Oops, I Accidentally the Whole Cloud
Without Google and Apple, a lot of the cloud-based services you used to use are now also gone.
One of the biggest e-mail providers today is Google. Their GMail product took the world by storm when it first arrived on the scene, and now almost everyone has a GMail account.
Apple also has its own e-mail service, via their iCloud services. Microsoft has Hotmail (does this still exist?) and Outlook.com.
Here you have two choices: either you can continue to use your existing e-mail account, or you can migrate to a different e-mail service that respects your privacy.
Continue using your existing e-mail
If you want to continue using your existing e-mail account from your new de-Googled phone, you can do that by using K9 Mail to read your e-mail. K9 has built-in support for a number of e-mail providers, including GMail, which should make it easy to set your e-mail up. If not, a simple search for "IMAP (name of e-mail provider)" should get your started.
Migrate to another e-mail provider
The second option, and one that I recommend, is to migrate to using a different e-mail provider, one that respects your privacy. The only down side to using an alternative e-mail provider is that you usually need to pay for it.
Paying for a service is a GOOD thing. When you get to use a service for free, you are no longer the customer, you are the product. Google exists thanks to advertising. So does Twitter, Facebook and many other services that people use on a daily basis. Big Tech sells your personal data to these advertising companies, and that's how they make money.
The best option is always to run your own e-mail server, but understandably this is not an option for most people.
There are services out there that respect your privacy while providing an e-mail address. Two products that I know of are ProtonMail and Tutanota. Each service has its pros and cons, some have more features than others, and of course the price varies per service.
File storage
There are multiple file-hosting services out there. Google Drive and iCloud come bundled with your phone and your Google or Apple account. There are some other well known storage services, including Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive. The problem with all of them? They're owned by Big Tech in some form or fashion.
Nextcloud Files
The ideal way to counter this is to use a fantastic piece of software called Nextcloud. Not only does Nextcloud have file storage, but it also has features like a calendar, contacts, video conferencing, notes, project management and even a password manager. Nextcloud can be deployed to your own servers, where you control your data.
You can install the Nextcloud file synchronization client on your computer, and the Nextcloud app on your phone (available in the App Store, the Play Store and F-Droid), and it will automatically synchronize files between Nextcloud and all your devices.
ProtonDrive
Another alternative to hosting your own data somewhere is to use a service called ProtonDrive. Made by the people who make ProtonMail, ProtonDrive offers file storage in the same way that Google Drive or iCloud do. Then you can install the ProtonDrive file synchronization client, and it will automatically synchronize files between the cloud and all your devices.
Photos
Similar to file storage (and sometimes bundled together with it), photos are another feature you might miss when moving away from Big Tech.
Just another file
The easiest solution is to store your photos along with your other files. If you're using synchronized file storage, your computer and your phone already have photo galleries apps, so you should be fine. They might not be as fancy as Google Photos, but they'll work.
Nextcloud Photos
As with file storage, Nextcloud also has a photos app. The photos themselves are just files stored in your file storage, but the photos app will read your Photos folder and allow you to manage them.
Other options
A number of the file storage services mentioned above have a photo management interface, either an existing cover on your files, or as a separate service.
There are also a number of other options that are standalone (i.e. not part of another solution), like Flickr and PhotoBucket. The biggest issue with these services is their lack of privacy - by design they are not meant for storing photos privately.
Document editing
With the rise of Google's online services came document editing in the cloud. Microsoft followed soon after with Office 365. But outside of that, there isn't really much more on offer.
So what are the alternatives? Well, you can always go old school and type up your documents on your computer...
Microsoft Office
Many Windows computers these days are sold with some form of Microsoft office on them. So you could just edit your documents on your computer. Of course you're still using software from Big Tech, but at least you are keeping your documents offline.
Apple iWork
If you're using a Mac, you'll have iWork installed by default, which you can use for editing your documents. Again, these documents would remain on your computer, but you're still using Big Tech's software, and you're locking yourself into Apple's walled garden.
LibreOffice
Probably the most widely used office suite outside of Microsoft Office and iWork, LibreOffice is a free and open source office suite that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. It uses international document standards for storing your documents, while still being able to read and write Microsoft Office document formats.
ONLYOFFICE
Another open source suite is ONLYOFFICE. It is unique in that it comes as both a desktop application and as an online document editor. It comes in three flavors, a commercial enterprise version which is not free, a developer version, and a community version which is open source and free.
ONLYOFFICE, like LibreOffice, can read and write both Microsoft documents and standard formats, so you should be able to take most of your existing documents and open them in ONLYOFFICE.
Calendar
Calendars are more of a "work" thing than personal thing, but I do know a few people who use calendars on their phones to help organise their personal life.
The great news is that there are some options available for storing your calendar in your private cloud.
Nextcloud Groupware
https://nextcloud.com/groupware/
Nextcloud provides calendars out-of-the-box when you install it. You can even connect that calendar to your newly de-googled phone using an app called DAVx⁵ so that your phone's calendar is stored in your Nextcloud instance.
Proton Calendar
There is also ProtonCalendar, from the makers of ProtonMail, which provides you with an online calendar. Unfortunately ProtonCalendar it seems that in order to use ProtonCalendar on your phone, you need to download and install their Android app, instead of integrating with the existing calendar on your phone.
Video calls
Ever since the start of the so-called COVID pandemic, video calls have become a huge part of our lives, and various companies have risen to prominence. Of course the most well-known of these is Zoom.
But Zoom has a few problems; its free version is limited to 40 minute calls, it's a separate app, and worst of all, it has some pretty alarming ties to China, where apparently it sends at least some of your data.
Google Meet became another alternative, and Google expanded the availability of Meet during the last few years. But we're trying to get away from Google here.
Nextcloud Talk
Nextcloud provides a video calling app called Talk, which integrates nicely with the rest of Nextcloud, and provides you with a way to have calls and conferences with multiple people, no matter which platform you're using (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux).
Jitsi Meet
Another fantastic open source and privacy-respecting option is Jitsi Meet. What's fantastic about Jitsi Meet is that it runs in your browser and you don't need to register or log in for it. Like Nextcloud Talk, it supports all platforms and browsers.
Conclusion
Of course, the above list is not exhaustive by any means, but it should hopefully give you some insight on replacing some of your previous Big Tech services with other smaller players who are more concerned with your privacy.
LibertyStratus
I have mentioned Nextcloud a number of times in this article, and that's because it is a fantastic cloud solution that is designed to protect your privacy while providing a number of features of all the Big Tech options. But Nextcloud is software, not an online service, which means you need to host it yourself.
But not everyone has the technical capability to host their own software and run their own servers. With this in mind, I launched LibertyStratus in order to allow people to break away from Big Tech, but not have to worry about running their own cloud services.
For a small monthly cost, you get a hosted version of Nextcloud, with all the basic features of Nextcloud, including file storage, photo management, calendars and video calls.
On top of that, LibertyStratus also provides the following features:
- Online document editing (just double-click your document in the files browser)
- Password management
- Note taking
- Project management
- and more....
If you're interested, please take a look at https://libertystrat.us/
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