themountofmint The reason people keep asking for Nothing’s own apps instead of relying on Google’s is pretty simple:
They’d actually match Nothing’s design language.
More importantly, they’d avoid Google’s endless tracking.
Google keeps a record of practically everything. People upload all their photos to Google Photos thinking it’s just backup. but, now Gemini is being trained on those same datasets. Ask it to generate an image of yourself, and it can even place your mole in the right spot.
Personally, I don’t use Google Drive or Photos for that exact reason. What I want is basic, lightweight alternatives. a gallery (we already have it - just get rid of google photos), phone, and messages app that fit Nothing’s style and don’t ship my data off to Google. If I wanted to live inside Google’s ecosystem, I’d just buy a Pixel.
And about the “duplicate apps” concern:
Nothing could make their own apps core to the experience and leave Google apps optional to download. Those who prefer Google can install them freely.
If Google apps can’t be removed because of licensing (which is likely, since no other OEM is removing them either), at least give users the choice. We can disable or strip updates from the Google versions and just use the Nothing ones.
At the end of the day, it’s about options. Minimalism doesn’t have to mean surrendering everything to Google.
