Google

[ponytug]

One browsing tip, especially on an Android device, is to do your browsing and searches in private (incognito) mode, and if you can, use Duckduckgo which does not track individual users. The only downside to DuckDuckGo is that they farm their searches out to Bing, and Bing just is not as good as Google for obscure searches.

You can also download the DuckDuckGo app.

Oh, and one more tip, don't forget to delete your web data/search, and cookie cache periodically (e.g. weekly/monthly). It will speed up many pages that would otherwise load old data, and then stop to refresh with new data.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Jstpssng]

I have D-D-G on my Android. What I don't understand though is why it has the Tractor Supply logo in the upper left hand corner every time that I start a search.

 

[Oaktree]

I just bought an Android phone and was very disappointed that I can't even download basic programs without a Google account. I believe that I have one, (actually, a couple) but have no idea what they are or how to log in.

And you need an Apple account to do anything with an I-phone, so you're stuck either way.

What's the purpose of a Google account other than to use an Android phone? I don't have a smartphone, so I've never had any need to set up an account with either company. Is having a Google account the same thing as having gmail or is it something different?

 

[ericm979]

And you need an Apple account to do anything with an I-phone, so you're stuck either way.

You need it very little if you don't sign up for any of their services. Apple generally does privacy and security better than other companies but I'm not letting them store my photos for me or back up my phone.

The only time I need my apple account is when I'm buying an app off the app store. I tend to avoid apps when at all possible so it's not something I do often. Phone apps can harvest far more personal data than a web interface. However recently Apple's gotten better at displaying what data an app gets before you install it, so I may use more apps (that don't harvest data) in the future. Assuming I trust Apple's APIs to restrict apps to the data they say they get. In the past some have found side channels to get info.

What's the purpose of a Google account other than to use an Android phone? I don't have a smartphone, so I've never had any need to set up an account with either company. Is having a Google account the same thing as having gmail or is it something different?

Google has a lot of services besides gmail. I can't even enumerate them all. Chat, video meetings, calendar, shared docs, etc. I avoid all of them that I can but my work uses gmail and google docs so I have to use my work google account on my work computer for those (though gmail's interface sucks so I use an IMAP client).

 

[oosik]

WoW!!! You guys......... There is a whole world - out there - that I'm obviously avoiding. I have ONE email account, ONE web search app and TBN. Otherwise - I just bumble along here.

 

[Doofy]

WoW!!! You guys......... There is a whole world - out there - that I'm obviously avoiding. I have ONE email account, ONE web search app and TBN. Otherwise - I just bumble along here.

I also just bumble along. I would be totally computer illiterate without The Wife keeping everything running for me.