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Alternatives to Google Products

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Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#501

Post by kerberos84 »

halflings wrote: post #468
fifnir wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The unavoidable suggested answers in gmail make my skin crawl. I dont want it and i dont want to be reminded that you can read my emails despite my consent for it I guess it's a good reminder that i need to change services

How can an email service work without "reading" your email? Emails need to be indexed to be searcheable etc.

It does not need to read the body of email in order to work. It can index just the header(to, date, subject) or you can use a program on your computer locally to keep your emails and index&search them.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#502

Post by sirn »

bpye wrote: post #480
brongondwana wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, hopefully when JMAP arrives (soon!) you'll be able to use that nicely. It will give label-style handling by allowing the same message to exist in multiple folders.

Kinda hijacking this. When using FastMail with a custom domain can I setup a catch all address and then have each different address somehow tagged? It would be nice to be able to have proper unique email addresses for each service so I know where spam ends up coming from.

You can create an * alias in FastMail which will act as catch-all address. The received email will retain the original To: field so you can use rules to match them.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#503

Post by jhall1468 »

auslander wrote: post #488
jhall1468 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They literally say why they scan and you are talking about your kids school scores. You clearly have an agenda.

I do. They have too much access to too many people's data. And making billions on the data. Plus having biggest infrastructure and buying best AI and ML brains in bulk. I hope you can add all this together and see the picture. Kids worry me the most, as this G.Education is pushed on them without choice, being profiled from 1st grade.

You are volunteering that data. I can see the picture fine, they are a company that hires smart people to build out an targeted advertising business.

They don't have access to people's data. People are giving them access to their data.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#504

Post by bunderbunder »

cosmojg wrote: post #17
nemothekid wrote: post #2

I'm a little discouraged when I see articles like this that seem to be completely tuned for developers or look over completely decent pro-privacy alternatives like Apple. For example, the "best" calendar alternative is Etar which looks to a Github repo. Really? At the very least you could mention Apple Calendar. Is Maps.Me (which uses AdSense) really better than Apple Maps? I'm not a fan of hooktube either - it just…

It's not that "privacy-focused" tends to be conflated with FLOSS. Rather, it's nearly impossible to guarantee privacy in proprietary software. The transparency of FLOSS makes it trustless. Want to know what data of yours, if any, is being collected? Look at the code. This is why, when it comes to privacy, Apple isn't worth consideration. All we have is their word, and that simply isn't enough.

"Look at the code" is an anachronistic strategy.

Nowadays, very little of our data solely relies on our own devices, and most of the value of consumer software occurs when data is being transmitted between systems. When your data lives in the cloud, there is almost always a side-channel way to get at your private data that won't be visible in any Git repository: Just go look at it directly.

Meaning that, nowadays, if we're to live any sort of non-Luddite, Internet connected lifestyle, all we have to go on with anybody is their word. If I limited myself to services where inspecting the source code would give me what I need to know about how well my privacy will be protected, without trusting the word of any third parties, then I'd have to let go of email, telephone, and credit and debit cards (and banking in general). Plenty of other things, too, but I think those three paint the picture well enough.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#505

Post by nottorp »

So, mail services that actually care about your privacy. Nice. I don't even mind paying BUT...

... are any of them as usable as Google?

Or at least close. GMail's web interface is the only place where I have old email and i can actually find it by searching.

Any of these services offers both imap and a usable web interface?

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#506

Post by skinnymuch »

cm2187 wrote: post #279
DoreenMichele wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Bing a fair amount and I like it. I'm wondering if you could elaborate on what sorts of things you are trying to find and having trouble with. Perhaps HN could make a few suggestions for how to get more out of your Bing experience.

It’s a matter of taste but I prefer the Apple/google clean and white UI with little else distraction than what you are trying to achieve over Microsoft’s “portal from the 90’s/let’s fill every bit of space”. Whether it’s bing or Windows, something as stupid as showing you a different background picture every time means you always have to deal with a new visual, which means more effort to find your way. It’s the same…

Why are you going to Bing’s homepage? The rest of the site is minimalist.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#507

Post by godzillabrennus »

brongondwana wrote: post #320
godzillabrennus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven’t found a replacement for Gmail yet. I’ve tried fastmail and ProtonMail but both have limitations. From a search engine perspective I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo and I’m impressed with how good it has gotten. With maps I’ve tried various solutions including mapquest, Microsoft, and Apple but nothing comes close to Google Maps.

I second those asking what limitations you ran into (specifically with FastMail, since I have more chance of being able to fix those than the limitations with Protonmail - though I'd love to know both!) If it's "costs money", we're not planning to change that! We (FastMail) are proudly a paid-only service.

Fastmail limitations are:

When I signed up in 2016 (I’m still a customer btw) it was a big pain to get my custom domain added after paying for an account. I had to contact support for assistance. I somehow have to have two accounts for my plan but only one has a mailbox. Crazy bad experience here.

The amount of space we get for mail is low for the fee. I pay around $12/year in additional fees with Google for another 70GB of space outside of the 30GB they give for the base plan. Fastmail was pricier last I checked.

There is zero quality collaboration option for me. Even if you added one the fact that anyone who wants to collaborate would have to have a paid account with me creates a barrier for me to even try and use it for anything but just email.

The spam filter is about 30% as accurate as Gmail. I try and train it but don’t have time to always be doing that.

The mobile app on ios doesn’t remember me. It doesn’t even have an option to remember me. What a pain, I hardly even bother to use it because of that.

That all said. I like some things about fastmail:

The web interface is fast.

The admin features are robust and easy for adding aliases and new custom domains.

The fact you are pushing to make the world a better place for email is why I keep paying for the service.

What you are doing is hard. Your competitors are massive and well established. I hope you continue to make progress.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#508

Post by balladeer »

icebraining wrote: post #412
Sylos wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With your own domain, you can shorten the part before the '@'. You could call it "forename@lastname.com" instead of "forename.lastname@gmail.com".

Only if nobody got lastname.com first. My last name is squatted, and the leech will sell it for "only $2995". I later discovered I could get the "lastna.me", but that's prone to be mistyped as well.

My "firstname.com" and "first.in" (shorter version of my first-name and that is name I am actually known by pretty much everywhere) are both squatted by a lawyer and it is being renewed every year since last 10+ years. It's not being used. Not at all.

I tried to contact them but the contact email (Hotmail) probably doesn't exist or expired as my emails bounced off. I tried to contact the registrar but didn't receive any email from them either.

I am thinking of going for firstname.net. I am not sure whether it's better than my already registered "first.im".

Note: first as in if "firstname " is Michelangelo then " first" is Michel.

Re: Alternatives to Google Products

#509

Post by scarface74 »

blind_boy_grunt wrote: post #489
scarface74 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no more trust in the American government to not spy on its citizens than the Chinese government. If iCloud data is encrypted and only the user has the private key. It's just as secure as being on American servers.

> I have no more trust in the American government to not spy on its citizens than the Chinese government. This is more than a little hyperbolic. In the US you need a warrant.

Also, in the U.S., police don’t shoot unarmed suspects, get caught planting evidence on camera and the judicial system prosecuted and convicts fairly regardless of race and class and always follow the rules.....
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