---
title: "Un-Google your phone"
slug: un-google-your-phone
summary: "One app at a time, at your pace."
difficulty: advanced
time_minutes: 90
android_min: 10
tested_on: []
categories: [gallery, browser, app-store]
apps: [org.fdroid.fdroid, org.mozilla.fennec_fdroid, com.diune.pictures]
requires: [back-up-before-you-switch, change-your-default-apps]
risk: "Replacing Google's apps one by one. Your phone stays Android. This guide does not install a custom ROM or microG. Some Google apps cannot be disabled on every maker's phone."
published: 2026-10-17
updated: 2026-10-17
author: Unstock
featured: false
oneliner: "One app at a time, at your pace."
steps: 6
---

Un-Google here means replacing Google's apps one by one with ones you choose. Your phone stays Android. Custom ROMs and microG are out of scope for v1: higher risk, and we have not tested them for this guide.

## Before you start

- A backup. See Back up before you switch.
- F-Droid installed, so the replacements do not have to come from Play.
- Time. Do this over an evening, not in a hurry at an airport.

## What can go wrong

A Google app you still need (Pay, a work account, a car) stops being the default. Re-enable it. Do not factory-reset as a first undo. TODO: which Google apps cannot be disabled on Pixel 8 / Samsung S24 is unverified here.

:::step Install F-Droid.
Get it from f-droid.org on a browser you already have. That is the official site. Add it, then use it for the rest.

:::step Replace the browser.
Firefox (or another browser in the directory) as the default. See Change your default apps.

:::step Replace the gallery.
Piktures, Fossify Gallery or Aves Libre. See Move your photos to a new gallery.

:::step Replace Play for the apps that have another home.
F-Droid and the developer's site first. Some apps you want only exist on Play; that is allowed. This is not a purity test.

:::step Disable Google apps you no longer open.
Settings, Apps, the app, Disable. If Disable is missing, that maker won't let you. Leave it.

:::step Stop.
Live with it for a week before you touch accounts, Find My Device, or anything you would miss on a train.

## Undo it

Enable the Google app. Set it as default again. Nothing in this guide requires a factory reset.

## Next guides

If you still want a custom ROM, that's a different project, and not this site's v1.