As someone just starting their journey into privacy-focused, open-source software, I’d love to hear what apps the community recommends.
I’m particularly interested in:
- What messaging apps you use instead of WhatsApp/Messenger
- Alternatives to Google services (email, calendar, cloud storage)
- Social media alternatives that respect privacy
- Browsers
- Password managers worth using
- Any other productivity apps you’d recommend me to use
I’m using Apple devices (I know, I know), so apps that work well in this ecosystem would be ideal. Which ones have you found perform exceptionally well?
What was your experience transitioning away from corporate services? Any pitfalls to avoid or strategies that made the switch easier?
WhatsApp is not the worst place to be. Signal would be better tho.
For cloud backups of photos instead of iCloud you could use Ente photos which is end to end encrypted and securely stores your photos on 3 different servers so that in the event one doesn’t work or malfunctions your photos are still safe
- Whatsapp has end-to-end encryption enabled by default on chats, along with disappearing messages. You’re good staying on it for now.
- Proton
- You’re on it right now
- Orion (by Kagi) is available on Apple devices - I am not on them so haven’t used it, but seems really cool
- Bitwarden, or I guess Apple’s native password manager if you’re already using iCloud
- Simple Notes
- Signal
- Proton
spoiler
lol
- Firefox
- Bitwarden
- Telegram, Signal, Matrix
- Proton apps, Tutanota apps
- Fediverse; I never use Bluesky and I’m addicted to YouTube.
- Mullvad, Brave, LibreWolf, Tor
- Any apps you find useful on F-Droid—it’s up to you.
The only app I’m struggling to keep off my phone is WhatsApp, but I’m still managing to stay away from it. The other apps I used to be addicted to, I have successfully quit. Don’t rely on perfectionism; in the modern world, it’s hard to live without one or two “necessary” apps. However, you can manage your app usage by isolating them in a different space or only installing them when you need them.
Signal for messaging
Proton ecosystem for Google stuff
I don’t really know of any social media alternatives.
Firefox, Hardened Safari, or Brave for Browsers (I prefer Brave especially on ios. The add blockers and protections work a lot better than a lot of options) I also mainly used hardened Safari for a while and it also worked really well.
1password works great for passwords, I’ve also heard great things about Proton Pass which is part of the Proton ecosystem. (I want to try Proton eventually when I can afford it)
Signal Proton? Mastdon, basically everything from the Fediverse Zen Browser (Firefox in general) Bitwarden I use apple too, Safari is also worth noting, but it’s not available under windows in a current version
