These are the 5 popular apps I switched to this year

This year I said goodbye to many apps. Some I abandoned entirely, while others I replaced with their better, simpler alternatives. I needed a fresh start and I have no regrets.

Some of them offer complete privacy due to end-to-end encryption, while others are at least more privacy-focused than their replacements. Here’s which apps I switched to and why you should consider doing the same.

It is not just one app but a group of apps that replace some of Google’s most popular services. proton mail is Gmail’s replacement, and it’s much more private, better designed, and even has a great Newsletters feature that pulls up all the newsletters I’m subscribed to, making it easy to unsubscribe from each one.

then there is proton driveAn app that replaces Google Drive, Photos and Docs. Its main selling point is its privacy-first focus, meaning Proton doesn’t have access to my account’s files, and there’s no AI constantly scanning it like Drive and Photos, for example.

I also started using Proton Calendar, vpnauthenticator, and pass. I’m happy with all of that, especially since I’ve been becoming more and more privacy conscious lately, but I’d be lying if I said it all went smoothly.

Google’s apps offer still more functionality, and they’re faster. Especially when comparing the Photos folder in Proton Drive to Google Photos. The speed difference is as clear as day, and the search feature on photos is much better due to AI integration. But for those of us who value privacy, it’s a price worth paying.

I was tired of Chrome tracking my every move so I switched to Brave. The transition was seamless. Both browsers are based on Chromium, so my Chrome extensions work fine on Brave.

Speed ​​is also equal, rest of the functionality too. Both look very similar, so it’s like I didn’t switch at all.

The main difference between the two is privacy. Although you can make Chrome a little more private than that, Brave is as private as they come out of the box. I didn’t have to mess with any settings, as privacy is Brave’s default state.

The only issue I had was that it sometimes took too much away. It misidentifies random widgets on pages as ads and does not show them. I also had an issue with Brave stopping videos from playing, but it was an easy fix in the end. Overall, it’s a great browser and I’m glad I made the switch. I definitely recommend it. However, stay away from Brave Search. Although this is also privacy-focused, it is still very bad.

I became a little concerned about Gemini’s privacy policy, which states that humans can randomly read my conversations with Gemini. And when this happens, they will be kept on Google’s servers for three years.

I wasn’t very happy with it, so I tried the cloud. Its privacy policy is slightly better than Gemini’s, and the overall experience is better too. Claude is more direct and more likely to emphasize my views rather than flatter me.

The Artifacts feature lets me quickly create apps, the chatbot version of Gemini’s Gems is far better because it lets me see all my conversations in one place, and it excels at writing tasks too.

However, it’s not better in every way, because I still miss Gemini sometimes. The cloud has no image or video creation capabilities, its limitations are incredibly simple, and it also lacks features like guided learning, for example. Anyway, I’m still glad I made the switch.

I personally went from visiting my favorite news sites to using aggregators like Google News. Eventually I got tired of that too because it showed me a lot of stories I didn’t care much about.

Inoreader is the solution for me. It’s an RSS reader that lets me follow topics and publishers I really like and want to read. Sure, it’s a process to set everything up – Google News is definitely easier this way – but it’s worth it in the end.

I can save posts to read later, save ones I want to read again in the future, and the app even notes all the posts I’ve already swiped on, so I never see the same post twice. Fabulous.

It’s free with various limitations, but they don’t put much in my way, so I haven’t paid yet.

I used Notion for years, and apps like Keep and Evernote before that. Obsidian is my latest obsession, and I love it. Its offline, privacy-first approach speaks to me, and the overall look and feel is exactly what I need.

Sure, it takes some learning if you want to be a power user, thanks to all the tools you have at your disposal, but it’s still pretty easy to get started if you just want to save a few notes here and there.

I use it to write my articles – this post was written in Obsidian before being published here – and to track my fitness and jot down my latest thoughts. It’s free, but if you need sync, it’ll cost you about $4 per month.

These are the five best and most used apps that I switched this year, and I’m glad I did. I’ll probably stick with them for a while, but as always, I’d eventually like to try something new, just to start fresh.

What about you – what new apps have you tried this year? Let me know in the comments.