoil hat: no popular solution worked out of the box, no way to use banking or car sharing apps (that either refused to start on a rooted phone for security reasons or didn't support location services from any other location provider except for Google), and as many popular apps are not listed in [f-droid](https://f-droid.org/), I had to download apk files from Android Police's [APK mirror](https://www.apkmirror.com) and make a manual install for every update.

## The lesser evil as a comfortable compromise?

When I was looking for a new job (before eventually becoming a self-employed freelancer), I chose to try the exact opposite strategy for a while, currently using a Google Pixel 4a and all of their services, including docs and calendar sync. Despite the [clunky UI of Android 12](https://bgr.com/tech/people-are-getting-so-angry-over-this-controversial-change-in-android-12/), it still seemed a good user experience over all, and I was happy to get all the latest security updates and have access to my data from any device.

### Android 12's Controversial Clunky UI Update

[Just upgraded to Android 12 and what the fuck is this new UI?!](https://devrant.com/rants/4849574/just-upgraded-to-android-12-and-what-the-fuck-is-this-new-ui-make-it-stop-hm-yes)

[![Android 12 Screenshots: People are getting so angry over this controversial change in Android 12](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/r9r8923qpergbfz0kkv0.png)](https://bgr.com/tech/people-are-getting-so-angry-over-this-controversial-change-in-android-12/)

If this is supposed to be more accessible, then why most of the text is truncated and keeps moving like an old LED advert device in a cheap shop window?

### Don't look beautiful

Google still have cute animations on their search website and I still like their artwork in the calendar app, but somehow their current motto seems to be "don't look beautiful". But wasn't that supposed to be "don't be evil" when Google appeared as a fresh new hipster startup?

## When Google dropped "don't be evil" 😡

Although Google [dropped their motto "don't be evil"](https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393) some years ago, their services still seem to be the lesser evil or rather the only useful alternative in several cases.

Trying to use Ecosia, which makes use of Microsoft Bing as the actual search engine, for "googling" dev related knowledge, I had to resort to Google sooner or later again, which will also [refuse to produce useful search results eventually](https://dev.to/ingosteinke/i-enjoy-life-long-learning-but--5efh#searching-without-matches).

![Searching without matches: screenshot of a blue character sitting with a fishing rod, next to the message: your search did not match any documents.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/o0gsaeej81h45jsvorz4.png)

## Adding (mis)features instead of fixes
 
Instead of fixing their very own search algorithm and stop to deteriorate the popular Android operating system, Google tryed to use its supremacy as the most powerful Chromium maintainer to push the controversial tracking technology [FLoC](https://amifloced.org/).

[![Screenshot of a drawn eye with the Google Chrome logo as a pupil on the sites Am I FLoCed?](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/u8p8exyv4yb7bf8k64li.png)](https://amifloced.org/)

But Google's public blunders are just the tip of the iceberg.

Try and google [Dr. Timnit Gebru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timnit_Gebru) and you may never want "to google" anymore. Dr. Gebru, founder of the [Distributed AI Research Institute](https://www.dair-institute.org), was terminated as Google’s ethical AI leader in December 2020 after criticizing the company’s practices in a research paper. Quoting a DAIR mission statement:

> AI is not inevitable, its harms are preventable, and when its production and deployment include diverse perspectives and deliberate processes, it can be beneficial.

{% youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWqpPsMXVsI %}

This video by VICE news, [AI Ethics Researcher Timnit Gebru's Firing Doesn’t Look Good For Google](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWqpPsMXVsI), is provided by YouTube, a former startup that was purchased by Google in 2006. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, the "big four" or "GAFA" companies are North American firms that have become a dangerously powerful oligopoly that dominates most people's digital lives.

## Trying to make a list of useful alternatives

As we can see, there is a growing list of reasons to ditch Google products and services for good, but we have to find and support useful alternatives. Here are some that I already tried or that I'm willing to give a(nother) try someday:

### Google as a search engine 🔎

* [Ecosia](https://www.ecosia.org/)
* [DuckDuckGo](https://duckduckgo.com/)
* [Wolfram Alpha](https://www.wolframalpha.com/)
* [startpage.com](https://startpage.com/) (thanks @patricktingen) for suggesting!)
* [MetaGer](https://metager.de/) (German non-profit meta search engine)
* [(Meta)Searx](https://metasearx.com/) (thanks @vivekkj)
* [Qwant](https://www.qwant.com) (thanks @dlepenven)
* [Bing](https://www.bing.com/) by Microsoft
* using site search forms
* browsing documentation sites and man pages

### Maps and Navigation 🗺️ (updated August 14, 2023)

* [Treeday.net](https://www.treeday.net/)
* [Open Street Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/)
* [OsmAnd](https://osmand.net) (Open Street Map Android client with offline option)
* [mapy.cz](https://en.mapy.cz/) (also based on Open Street Map, with a very useful Android app, especially for hiking in Europe)
* [maps.me ("maps with me")](https://maps.me/)
* [Sygic](https://www.sygic.com/)
* [bike citizens](https://www.bikecitizens.net/)
* [tomtom](https://www.tomtom.com/)
* [komoot](https://komoot.de/) (German) hiking community with navigation option
* [waze](https://www.waze.com/) is **NOT** a Google alternative, as it has been [acquired by Google](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waze#Acquisition_by_Google) back in 2013, especially not if you're concerned about privacy, but otherwise it might still be a useful alternative to the Google maps app for car navigation.

