[morganvachon]

> I find the fact that they are chrome apps...very annoying

That's my biggest issue with Signal as well. I very recently (as in, over the past two days) completely dropped Google from my life[1]. I switched from Gmail to FastMail for email, calendar, and contacts, and FastMail also offers 10GB of file storage at their middle tier, which is about five times as much space as I was using in Google Drive. I switched from Chrome/Chromium to Firefox, and I'm currently trying to decide which photo backup service to use to replace Google Photos. I'll probably run CollaboraOnline via a local Nextcloud server for a good Google Docs replacement. I'm using StartPage for search, as I find its results to be more relevant than DDG.

All of that said to say this: It's absolutely refreshing to break out of the Google tar pit, and I'm very interested in a secure messaging app that doesn't depend on them at all. Being free from 24/7/365 tracking, no matter if it's "just for advertising purposes", is a breath of fresh air, as is knowing that all my eggs are spread out among several baskets now.

[1] I do still have an Android phone (Nexus 6) but I switched from the official Google ROM to the latest stable Cyanogenmod, and opted to not install the Google apps bundle. My battery life has gone from about 30 hours between charges to nearly 70 hours (as predicted by the battery meter; I haven't had to charge it since I installed CM on Monday night and I'm at 81% as of Wednesday morning). I've been using F-Droid for some great replacements for many of my everyday apps, and the Amazon App Store for a few necessities like Paypal and Fing. As on the desktop, I'm using Firefox on the phone mostly for the syncing capability, though I will say the built-in browser on CM is fantastic. Of course, I'm actively seeking a non-Android, non-Apple alternative for a mobile phone, and right now the DragonBox Pyra is a front-runner, with the Neo900 a close second.

[wtbob]

> As on the desktop, I'm using Firefox on the phone mostly for the syncing capability

Be aware that if your Mozilla account password is not a fully-secure, unmemorable, random string then it is possible to break into Sync: unlike previously, the only thing securing your Sync data is your password.

Also be aware that at any time Mozilla can push a piece of targeted JavaScript to you alone, which would reveal your password to them.

The first issue is solvable by using an appropriately-secure password, e.g. apQzICxawJKkU0t7SNqnPd; the second issue is unsolvable unless you fully trust Mozilla the organisation, all its employees and every government which is able to compel its actions.

[morganvachon]

Good to know, thanks. I do use a fairly secure password scheme; basically I memorize several smaller passwords made of random letters, numbers, and symbols, and I concatenate them in ways that make sense to me but (hopefully) are gibberish to anyone else. I try to use the maximum allowable string for each service, or as close as I can get with my system.

[notheguyouthink]

> as is knowing that all my eggs are spread out among several baskets now.

This is what i want (and what i'm actively working towards)! The "banned from Google" talk has really harmed them in my eyes.. at least for people like me. I hadn't really questioned Google in the past, but now i'm looking to spread out my eggs as much as possible. Very important to me.

[jhauris]

You can always host your own sync stack.

[pokemongoaway]

Any info on how to do this with the various Google services? -- Android Photo backup -- All Google Apps -- Everything that Chrome Syncs -- Android backup/recovery

[tambourine_man]

What about maps and transportation?

That battery life sure is impressive

[mabramo]

I can't speak for the above poster, but I will say that some GPS apps, such as OsMand, are quite good. The catch is that you have to download the map for your region to local storage and you totally lose search queries like "Find the nearest Wafflehouse". In addition, OsMand specifically has a bit of a learning curve to it where GMaps, among others, are search and go.

[dublinben]

While it doesn't have natural language searching yet, OsmAnd actually has very powerful POI searching. You can search for POIs by name or category, and have them displayed as either a list or points on the map.

[morganvachon]

I knew I forgot to mention some things. So far MAPS.ME has been an acceptable replacement for navigation, and its performance has been surprisingly good. I still don't like being tied to a closed source mapping app though, so I'm going to give OSMAnd a spin as well.

The battery life surprised the hell out of me, especially since I spent a couple of hours getting the launcher set up the way I like it. It's telling how much battery and data are used when your phone is constantly in contact with the mothership versus a device that only connects to a service when you strictly allow it.