Google mail

Gmail apart, do you use the account for anything else (android phone, cloud storage)?

Ah. I do have an unused android phone. I stopped setting it up when I realised how much Google would know about my life.

It is possible to use Android without a Google account, it's just a bit more work. Search 'degoogling', eg articles like this:

'Aurora Store' is a handy place to get apps from the Play Store without needing a Google account, which solves the main problem with not having a Google account on the phone.

Theo

Seriously? Do you think you are that important?

I flood google with so much irrelevant information. I hope it breaks them.

Thanks for the note re 'Aurora Store' - but it seems to have to login to it using your Google (Play) account??

J^n

You don't *have* to have a google account on an android phone, but you lose a lot of features without one.

You can select 'anonymous' and it will use one of their pool Google accounts, which are shared between all their users. Doesn't work 100%, more like 95% depending on whether Google are grumpy this minute, but in that case trying again later works.

THeo

Thanks Theo.

I'm getting used to my Wife's old i-phone gradually. Probably not much more secure:-(

Of course not. But why do they want it in the first place?>

I avoid their search to encourage the competition!

They do seem very reluctant to just let me go!

Am 08.09.25 um 11:27 schrieb Theo:

I have read that sideloading from anything else than Google Store will be impossible from 2026.

Sideloading from 'unregistered' developers will be prevented. Remains to be seen whether Google use the registration process as a weapon against things they don't like or not, and whether there are workarounds. But everything from the Play Store is already from a registered developer so this won't affect Aurora.

Theo

They are simply hoarders. In case one day you are a minister and they can show you tweeted 'f*ck the jews' thirty years ago when you got diddled by a pawnbroker.

Whatever. They are not as impartant as they think they are, either