### Weather

* [Weather Underground](https://www.wunderground.com)
* [Alternative Weather Providers for LineageOS and LineageOS Based ROMs](https://www.xda-developers.com/alternative-weather-providers-for-lineageos-and-lineageos-based-roms/)
* [weather.gov](https://mobile.weather.gov/) (thanks @webbureaucrat)
* [WarnWetter](https://www.warnwetterapp.de/) app by German met office Deutscher Wetterdienst with location-based warnings, forecasts, and animated rain radar maps.

### Web Browser 🕸️🌏 (updated August 9, 2023)

There are many web browsers, but only a few [browser engines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_browser_engines).

* [Chromium](http://www.chromium.org) (like Chrome, without Google extras)
* [Vivaldi](https://vivaldi.net) (based on Chromium, maintained by ex-Opera staff?)
* [Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/) open source evergreen by the [Mozilla](https://www.mozilla.org/) foundation
* [Gnome Web](https://apps.gnome.org/app/org.gnome.Epiphany/) also known as [WebkitGTK](https://webkitgtk.org) or Epiphany, the successor to Galeon, is another open source classic and probably the closest to Safari on a Linux system (see [Fix Apple Bugs using a "Secret" Linux Browser](https://dev.to/ingosteinke/fixing-apple-bugs-with-a-secret-linux-browser-4cp3))
* Safari if you're an Apple user and don't care that [Safari is the new Internet Explorer](https://nolanlawson.com/2015/06/30/safari-is-the-new-ie/)
* [Edge](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge) the Chromium-based browser that made Microsoft abandon Internet Explorer
* [Opera](https://www.opera.com/)
* [Brave](https://brave.com/) (thanks @tqbit)

### Android System and Android App Stores 🛒

* [f-droid](https://f-droid.org)
* [apkmirror](https://www.apkmirror.com) (app store mirror server by androidpolice)
* [LineageOS](https://lineageos.org) (formerly known as Cyanogen Mod)
* [TeamWin TWRP](https://twrp.me)
* What about Sailfish, Ubuntu Phone, and Firefox OS? Is this still a thing?

### Smartphones and Computers 🖥️🐧

* [Fairphone](https://www.fairphone.com/en/)
* [Tuxedo](https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/) or any other Laptop preinstalled with Linux
* Apple and Microsoft (if you're doing native app development or you just don't like Linux)
* [Sailfish OS](https://sailfishos.org/)

### Calendar, Contact Sync, Documents 📅 (updated)

* [owncloud](https://owncloud.org/)
* [Nextcloud](https://nextcloud.com/) (thanks @vivekkj)
* [WEchange.de](https://wechange.de/)
* [cal.com](https://cal.com/) (formerly known as Calendso)
* [Mega.NZ](https://mega.io/) (thanks @webbureaucrat)
* [skiff.org](https://skiff.com/)
* [Disroot.org](https://disroot.org/en)
* [Proton mail / calendar](https://proton.me/)

## Ads and Analytics

Google Analytics was recently [declared illegal](https://www.wired.com/story/google-analytics-europe-austria-privacy-shield/) in the EU as Austria's data regulator has found that the use of Google Analytics is a breach of [GDPR](https://gdpr.eu). And Google Ads, like any other "behavioral" advertising, is not only unethical and a waste of bandwidth and usability that can deteriorate your website's [web vitals ranking](https://dev.to/ingosteinke/optimizing-speed-and-usability-for-google-s-core-web-vitals-1286), but as Jeremy Keith pointed out, [it does not even work](https://www.wired.com/story/google-analytics-europe-austria-privacy-shield/).

### Google Analytics

* [Matomo](https://matomo.org/) (formerly known as Piwik)
* [OWA (open web analytics)](https://openwebanalytics.com/) (thanks @thumbone)
* [Plausible](https://plausible.io/) (thanks @climbing_dev)
* [GoatCounter](https://www.goatcounter.com/) (thanks @ryanfiller)

### Google Ads

* any other commercial ad provider: not really an alternative
* hosting selected ads on your local server, that match your content
* getting a sponsor

### Finish my work in progress

Acknowledging the tendency to release thoughts and concepts instead of striving for perfection, I have just written down what came into my mind without making any effort to add any up-to-date research myself. DEV is not StackOverflow, and you can't downvote, so please do my homework and help me complete this list. At least I did add some external links.

In the end, we might all benefit from a community effort, so please leave your suggestions in the comments!