Hacker News Reader

Comment by theandrewbailey | Hacker News Reader

I've been actively degoogling my life for about 10 years, mostly kicked off by Snowden's revelations. Off the top of my head, here's what's left:

• Youtube

Too much content there to stop using. I almost never use it while logged in. I never subscribe: I bookmark the channel.

• Maps

Too useful to stop using. Haven't tried alternatives, but open to recommendations. Business locations and open/close times are must haves for me.

• Duo

It's a videophone that mostly works.

• Chrome

I never stopped using Firefox as my main browser since ~2005, but I'll use Chrome from time to time, mostly for website development and watching Youtube.

• GMail

I've almost completely moved off it about a year ago for Fastmail, but I keep checking my existing GMail. Probably should get around to moving over completely.

• Android

I'm a recent LineageOS convert, but still use it with the Play Store.

View on HN

I also have Youtube left on my list. I also find it a little too addictive. Instead of using a browser, I use RSS to subscribe to the channels I'm interested in. From my RSS reader (newsbeat) I can even directly play the video (via mpv + yt-dlp).

You could always use Freetube which is for Desktop but if its convenient this way then I'll also give it a try. Thanks.

Good list to chime in on.

Youtube channel subs etc can be handled with some privacy adds by using NewPipe on Android. Features are never ending.

People interested by LineageOS may also be interested in GrapheneOS, and their Play Store related handling.

Tangentially related: Aurora Store in place of "actual" Google Play app/Google Play Services.

Signal or meet.jit.si for video calling.

Chromium. Pain in the ass, but worth it. Change ALL relevant settings, Chrome or Chromium. Find a couple guides.

Thanks for the reply!

GrapheneOS looks cool, but it only supports Pixel phones? (I have a Moto X4)

I'll look into the Aurora Store.

Duo's call interface is practically identical to POTS calls on smartphones, so I use it to call my mom.

Signal can do video? Didn't know that.

I set up a private Jitsi meet server two years ago, but it insisted on directing mobile browsers to the app. I was able to configure it to not do that, but friends complained about high battery usage. Has that changed since? Regardless, I'm not sure how I could call someone on it, aside from sending them a link and hoping they open it. It's more of a videoconferencing system.

I've used Chromium on a few Linux installs, forgot it supported Windows, too.

A good way to keep track of new videos on your YouTube channels without being logged in is RSS.

Didn't know they still implemented this! Is this how NewPipe handles subs?

* Channel subscriptions via RSS (since 0.10.0)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewPipe

Reply on news.ycombinator.com