I'm curious as it seems to me that, it is quite unavoidable to have an account with at least one of these companies:
- If you use a smartphone you're pretty much bound to have a Google/Apple account or at least share data with them (if you use LineageOS/GrapheneOS you'll still propably use google services for push notifications etc.)
- media consumption (especially discovery and mobile use) seems very impractical without the subscription based services
FWIW I occasionally play media content such as from YT, SoundCloud.
My digital life is simple - i am into tech...but not tech companies ideas of tech. I dont subcribe to any services.
No facebook, linkedin, google of any sort, X, tiktok, whatsapp and so on
Phone - use grapheneOS - no apps installed. Only APK's for basic things like audio recorder, note taking. Google maps on separate graphene profile - with throw away email address (this part is the only one that sucks...i have garbage back sense of direction and the OSS options dont work) Close profile as soon as trip is over.
Banking - use a laptop - i dont know when or why it became acceptable to bank on phones.
Friends - this sucks - but you need friends who understand the decision you're making - many/most dont, and will not understand your reasoning or think you're insane.
*Media - self host, and build personal media library. Support bandcamp/owned and drm free media, physical media, no streaming of any sort (spotify, netflix and so on)
It's definitely not unavoidable - you have to choose what you value more - privacy, and choice - or "fitting in"/"convenience". none of the above is easy, it sucks, it makes you question your sanity...it might not be possible in the blink of an eye-lid.