Kawaraban
Japanisch lernen, Japanreise sowie Kultur und Leben in Japan
Getting away from Google may not be easy, but it's possible! Because I hate to admit it: Their services are convenient. Consequently, it took me a long time to find alternatives. After all, Google offers cloud storage with Drive, navigation, a search engine, email, office programs, and more. These services appeal to everyone, and most people use them.
But not everyone feels comfortable with Google. Especially since the announcement of the Personal Assistant, which reads through all your emails, photos, and other data. Fortunately, nowadays you can move away from it without sacrificing convenience. I’ll show you what I personally use, after having researched different alternatives for a while!
This is obviously something which concerns everybody. But the reason I’m writing about this on a Japan-focused site is that many people rely on them for things like trip planning or language learning and some these things might require some specific alternatives.
With Proton alone, you can leave the vast majority of Google completely behind. What started as a secure and private email service has evolved significantly over the years.
Today, this Swiss-based company - founded by former CERN scientists - offers you:
And all of this for free! Not only on PC, but also with accompanying smartphone apps. However, you can subscribe to the services for additional features like more online storage for your emails and data.
Don't pay full price for Premium! With my links you can save even more and get special introductory offers!
If you want to use everything, the Proton Unlimited subscription with the full package is worth it. It's cheaper than paying for everything separately. Here too, you get the best deal through the green button, which saves you another few percent:
With Proton's features, you can make sure you never receive spam again! Just use the password manager's temporary email addresses, which you can create in a few clicks to completely hide your real address. Then, do the following:
I myself am not a fan of AI. Yet we often see people choose between Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude, constantly putting one above the others, even though they all suffer from the same problems and weaknesses and their output differs only in minor details.
Here, too, Proton offers an alternative with Lumo that you can also use for free. In terms of core concept, it suffers from the same issues as all AIs. But at least it has an advantage:
When it comes to browsers, there are of course numerous alternatives. However, there are some issues: Most of them are still based on Chromium and therefore dependent on Google - and some are even integrated into their systems. Plus, some people use browser plugins that are only available for Chrome.
For language learners specifically, I always recommend Migaku or Asbplayer. The former is Chrome-exclusive, while the latter's Chrome version has more features than the Firefox one. Still, you can break free from Google here too! Personally, I recommend two browsers for PC:
On an Android smartphone, things get a bit more complicated. Many advise against using Firefox-based browsers here due to security concerns. As a result, the best alternative at the moment is one you can't install on your own. But there are other options.
Google's search engine was almost unavoidable for a long time. But nowadays, many users are less impressed with its results. It's not uncommon to find the best results only on pages displayed much further down. This makes switching worthwhile for better quality alone - it's not just a matter of privacy.
DuckDuckGo is the best fit here. It simply does its job without collecting any of your data or annoying you with unwanted features.
If you want, DuckAI also offers the AI overviews that are common these days, but the feature can easily be disabled in the settings. Personally, I recommend doing just that - because AI answers are still simply wrong far too often.
If you want to find your way around anywhere without Google, you can rely on the OpenStreetMaps project. There are numerous apps that let you use their maps on your smartphone.
The most convenient one I know is Organic Maps. It even lets you download maps and use them offline - something that's only possible on Google in a very limited way through workarounds.
Admittedly, even this project can't replace all of Google's features. For instance, you can't simply display and compare prices for all nearby hotels directly on the map. But the project keeps growing, and everyone can contribute by adding new locations.
A smartphone without Google? It's possible! Paradoxically, the best device for this is a Google Pixel. That's because GrapheneOS is only available for Pixel phones: an Android operating system completely free of Google services - though it can optionally run them in a sandbox.
This means they behave like any other app and no longer have special privileges on your phone. You can revoke all their permissions! And if a Google app can't access the internet, it can't transmit any data either.
You can easily install it directly through the GrapheneOS website. You just have to click through a installer!
One drawback: Some banking apps may refuse to work on this Google alternative. Others might have limited functionality. For example, Google Wallet won't work with contactless payments.
If you don't have a Pixel, there are other Android OS you can try. Those are either degoogled completely, or offer an alternative implementation of Googles services. Often you can chose what you want to install. These options include but are not limited to:
If you want to say goodbye to Google completely, they are perfectly fine choices. If you have banking apps or others handling sensitive data which require Googles services, it can be harder to get them to run on those alternatives though than with the sandboxed Google implementation of GrapheneOS.
Most people get their apps for Android from the Google Play Store. It can be avoided completely, but you also have the possibility to use it without an account. My personal favorites to get apps are:
You can also download apps without an app at all by downloading them directly from F-Droid, which is one of the sources Droid-ify is also using.
If you want to write in a language not using latin letters you also require a different keyboard. Weirdly enough finding a good alternative to Google Input can be harder than it sounds. I experienced this problem myself with Japanese, for example. However, an alternative does exist! It goes by the name Fcitx5 and is just somewhat unknown on Android.
On Android, you simply download it along with one of the plugins for the languages you want to use. For Japanese, for instance, you need Fcitx5 and Fcitx5 (Anthy).
With all these services, you can easily break free from Google in your personal life without any real drawbacks. The alternatives are often just as good—or even better.
Switching gives you more privacy and better data protection. Plus, many alternatives are now just as good—or even better—than Google's services, especially when it comes to search results.
Proton offers a complete package with private email (including a local AI assistant), cloud storage, a wallet alternative, password manager, spreadsheets, calendar, and VPN.
DuckDuckGo is recommended because it doesn't collect user data and delivers high-quality search results. It optionally offers AI overviews (DuckAI), which can be disabled.
Organic Maps, based on the OpenStreetMaps project, is the recommended alternative. The app allows you to fully download maps and use them offline. Some features like hotel price comparisons are still missing, but the project is constantly evolving.
GrapheneOS is an Android operating system for Google Pixel smartphones that is completely free of Google services. Google apps can optionally run in a sandbox without special privileges.
