this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2024
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DeGoogle Yourself

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I am in need of a separate degoogled phone for some things that require high level of privacy (nothing illegal).

I have 2 phones that I can use. One of them is my business phone (it has my business number, apps, data and that sort of stuff) which is now running an OS with all the Google spyware because it's necessary for the apps to work. I can reinstall everything on the second phone and use the first one as the secure device since it supports everything I need. The problem is that it has some issues on vanilla ROMs that I don't really want to deal with and the reinstalling will take a lot of time.

The issue with the second phone is that it is rocking an old MTK chip and rooting instructions are let's say a bit beyond my ability to understand. I still want to use it without Google if possible though. So can I degoogle its stock ROM with ADB or something? And is it worth trying or there will still be some vulnerabilities?

EDIT: to clear some possible misunderstandings, the reason of why I need a separate secure phone is that I am forced to use a very invasive proprietary app that I'd prefer just keeping on a separate device instead of trying to limit its spyware abilities with firewalls and that kind of stuff. I don't trust the last solution much. Also I can't use it in a VM because I need it to always be accessible wherever I am and yk carrying a PC is not an option

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[–] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 32 points 6 months ago (17 children)

One thing you can do :

[–] Blaze@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Interesting, I was using https://rethinkdns.com/ until now, I guess NetGuard is a more straightforward approach to blocking?

[–] lemmyreader@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Up to you. Netguard does need a local VPN connection on the phone to work, so if you would need some VPN app to run there's a problem. Netguard blocks network access per app (with choice for enabling/disabling WiFi and/or Mobile Data per app) which I think is cool. And it is an open source app available via F-Droid.

[–] Blaze@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Rethink is very similar: uses a VPN connection too, and allows blocking per app, is available on F-Droid

Anyway, the interface of Netguard seems a bit easier to use

[–] Openai@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

You can use wireguard configuration with rethink DNS

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[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 20 points 6 months ago (11 children)

Nope. Best cause of action is buy a google pixel and put grapheneos on it.

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[–] impure9435@kbin.run 15 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (7 children)

You can try uninstalling as much Google crap as possible using the Universal Android Debloater

Then perhaps use a firewall like NetGuard in whitelist mode, to only allow selected apps to access the internet

As an additional layer of security, you can use NextDNS with the No Google blocklist, and block all connections to Google servers in DNS. If you need to access specific things like YouTube, you can whitelist them.

[–] Blaze@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Interesting, I was using https://rethinkdns.com/ until now, I guess NetGuard is a more straightforward approach to blocking?

[–] MinekPo1@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

if I understand correctly the rethink app does also work as a firewall , so no . I've also found netguard to be less intuitive and to have a less readable UI .

if you are just using rethink as a DNS provider however then netguard (or the rethink app) can allow you to have more granular control over specific apps .

[–] Blaze@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 months ago

I see, thanks

[–] MinekPo1@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 months ago

just gonna say , rethink combines both a firewall and a DNS blocker .

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[–] Maoo@hexbear.net 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You can't degoogle without using a ROM that degoogles. Google has built itself into the Android operating system by default and replacing it is non-trivial, like using a ROM with microG.

As another commenter mentioned, though, you can partially degoogle in other ways.

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Partial degoogling isn't an option for me. Thank you for the reply though. I didn't know Google had something inside the OS except like the regular system apps

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 7 points 6 months ago (3 children)

You can degoogle some phones without root, assuming they have support from a good custom ROM (the classic example being GrapheneOS on a Pixel). You'll need to look up what ROMs are available for your particular phone, and if you're lucky then there'll be a good one which doesn't require too much hackery to install.

If you're unlucky and there's nothing for that device then you probably can't fully de-google it, but you can still improve the situation by avoiding any Google apps and services. This could be by using adb as you suggest, or by managing the network as the other comment suggests, or just by using alternatives.

It all really depends on your threat model and whether or not it's worth buying a new device just for this!

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[–] alb_004@mstdn.party 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

@GolfNovemberUniform In redmi turn off miui optimization then you can use the app called disable manager from f-droid to disable most of the apps. After disabling turn on the miui optimization.

[–] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The second phone is not a Redmi. Ain't no way I'm using a Redmi without a custom ROM

[–] alb_004@mstdn.party 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

@GolfNovemberUniform 👍🏻 oh... am sorry, i just missunderstood.

[–] michael_palmer@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 6 months ago (7 children)

You can disable google apps with adb without root.

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