New Search Strategy for Firefox

Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by conradk on Wednesday November 19, 2014 @05:47PM (#8633201)

Same here. I used to have Google Mail, Google Contacts, YouTube, Google Search, Google News, etc.

I was feeling more and more dependent on one company's goodwill. A few months ago, I renewed my Fastmail [1] account for 3 more years, being very happy with the service. I use DuckDuckGo [2] as my main search engine and love it. I use Opera as my main browser. The only Google services I use regularly now are Android and YouTube. YouTube being totally optional and Android only being an interface to data located elsewhere, I feel free. Sure, Google has access to my data, but they can't lock me in.

[1] https://www.fastmail.com [2] https://duckduckgo.com

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by k-mcgrady on Thursday November 20, 2014 @05:32AM (#8635118)

How is Android without using Google services? Is there a significant impact on the experience?

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by toni on Thursday November 20, 2014 @05:58AM (#8635173)

A while back I flashed my Nexus 5 with a CyanogenMod 11 build. I didn't install the GApps package afterward.

One thing you will notice immediately is that the battery life lasts much much longer. With casual surfing, watching video clips, playing casual games and Wifi always on, the battery lasts for almost 24 hours. It looks as if this is what the original Nexus 5 should be. All those background Google services and "frameworks" constantly calling back home will drain the battery to the death pretty fast. That's also valid for some other apps. Not having Facebook app installed will increase the battery life too.

Sure you have no Google Play store installed but you can always use one of those (safe) apk downloaders like Raccoon[1] or such to login to Play store and download your previous apps. As for other Google services (Maps, YouTube, Translate, GMail, etc.), I can always visit their sites in incognito mode. You will actually realize you really don't need all those individual apps to use these services. They all work good enough in a browser window.

[1]http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2772436

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by rmxt on Monday November 24, 2014 @04:05PM (#8654743)

Also, another option is BlankStore [1]. it appears as if development has stopped and Raccoon may be a better option at this point, but it still works for me on 4.4.4 and gives me pretty consistent access straight from my phone, save for paid apps.

[1] http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1715375

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by ultramancool on Thursday November 20, 2014 @08:40AM (#8635613)

And you can still use 3rd party markets like F-Droid and Aptoide.

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by toni on Thursday November 20, 2014 @10:08AM (#8636038)

Excellent point, completely forgot the invaluable F-Droid.

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by pmontra on Thursday November 20, 2014 @10:13AM (#8636060)

The only Google services I use on my Android phone are Maps and the Play store. Occasionally Drive and Docs because of a customer that uses them. I search in the browser. No sync. It works perfectly fine. But that's how I use Google on my desktop too. If you are used to more integration you won't survive that :-)

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Re:New Search Strategy for Firefox by conradk on Thursday November 20, 2014 @01:05PM (#8637093)

The experience for me is the same because all products I use regularly have good mobile apps and/or mobile webapps.

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