In case you need some motivation to de-google
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Google totally sucks!
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I’m guessing that they made it location dependent like they did with the Gulf of Mexico. In Canada it’s still showing Lake Ontario.
I checked with a US VPN and it was still showing as Lake Ontario but I was logged into my European account. So it might be either some caching thing or tied to the account location.
I think it has to do with account location. I moved to Sweden a year ago but my account is still more or less associated with the US. It shows as lake america for me
Yup blog.google/…/gnis-lake-ontario-lake-america-name…
Openstreetmap, US VPN
I really need to go back to using osm…
CoMaps is a good alt
Next phone I get needs to be non-Android
You don’t need to get a non-Android phone in order to get a non-Google phone.
Android is open source, and if you are willing to forgo the Google Play Store and Google Play Services there are non-Google options. GrapheneOS and /e/OS are de-Googled versions of Android, for example.
Fairphone comes with an option with /e/OS installed by default, if you don’t want to bother installing it yourself.
Android may be technically ‘open source’ but it is not a collaborative project. It is completely controlled by Google, who are reducing the frequency of their source code releases and gradually making it more difficult for third-party Android forks to survive by convincing app vendors to make their apps refuse work on non-‘certified’ Google Android installations.
Alternative phone operating systems are the way to go if you really want to de-Google. Lots of them can run Android apps as well as the Android forks for now, and their own app libraries are growing rapidly as developers get tired of Google’s shenanigans.
I need to look into this. Fairphone seems a good option.
If you specifically want /e/OS, you need to watch out where you buy the Fairphone.
There is two versions, with the regular Android (with Google services) version being the more common one.
fairphone.com/…/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-s…
If you buy this one from their website you are guaranteed to get the /e/OS version
Edit: Also worth noting that you could also unlock the bootloader, and install /e/OS on the regular Android version as well. You might be able to save € 150-200 that way.
To my knowledge you can relock the bootloader after you are done? You’d have to look into that yourself though.
You’re only saving €50 and you lose your warranty…
Not sure if you can buy unlocked phones from 3rd parties where you live, but over here in the NL I can get a green one for €511,-
galaxus.nl/…/fairphone-gen-6-256-gb-bosgroen-631-…
(They used to be under €500 for all models, but the RAM shortage makes a fool of us all)
Buying the /e/OS version from Fairphone directly is €649. So the difference is still €138, which I wouldn’t say is insignificant.
I’m on the Fairphone 6 and love it. You lose RCS chat though. Just a heads up.
Do you know if Fairphone supports passkeys? I’m using KeePassDX but couldn’t find it in their compatibility list :/
Then you lock yourself into the apple ecosystem.
Get a supported device for graphene and you’re good.
GrapheneOS is Android
De-googled android
No really? Crazyyyyyyyyyy.
For real tho, it is, but it doesn’t include any google services, which is why any apps requiring them won’t work on graphene unless you make use of their compatibility layer, which is still significantly less of a privacy problem than the original one.
Unless linux phones become useable, android without google services is the most privacy respecting option you have available.
Your original comment was such a non-sequitor that I thought it necessary to clarify. Because an exchange that is roughly summarised as
“I don’t want Android [or Google]”
“OK, use Android [on a Google phone]”
Does not really make much sense without additional context. Thanks for adding that context.
Be warned that Pixel 11 (and probably ones following) will not be supported for GrapheneOS. Memory tagging was removed in the hardware and that is a requirement for them to consider the device secure enough to be willing to support it.
postmarketOS is not exactly ready for daily driving IMO (without a backup phone anyway)
I checked. This is real.
Apple Maps holding for now
It’s still showing as Lake Ontario on Google Maps in the Netherlands
The Gulf of Mexico is also still called the Gulf of Mexico, but they put Gulf of America in parenthesis
By all means de-Google though. Cut all the American tech companies out of your life as much as feasibly possible.
Here they’ve decided to pick both sides, which doesn’t make me think any better of Google but still is a bit nice:
This is what I see as well (from Europe)
The funny thing is that Lake America doesn't even associate it to the US, it just makes the name more ambiguous. Of course, the Trump admin would never have suggested naming it Lake New York because the US government is even alienating their own states at this point.
Ah Shit, Here We Go Again
guys, this is distraction, stop taking the “flood the zone” bait
I get what youre saying, but damaging google in Europe is an unintended and deserved consequence of the shit show that is US politics.
But absolutely right: don’t forget the ongoing war in Iran, the unneeded trade war in Canada, the bullying of the EU and other allies over trade, the constant threats to NATO, American indifference to the Russian war on Ukraine, Trump generally being a putin arse kisser, the criminalisation of tourists to the US, Trumps enabling of Israeli atrocities in Gaza and of course the Epstein files. And much more.
We don’t have a vote in the US elections, but we can stop using Google, Facebook, Twitrer/X, and Microsoft products. And we can vote in our elections for people who codemn Trump. That is how we can have our say.
It is only in US, and all other parts of the world still see “Lake Ontario”. Also, they are following the law they have to follow. So… there are plenty reasons to de-google, but this ain’t one.
Huh, I must have missed the news that Google had become a federal government department.
So why did Google then show Lake Ontario before instead of for ex. Lake Google? Can’t they then just write like… whatever they want?
But yes, I was wrong. They simply have an internal policy to follow the federal data. So, in a way, they don’t need to be but they will follow what they decide.
An executive order is not a law. It cannot be. In fact, it only applies to the federal government’s executive branch.
There is nothing forcing Google to change the name. They use USGS names, but they could easily override that. They just chose not to.
What law is that?
No law, you’re right. But they have an internal policy to follow the federal agency official naming + they show data depending on the country so they can isolate the change to only US.
Mapquest isn’t changing it.
How much does the stock of MapQuest depend on good terms with the US government?