(2021-03-22) Increasing Privacy of my apps

Feeling a bit icked-out after (2021-03-20) Why You Suddenly Need To Stop Using Google Chrome - Surveillance Capitalism is out of hand....

Yesterday

• installed Firefox on my MacBookPro, Pixel 2 XL, and Galaxy Tab. Make it my default browser everywhere. Using the default medium-privacy setting for now.
  • keeping Chrome for work. 2 browsers will be an improvement to my recent adoption of MacSpaces/MissionControl
    • and using Safari only for facebook, and doing that rarely.
  • add BitWarden, InstaPaper to each
  • on the Mac, trying Tabby as replacement for Tabli. Now have to learn/remember <ctl><shift><space>.

Mar22

• realize I want links in work apps to launch Chrome, but links in personal apps to launch Firefox. Decide to install Browsersaurus.

Wondering whether to get my Nine app reading my Tuffmail account, and then maybe gmail?

• (haven't done anything about that)

Apr06

• notice Firefox is using 60% of my CPU even when hidden
  • turn off "twemex" and "link to TextFragment" extensions; only others I have are BitWarden, Instapaper, and Tabby.
  • that wasn't helping so I added OneTab and New Tab Suspender
  • but then I updated Firefox, and closed TweetDeck, so the experiment is dirty

Hmm trying to read recommendation posts is crazy-making, because you get lots of "even Mozilla is evil" without great alternatives.

• otoh I'm tempted to go bananas with Android Guardian Project and CopperheadOS. But I'll probably chicken out, until I'm ready to replace my phone (at which point i feel safer rolling the dice). I wonder how many people do this with their only phone?
  • ugh maybe not
  • maybe try CalyxOS? Alternatives.

Jun08 still doing the above

• DuckDuckGo is less enjoyable as replacement for Google for searching
• I still use google maps
• Firefox is a little clunkier than Chrome, but I'm ok with it
• I'm still sticking with Android... though it smells like the Pixel-2-XL is reaching end of useful life - no more security updates, battery-life seems to have dropped in the last couple weeks....

Jul01

• have reverted to Google as default search engine. Biggest DuckDuckGo gripes
  • poor feedback when your search includes quoted phrase
  • no book search results

Jul19

• Tuffmail says they're shutting down as of Jan01, I'll need a new email service provider
  • do I give up and move it to Google/gmail? That smells like going in the opposite direction of this page!
  • Dec'2021: Migrating IMAP Providers