Google Fast: Day 0

Aaron Campbell — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 21:50:57 +0000

getting rid of Google

I am going to try to not use a Google product for one month.

dear gods, why?

Recently I fully made the switch from Chrome to Vivaldi. I tried a few other browsers, including Brave, but Vivaldi had all the power features I needed and all the privacy I wanted. I liked the concept of Brave but I could get 90% of what I liked about Brave in Vivaldi with the right plugins. Vivaldi had some features that you just can't get with plugins.

Vivaldi seems to be very anti-tracking and anti-Google. So I was already kind of heading in an anti-Google direction with my non-Google browser and my DuckDuckGo default search. Enter Nomoogle.

Introducing Nomoogle - Your Very Own Privacy Friendly Bear

Sarthak Sharma ・ Nov 30 '19 ・ 3 min read

#showdev #opensource #webdev #discuss

Why not install it and try it out? This will help guide me away from Google products and I can see if I can live without all the Google products that I use. Plus, it is January, the month of resolutions, and I am a sucker for willpower challenges like these.

setup

Unfortunately, I can't just start using it. My email accounts are all on Google so I need to set them up to forward to some new email for now. Also, I have an android phone so I don't know how much work I am going to have to do to that to remove google products.

installing Nomoogle

Installing the extension was a simple as following the directions on the github.

sarthology / nomoogle

🐻 Chromium extension to get rid of Google addiction

Nomoogle

A simple Chrome extension that can help you get rid of Google addiction.

For firefox extension check this repo : nomoogle-firefox

Installation

Clone or Download the repo.
Go to Extension settings
Enable Developers Mode
Click on "Load Unpackaged" and add the folder you downloaded.

Features

Get google alternatives in one click

Get popup Reminder, Everytime you use a google product

With two special modes

Strict Mode: Block the entire webpage completly, doesn't allow you to move forward.

Redirects: Automatically redirects the page to popular alternative.

Thanks to

❤️ Special thanks to @levelsio. 🙅‍♀️ Nomoregoogle was an inspiration for this.

License

MIT License

View on GitHub

forwarding emails

Let's check out what Nomoogle decides to recommend. After a quick trip to Gmail, I got this guy.

After a bit of confusion about where the recommendations were, I clicked the extension icon and got the list of alternatives.

Let's check these out!

Email Services Compared

Aaron Campbell ・ Jan 18 ・ 2 min read

#email #gmail #ditchgoogle #googlefast

Then, I had to set my multiple gmail accounts to forward to my new account. I really was desperate for a way to only forward unlabeled email. If anyone knows how to do that please leave a comment.

Google maps alternative

It looks like I will try Here for directions.

Google Play

I can't decide if I should just cheat and use Google Play to install apps or if I need to exclusively use FDroid.

conclusion

I haven't officially started but I am pretty excited to try a bunch of new services. We will see how day zero goes tomorrow.

Email Services Compared

Aaron Campbell — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 20:46:56 +0000

let's check them out!

I am switching from Gmail to a more privacy-focused email for one month as part of my google fast. Here are the different email services I checked out.

Fastmail

Pros:

Android, iOS apps
$3-$9/mo. plans
30-day free trial
Calendar and Contacts included

ProtonMail

Pros:

Open-source
Completely Anonymous
Swiss Privacy
Made by CERN Scientists
Android, iOS apps
€5-30/mo. plans
Limited free plan

Zoho Mail

...

Sorry, I got distracted playing pacman on their website.

Pros:

automate.io, Zapier, Integromat, Blendr.io & Workato integrations
Android, iOS apps
Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes, and Bookmarks included
Integrates with their Docs and CRM
Free plan?

Cons:

Asks for a lot of information upfront

GMX

Pros:

Free

Cons:

So. Many. Ads.

Canary Mail

Pros:

Can use existing email account including Gmail
iOS app

Cons:

No Andoid app

Tutanota

Pros:

Open Source
Completely Anonymous
€1.20-6/mo. plans
Free plan
Android, iOS apps
Android app available on FDroid so you don't have to use Google Play
Calendar and Contacts included

wot i fink

For me, Canary Mail is immediately out because I can't use it on my phone. Also I am going to rule GMX out because I literally never want to go on their site again.

My top three are probably Zoho Mail for its integrations, and ProtonMail & Tutanota for their privacy and anonymity. Let's go into those in more detail.

detailed comparison

	ProtonMail	Tutanota	Zoho Mail
Price/mo.	$5-30	€1.20-6	$1-4
Free Plan	Limited	Limited	Yes?
Space	0.5-20GB	1-10GB	5-50GB
Custom Domains	Paid plans	Paid plans	Yes
Anonymous	Yes	Yes	No
Calendar	No	Yes	Yes

Both ProtonMail and Tutanota only have filtering and inbox rules on the paid plans which is very disappointing. I can't tell if Zoho Mail's free plan is limited without signing up.

conclusion

I think I will probably give Tutanota a shot for a month. Then if I don't like it I will try ProtonMail. Zoho Mail kind of rubbed me as more of a more business-focused wannabe Google. I wasn't very keen on jumping from one all-in-one solution into another.

DEV Community: Aaron Campbell

Google Fast: Day 0

getting rid of Google

dear gods, why?

Introducing Nomoogle - Your Very Own Privacy Friendly Bear

Sarthak Sharma ・ Nov 30 '19 ・ 3 min read

setup

installing Nomoogle

sarthology / nomoogle

🐻 Chromium extension to get rid of Google addiction

Nomoogle

Installation

Features

Thanks to

License

forwarding emails

Email Services Compared

Aaron Campbell ・ Jan 18 ・ 2 min read

Google maps alternative

Google Play

conclusion

Email Services Compared

let's check them out!

Fastmail

ProtonMail

Zoho Mail

GMX

Canary Mail

Tutanota

wot i fink

detailed comparison

conclusion