I am continuing my journey AWAY from Meta and Google.

My Facebook account is deleted and I have no other Meta apps that I use. I’m using Bluesky and Mastodon now.

I’ve been using Gmail since 2004, the year it came out. Over 20 years! Wow! But now I’m on GMX which is secure, free, has more storage space for emails than Google, and even has an Online Office that can handle files from Microsoft and Open Office.

To replace Google Drive, I’m using Mega, which has 20GB of storage for free. And it’s very secure.

My new browser and search engine of choice is Brave, one of the most private and independent search engines, and which is completely open source. The browsers blocks ads and trackers.

The two hardest to give up are YouTube and Google Maps. I’ve found that HERE WeGo is a good alternative to Google Maps, and they have both a web and mobile version. I’ve had a premium account on YouTube for a while because it eliminates the ads, both on videos and music. I’m going back to Spotify for my music, which handles playlists and normal customization MUCH better. But I’ve gotten really used to YouTube for pulling up movie trailers and other videos for sharing on social media, and for following some of the influencers I follow. I’m finding that Dailymotion is a good option that has nice variety, including news, entertainment, and user content, and it’s searchable, but it doesn’t have the same content as YouTube. I’ll have to find other options, depending on the kind of video I want.

For more history, rationale, and alternatives: