A community for those that would like to get away from Google.
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I run my own Matrix server and just bridge Whatsapp, Messenger, Discord and Telegram to it. Element (a matrix client I'm using) Works without google services.
The only catch is I have to have a second Play-services enabled profile on the phone, and sign in to whatsapp there every two weeks, so it keeps my Matrix session fresh.
Any chance you have instructions somewhere on running these bridges? I'd love to do that, myself.
Sure!
I highly recommend using the matrix-ansible-docker-deploy. It has a pretty good documentation that should not give you much trouble, if you have at least very basic self-hosting experience (i.e can get a domain, a server, and set up SSH and firewall ports), and configuring it to do what you want is usually just adding a single config line into vars.yml when setting it up.
Once you get to the configuration step in the quickstart, where you change a few rows, also take a look at the more in-depth configuration documentation, and scroll down to the chapter about configuring bridges/bridging other networks.
For example, setting up a messanger bridge is literally just adding matrix_mautrix_meta_messenger_enabled: true into your vars.yml when you are setting it up.
I did the same 4 years ago and it kinda worked, but often Telegram messages were not delivered (never saw them). Compatibility also broke for some messeger a few weeks later. It was not worth the time invest.
For Discord, the newest one AFAIK is Revenge which is also in the middle of a rewrite, there's Aliucord also which is mature but on an old version of Discord. On desktop there's also EquiBop. Some people are suggesting Matrix bridges as well which I should try. Be careful with WhatsApp since I've heard they're very ban-happy.
Genuine question, why go to the trouble of switching to a privacy focused os then install Meta apps? Do you just not like Google?
even government agencies work through whatsapp in my country. there's no escape from them if you want to exist in society with the way things are right now.
I get that, but change will never come with compromise.
change will not be coming from social isolation either
No one is suggesting social isolation.
quitting some of these apps in some parts of the world will leave you incommunicable, which doesn't solve the problem.
Yeah you're right. Let's just keep using all these apps and building our technological lives on top of these awful corp's infrastructures and platforms. I mean we have to, right? We can't inconvenience ourselves in the short term to find alternative solutions, can we?
It's so frustrating watching the world fall apart when we've tried nothing and are all our of ideas.
complete isolation and complete submission aren't the only two options.
Oh right... The moderate approach. Yeah that works really well...
what works then?
Collective action, but that takes people and people, again, don't like giving up their conveniences.
i wouldn't be giving up any convenience at all if people i talk to were elsewhere.
some of them i can bring over, i'd still need whatsapp for everyone else.
For one, I was getting really irritated about the apps my google device wouldnt let me delete, and also the apps I wanted to side load. That being said, I definitely don't like meta. I have an app on my PC called caprine. I wouldn't download first party meta apps, but these are the apps my friends use to talk, so if there is a workaround, I was just asking about that
FYI you can use a combination of Shizuku and Canta to get rid of pretty much any Google app on an Android phone. Useful tip I got here recently.
Pay it forward.
How do they work? Those tools actually delete system apps?
To be honest I'm not sure they work under the hood but they use debug mode and some other stuff to do what they do. Yes they can remove system apps, pretty much anything. They have a traffic light system to warn you about whether its safe to remove some things. Green is good, orange is a bit risky, red is riskier again. The risk usually relates to the impact on other apps or functions working.
Twas pretty easy to set up.
Edit: Screenshot addition. Not quite traffic light system but you get me. Unless they have illuminous pink traffic lights somewhere!
Fair enough. Good luck with the switch!
Not OP but I think Facebook also trapped a lot of users with marketplace. I don't use it but my wife does. Where we live you ain't selling anything if it not on Marketplace. Unfortunately it's a useful service. I've got 3 kids so our house is a revolving door of Marketplace.
The way I run it is Google Play lives in the Private Space, which is well worth setting up. That way you don't have "secure but not anonymous" pings going back to Google all day
It's nice because then I don't just have war footage living in my main gallery too lol
Same. This is the way.