Just a log of “my transition” and what have works well.
I used Google Maps a lot. I have moved to https://mapy.com/ works surprisingly well for navigation and regular map need, not very strong in POI, but that was expected.
Google Analytics swapped for https://dashboard.simpleanalytics.com/ - should have done this way earlier, just an overall better product for my needs.
Exited Goodreads for https://app.thestorygraph.com/ - zero problems
ChatGPT/Gemini moved to https://chat.mistral.ai/ - this one is a slight downgrade on both functionality and results. (so I am still cheating a bit on this one)
Moved to here, PieFed from Reddit - not regrets.
I was using Brave and Duckduckgo/EcoSia from before. I would consider moving away from Brave for a similar private but European browser.
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mapy.com looks like a rather tourist-centered rendering of OpenStreetMap ? Hiking/bicycle trails seem to be featured very prominently. Pretty :)
fun fact: mapy means “maps” in Czech. This software is created by seznam, Czech email provider and search engine (seznam.cz). Czechs default to this software (with seznam meaning “a list”). In the past I used to dislike it, but now, with me liking non US software, I find it as a great competitor to Google and other US based companies
You could try Vivaldi as your browser, its Norwegian afaik. Ive been using it for some time on my phone and only problem is that i cant use qwant as default search engine, but ecosia is on the list so no problem
Vivalid is European. The downside is that it’s engine is Blink, which is in near full control of Google, thus killing web standardization.
Depending on your priorities you may be better off using Firefox (FOSS with mother organization in USA), or a fork of Firefox (not USA, but smaller projects with associated risks and drawbacks).
There is a way to add custom search engines, if you have any that are not on the standard list. And at least on my phone Qwant is in the default list of search engines. Maybe they added it at some point
Nice :)
I am still using Brave Search (just the search engine). I actually opted for it over the European alternatives. As far as I know, it is the only search engine that offers personalized ranked results, which helps ensure the feed is not flooded with American sites, which typically dominate results in European search engines as well.
E.g., I’ve downranked Reddit so it is less likely to appear as a top result in search.
If anyone is interested in reading about itSimilar features could likely be implemented by operators in other search engines (-site:reddit or similar), but I haven’t explored that.
Cool, I did not know that. I will git it a try.
My Google Maps alternative is organic maps https://organicmaps.app/de/ just love it
Nice! If you have some webspace you could consider installing Matomo for analytics.
Maybe because I’m in Japan, but mapy is unfortunately useless. Waited 30+ seconds and it wouldn’t load any map here (or even when I zoomed and moved a bit from Germany initially). Is really like to replace Google maps but it’s rough (it’s also what I use for public transit routes and schedules)
Try with openstreetmap. Maybe it works better for Japan.
OSM is good for some things, but is missing a lot in Japan last time I checked. It also has no transit, sadly. It also has no English (edit: for map labels, I mean) which is a problem if one’s Japanese isn’t native level (and even my wife who is native doesn’t know how to read place names in some areas, particularly in Hokkaido).
That does remind me that I should see if there’s anything I can add again, though.
