It’s not absurd at all. They know the IPs, they know those devices use the same network, and they also know where they are located pretty accurately: the Google Street View cars also scan for WiFi networks and map them to their location.

2 devices consistently connected to the same router, to the same network, in the same place… must belong to the same person or to 2 people sharing a home. If cookies set by other websites and seen by Google show similar browsing habits, it’s probably the same person.

You just mentioned 2 different Google accounts: if your devices are connected to Google accounts they are already getting a lot of information from you that way, and Google knows that those 2 accounts are related.

Then look for a phone that supports CalyxOS, DivestOS, iodéOS… unlike GrapheneOS they support more models than just Pixels.

Glad that I could help. If you need help with setting the custom DNS or choosing which domains to block feel free to ask me here.

The app has not been updated in long time, but the database is still updating daily for me, and the app still works on Android 14. Can’t tell it will continue working in the future…

Google is not killing uBlock Origin, it is making its Chrome browser even less user friendly. Just use Firefox or a Firefox fork.

I’m not the person you replied to, but I think my experience could be relevant.

I have a MiBox TV S 4K, which as far as I know runs pretty pure AndroidTV (but I might be wrong). This is still going to try to connect to Google and Xiaomi servers for tracking and ads… but I have set up a custom DNS blocking trackers and ads.

I found this Reddit post and followed the instructions to change the DNS server on the MiBox to NextDNS, where I could later activate relevant blocklists (SmartTV, Xiaomi, Google). I also perform monitoring of the domains the MiBox connects to and have blocked a couple manually.

Finally, for AndroidTV forget about NewPipe and use SmartTube. It’s the same idea, but optimised for the AndroidTV experience where you have a remote and not a touchscreen.

Other OSs let you lock the bootloader too. I know that iodéOS and CalyxOS do, for example.

Librewolf + uBlock Origin on desktop. Mull + uBlock Origin on mobile.

I always thought that MC stood for music cassette (as opposed to the videocassette tapes back in the day), but I never looked it up and you make a very good point…

I have a setup which is not ideal, but I believe improves privacy while preserving convenience: I never connected my TV to the internet, and instead use a MiBox TV S 4K with custom DNS blocking trackers and adds for all my streaming.

I guess there might be other Android TV boxes that allow you to change the DNS server. It might be worth checking a bit around if you decide to go down this route.

In my case, I found this Reddit post and was able to change the DNS server on the MiBox to NextDNS, where I could later activate relevant blocklists (SmartTV, Xiaomi, Google). I also perform monitoring of the domains the MiBox connects to and have blocked a couple manually.

This way I have an AndroidTV experience with the streaming services that I want, and with the domains I don’t want blocked.

There are several degoogled OS options for the Fairphone models, with different levels of degoogling and privacy: LineageOS, CalyxOS, DivestOS, iodéOS and /e/OS.

Most of these are based on LineageOS (I understand that CalyxOS isn’t, but I might be wrong). I personally use iodéOS and I like the helpful developers, the ability to remove / replace any of the apps preinstalled with the system, and the iodé blocker which blocks trackers, adds and any connection you want to at a system level.

Don’t forget iodéOS!

That’s why it’s better to download as many apps as possible from F-Droid. All apps are Free Open Source and checked for anti-features (like ads, tracking, etc.). Lots of basic (and not so basic) apps which are ad free, tracker-free and free to advertiser that way.

They both do. I have never used that function, so I cannot say how good the Android Auto integration is.

Organic Maps and OsmAnd are not adding ads during navigation either. Nor “promoted pins”. Nor ads when browsing the map. Nor tracking your every move.

Seriously, give them a try. And remember that, if the maps are lacking information, you are free (and encouraged) to improve them on OpenStreetMap.

Another vote for HeliBoard, I’ve been using it for months and it’s great and under active development.

May I recommend OSS Document Scanner + Syncthing? Both apps are FOSS and it looks to me like that they might be able to replace what Microsoft Lens does for you with the advantage that you are free of Microsoft software.

As other user said: Organic Maps uses data from OpenStreetMap, so the best thing is to go there and see how the roads in that town can be mapped better, if bike lanes are present, and if other characteristics of the roads that make them more/less attractive to bicycles are tagged.

I understand this can seem daunting to someone who has never used OpenStreetMap, but I’d encourage you to at least add a note on the “death trap road” to let other, more experienced, users know about the issue and check the tagging of that and other roads.

Open Tracks allows exporting in either KMZ (default), KML or GPX format. Go to Settings, tap on “Import and Export” and there look, towards the end, for the entry “Export/sharing file format”.