I still use gmail and drive for work but otherwise I’m never logged into anything google at home. Today when I tried to expand on a restaurant’s hours it wouldn’t let me see them without logging in, although it still worked in incognito. This restaurant screenshot is just a random other example I tried, but for the one I was actually checking google had the correct hours while the official website hasn’t been updated in awhile and had the old ones (website said they’re still open for dinner but they’ve only been doing lunch for a year or so now)
Soon; “Or click here and we will stop bugging you for this and use you ip, mouse movement behaviors, scroll lag time and recent cookie history to identify you without having to even log in!”
It’s sad to see how time and time again companies build up a big user base by being the best service out there, and then just assume that they’ll be the market leaders forever and ever no matter how much they enshittify.
The amount of vendor lock-in with something like Google Maps is very close to zero.
I use google maps in the browser on my phone without an account logged in. Every single time I open it, it gives me a pop up message begging me to use their app with two buttons at the bottom that are blatantly dark patterned and misleading to get you to accidentally click on their app store link.
Everyone has their breaking points. The enshittification will continue until morale improves (by leaving Google).
The only Google properties I still use are YouTube and Scholar (occasionally).
Pirating youtube is pretty doable right now. There’s invidious which is just a mirror then there’s ytdlp for people who fuck with command lines. Or Stacher if you don’t
I have used ytdlp before but mostly to download music. It’s really powerful though I’m quite lazy about doing the research into all of its features.
Discoverability is still important to me. I should check out invidious, since I’ve never heard of it! Thanks!
I still use gmail and youtube. Trying to slowly get off gmail. It’s been difficult as I don’t have the time to sit down and look through what I need to transfer over. I’ve already got a NorthMail address, so at least that’s a step.
I use Proton and can highly recommend. Others will recommend you alternatives, but one extra reason for Proton is they target actively gmail users and built a tool to make the switch easier: https://proton.me/blog/proton-mail-connect-gmail
I have gmail forwarding my email to my new account outside of Google. I have a “Gmail” folder on my non-Google account where all these forwarded emails get dropped.
I have been updating my email address on these forwarded emails for over a year. I’ve had this gmail address since gmail started so it’s taking some time. It is a process but I am winning.
I also have everything forwarding to another account, with a rule to tag the ones sent to my gmail so that they’re highlighted. It’s a big task at first but just do a couple every now and then and eventually it’ll be done.
The only stumbling block I have found is that I have a couple accounts where my email address is my sign on and it cannot be changed. I would need to set up a new account with my new email address.
Other than that, it’s been like you said. A bit daunting at first but one day I’ll break that chain and never look back.
Also make sure to use Google Takeout to download all of your data! It’s much easier to grab your old emails this way, plus lots of other data you might not even know Google had on you.
Use guest mode over incognito.
I’m jumping ship for comaps, it’s FOSS, no data collection, uses Wikipedia for location descriptions, has an offline mode, and doesn’t do weird shit like divert you from a highway to drive on gravel roads to circumvent a perfectly fine 5 mile stretch of highway
It sounds dumb, but Google’s directions handle traffic very well for the most part. If there’s a lot of demand for a certain route, it will automatically send you through alternatives so as to not cause traffic jams. That perfectly fine 5 mile stretch of highway probably has a lot of people already being routed through it.
Sometimes it also just sends you to the wrong place or tries to tell you to make illegal maneuvers though.
No, the detour took me off of a quiet highway on a flat stretch of road. I took a return trip on the same highway less than an hour later, and there was no backup to speak of
Wondering if I should be on comaps or osmand
Gonna leave this here: https://www.comaps.app/
There’s also our very own community here on lemmy, !CoMaps@sopuli.xyz
I have seen some funky trips in comaps as well tbh. But I suspect any map tool is going to get that. At least it gets my commute to work right, which google doesn’t.
You should see what they did with reCaptcha. Today for the first time I got the popup telling me to scan a QR code with my phone in order to continue. Well, fuck that.
Make sure to tell the owner of the site why you don’t wasn’t to use it anymore.
Google did that to me yesterday when I tried to check reviews for a place. I did not check the Google reviews. Sucks my nuts google
For Google, the primary difference between a logged-in user and one who is not logged in is the absence of any contractual agreement that legally binds the anonymous user to terms assigned by Google.
I haven’t read a Google EULA in some time, but as I recall it was long and full of rights and waivers and privileges and protections you assign Google in regard to anything wherein you might possibly have legal standing. The log-in request is not universal, nor is it random, so it’s safe to assume as a hypothetical that for whatever reason, Google wants that in this specific scenario, in this specific geographical region.
On the other hand, if you’re not signed in – AND Google can’t link your anonymous use to an actual agreement you have with them elsewhere – Google just doesn’t have that same comfortably protected legal situation. (See Disney’s recent legal behavior for an example of why, if Google can still link your non-signed-in behavior to an existing EULA elsewhere in their walled garden, you may still be fucked.)
OP’s map seems to be located in the EU, which makes a legal difference as well. We already know that Google does whatever the fuck Google wants in the US, but in the EU laws tend to have more teeth as well as legislators very willing to go after violators.
All that said, I am not an attorney in Spain and I damn sure don’t work for Google, so don’t come at me lol.
OpenStreetMap ftw
Gmail and Drive for work?
Oh boy…
They offer very cheap services (guess why) for small and medium businesses. Wouldn’t recommend anyone to use Google, but I can get their low price is very attractive.
This trend is gaining traction. It stated with twitter, then other platforms followed, Reddit does it now too.
You can’t monetize unlogged in traffic I guess.
yeah it was awhile back where my tablet would lose the directions thing with google maps once I was off wifie that drove me to organic maps.
Oh the irony of installing that app through Google Play 🫠
This pisses me off as well, but it is essential to get it working in Android Auto. They purposefully block “maps”-type apps from showing no matter what I do via ADB (spoofing the “Installed from Google Play” requirement, for example). Best I can do is login to a throwaway account on Play, download OsmAnd (or similar), and disable networking (GrapheneOS) again for the “Play Services” app.
They will make everything mandatory log in for 100% named tracking soon, unless regulations call for otherwise.
These tech companies are the ones demanding ID laws to use the internet on computers. Microsoft OS already serves unique identifiers that can track down computers, and they want to close the loop.
They already have an overwhelming amount of information about us anyway, but the more perfect the dataset the more power, control and advertising revenue it affords.
These billionaire owned companies all want to enslave us all with absolute control. Call me paranoid or dismiss what I’m saying if you would like, but unless we can fix our politics in all of our respective areas to free them from the yoke of big money it will only get worse.
Oh it’s not just tech companies, it’s tech companies getting ahead of the government who is going to demand the same thing. Say something that the government doesn’t agree with, boom, you already have the information readily available.
We could fight against it and refuse to use these services, but that would change the things we are all addicted to.
