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Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

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Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#11

Post by spaceman_2020 »

I’ve moved away from Chrome and Google Search. But I’m struggling to move away from Gmail, especially since this email is linked to so many critical official accounts (bank, government agencies)

Any solutions to make the transition easier outside of manually updating email everywhere?

Also, what’s the best alternative to Gmail currently that will support using my own domain name?

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#13

Post by usrn »

nathias wrote: post #7

Youtube: Odysee (with an extension that auto redirects youtube to odysee if it exists for the video) I only use google for youtube (if the content isn't on odysee) and gmail. How are the gmail alternatives? Can I use my custom domain for free on any? Have self-hosting solutions come close to gmail with spam filters?

I don't bother with spam filters. Yeah I get some spam but it's not worth missing emails. Gmail has gotten really bad about throwing away legitimate email btw so I wouldn't say even theirs is good. Much better IMO is address tagging (x+y@z.com) so you can block a tag when people sell your address.

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#14

Post by krallja »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #11

I’ve moved away from Chrome and Google Search. But I’m struggling to move away from Gmail, especially since this email is linked to so many critical official accounts (bank, government agencies) Any solutions to make the transition easier outside of manually updating email everywhere? Also, what’s the best alternative to Gmail currently that will support using my own domain name?

Fastmail will support your domain name and has a very good importer from Gmail. You don’t have to transition everything all at once. One thing that helps is to use different apps to access Gmail (like the official app) and Fastmail (your phone’s built-in Mail app), and if anything arrives @gmail.com, either unsubscribe or update the address.

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#15

Post by DoctorDabadedoo »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #11

I’ve moved away from Chrome and Google Search. But I’m struggling to move away from Gmail, especially since this email is linked to so many critical official accounts (bank, government agencies) Any solutions to make the transition easier outside of manually updating email everywhere? Also, what’s the best alternative to Gmail currently that will support using my own domain name?

I like Zoho for mail handling, the free tier covers up to 5 user with a custom domain, the small letters is that they don't provide IMAP/POP under the free tier, but it's pretty easy to set up.

If you're concerned about privacy I would evaluate fastmail.com

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#17

Post by detritus »

memorable wrote: post #8

Here are some of my additional recommendations: Analytics - GoatCounter, Counter.dev Keyboard - Unexpected Keyboard (A very cool keyboard) Search - Neeva Translate - Lingva Some notes on the post: - Protonmail as a company doesn’t have a very stellar reputation. I recommend hosting an e-mail server by yourself, or just use providers like Disroot Mail - K9 Mail is an email client, not an email provider

> I recommend hosting an e-mail server by yourself

As someone who did this from about 2001 until three years ago, I strongly suggest most people don't bother with this route.

GMail, Outlook, etc, all throw so many arbitrary and ever-changing security conditions to accept mail, it really isn't worth the hassle - or the lost clients from mails that don't reach their walled-garden end-points.

I've used Fastmail for a few years now, and I'm 99% sure that when I respond to an email sent from GMail, they'll actually receive it (So, I'm not talking about cold-emails, which I could just about begin to understand).

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#18

Post by daneel_w »

When I started "deGoogling" myself a year ago, the first step was to stop using Gmail. When changing my registered e-mail address everywhere on the Internet there was one crucial bit that I completely overlooked: the owner/tech/billing/etc. contact records of a domain that I own. Many registrars send all regular communications to the e-mail address of the user account, not to those in the domain contact records, so I happily went on thinking I was entirely "deGmailed" once my Gmail inbox had dried up as planned. If I had somehow lost access to that old Gmail address before I realized my mistake, that domain would effectively no longer be mine.

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#19

Post by daneel_w »

mPReDiToR wrote: post #9
daneel_w wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But GrapheneOS only runs on the Google Pixel phones, doesn't it?

Officially, yes. There are unofficial versions. As it happens, I'm being gifted a Pixel 4, so full steam ahead. Check their site/wiki for info, if this interests you.

I do like the idea of GrapheneOS, I just don't feel 100% comfortable running hardware made by Google.

Re: Ask HN: How have you deGoogled your life?

#20

Post by St_Alfonzo »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #11

I’ve moved away from Chrome and Google Search. But I’m struggling to move away from Gmail, especially since this email is linked to so many critical official accounts (bank, government agencies) Any solutions to make the transition easier outside of manually updating email everywhere? Also, what’s the best alternative to Gmail currently that will support using my own domain name?

Moving away from Gmail was easy for me. Get a new address at a reliable provider or self host. And then you can use Gmail's own Mail-forwarding functionality to forward everything to your new mail address, and theres also an option to delete the copy at gmail. Whenever you have time, set the new address at your accounts. And after a year or two you have changed all accounts and can delete your gmail address. A slow change is better than no change.
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