Are there anymore cellular phones that aren't infested with Google products? (T-Mobile, 3G)
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I would like to buy a new phone, but I don't want Google to have anything to do with it, and for several reasons. Are there any phones left without this spyware crap ?
iPhones won't have Google spying on you... just Apple. Your best bet is an older flip phone... but might be hard to find one a carrier will activate. Second best bet is a newer flip phone.
iPhones won't have Google spying on you... just Apple. Your best bet is an older flip phone... but might be hard to find one a carrier will activate. Second best bet is a newer flip phone.
AT&T and Verizon will only activate phones that are certified to work on their network, which excludes a lot of older devices (AT&T is shutting down 3G UMTS/HSPA in 2022, and Verizon no longer activates CDMA-only devices). T-Mobile, on the other hand, will not activate devices that they cannot provision VoLTE on their network.
Sonim XP5700. Its a "feature phone". Does 4G LTE Works on a limited older version Android. But NO GOOGLE ACCOUNT REQUIRED. It never asks you to set one up. You can sideload a few smaller older apps using computer if you want, but its really a feature phone, not a smart phone. No touch screen though apparently you can blue tooth connect a blue tooth mouse and use that to navigate.
Its got good speaker phone option. T9 keypad so not super great for texts. I tether my computer to it via usb, no problem.
Just depends what you need. But if you want a smart smart phone where you can use the latest apps, its Android or Apple. There are couple cheap feature phones using KaiOS , not a high end phone, but sure they will improve over time. Sorry the other alternative systems like BlackberryOS are gone.
Oh yea the xp5 is large candybar style phone. Sonim made the XP3 that is maybe best flip phone you will find. More rare so more expensive, basically flip phone version of the XP5. I think the Sonims beyond xp5 were Android smart phones and need google account.
Well actually should be way to de-Google an Android smart phone and activate it without a Google account, but from what I found looking up about it, yes on some Android phones you can, but its not easy or straight forward. On purpose. And you start asking about doing this, the Android fan-boys get upset, claiming Google account is what makes an Android great.
Oh one other option, but its not ready for prime time yet. Pine phone, uses linux. Yes you can buy one and it will make phone calls once you put your SIM in it. But its still alfa-beta stage and so functionality beyond making calls maybe iffy. If I really wanted a smart phone, think I might wait for it to become more functional. I like idea of a phone minus any "big brother" and without mandatory spy apps.
iPhones won't have Google spying on you... just Apple. Your best bet is an older flip phone... but might be hard to find one a carrier will activate. Second best bet is a newer flip phone.
Had Xiaomi Mi phone for a while, and there wasn't any Google products.
No Google Apps On Xiaomi Phones
Xiaomi has developed its own app alternatives for many of the Google Apps and has its own App Store known as the MI App Store.
I was very happy with that. Still use the phone as my secondary backup. Very fast. Great battery life. And the camera is outstanding too.
Well actually should be way to de-Google an Android smart phone and activate it without a Google account, but from what I found looking up about it, yes on some Android phones you can, but its not easy or straight forward. On purpose. And you start asking about doing this, the Android fan-boys get upset, claiming Google account is what makes an Android great.
That's not true at all. Most Google fanboys are not THAT rabid that they can't understand why someone would want to do this. In fact, the Google fanbois are probably the best ones to ask how to do this.
Spoiler: it's super easy.
Buy an Android phone. During setup it will ask you to sign into or create a Google account. Skip that.
That's... it. You have literally just opted out. Disable a few GOogle products, Chrome, Gmail, and find alternatives, install a FREE AND OPEN SOURCE App Store, something Apple would never let you do. https://f-droid.org/en/
and you're off to the races.
I would like to buy a new phone, but I don't want Google to have anything to do with it, and for several reasons. Are there any phones left without this spyware crap ?
The obvious answer is Apple but you already responded to that. I am an Anti-Apple person so I won't touch it either. I have no problem with their devices, it's the company I boycott and always have since they came on the scene in the early 80's.
Any android phone really, just don't log it in to any google account. Your photos or contacts etc will not get backed up that way, you will have to do it yourself. Another problem is, you cannot install any apps from the play store. Google owns that. You can sideload apps if you want but they are not vetted as they are with the play store. You could also do what Peregrine suggested and install an open source app store. I would be more careful with that though. You never know what you are getting or who you are dealing with.
Depending on the phone, "google products" as you put it, may be built into the phone. I have no idea what you have or are looking at. Usually, it's a provider that will place their own apps on it, i.e. AT&T as an example. Those are not google products and all you can do is disable, not uninstall. The solution to that is get a totally unlocked phone which is not branded.
Buy an Android phone. During setup it will ask you to sign into or create a Google account. Skip that.
and you're off to the races.
That may been true at one time. Anymore many will not let you just "skip" setting up or logging into a Google account. There are some workarounds for some phones, look on Youtube, but not for feint of heart. Also unfortunately some of newer Android phones will not let you sideload an app. "For your security.." of course. In other words they want more control.
Also some phones you can root them and delete the built in apps. Oh yes you can buy a factory unlocked phone which also lets you delete any app, and you wont regret buying such, but they are far rarer on used market and usually lot more expensive on new retail market.
Oh and on used phones, just cause its GSM unlocked, doesnt mean all options are unlocked. My Sonim XP5 was a former ATT phone. Yes you can make phone calls and texts on it on any GSM network you have SIM for, but the hotspot and usb tethering functions are still locked to ATT, try to use them and you get popup to call ATT even though not using ATT. I had to sideload an open source app called AziLink to do an end run to tether my computer. Its open source and free, originally meant for the very early Android phones that didnt come with native tethering app, though there are some easier to set up tethering apps that do same thing, most $5 to $10. I am so used to AziLink at this point, no point in paying somebody. It is old and has couple quirks but I am very familiar with them. You need openvpn and Android adb on your computer, its available for windows, linux, and mac.
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