@Bwee

Proton Mail for E-Mail, Firefox as a web browser (export your passwords!), https://cryptpad.fr as a Google-Docs replacement (it did have sheets if I don't misremember?) :)

As for the phone, if you feel like it (you really don't have to though!) you can install something like GrapheneOS on it, which is surprisingly easy considering you just need the phone, some Chrome-Based browser and a USB-C Cable

(the installation works from the browser over USB! It's insane, you literally just click some buttons with the phone connected)

@Bwee As a tech savy person, I can say this: Degoogeling is a "best effort" thing. It is near impossible. It has snuck into more parts of our lives than Facebook is even close to. I have mostly cut ties with Meta with the exception of using messenger a few times.

Google is near impossible not to relate to on a frequent basis :/

Take it slow, do what you are able to do step by step. But you most likely will not be able to be free from them.

We need laws and regulations for companies like this to be our main way to handle their evil.

@Bwee a good replacement for Google docs is Cryptpad. There are many providers but cryptpad.fr is the flagship instance.

For email I use @Tutanota . Though gmail is very rich in features, some of which aren't (yet) part of tuta mail. @protonprivacy is also a good choice for mail, though I have no personal experience with them.

@Bwee For email, I'm not sure. I use Outlook, personally, but then again I have done for years.

For a browser, I use Firefox, personally, with DuckDuckGo as my search engine.

For writing, I use LibreOffice. It's a free download and works every bit as well as Word.

Can't help with spreadsheets, I'm afraid, and I'm not sure where you'd go for non-Apple alternatives to Android.

@Bwee Depends on how much you are willing to pay for your services.

To get it out of the way: if you're okay with Microsoft (I'm not fwiw), Office 365 has all the bells and whistles of the g-suite.

There are also a slew of smaller, other services. I've got a friend working at "Infomaniak" and their K-suite product has all the features of the G-suite.

There's also going the self-host route, especially for collaborative document editing. There's some software to help you with it, like yunohost that handle most of the hassle for you.

If you're willing to do some research, you can also look into individuals who make their own services available on https://www.chatons.org/ , they're a bit less reliable than big names, but might be worth a look ! Some of them might even be reachable on the fediverse :P

@Bwee Also i search the servicies here: https://www.chatons.org/search/by-service?service_type_target_id=All&field_alternatives_aux_services_target_id=All&field_software_target_id=All&field_is_shared_value=All&title=

there is a french association named framasoft witch develops googles privacy friendly alternatives : https://degooglisons-internet.org/en/

@Bwee first off, install the Duckduckgo browser on your phone. You don't have to use it as a browser but switch on the App Tracking Prevention feature in settings and it will blow your mind! apps are tracking you, even when they're not open 😨

And then use duckduckgo as your search engine.

Beyond that: Vivaldi browser, Microsoft for email and office docs.
And Nord VPN - on your router. The DDG app tracking protection uses the VPN slot on your phone but with Nord on the router you're sorted.

@Bwee

as a practical matter, for which ever email alternative you go with, i recommend using Thunderbird to start the migration

After signing into your Gmail, you can configure the settings of that account in Thunderbird to download to a local Archive folder

it will take a long long time to make an offline archive (moving the email off Google's servers). i do this in batches of like 2000 emails, it will take a long time, but it's worth it

alternatively, sign into both email accounts at the same time in Thunderbird, and make the Archive folder of the Gmail the Archive folder of the new email address. then you can download/upload the Archive instead of having to do the move twice

or, you can just offline-archive all your email going forward! i like doing this

@Bwee As others here have suggested very valid alternatives for everything else, I'm going to focus on the phone:

If you want to keep your current Pixel phone, there is a way to get rid of all its Google services, and that is by installing a degoogled Android ROM.

The process itself is honestly not as hard as you may think, however, because, as you can imagine, Google doesn't want you to do that, there are some caveats to keep in mind

(1/?)

@Bwee The page I've linked to also has step-by-step installation tutorials, so you should have that covered! Still, there are other caveats to keep in mind:

- There's no store OOTB, so you might want to install an alternative one like F-Droid
- Some apps (mostly games and banking apps) will check for system modifications and refuse to run, you'll have to take extra steps to make those work
- Apps relying on Google services will likely not work

(3/?)

@Bwee About those apps checking for system modifications, that's where Google made things painful, as it provides developers an API specifically for that. Getting around it can be complicated, so my suggestion is to first install your apps and seeing if they work as-is, and only trying workarounds if they don't

I tried to be as comprehensive as possible with this post chain, but I'm here if you want to try this and need help!  

(4/4)

@Bwee

Folks have already voiced a lot of good options here, so I don't wanna repeat them all. I can share what I do as a technical user, and that may give you some ideas.

Email - I still use GMail, and switching is a pain, but Protonmail and Faatmail look like the best options. I've been considering Purelymail but they're a small outfit. (Let me know what you end up doing here :3)

Browser - Firefox. You can migrate a lot of bookmarks and data out of Chrome pretty easily.

Passwords - I use KeepassXC and sync it to my devices using my Nextcloud server. But you could easily do this with another cloud service like Dropbox.

Writing/Spreadsheets - I use Libreoffice suite at home, but not collaboratively. I do run my own Nextcloud server which I think has a number of collaboration features that might be of interest. You don't have to run your own server - There are service providers who will host Nextcloud for you. Might be worth a shot!

@Bwee I recommend Fastmail (https://www.fastmail.com/) for email, contacts, calendar, and files. The individual plan is $60 per year.

For documents and spreadsheets, practically speaking, I don't know of any better choice than Microsoft Office. They've got some kind of free version.

For the browser, try Firefox (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/). It's free, of course.

For a phone, iPhone and Android are the only practical options for most users.

@Bwee

Not to be a downer, but it isn't just the primary sources you need to disconnect from. The secondary sources need to be removed, too. Google is like that stock investing scene in South Park, except in reverse. Instead of "and it's gone," you delete the data "and it's back." Big Data is a parasite and devilishly hard to get away from. No one just drops off the grid anymore. You exist in some database somewhere.

I don't mean to bring it down, but you're valuable to more than just your friends. We love you, but the internet loves to sell you as often as they can. The only way to break free is to break away from technology. Anything electronic is going to narc on you. Cash for everything, and don't use computers for anything. It's the only way to deGoogle. Anything less does nothing. It's just performance art.

I'm sorry.