this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2025
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DeGoogle Yourself

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Soft degoogle on Android with Launchers (feddit.org)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by Johannisbeerschorle@feddit.org to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
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Pre-installed Google apps that can’t be uninstalled can be incredibly frustrating. But not everyone can afford a new phone (also not to mention the environmental impact), and rooting your device is not for everyone. The good news is, there is a simple solution for Android users: open-source launchers that let you hide those apps for good. Below, I’ve rounded up some options to help you take back control of your home screen:

Unfortunately, it is not that easy for iOS, but if you have more suggestions, I would love to read them in the comments

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[–] zecg@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago (2 children)

My additional soft degoogle trick includes installing F-droid, from the store installing Rethink VPN and making it the only ethernet interface for all phone traffic. That way you can block whole apps from accessing the network or certain IPs / domains for any app. I have done this because I can't fucking stand apps like keyboard (gboard) or camera which I don't need to fetch anything connecting to the internet.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago (2 children)

why don't you use a foss keyboard?

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Which do you like?

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago

i use AnySoftKeyboard because it has good multilingual support and i can tweak it exactly to my preferences.

i have heliboard on other machines where i'm not the only user (or i'm not the user). It's more of a "default keyboard".

They are both good.

[–] zecg@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's different reasons with each one I tried.

[–] sonalder@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago

Did you tried HeliBoard with the gesturetyping google library loaded in?

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Can you explain what it means to run phone traffic through Ethernet? You mean wifi?

[–] zecg@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I meant, using VpnService in Android you can sit on 0.0.0.0/0 and capture all traffic from all apps. Rethink can then block access on any level (all app access, any IP for any or all apps). Moreover, if you set VpnService and something goes wrong (Rethink stops working or anything), your phone will simply have no access instead of allowing unfiltered access.