I don’t know what I’d do without Google. I rely on its search engine for answers to all my questions; I’m writing this article up using Google Docs; its Calendar and Gmail apps help run my life; my phone and tablet are both powered by Android; Chrome is my go-to browser of choice; Google manages my passwords and is my authenticator app for 2FA, and I watch an ungodly amount of YouTube — I could go on, but you get the picture. It’s scary if you sit and think about Google’s stranglehold over our daily lives for too long, and so I’ve been desperate to try and de-Google where possible. I was glad, then, when the Fairphone 6 Plus came across my desk. The standard Fairphone 6 Plus runs Android 16, but the model I’ve been testing for the past month comes preinstalled with /e/OS. This custom mobile OS removes all proprietary Google services, tracking, and built-in Google apps, but is still technically a fork of Android, which means it plays nice with many Android-compatible apps (solving one of the biggest hardware barriers to de-Googling). The /e/OS Fairphone 6 Plus is available exclusively through Murena for $699. 99 / £583 (around AU$1,009); that’s slightly more than the standard model, which retails for $649. 99 / £569 (roughly AU$1,100). Armed with this Google-free phone and a list of apps to install, I was ready to see if I could de-couple from Google once and for all. But after one month of trying, I’ve given up. What is de-Googling? The Fairphone 6 Plus is available in a de-Googled /e/OS confuguration (Image credit: Future) This steadily growing trend is, as the name suggests, an approach to choosing software and hardware that’s devoid of Google’s interference — specifically, de-Googling involves choosing options that have stronger privacy protections for users and less data-tracking services. But this isn’t just a matter of hopping over to Apple’s iOS ecosystem and calling it a day (iPhones, of course, can access almost all Google services). It’s about maximizing privacy in a way that doesn’t lock you into a walled garden. For some, de-Googling is also about de-Americanizing — that is, finding hardware and software produced outside of the United States. Especially in the wake of the US government sanctioning International Criminal Court (ICC) lawyers , which left them unable to access essential online services, and previous efforts to ban non-US citizens from accessing the top-tier AI models, it’s understandable that some people want to find tech alternatives produced either in their home region or by more stable allies. The Fairphone 6 Plus in Forest Green (Image credit: Future) In my case, I used the Fairphone 6 Plus as my day-to-day smartphone, swapped my default search engine to DuckDuckGo, and installed services like Proton to manage my mail. Instantly, I was glad to be able to access the /e/OS and platforms like its App Lounge (its built-in app store) without a login, which kept my activity anonymous to some extent. I also liked the neat Advanced Privacy widget, which not only lets you block in-app trackers, hide your IP address, and disguise your location on the fly, but also includes a neat graphic showing how many data leaks you’ve been shielded from over the last 30 days. It gamifies the experience of de-Googling in a fun way. The Advanced Privacy widget in /e/OS (Image credit: Murena) And while Proton offers paid tiers, I was able to trial its encrypted mail service with a free account, keeping my costs just as low as they were before I switched from my previous Android phone (albeit with a more limited service). But for all of these early wins, I started to rub up against the more frustrating realities of de-Googling just as quickly…