this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
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DeGoogle Yourself

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Can we Degoogle ourselves using an iphone rather than droid? Android is my big hangup right now. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 3 days ago by ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
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Does Iphone have something like fdroid that allows installation of cool apps like ones for jellyfin, etc?

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[–] LWD@lemm.ee 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If you're expecting anything remotely like an Android experience on Apple's devices, you're going to have a horrible time. Anything even vaguely resembling your own file system, or non-Apple browsing engine, or alternative app store is basically nonexistent. And the way Apple squeezes indie developers means you've got less choice between decent apps even if you look on their store.

Among other missing apps, you get no Syncthing, no Firefox, no Tor Browser, nothing remotely like F-Droid or Obtainium...

... And as far as I can tell, there's no such thing as an alternative to the Apple App Store (which mandates an identity and a signin), which isn't also run by Apple...

[–] Jentu@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Firefox and Tor browser exist (on the App Store) though they might both run on the safari “engine”, I’m not too sure. AltStore is technically an App Store alternative, though it is extremely limited and kind of a pain. File management is available with the default Files app.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Firefox exists in name as a thin wrapper over the Apple iOS WebKit engine. I personally don't think that counts, although it's arguable I guess.

There is no Tor Browser for iOS. There is an alternative, but it is notably hacky and flawed, due to iOS itself. The app also originally cost money in an attempt to recoup Apple's developer licensing costs, before becoming free in 2017.

(IMO, this paints a picture of antagonism between Apple vs its users having nice things in general.)

AltStore (classic) is something I've tried, but it's incredibly janky and painfully limited and, last I checked, kinda costs money every month. ?AltStore PAL operates only in Europe and at the express allowance of Apple itself.)

Again the antagonism of Apple against the iOS user rears its ugly head:

Apps installed with AltStore expire after 7 days, at which point they can no longer be opened...

Due to restrictions by Apple, you can only have 3 sideloaded apps installed on a device at a time.

And the file system with Apple iOS is not something I have a lot of experience with, but my expectations are below sea level...

[–] Jentu@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’ve never actually gotten the App Store “Tor browser” working tbh. I also don’t bother with Firefox because it doesn’t feel meaningfully different. I get by with privacy, malware, and advertisement blocking from my router while using SearXNG. It’s definitely not the best for privacy, but honestly, just getting rid of google maps from my life has been such a pain in the ass it’s hard to delve further.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

OpenStreetMaps has had decent Android clients, I can't speak to the state of iOS ones though. If you can pinpoint your destination before departing to it, that'd probably serve you best...

But Google Maps has been hard for me to abandon too

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

I just use mapquest. It's not the best, but it's a step in the right direction, I guess.

[–] lwuy9v5@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

you can use android without being logged in to google. Especially using the Aurora app store

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

Wait what? Really?

[–] NotProLemmy@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)

No.

But you may consider rooting/installing a custom ROM.

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm in the US so I can't. Unless I get a Pixel, made by stupid google.

[–] NotProLemmy@lemmy.ml 1 points 17 hours ago

Buy an unlocked phone. Why are you even locling yourself to a carrier anyways?

Or just buy a pixel, they're actually one of the most root-friendly phones.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Doesn't rooting disable a bunch of apps?

[–] muhyb@programming.dev 4 points 2 days ago

Yes, and now with this Play Integrity thing is activated, it will comprise probably all of the apps from Google Play in time. Not for rooting but for ROMs, this is probably bypassable with more targeted ROMs, like GrapheneOS but I reckon that will cause a decrease in the ROM count.

[–] Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

rooting breaks saftey net checks. some services claw back a handful of apps that checks for it but not all.

most usually involve banking, one funny one notorious for breakinf under root is mcdonalds app. nintendo games usually break under it, but can often easily be bypassed.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Just don’t install any Alphabet apps, like YouTube, Google Maps, and Gmail.

[–] NotProLemmy@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Unrelated, but why is your username red?

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

[–] NotProLemmy@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

understandable, have a good day

[–] burgerchurgarr@lemmus.org 5 points 2 days ago

You can’t really sideload at least not in a way that it makes your phone safe like it’s possible with GrapheneOS.

Imo iPhones are an alright lazy choice. It’s a little bit more private than vanilla android and you get E2EE, PGP encryption support and some extras like their VPN like thingy that masks your traffic. Also apps are sandboxed so they can’t track you as easily. It’s not like this will stop anyone who’s really after you but even regular law enforcement will have a hard time getting your data unless you unlock your phone for them, I know this from experience.

That being said, you will still need to trust Apple to stay the way they are currently, plus they’re not gonna go out of their way to protect you, they’ll obey the law because they’re corpos.

For really sensitive stuff I’d still keep something like a pixel with GrapheneOS without play services and without ever logging into any personal accounts. Might make sense to physically remove the camera and microphone too if you’re really worried.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In Europe, Apple has been forced to allow sideloading. So you could have an iPhone without any Google apps on it, and sideload stuff like that. In the US, not so much.

As an aside, I use an iPhone without any Google apps, which is technically “degoogled”. Doesn’t stop people in this community from claiming I fail their purity tests though.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago

Has anyone ever managed to sideload a browser that isn't just Apple Safari with another skin?

[–] Vinstaal0@feddit.nl 1 points 2 days ago

Apple comes without Google apps and they aren't mandatory to install