I feel it's my civil duty to remind everyone that you have options and you can take control over the apps and computer programs you use. Google, Apple and Microsoft are not your frens. I am, so take my advice and start switching your services to these better options... They're all free. Most of these recommendations are based on years of my personal experience using these tools.
Linux is not complicated like you imagine. You can test drive Mint and many other versions by putting it on a USB. It won't affect your computer permanently until you install it. Just try it. It's a lot faster and better than Windows in many ways.
https://linuxmint.com/I highly recommend a better operating system for Android phones. There are a few, but I can only speak on this one. My phone has been completely degoogled for 2 years and it's the best phone I've ever had. It can do everything and more any other phone can. Very easy to install. GrapheneOS is one of the most private and secure phones out there. The only downside is it only runs on Pixel devices currently. They just partnered with Motorola, so there should be more options soon.
https://grapheneos.org/This is where I get most of my apps. Lots of stuff you won't find in the Playstore. Most of the apps I recommend can be found here. They'll work on any Android phone.
https://f-droid.org/en/Here's a cool app that let's you anonymously download many Google Playstore apps without signing in. You should download it on F-Droid for automatic updates, but here's the info about it and you can download from here too.
https://github.com/whyorean/AuroraStoreI'm sure many of you use this one. It's a web browser that doesn't do all the spying other ones do. It also blocks all ads on YouTube and other sites by default. I haven't seen an ad on yt in about 7 years.
https://brave.com/Signal is a very secure messaging app that also let's you make voice and video calls. It's very easy for the phone company and uncle Sam to read your regular texts. Not with Signal though.
https://signal.org/I don't have much experience with this one, but it comes recommended by
@johng76 and if he says it's good, I trust that it is. It's a privacy respecting search tool that also incorporates some AI features and has an image search function similar to Google Lens.
https://luxxle.com/Proton offers a few services. The main one is email. They don't read all your messages like Google does and you can do encryption if you want. Another service I like is their free VPN. They also have cloud storage called Proton Drive, similar to Google Drive, but more private and secure, of course. I don't use anything else they offer, but you may be interested in seeing what else there is. Most of their services have a free version, but you can pay a little and upgrade.
https://proton.me/This is a free map app that works great. Kinda like Google maps without the Google bullshit. Download from F-Droid for automatic updates.
https://osmand.net/Libre Office is a full featured suite of tools that can do anything you're used to doing with Microsoft Office. It works with Microsoft's proprietary file formats too.
https://www.libreoffice.org/This is an excellent replacement for Photoshop. GIMP stands for "Gnu Image Manipulation Program".
https://www.gimp.org/Image Toolbox is a powerful photo editing app that does too many things to mention. Converts file types, extracts text from images, remove backgrounds. If it's image related, this can probably do it. Download from F-Droid for automatic updates.
https://github.com/T8RIN/ImageToolboxHere's one for drawing and working with vector graphics. Comparable to Corel Draw.
https://inkscape.org/Offline password manager. You should be using one. This one has versions for computer and phone that are cross compatible. It may be convenient to use a web based password manager, but it's not as secure as just keeping your own backups. Download the app version from F-Droid for automatic updates.
https://keepass.info/FMD is a find my device app that gives you total remote control over your phone if it's lost. It can text you it's location and take photos or even totally wipe your phone of all data should it get stolen. You should download from F-Droid for automatic updates, but here's their site.
https://fmd-foss.org/Tubular let's you watch YouTube without an account. Also brings back dislikes and let's you skip ads and download videos. You should download from F-Droid for automatic updates. Available here too.
https://github.com/polymorphicshade/TubularCake Wallet is an app (computer version too) for storing many types of crypto currency. Also let's you swap and sell. Not available on F-Droid, but you can get it here. My favorite wallet for Monero.
https://cakewallet.com/Monero is a very secure and private crypto currency. Untraceable if you know what you're doing.
https://www.getmonero.org/Trail Sense is an awesome survival multi-tool app that does a lot of different things using your phone's sensors and maps. Download from F-Droid for automatic updates.
https://github.com/kylecorry31/Trail-SenseWhoBird will identify practically any type of bird by listening using your phone's microphone. Download from F-Droid for automatic updates.
https://github.com/woheller69/whoBIRDThese are things for using AI offline, locally on your own computer. You don't need a super powerful computer to do some basic AI stuff. If you have one though, you can do a lot like generate pics and video. There are hundreds of updated LLMs you can download for free.
https://ollama.com/This is a GUI interface for running and tweaking the AI models from Ollama. You can make your own custom AI that mimicks your dead girlfriend and even make it talk with a voice.
https://openwebui.com/Here's an AI assistant called "Pearl" created by one of our own Minds frens,
@phillipplays . It includes a TTS (text to speech) program too. It's easy to install. Just go to the "releases" page link and select the version for your type of computer. It's compatible with all the LLMs you can download from Ollama, but comes with a good default one if you're not interested in customizing it. If you do give Pearl a whirl, I'm sure Phillip would appreciate any feedback you can give him.
https://github.com/pdschneider/PearlY'all feel free to suggest other apps and services I should add to this list. I will be posting it often until everyone gets the message and starts distancing themselves from our corporate overlords.
Let me know if you need any help getting any of these programs going. I'll be glad to offer advice or at least direct you towards a good video or tutorial.
Please share this and even copy and paste it on other sites.
Check back later because I may add stuff.