May 13, 2021
Privacy Focused Android Apps Alternatives
Hello friends, today I’m here to discuss some of the apps we can use which offer better security and privacy for their users. These are some of the apps I found useful and you are free to disagree with my choices.
First things first, always try to use open-source software. Now, what is this open-source? It means that whatever functionality the app is performing, the code running behind it is available to its users to see. This brings a sense of trust and transparency to the users in the market. Also note that the least permissions app requests, the better it is.
Now let’s start with the alternatives:
- Search Engine: We all run to google for any query we have. But it has been recognized by security experts that google gives results according the profile it has developed of yours. This profile is developed using your past searches and queries. Google also does a lot of unnecessary tracking which is undesirable. Better Alternatives to this could be: Duck Duck Go, Qwant .
- Notes App: Using encrypted app is always a top priority one should have while making digital notes. Encryption is the process of transforming readable text or data, called plaintext, into unreadable code called ciphertext. After the data is transformed, it is said to be encrypted. The reverse transformation process from ciphertext to plaintext is called decryption.People can use encryption to prevent third parties from eavesdropping on or tampering with their communications. One such good app is: Standard Notes.
- Messenger: While Whatsapp is the most popular app for this purpose, Signal has boomed quite a lot after Whatsapp updated it’s privacy policy. Facebook being the parent company, this was quite expected from it as well. Signal being a non-profit organization, it is a good choice for messaging app. Signal can also be used as the SMS app for you device.
- Play-Store : One word answer for this: F-Droid. F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.
- YouTube: Ads popping up on YouTube is a nightmare for all. Ad-free alternatives to the same app are YoutubeVanced, Newpipe. Newpipe has one more extra feature that it lets you download videos as well. Vanced also offers YT Premium plans, just in case if you wish to use!
- Tasks: An open source alternative app on android for managing all tasks and reminders is tasks.org. It offers easy customizable UI on the frontend. Adding reminders and events is also very easy.
- Storage: Upload of files and documents on Google Drive is common. Backblaze offers storage as a service. They offer initial 10 GB free and then they charge as per the requirement of user. They also promise to keep a extra level of hardware security on their servers along with standard encryption protocols on the data they serve.
- Email: Encrypted email providers- ProtonMail, Tutanota .
Why these providers than Gmail? This is what Protonmail claims-
•No advertisers.
•No governments.
•No third parties.
Swiss Security: In addition to automatic end-to-end encryption, we provide maximum physical security for your data. ProtonMail is hosted in a former military command center deep inside the Swiss alps.
- Web browsers: Firefox is the best choice for web browsers. There are a lot of add-ons Firefox supports that let you customize your web experience(Read this). If you want an in-built browser that has ad-blocking by default, some good options are Tor and Brave browsers.
- Keyboard: The virtual keyboard on your smartphone collects everything you type. Do you trust it? Are on-screen keyboard apps safe? Is there a private android keyboard? Try to use Incognito mode of keyboard, this restricts the app from learning and recording as you type. One such open source keyboard: Simple Keyboard.
This keyboard is created for those who only need a keyboard and nothing more.
Done, these were just some of the alternatives I found helpful. For more such alternatives I would recommend to visit links like: https://www.privacytools.io/ , https://restoreprivacy.com/.
Thank you for your valuable time. If you enjoyed reading, do clap and share with others as well.
Cool, we’ll meet next soon. Happy Life!
