Episode: 2498 Title: HPR2498: Life without Google Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2498/hpr2498.mp3 Transcribed: 2025-10-19 04:08:13 --- This is HPR Episode 2498 entitled Life Without Google. It is posted like We've Mo and in about 4 minutes long and carry my clean flag. The summary is We've Mo, Mo, and without the apps on his phone. This episode of HPR is brought to you by archive.org. Support universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org forward slash donate. Support universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org. Support universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org. Support universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org. Support universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org. Support universal access to all knowledge by heading over to archive.org. Hello, this is Goof Mo. So I was starting to get annoyed. The phone would vibrate and it was just Google wondering how I was enjoying Bed Bath Beyond. Hey, would you like to add that photo to Maps? And I got thinking, why am I okay with my every move? Being watched and documented. Long ago, Facebook was ripped from my device and the account was deleted. Tweets have dwindled to a joke and I cannot remember the last time I logged in to Google+. So what would it take? What was the last hurdle to become a digital hermit? My MotoX Pure Edition had hit 2 and was due for a fresh battery. So I started searching for a good used phone to use in case I botched the surgery. A Zenfone 2 was purchased and I started to research the tips and tricks to install LineageOS on the Zenfone minus the G app suite. So I could live Google free for a while. Unfortunately, trying to update the bootloader, this beautiful little piece of tech was bricked and apparently requires a Windows machine and dark incantations to bring back the life. As a side, if anyone in the community is familiar with this type of dark magic, I would be eternally grateful for your assistance and would pay shipping both ways. Back to the drawing board. I looked into the Magic Device tool, an automated root ROM tool that works on a small list of compatible phones. Chosed the Nexus 5 as my next victim and waited for the mail to make my day. Unfortunately, I ran into issues again and had to go back to following the LineageOS instructions for the Nexus, but this time it went smooth and I had a booting machine, Google free. Now I realize that if I'm not paying for something, I am the product. But I have been cuvemo for quite a long time and have a lot of history in this Gmail account. So I attempted to set up K9 from ETH droid, but to keep it required lowering the security in my Google account too low to make it safe. As a workaround, I found the official SDK for Proton mail and set up Gmail to forward my messages to my Proton mail account. But unfortunately, while the Proton mail app will receive and send mail, it requires GApps to notify me of new mail. So I decided to just be content to check my mail when I get home or check it in the browser when I'm bored. The next was a replacement for Hangouts. This is the main tool for daily chats with my wife and kids, but my close friends and I use Signal. So it was an easy task to run through the house, loading, configuring Signal for my family to use during this test. Everything else I need to stay entertained work can be found on the ETH droid open source app store. This includes pod catchers, audio book players, ebook readers, and of course the sync thing app so I can move things off and on my phone without plugging it in and waiting for the files to sync. I am absolutely comfortable with everything I get off of ETH droid, but when you need a specific SDK or program outside of ETH droid, make sure you are getting it from the developer you intend to. It would be a shame if that nice Bitcoin wallet was not actually working for you. So after about a month of being Google free, I have realized a few things. I can go a whole day without knowing when I received a new piece of mail. I can run a phone with less resources and still have full functionality and was able to go from 100 install apps on my Moto X to 36 on my Nexus. At this point, I do not see a need to go back to the full GAP suite. Thank you for listening. I will try to have links to everything I mentioned in the show notes. And please remember to support this great community. Thank you. You've been listening to Hacker Public Radio at Hacker Public Radio.org. We are a community podcast network that releases shows every weekday Monday through Friday. Today's show, like all our shows, was contributed by an HP R listener like yourself. If you ever thought of recording a podcast, then click on our contributing to find out how easy it really is. 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