I would like to invite all of you to answer it. Especially those who are not using Google services. What are your alternatives? Please share!
I’d go as far as to say I’ve locked myself within the Android ecosystem. I’ve built my life conveniences around Android and all the opportunistic availability it provides.
From my perspective, there are basically two and a half ecosystems, Google and Apple, with a side of Microsoft.
Of those, Google and Apple are the most functional, with Google being moreso because it’s cross-platform. IOW, you can only use Apple on Apple but you can use Google on Android, Apple, and Windows. You can use Microsoft on all as well, but it doesn’t integrate as well nor is it as complete. And frankly, some of their services just suck or are missing.
Even when I was using iOS, I had my stuff through Google services not Apple, specifically because I didn’t want to lock my stuff into Apple’s walled garden ecosystem, by using GCal, GMaps, etc, I could take my stuff and go to any device at any time.
It’s also easier to transfer data out of Google to import elsewhere, or even easier to just add things into Google services or add Google to other things.
Forex, I have multiple GMail accounts in my Thunderbird, but I could in theory go the other way and add my non-GMail (main) account into GMail if I actually liked the GMail interface. I have multiple calendars including external sourced added to my Google Calendar.
Does this mean I’m “locked into” Google? Maybe. OTOH, it’s also the most portable ecosystem of what’s available.
I’m mostly using Microsoft services.
Contacts, pictures all sync though them. Only Google thing I use is pay.
I am currently trying to get out of it, but Google Docs keeps me there due to school collaboration.
I value my data privacy and security, so I am using the Proton services. Essentially, I bought my own domain and use Proton Mail, I also use Proton Calendar and the SimpleLogin addition that comes with my plan to make email aliases. + ProtonVPN.
Not to mention, I use ProtonDrive to sync all of my files throughout my desktop, laptop, and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
I also use Aegis for 2FA and Yubikeys.
I love it!
I don’t use Google photos, but the only thing left is getting out of Google Drive.
I am not locking myself in their ecosystem. I am a little more privacy conscious, so I transitioned to Proton services like Mail, Drive, etc
For work stuff, I use Microsoft apps. I use Aurora Store even if it doesn’t pair great with MemeUI. I use the provided payments apps, from the banks, like Edenred Pay and only the most basic things are from Google: Messages, phone, yt.
I’m comfy running GrapheneOS without Play Services. I dont even have a Google account. All the important apps (esp. messengers like Signal or Whatsapp) have their own push notifications. Most (but not all) banking apps work without Play although you need Aurora Store to download them.
I’ve made a very conscious effort to not be locked in. GrapheneOS + Proton + Kagi has made Google unnecessary for me.
The only “lock-in” I have is the handful of (optional) apps that use the sandboxed Play services but those are things like Spotify.
I’ve been primarily developing for Android in the last 10 years. I don’t even have a Google account. Tho I have my own “cloud” with 50+ TB usable storage that syncs every device, so it is easy for me to avoid them.
As for the apps, I use Fdroid (Aurora droid) for 90% of apps and Aurora Store for stuff like Discord for work.
Google has some pretty decent accessibility features and apps for deaf folks like myself. So I am pretty much locked in the Google ecosystem. But I also have both Microsoft and Apple devices.
I used to be all in on Google, but have moved away as much as I can. I use maps, photos and gmail, but pulled away as much as I can.
Duckduckgo for search, Firefox for browser, Linux for PC, podcast republic for podcasts, I don’t like voice assistants so no problem there.