Freedom Upgrade

I’ve been feeling a building impulse to stop using Gmail for my personal email and calendar, and somehow today became the day that I moved over.

I’ll be forwarding my Gmail, but will be using Proton Mail for my personal email and calendar for the foreseeable future. As all moves away from Google go, it comes with a downgrade in user interface and an upgrade in privacy and freedom. (If that sounds extreme, it’s because it is.

The most satisfying part was removing my personal Gmail account from my Android phone.

Next impulse: GrapheneOS. That would require a hardware change, and possibly two phones (work + personal). That seems extreme to me.

Other recent degoogling: I’m now using Invidious when I really must watch YouTube videos, and I’m watching way fewer YT videos in general after canceling YouTube Premium. Likewise, I’m no longer using YouTube Music. I’ve been almost exclusively listening to music on my Plex server for quite awhile, but streaming services are nice for vetting new things. I’m now using Tidal, which integrates nicely with Plex. Bonus!

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