Freeing Apple Devices from Apple
2025-08-29
Over the past year I’ve often come across folks talking about de-Googling which largely comes down to disconnecting from Google services by finding alternatives. When I began my transition away from Apple a few months back I wasn’t sure what I would do with my various Apple devices. I knew I wanted to switch to GNU/Linux on my 2012 Mac, but I would still have several devices that would be stuck with an Apple OS.
In those first weeks the first goal was obvious: cut my reliance on iCloud as much as possible, move my data to other services or to local storage. Within a few weeks I was able to downgrade my paid iCloud account to a free account. In the weeks that followed I was able to further downgrade my use of iCloud to the point that it was mostly just an email account not to be used for much.
That left my Apple devices in a sort of limbo. I no longer relied on them and they were partly freed of Apple services but still too connected, still bound to Apple in ways I was no longer comfortable with. So, they’ve mostly just been powered down to conserve batteries. I use the M1 iPad Pro to watch streaming shows or other video. The iPhone has never been a device I used beyond the camera and a source of audio during walks.
The past couple of weeks I have made significant progress freeing them from Apple, enough that I thought it would be worth sharing.
What’s the actual goal with this exercise? I want ensure my devices are private, secure and useful with zero reliance on Apple's default apps and services. Yes, still Apple hardware running an Apple OS. That cannot be helped as in previous years I made the mistake of purchasing a variety of movies and several favorite tv series from Apple's iTunes store. Of course that's a choice I regret now as I believe I'll need to keep at least one device running macOS to ensure access to those locally stored files.
But I've done everything possible to disconnect from Apple's services, limit the flow of my data to Apple servers and limit their attempts to otherwise control my use of the hardware I paid for. More on this below.
iPhone
The iPhone is my least used device and it’s unused and offline about 23 hours of everyday. I rarely make or recieve calls so usually I turn on cellular/wifi to check voicemail and listen to audio on a walk or when I’m outside doing chores. Beyond that it’s mostly just a camera. I’ve logged out of iCloud on the iPhone and have turned off all location services. I use Firefox as the default browser and prefer to use that instead of an app when possible. I have very few apps on the iPhone and it this point it feels stripped down to the most private, secure level possible. Any texting that might happen on the phone is via Signal.
M1 Mac Mini
It’s powered off and I treat it as a back-up computer should I need it.
It is logged out of iCloud and I’ve traded all of Apple’s proprietary apps for free software. I think this is a good step for anyone interested in software freedom but who may not be ready to jump into GNU/Linux. I’ve got most of the essential apps I’m using on GNU/Linux installed on the M1 Mac: Thunderbird, Firefox, Signal, LibreOffice, Scribus, Inkscape, digiKam, Kate and GIMP. Oh, and a couple other utilities like LocalSend (for quick sharing of local files) and LuLu, a free, open source firewall app that stops outbound traffic. Like the iPhone I’ve turned off Location Services. I think I’ve got it about as de-Appled as a Mac can be.
Unfortunately it’s not possible to delete the stock apps installed by Apple but none of them have a place in the Dock. Should I need to use the Mac I can do so without much trouble or ethical compromise thanks to the availability of the above free software. Yes, it’s still macOS, but the software I’ve added is secure and respects my privacy.
Here I’ll mention Naomi Brockwell who I found while doing research for an upcoming presentation on privacy and security. Her YouTube channel is a fantastic resource on those topics and amongst the videos I found several that were specific to Apple’s devices and one in particular was helpful in my thinking about disentangling the Mac from Apple: How to make your Mac Private.
iPad Pro
The last Apple computer relevant to this post is the iPad Pro which is still logged into iCloud. I’ll leave that for now as I have various HomeKit devices that I still use and as far as I know iCloud is required for Homekit. I can live with it. This will be the one device that serves the specific use of checking what little email I still get in iCloud and for Home device control. Like the iPhone, I’ve removed unnecessary apps, turned off location services. So, even with iCloud it is fairly locked down.
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