(I reposted this bc some applications were missing.) I had to install some apps because of school. Btw, can you say improvements that I can make? I can’t install anything that isn’t from playstore. Edit: Duolingo is now just a PWA

  • mushroommunk@lemmy.today
    5·
    11 days ago

    I would recommend moving off of Duolingo if you can. What you move to depends on the language you’re learning. They fired a bunch of their language developers and went hard on AI.

    I help run a community for Welsh learners and we’re finding more and more people coming in with questions about a Duolingo lesson where things are wrong and weird. Plus their business practices aren’t great. They realized that they make money from you staying on the app, not learning a language, so your progress is artificial stunted. Plus the complete lack of grammar explanation at all we’re finding hurts people more than helps

    As a general recommendation, textbooks are so much better.

    I also see Gmail. I don’t have a recommendation for a replacement as I’m doing my research on it now, but getting away from Google is a good idea

    • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
      2·
      11 days ago

      I recently tried duo lingo. I have a pretty strong background in Spanish, but want to brush up. It became apparent very quickly that the app is not about learning so much as keeping you in it. The lessons don’t make a ton of sense, and after not using app for a week, it demoted me to just 8 words that you would learn in your first class (hombre, el, agua, tu, etc.). There is no way to skip ahead.

    • Ori@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
      0·
      11 days ago

      I’ve already replaced Gmail (I just can’t disable it and I need for my school) with Tuta. In addition, I was forced to install Duolingo because of my Spanish teacher (at least it was with a fake email address).

  • DarkAri@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    3·
    9 days ago

    One app you are missing is shelter, Google won’t allow it on the play store since it’s a privacy app, but it allows you to install the school apps and stuff inside a work container so that they can’t access the personal information on your other devices.

  • Matt@lemmy.ml
    3·
    10 days ago

    Try Anki instead of Duolingo. You’ll learn fucking nothing from it.

    Also move all the proprietary software into a work profile with Shelter (available on F-Droid) just like I did.

    1000001760

    • berty@feddit.org
      1·
      11 days ago

      No, its replaceable. Just delete it, somebody has to make the step. I told my friends and family they can reach me at signal, call me or just send an SMS. I don’t want to judge but it is easier than you may think.

        • Autonomous User@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          11 days ago

          WhatsApp can never secure our messages because it is not libre software, so we do not control it. Both are trash but at least WhatsApp uses the internet instead of directly costing money like SMS.

          • Eben@lemmy.ca
            1·
            7 days ago

            Me too feel bad when actually am in a degoogled os and successfully quit every privacy invasive platforms except youtube and whatsapp.

            Also if i only used whatsapp for chatting with 2 or 3 persons without giving it any contact details, still it considered as bad ?

            Also am living in india, and my country have no known privacy protection laws like gdpr.

              • Eben@lemmy.ca
                1·
                7 days ago

                No, actually the opposite is happening everytime. The harsh truth is most of my contacts don’t even care am chatting/interacting with them or not. Am easily replacable with hundrends of their other whatsapp users.

                But i have a happy news. I deleted whatsapp successfully. Now whoever wants to chat with me must be on telegram, signal or session messenger. And now on i have to be very careful that in no situation i install whatsapp again.

                In here not only signal, session also using protonmail, tuta instead of gmail considered as weird and everyone will qn us for that.

        • berty@feddit.org
          1·
          10 days ago

          Yes it is. But WhatsApp encryption is a joke. Whenever someone is doing a backup with WhatsApp inbuilt backupplan all messages are stored unencrypted in the google cloud by default (WhatsApp and Google have everything in clear text). You can make encrypted backups but they give you a very long key with a warning so nobody does that! When you chat with someone on WhatsApp you can’t see that. I don’t use SMS for sensitive stuff but thinking WhatsApp is secure and E2E is a joke.

      • Eben@lemmy.ca
        1·
        7 days ago

        But they are not listening to me. They believe whatsapp will protect them. Escpecially my sister. She is not ready to switch to a different platform like signal or session.

        When considering sms or voice calls (which here often used to communicate), those are insecure by design and unencrypted plain text communication.

        Also contacting with teachers, keeping up to date about exams, everywhere everyone first asking for whatsapp number instead mobile number. I hate it. But we have really no control over anything right ? If the messenger we choose signal, session is empty then whats the purpose of keeping it in the first place ?