Android

A terse run-down on how to get off the Google train, stop corporations Hoovering data from your phone, and all that (the story so far, at least...)

Root your phone and install a ROM

Install CyanogenMod. Here's what I did on my Galaxy Note 3, but you can almost certainly find a similar procedure for your phone on the internet. Start here.

Search, App stores

On your phone, install the F-Droid app, it's an open source only app store.

• Replace Google search with Duck Duck Go
• Keep an eye on r/fossdroid, have a read of the Ars Technica and LWN articles.

Security and anonymity

• Install AFWall+ for an excellent firewall.
• Install Orbot if you want to use the Tor network.
  • Install orWall if you want to force other applications through Tor (using Orbot), but it will clash with AFWall+

IM, chat, Hangouts

On the server, install the Prosody XMPP server and create yourself an account. On your phone, install the seriously excellent Conversations XMPP client app - free on F-Droid, or a $3 donation on the play store.

Given the sudden recent resurgence and proliferation of a billion incompatible chat clients, both proprietary and various shades of open, the developer of Conversations has proposed OMEMO, an encrypted multi-user group chat protocol (using XEP-0163 PEP and Axolotl Ratchet) that is end-to-end(s)-, future- and forward-secure. It is currently supported by the Conversations XMPP app, and the proposed standard so new it doesn't (yet) have an XEP designation.

Roll your own cloud

There are open source projects you can run on a webserver for Dropbox-style file sync, photo albums, documents, etc., and they usually have their own sync apps that can auto-upload your photos and whatnot.

• Seafile is very robust, fast, and lightweight on resources. It can handle large volumes of traffic and file data without crapping out. It lacks a shiny web interface though. (app)
• OwnCloud at version 8 has finally gained some stability, decent command-line server admin tools, and solved some speed problems (and some frankly rather dumb design decisions). It has add-ons for photo galleries, calendar and contacts sync, playing music and video, and more. (app)

Calendar and contacts sync

1. Owncloud will sync your calendars and contacts using CalDAV and CardDAV. If you only want this calendar/contact DAV sync, you can instead install the lightweight Baïkal PHP application on your webserver, point Apache at it, strap on an SSL certificate and you're good to go.
2. Export your contacts from Google/Facebook/wherever, and import them into Owncloud/Baïkal.
3. On your phone, install DAVdroid and add accounts with your CalDAV and CardDAV URLs. Now your contacts and calendars will sync on your phone. Sorted.

More about calendars

To support local offline calendars on your phone, install Offline Calendars. You can then sync calendars using .ics files from the phone or from a URL using Calendar Import-Export.

Email

Run your own mail server, and install:

• K-9 Mail
• OpenKeychain - OpenPGP encryption, works with K-9 Mail and Conversations (see above).

E-Books

Use Calibre on your PC to manage your e-book collection, and install FBReader on your phone. The FBReader Calibre OPDS plugin will find your Calibre library on your local network.