suppose I use gmail and youtube on e/os. I don’t want to change my email and I would be ok watching youtube through the browser or something like that but what would it do to my phone to install gmail and youtube? I want push notifications for my gmail so that’s the main reason for me wanting the app, I might forget checking my mail otherwise
Just install and use both apps as normal. They work fine with the eOS implementation of Google Services.
what would it do at the side of google. Like how much am I giving them?
If you are using their services they will obviously have visibility of your data held on their servers, so YouTube viewing history etc, Google Drive, Gmail content.
…if that concerned, why not use several different Google accounts not linked to your main email account. Or even better self-host your own NAS to protect your files/data and then use a murena email address for day to day activities. Basically, if you are seeking privacy then avoid using Google Services as much as possible.
You can use many other emailapplications with Google mail via IMAP. No need for Gmail app. And F-Droid offers for example Newpipe or Libretube as YouTube alternatives.
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Like @Infinity said, you can use GMail in other apps. I use the default mail app and integrated my GMail there. The setup was very simple and receiving/sending mails works flawlessly. You can choose which folders to sync. The only downside tho this approach: depending on your settings of how frequently you sync, it might take a few minutes for mails to arrive but you can always manually sync too. I also integrated my GMail callender into the default app so I don’t miss any birthday notifications.
Without meaning to distract from any of the above valid answers, you are giving them more simple as that.
If you buy “decafinated” does it feel appropriate to ask how much cafiene should I add? Those two examples you give are a bit like adding the cafiene neat.
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You can turn off YouTube history (and Web & App Activity, Web & App Activity and Maps timeline) in your Google account settings: https://myactivity.google.com/activitycontrols so that ifnormation will not be stored by Google. I have all of the activity controls set to ‘Off’, so that Google do not access any of that data.
I don’t use GMail or Google search, but do I use Google Maps, without logging in to my Google account. It works fine
Yes. Although I have my doubts whether turning off history stops them actually storing it and instead only inhibits its display if requested. Who knows.
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