Great post, thanks!
We're on the same page regarding unplugging from Google and using privacy apps.
I've been using Protonmail for four or five years, and for emails I actually care about, I'll never go back.
I even email between two anonymous Protonmail accounts, when I want to access something online, but don't want to have to trust the cloud with my data.
Works perfectly, they don't delete anything you don't tell them to, and that way it remains in two places: the sent file of one account, and the inbox of the recipient account. Highly unlikely that both would disappear simultaneously.
For messaging, I use Signal, which is an encrypted messaging service based in Germany, and like Protonmail, they don't collect data on their customers or their messages. They also offer encrypted calling, though I've yet to use that feature.
I've defaulted to StartPage as my browser of choice for years and years, which doesn't save your searches, but does use the Google search engine.
But recently I have been using Brave more and more, along with Firefox Focus, which are lighter and faster. And, like you, I love being able to watch YouTube without ads.
I'll have to check out the new DTube. The old DTube was annoying enough that I stopped bothering, because my videos almost never loaded successfully.
Being able to post links is a gamechanger.
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Thank you for the great comment, 100%! Duckduckgo.com is great for a search engine. I haven't tried signal, I'll have to check that out.
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I have Duckduckgo.com as an alternative, but I've just never liked it as well, and I get more relevant answers from the ones I listed.
Though recently Google's algorithms seem to be preventing StartPage from getting the best results, at least in some contexts, which is why I've been using Brave and FF Focus more.
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