This reminds me that i wanted to unlicl my bootloader on my phone...
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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Hey Folks, we have "AI" for you and you will use it, whether you want it or not...
I just went into my settings after reading this article (and getting a bit frustrated that it was a wall of text with no clear instructions right up front).
I did a search in settings for "gemini" and found the Gemini settings. There's no clear 'off' switch. But there's is an option to switch back to Google Assistant. So I did that. And not when I search for Gemini in settings it urges me to enable Gemini.
I'm taking that as a good sign that I've disabled it permanently. Thought I'd post this info in case it helps someone else. Or so if I'm incorrect somebody else can correct me.
I mean there were no instructions up front because literally Google is refusing to give them, basically.
No more choice just the company force feeding the user and saying it's good for them.
Nowhere in the email or any of the Support pages did Google say how to remove all Gemini integrations from my phone.
I then emailed Google PR and... I asked if someone could provide actionable guidance for my readers who want to ensure Gemini integrations are completely disabled. Instead of answering the question, the person responding to my email wrote, in part: “This update is good for users: they can now use Gemini to complete daily tasks on their mobile devices like send messages, initiate phone calls, and set timers while Gemini Apps Activity is turned off. With Gemini Apps Activity turned off, their Gemini chats are not being reviewed or used to improve our AI models.”
Literally that reads like you can't turn it off and they just scrape less of your data on a technicality.
AICore under all apps. Disable and delete files. Done.
While I wouldn't assume anything is permanent these days, I'd agree for the moment. I had already uninstalled Gemini on my phone (2ish months ago) and just verified I still see Google listed as the default assistant.
Is there a petition for antitrust charges against Google somewhere? I'm over the duopoly. Both options suck.
Wish there were better 3rd party mobile options. On pc I can install Linux on any laptop made in the last 15 years and it will work basically flawlessly. No such equivalent exists for smart phones
I'm still praying for TempleOS mobile version.
God does not wish HolyC to compile to lowly ARM architectures
You really think that the holy OS can even fit in such a small, restrictive device as a cellphone? Of course not! It needs room to truly achieve transcendence.
FairPhone can run Postmarket OS, eOS, iodeos, calyxos and lineageos.
Some have longer support than others. Also you can buy separate parts for their phones and they are modular.
Yes but do they support the digital national ID and SSO apps that are (only) avaliable for android and apple? Until they do, a lot of users are going to be locked into those two big OS vendors. 😞
If you don't need any of that¸ you're good!
Enjoy your new linux phone!
I don't get it.
you're in a thread discussing the finer points of privacy concerns about a corporation snooping on your apps and your only example of a barrier to not use a privacy focused product is...your requirement for government backdoors and spyware?
also SSO works just fine on eOS. unless you're talking about googles MFA. at that point why are you even concerned about privacy?
eOS is Android
eOS is forked AOSP and has all Google "contributions" removed.
so yes. it's Android.
and so, OP's SSO problems are null since eOS has no issue running it due to it just being android under the hood.
that apk doesn't install on arm Linux. Comparing eOS to Postmarket is apples to oranges. eOS is still chained by the buttcheeks to AOSP and Android.
AOSP may not contain google services, but you're still at their mercy. No Google = No AOSP, or whenever they feel like it. Tomorrow, maybe.
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My experience with Gemini:
Hey Google, set a timer for 5 minutes.
Gemini: I'm sorry, I don't understand.
WTF is the point of it then?
Imagine taking away the only useful feature of a voice assistant 💀
When I first got into Android (I miss my Nexus 6 T.T ), it felt like I could do so much more with my phone than I can now. I had so much cool automation shit that leveraged stuff like Google assistant voice commands, but now it's shit on so many levels. It goes beyond the user facing side of things; I used to use the app Tasker for a lot of the automation stuff, and over the years, it seems like the dev has been climbing an uphill battle against Google gating off functionality, and generally making things opaque and difficult for developers.
My recent experience with my phone is I tell it to set a 5 minute timer and it sets one in the fucking Google search browser, and if I page away I lose the timer.
I just use the timer on my microwave, I suppose the kitchen is the most likely place you'd want a timer. Unless you were using 5 minute epoxy.
I switched Gemini language to an unsupported language.
Laughs in Graphene
Is it just me or does it seem slightly sus that GrapheneOS is only available for Google hardware...
There are many technical reasons why: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices
Every Android phone (besides Pixel) fails to meet the high technical requirements of the project.
Google: Laughs in "Everybody else you communicate with who has that shit enabled"
Sadly true in any situation that requires talking to anyone else.
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Anyone know if this is happening outside the US and if it is whether it's happening inside the EU?
Opt-out by default in the EU I'm fairly sure.
You can check here: https://myactivity.google.com/product/gemini
I live in Finland using Android on a Nokia and I can switch Gemini off completely and choose to use the old Google Assistant instead. It did initially appear out of nowhere when they patched it in, but I could immediately turn it off with the same prompt that the other guy also got.
If it's unavoidable it seems to be an US only thing atm.
I'm in the UK and today I got asked whether I wanted to leave this on or not - it just notified me and asked me to confirm my consent.
So I think this article's headline is slightly misleading - Google is actively informing users and asking them to confirm their consent.
That's good. I haven't had anything though, hopefully saved by the EU.
Yeah, this seems like an easy lawsuit in the EU tbh
Your chats are saved in your account for up to 72 hours, whether Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.
https://myactivity.google.com/product/gemini
I wonder how long before AI services are added to ad blockers and VPN privacy controls.
up to 72 hours
(then we permanently add them to our private fingerprint folder based on any google-related link or api you've ever interacted with)
The time limits on their spyware might as well be ignored.
Bwahahahah
I locked that shit out fucking day one. Fuck Gemini.
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