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There are certain messenger apps I would like to continue using
(midwest.social)
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this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
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Genuine question, why go to the trouble of switching to a privacy focused os then install Meta apps? Do you just not like Google?
even government agencies work through whatsapp in my country. there's no escape from them if you want to exist in society with the way things are right now.
I get that, but change will never come with compromise.
change will not be coming from social isolation either
No one is suggesting social isolation.
quitting some of these apps in some parts of the world will leave you incommunicable, which doesn't solve the problem.
Yeah you're right. Let's just keep using all these apps and building our technological lives on top of these awful corp's infrastructures and platforms. I mean we have to, right? We can't inconvenience ourselves in the short term to find alternative solutions, can we?
It's so frustrating watching the world fall apart when we've tried nothing and are all our of ideas.
complete isolation and complete submission aren't the only two options.
Oh right... The moderate approach. Yeah that works really well...
what works then?
Collective action, but that takes people and people, again, don't like giving up their conveniences.
i wouldn't be giving up any convenience at all if people i talk to were elsewhere.
some of them i can bring over, i'd still need whatsapp for everyone else.
That's convenience...
that's basic social interaction for being a functional member of society.
i can't get everyone i ever meet to switch to my app. i need to talk to new people, i need a job and i need to interact with the state.
Does being purposefully obstinate usually work for you, or are you unaware of your obstinace?
am i the one being obstinate here?
social isolation won't fix the problem. it's actually bound to make it worse.
@umbrella @bloogoose yes, you are the one being obstinate. I live in INE of those countries you mention where saying "Signal" and "Iron potatoes" sound the same to most of the population, and every business and public institution is basically unreachable unless you're using WhatsApp. I stopped using WhatsApp, those who respect my choice of privacy installed signal, the rest either call me or disappeared from my life. There is no excuse to keep using those platforms, it's that simple.
don't you work a job? you meet new people by asking them to install an app?
isolation won't fix the problem. it isn't fixing the problem, it's getting worse.
you are absolutely correct for being frustrated about it, but that alone won't change it.
Not OP but I think Facebook also trapped a lot of users with marketplace. I don't use it but my wife does. Where we live you ain't selling anything if it not on Marketplace. Unfortunately it's a useful service. I've got 3 kids so our house is a revolving door of Marketplace.
For one, I was getting really irritated about the apps my google device wouldnt let me delete, and also the apps I wanted to side load. That being said, I definitely don't like meta. I have an app on my PC called caprine. I wouldn't download first party meta apps, but these are the apps my friends use to talk, so if there is a workaround, I was just asking about that
FYI you can use a combination of Shizuku and Canta to get rid of pretty much any Google app on an Android phone. Useful tip I got here recently.
Pay it forward.
How do they work? Those tools actually delete system apps?
To be honest I'm not sure they work under the hood but they use debug mode and some other stuff to do what they do. Yes they can remove system apps, pretty much anything. They have a traffic light system to warn you about whether its safe to remove some things. Green is good, orange is a bit risky, red is riskier again. The risk usually relates to the impact on other apps or functions working.
Twas pretty easy to set up.
Edit: Screenshot addition. Not quite traffic light system but you get me. Unless they have illuminous pink traffic lights somewhere!
Fair enough. Good luck with the switch!