Written January 14, 2020Occurred Fall - Winter 2016Arthur OsipyanQuitting G***** is no easy task. It took me three years of slow and steady weaning to finally do it. As you may or may not know, G***** does profit on your information. It's why they offer the service for free, because introducing a paid model would undercut the profits generated from ads as partners would likely seek a price match. While G***** only makes $3 per user, per year(calculating using their net income, under the presumption that they benefit only from those running Android, assuming that's 2 billion users), the sheer volume of users, data and acquisitions being passed through them makes them a concern with regards to diversity of thought and technology. I'm certain none of that is ever shared with you. So even if you love G*****, you don't love being robbed (right?). The first and most important step to getting rid of G***** for me was uninstalling the framework on my phone. Before you do this, you must make sure of the following:
Avoid SSO logins on third party login pages (Sign in With Google). If you ever decide to wean off G*****, depending on this can create huge problems. Use email sign up instead.
Be prepared to lose some connectivity. G*****'s framework forms so much of the Android experience (at least 30% of it), when you remove it, things WILL break, like in app purchases, push notifications, and any application that relies on G***** APIs or Firebase code.
Disconnect third party integrations you don't need. If you want to continue using your G***** Account without Play Services, you must maintain integrations with Outlook. Sign in to Exchange and use the server m.hotmail.com.
Understand that there are different search and maps providers and get acclimated with them. Change defaults from G***** to an alternative provider. Both free and paid alternatives do exist.
Find out which apps work without Play Services. I have compiled this list to make it easier.
I decided to follow most of the advice placed above, but if you know a paid provider who might fill the void, give them a try. Look at their feature set and see which one best suits your needs. My needs are not your needs. If you like G*****, you can keep G*****. Understand that your data does not belong to you the moment you upload it (see G***** Privacy Policy, Heading 4), and that it can and will be shared with anybody for any reason without subsequent consent, even in Europe, where G***** is ignoring GDPR in earnest.