Still move outside from Google services

Hello here,

it has been a while I don't came here. The last time I ask about to move out from Gmail, I choose Proton Mail + SimpleLogin with a custom domain and I start to change all my accounts to use my new mail (or an alias). I migrate my personal website from GitHub Pages to smol.pub (I have a last little adjustment to do, and it will be OK), and I start to block Twitter on my android Firefox to take less time on my phone to do "nothing".

Now, I have to think about migrate :

my calendar from Google Calendar, I can use Proton Calendar or try another solution, I don't know for the moment.

my contacts, I am not a fan of use Proton Mail to manage my contacts. I prefer a solution that still use the sync ability on Android.

my files and my photos. I could use Proton Drive, but I prefer had a bigger space and cloud tools to edit document (like Google Docs). For the moment, I don't save photos outside my phone, I know it is bad. For a moment, I used Syncthing to sync files between my phone and my PC, but I don't know, maybe I need a simpler solution.

inquiry

I've loved "hushmail.com" for many years, primarily for it providing email aliases such that I could, say, register <my-initials>-bank@hushmail.com with the bank, <my-initials>-whatever@hushmail.com with whatever trial login, and so on. Huge benefit to stop getting email from bullshit one signs up for along the way for whatever reason - just delete the alias, and no more email from that place, yet all the other aliases continue to feed into the one inbox.

tskaalgard

Nextcloud is a good solution to all of these problems.

ahirusan

Yep, probably. I have to found a good Nextcloud hosting that does not cost too much.

bitdweller

I've been slowly moving away from Google as well, for the past 3 or 4 years. The only things Google stuffs that I use are Maps (no other gets to even 30% of what Google Maps are. Well, maybe Apple Maps, but I don't have iOS) and the occasional Google Search.

I moved email, contacts and calendar to Mailbox.org, the service that checked most boxes at the time. It was 1 Euro per month (it is still like that for older accounts, but the cheapest plan now is 3, which is not much), is compatible with IMAP, SMTP, CardDAV and CalDAV, which I need. It has a bunch of other stuff like a Drive and Office suite, notes, tasks and some other but I don't use them.

I'm using a shared payed account on Microsoft OneDrive for files, but I'm currently using 2 Raspberry Pis with Syncthing for photo sync and a bunch of folders. I still have to see how resilient my set up is before discarding OneDrive. I need a way to easily access files from my phone (which Syncthing doesn't do unless you *sync*) and a place that I can see photos in a decent manner, a la Google Photos. But this last I will get in time, because there are alternatives.

I also host my own music with Navidrome, a subsonic compatible modern music server, which has proven flawless for the last year or more.

I'm glad I make these choices, that I can do it. I think I discovered my hobby and it's even a useful one :)

ahirusan

Yep, I think it will be complicated to moving away from Google Maps (well, I try to use OpenStreetMap for some use cases and I use CityMapper for transport, but Google Maps still better in some cases).

I tried Mailbox.org, but I don't know, I think it is too root for me.

I don't need my own server music, I am more a podcast guy. 😁

bitdweller

I tries OpenStreetMap and Maps.me (forked to Organic Maps since being bought) but nothing comes close, sadly.

And of course, to each its own! I bet there's open source software for podcasts too, ahah!

What do you mean by Mailbox being "too root"?

ahirusan

Maybe "too root" is not the right words, maybe I should said too old school, I don't know. Anyway, I give a test to Mailbox.org, I'm not a big fan, so I prefer Proton Mail for mail.

bitdweller

Of course, I was just curious :)

eaplmx

I've been using Gmail for my personal email for the last, perhaps, 12 years. And it's always hard to break that dependency and integration.

I love Google Calendar, since some alternatives are not that integrated with the systems I use (Android, iOS, Windows 10, MacOS, Xubuntu). Zoho Calendar (what we use at work) is not that great.

For alias I'm using altmail, it's not that bad although is noisy. I'll try Simplelogin, thanks for sharing it.

~~~

I realized I wasn't using my personal email that much. I think I can slowly move away from Gmail.

The sad part for me is that Proton Mail only allows a single Free account logged in at the same time in the mobile App. I currently have a few mailadresses for different projects, maybe I could setup some forwards to receive everything in a single mailbox, let's see!

ahirusan

If you have your own domain, maybe you can attached it on your Altmail (or SimpleLogin) account and create alias for your projects that you send on your mail mailbox (and add filters to attach mail on labels).

It is mostly how I use SimpleLogin (except I have aliases for each website I have an account but same logic).

For me, I don't need over integration for my calendar, only sync between desktop/web and phone and I need notifications. So, Proton Calendar can be a solution for me, but I have to test it.

eaplmx

Thank you =)

tatterdemalion

Does Proton Mail provide CardDAV for contacts? If so, there's an adapter program (DAVx5) that lets you sync to Android. It also syncs calendars with CalDAV.

I use Nextcloud for all the things you're migrating, but I haven't looked at the pricing and policy of any of the cloud hosts for it.

ahirusan

For CardDAV from Proton Mail, I don't thing so, since Proton Mail mostly don't use standard protocols for security/privacy issues.

For Nextcloud (or Owncloud), it can be a solution, I have to see if I can find a Nextcloud/Owncloud hosting that does not cost too much and can fill my needs.