The original post: /r/privacy by /u/qxlf on 2024-10-09 17:10:17.

as of recently i a question popped in my mind regarding both the google playstore and gboard (googles default keyboard on android phones).

since i started my privacy journey i always tried to be at or near the privacy conscious thread level.

recently, a paid game i really enjoy on pc was free to keep for a couple of days on androids and i used googles playstore to get the game, since with Aurora i wasnt sure if i would actually keep the game forever.

after doing so, i updated some apps with through the playstore and i started to wonder: how bad is the playstore really for privacy?

sure, Aurora is the better choice since its a front end for the playstore but with an optional login, but the update speed and process on there is slower since Aurora doesnt have parallel downloads (wich means downloading and installing multiple apps / packages at once, kind of like pacman from Arch linux if that rings any bells).

this thought also made me question the same about googles gboard (the default keyboard on android).

i have used Aurora and openboard for a long time and have all google apps (outside of gmail, maps, the playstore and youtube to if i finally got Revanched working for it on a non rooted phone).

so how bad are the playstore and gboard for my privacy thread level?

as a side question, i recently started to get into issues with Cromite (the successor to Bromite) when trying to log into government websites to get stuff done. when i install firefox, despite that not being a good idea on androids due to Per-Site Process Isolation, i wanted to ask if anyone had a good chromium based browser suggestion. i know brave likely will be reccomended as a browser that fits those needs, but i personally dont trust brave after all the shady controversies they where in and some of there choices. and sadly Ungoogled Chromium isnt made for phones yet. wich is a browser i do trust.

thanks in advance

note: i did want to link some video’s and website links but my previous post was auto removed by a bot from the sub so i havent included any. so if a moderator sees this, no problems since i deleted that post and remade it without links so i could post it. i could later on add some of the links if needed