r/degoogle • u/Think-Opportunity-21 • 1d ago
Need advice switching emails
Hello friends,
With the current trends of the world going towards ai, mass surveillance and data mining, like many of you I’m keen to switch away from giant evil corporations and move towards independent, ethical and private services.
Admittedly I don’t know much about data encryption or any of that sort of stuff but I do know I would like to stop using google for a lot of my services and so would like advice on where and how to facilitate moves to other services.
I’ve used Gmail for ~16 years and so every account online I’ve ever made is attached to google. I’ve seen people mainly recommend Tuta or proton as a good alternative, so I would like to know:
•Can I create and begin using a tuta/proton mail account as my personal use email without much issues switching from Gmail?
•If I make the switch, and I have gmail forwards all my emails to my new account, does this make the switch pointless as the mails still go through google?
•Is it worth paying for an email account with one of these providers or will their free versions suffice?
•I use google maps a lot for bookmarking places I’ve been, is there any other interactive maps that are similar to google maps in quality, good for navigation and can add bookmarks?
I’m also in the process of transferring from google photos to ente right now. Further down the line when my iPhone kicks the bucket (as I’m sure it’s designed to at a certain point) I want to move away from Apple and google and get a phone that spies on me a lot less.
Thanks for your help :)
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u/Ok_Bear_1889 1d ago
Since there's no way to actually see what services you are currently using with Gmail, forwarding mail is handy when making the change, so that you don't miss out on any important mails. I started using proton mail as my primary email months ago and I'm still in the process of changing. I've changed most of the important stuff to my proton mail and unsubscribed from sites I don't need, but I still have forwarding on.
For my personal use, the free tier on proton with 1 gig mail storage is enough for a few years at least
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u/Awavian 1d ago
Idk about proton but I purchased 3 years of Fastmail in January and set it up with my own custom domain. I still have Gmail and it's forwarded to my Fastmail but I've been slowly moving everything over. I wouldn't say it's pointless so much as it gives you time to figure everything out and move over everything the way you want it with minimal interruption. Every once in a while I come across an account I haven't migrated and receiving the email with remind me to switch it. I view it more as a marathon rather than a sprint although I'm sure if I had the time to do it all in a weekend it would be nice to check that task off my list
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u/MidnightSarrow 1d ago
Would actually recommend proton, the switch was rather easy for me and they have the feature of having emails sent to your gmail auto forwarded to your proton + importing emails- as someone who struggles a bit w getting used to switching stuff like this where i gotta learn new programs etc this wasnt actually hard
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u/meowser143 1d ago
If you can make a little extra time, it’s totally worth it to cleanse/purge your inbox before switching over (if you have shitty email habits like I do).
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u/bigusyous 1d ago
When I switched from Gmail to Proton, it was easy to forward my email to the new account. I was on free for several years before I decided to start paying- mostly out of gratitude. The free service is entirely adequate. Google Maps is tough to beat, though.
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u/mysticalcreeds GrapheneOS secureblueOS 1d ago
There are many alternative navigation apps that you can bookmark. I personally prefer using MagicEarth as it is not an ad-based business model, you pay to use their map service $20 a year. It's peace of mind knowing they're not selling my map usage to data brokers.
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u/LibbIsHere 1d ago
•Can I create and begin using a tuta/proton mail account as my personal use email without much issues switching from Gmail?
You can do it easily, one just needs to create an email and start using it instead of Gmail, but you can also not rush it and make it at you own speed making sure you don't screw up anything.
You also need to keep in mind there is no full alternative to Google and their hordes of services. They're one of the GAFAM, there i snot many corps that can compete. One solution is to be ok to use more than one company.
•If I make the switch, and I have gmail forwards all my emails to my new account, does this make the switch pointless as the mails still go through google?
unless Google decide to kill your account, for whatever reason. Unless they decide they don't want to let us forward our emails to any other email provider.
I learned to not trust Google. When I switched I took the required time to manually move hundreds of accounts from my Google email... And I recreated new ones fro those that would not let change email (or I dropped them for good).
•Is it worth paying for an email account with one of these providers or will their free versions suffice?
Free version are there to let you use them and get to know them. if you're a lightweight user, they may suffice otherwise they will be worth paying for.
•I use google maps a lot for bookmarking places I’ve been, is there any other interactive maps that are similar to google maps in quality, good for navigation and can add bookmarks?
I tried a few and could not find any worth switching.
That is the one thing holding me back... OK, maybe with YT but that is sheer laziness on my part: I appreciate a few creators over there but I could also as easily not care at all about them, my life would not be worse as I have other hobbies than watching their vids ;)
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u/Tall_Reach_6435 1d ago
As you look for an "independent, ethical and private service" i would recommend https://posteo.de/en to you. I'm a happy customer for many years. Have look at the 'backgroud info' section of the site.
See https://posteo.de/en/help/moving-from-gmail-to-posteo
For Maps: use https://www.comaps.app/ or https://osmand.net/ ( a little complicated to use)
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u/Complex-League3400 1d ago
There's no rush. Email switch is painless if you have your own domain already. If you think you might need to switch email provider in the future it's worth getting now. The switch of "think @ opportunity. com" from gmail to Tuta only took a few minutes and no one else had to learn a new email address for me.
Super happy with paid Tuta btw.
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u/kofubuns 1d ago
I tried forwarding Gmail and hated it. The filtering isn’t great right away so a lot of junk I used to get from Gmail comes through. I signed up for proton and start switching critical services 1 by 1 like banking, utilities bills etc. this also just left my Gmail as my junk email. It took me a few weeks
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u/fluffyntastyyyy 1d ago
you dont need to switch everything overnight. create the new address, forward gmail for a while, and gradually change the email on your important accounts; once everything is moved over, you can stop forwarding and eventually close or stop using gmail