Nothing wrong with having to pay for software if the prices are reasonable. It's a product like any other, with real people working on it.
shrugal
joined 2 years ago
I've been removing Google services from my life bit by bit over the past year, and I have to say it is crazy how hard it actually is! They have inserted themselves into so many digital workflows, securing monopoly positions and preventing the rise of competitors and open ecosystems. In many areas the only alternatives are other tech giants, or accepting feature downgrades and having to set things up manually.
I'm really glad that the browser is one area where the transition is actually very simple and straightforward!
Apart from privacy concerns, Google has started to add some really bad features to Chrome, such as "Manifest V3" and "Web Environment Integrity". These limit your ability to block ads or generally modify your device or the websites you're visiting, and are just a bad for the web as a whole. WEI in particular is basically DRM for the web, so Google checks your device and denies you access to websites if they don't like it. But as long as the majority of people keep using Chrome they can just force these things onto everyone.
Not OP, but when I was looking for an alternative it was the music analysis and Auto-Playlist/DJ features that set Plexamp apart.