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DISCLAIMER: Some of these apps may violate the respective TOSs of the corporations they relate to, although I will mention apps that are not owned by a for-profit organization. I am not responsible for damages, bans, or other consequences from using these softwares.
This is a general collection of software I use to get around nasty corporations and their policies. It is a personal list but is open to suggestion and improvement. Enjoy!\ If it is worth noting, I am running all of the mobile apps on a Pixel 7 with GrapheneOS and the desktop apps on Arch and/or NixOS GNU/Linux.
FOSS means Free and Open Source, meaning you have the right to deal with the software in just about any way you wish (copy, modify, share, etc.), sometimes with small stipulations like a license notice or preservation of source code.
Media Service Alternatives
Mobilism Spotify Mod - ad-free Spotify mod for Android, available for multiple variants of the ARM architecture. I'm not sure if this one is FOSS, and the download links are pretty addy, but I haven't had any issues with it.
BlockTheSpot/SpotX - An ad-blocking/anti-tracking script for Spotify's Windows client (it appears they have scripts for Linux as well but I've yet to test them)
NewPipe - Ad-free Youtube client for Android. FOSS and works great, good features and has options for background play which is super helpful.
Invidious - A self-hosted FOSS Youtube frontend, removing ads/trackers and creating a minimalist experience. Public instances are available on their website.
Jellyfin - A self-hosted FOSS media hosting service. Host it on your own machine to host videos/movies/etc like your own personal Netflix.
4get - A self-hosted FOSS metasearch engine. What this means is that it proxies and scrapes from other search engines to improve privacy.
Chat/Social Service Alternatives
Aliucord - FOSS Discord client mod for Android. Provides a robust collection of plugins and themes.
Armcord - FOSS Discord client avaiable for several architectures, but is built for the desktop. Features anti-tracking and the option to install a mod like Vencord for additional plugins and themes.
Vencord - FOSS Discord client mod for desktop. Provides a robust collection of plugins and themes.
Fediverse - A collection of FOSS, decentralized social platforms that communicate with one another; behaves somewhat similarly to Twitter but there are still many differences.
Matrix - An open decentralized, end-to-end encrypted, and FOSS protocol for communication. I use the Element client personally but there are several available.
Web Browsers
Other
F-Droid - Possibly one of the most important entries on this list, F-Droid is a FOSS package manager for Android, from which you can install many of the apps listed.
Comments
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PunkyMaySnark
I definitely want those ad-free alternatives to Spotify. The price hike for no reason was ridiculous. Put me right back onto music piracy. Bravo, Spotify team!
yeah assuming you're on android the mobilism mod and newpipe are really good for ad-free music streaming. on desktop though I just use yt with ublock lol
by Rainy; ; Report
HyperboreanCunnySniper
I would recommend adding Ungoogled Chromium or LibreWolf to this list, since it's a lot easier to setup than Matrix in all honesty
Nvm, just realised it wasn't the Matrix I was thinking of, these are web browsers not chatting platforms lol
by HyperboreanCunnySniper; ; Report
I didn't even think of putting web browsers on. I'll definitely add Ungoogled Chromium, LibreWolf, and maybe Firefox + Betterfox since LibreWolf is rather strict with its defaults
by Rainy; ; Report
Good idea, but yeah, web browser choice is very important nowadays especially if you live in a stricter country that's really fiending to get all your data, it's a shame.
by HyperboreanCunnySniper; ; Report
yeah it blows, but it's the price we pay for privacy I suppose. updated btw, thanks for the suggestions
by Rainy; ; Report