As we all know, you need a Google account to make your usage of an Android phone a much richer experience. But did you ever stop to think about how much data is gathering about you? It's scary - they know what you sound like (when you use voice commands) where you are (Location services) what your browsing history is (via Chrome) Your contacts (via contact sync with your Google Account) Your emails (Gmail) Your apps (Google store) and much more. There is a better and more private way of using an android without Google. For the method shown below, we are using Amazon Underground instead. Whilst Amazon will still require you to sign in only to download apps, meaning they will not be storing anywhere the same amount of data Google does. First, after you reset your phone, don't sign into Google anywhere on the device - that’s rule one (but if you want to use Gmail, read on) First, hit Settings >Security > Unknown Sources: Allow. Then Open default browser, head to or search for Amazon Underground, and download the apk from the website. (Beware, you may be prompted to allow access permissions, these are all safe). Allow the app to download and install. Open the Amazon Apps app, sign in with your Amazon email address and password. Then browse the Amazon App store to download 1000's of free and paid apps. Some well known apps are not yet available on Amazon App Store, such as BBC News, but they are being added. If you have Yahoo email, the email app is there. If you use AOL, the app is there. For other email providers, there’s K9 or the built in Gmail or Android mail app for Gmail or Hotmail - from there you can sync Contacts, Calendars and Mail. If you use a contact or calendar service that’s based on the DAV protocol, I recommend DAVDroid to sync Calendars and Contacts (such as iCloud, Fastmail, Runbox, etc) I downloaded the Opera browser and using that instead of Chrome, it does the job just as well. I'd like to say something rude about Google and data, but the irony is that Google will crawl this site and index it for others to find later. Another way to get apps on Android without using Google is Yandex. https://store.yandex.com/ Yandex has even more apps available, but it is in English and Russian, but even better, Yandex doesn't require an account if it free apps you want. Beware some apps might be out of date, its not kept kept current like Google Play or Amazon Underground. Just be aware you may run in to some minor problems especially as there are so many versions of Android available. The above was tested in a Moto G, which tends to have almost zero bloatware to start, and most, if not all Google apps can be disabled. Caveat emptor, at your own risk applies. In the next episode, I'll show you how to install iOS on an Android phone.. Might be a long wait...
