this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2026
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All very good suggestions indeed. But there are more. Most of them are North(west) European, but this is because most of those countries got their own systems set up already, and got relatively robust privacy laws. Not sure about other ones, but please do inform!
Weather
Windy ๐จ๐ฟ - expansive, worldwide. Pretty.
Yr ๐ณ๐ด - Norwegian-focused but has good coverage for Europe.
Meteonet ๐ซ๐ท - old interface, but no-nonsense.
Whatever your country has, also works.
Payment processors
National/regional ones exist, they're more independent and should be preferred.
But also, Wero ๐ช๐บ is there. Check if your bank already has it. Though I think it must address tech reliance concerns.
Some forms of crypto also are independent, but beware of how much electricity they use.
GNU Taler may also be considered.
Banks
If you wish to stick with a 'traditional' bank, then these following would be best:
ASN Bank ๐ณ๐ฑ - government-safeguarded. Came best out of the Ethical Banking Guide (Dutch).
Triodos ๐ณ๐ฑ - independent (second-best), Europe-wide.
If you've the choice, you can also go for a local bank that's a co-op. Then you can decide along where the money goes, and hold the bank more responsible. They don't have stocks, instead having different financing methods.
Phones
Jolla ๐ซ๐ฎ (has Sailfish OS)
FairPhone ๐ณ๐ฑ is a very good option (best balance between ethics, repairability, and privacy). They or Murena might soon get an option that is suited for GrapheneOS.
Murena ๐ซ๐ท has the iPhone look and feel. Pretty easy to use.
Nothing ๐ฌ๐ง - a bit riskier in my opinion, since they share demographic and fiscal data, and share data outside of the EU/EEZ+UK.
None of these support GrapheneOS, but they really ought to. If you want one, get a used Pixel, 'clean' thoroughly, and then put GrapheneOS on it.
Tablets
Archos ๐ซ๐ท
Juno Tab ๐ฌ๐ง (runs Linux)
Murena ๐ซ๐ท
Nokia ๐ซ๐ฎ (also has phones, TVs and laptops)
reMarkable ๐ณ๐ด
The Purism one is good too and has some killswitches, though it's US-based (California, at least, which has a sort of GDPR-like law).
Laptops
Do you want to game -> Tuxedo ๐ฉ๐ช
It just works & supports FOSS devs -> Slimbook ๐ช๐ธ
Privacy-focused Macbook-like? -> StarLab ๐ฌ๐ง
More customisable -> Novacustom ๐ณ๐ฑ
Nokia supposedly sells some too, but I couldn't find a place to buy them.
You can also get an Asus or Acer ๐น๐ผ (๐ผ๐ธ), or if you don't mind Chinese products, Lenovo.
Clevo is also a good one, it's Taiwanese.
Regarding hardware, if you've a laptop with an Intel chip, disable the Intel Management Engine, it's likely backdoor spyware. VIA Technologies ๐น๐ผ (๐ผ๐ธ) is the only non-American one that makes graphic cards supporting x86, like Intel and AMD.
What OS to pick (an OS is a software like Windows or Macintosh)
Anything Linux, really. Some of them are headed by the Red Hat project, which is good, but it's American, so keep that in mind. Nevertheless, depending on your tasks:
New to Linux -> Linux Mint (it just works)
Privacy -> openSUSE
Security -> QubesOS (multiple computers on one)
Stable updates -> Debian
I use -> Arch Linux (btw)
Resembles Macbook -> elementaryOS
With most Linux distributions you can make them look like Windows or Mac either way, but I'd like to throw that in.
Smartwatch
PineTime ๐ช๐บ - FOSS, more privacy friendly than the big players.
WatchMark ๐ฌ๐ง๐ฉ๐ช - has the Apple Watch look, manufactured in Europe.
Montblanc ๐ฉ๐ช - Manufactured in Germany.
Polar Electro ๐ซ๐ฎ - Owned by Finns, made in China and Malaysia. For outdoors.
MyKronoz๐จ๐ญ- Swiss, pretty affordable.
And for printers;
Epson ๐ฏ๐ต EcoTank especially, all-around.
Canon ๐ฏ๐ต Pixelma.
Novaware ๐ณ๐ฑ - they got a good thermal printer.
Nuvance ๐ณ๐ฑ also thermal.
For weather I can also recommend the app and website https://www.yr.no/ . Publicly funded by the Norwegian government, publicly available weather data, and good coverage for weather outside Norway.
About "Phones",
With Android? Is that even possible? Surely /e/OS should be recommended here?
Surely GrapheneOS hasn't yet decided on the device?
Murena isn't a manufacturer that could support an OS. Murena sells phones with /e/OS, an open-source, mostly Android-compatible, operating system developed by them from LineageOS based on AOSP.
"Murena has the iPhone look and feel. Pretty easy to use. Privacy-focused. Runs most Android apps. Uses hardware from other brands, of which Fairphone and Shiftphone are European."
I have to add a recommendation for https://supernotes.app/ (N.B. Not the Canadian e-notebook maker with almost the same name). I have been using supernotes for a while now and it's something I actually enjoy using; a feeling that has been absent for a lot of tech products for a long time.
They're an independent business based in the UK and the owners are very active and responsive to supports. Works seamlessly for me across browsers(vivaldi), windows, linux (Mint) and android (GrapheneOS) and they have Mac, iOS, and a VR app. My only complaint is that I believe they host on AWS
I've got no affiliation with them, I'm a customer and I really like what they do and how they do it (except AWS) and since they tend not to appear in these lists often I don't think many people have heard of them.
I think you meant StarLabs. I got one running Debian and I absolutely love it
Thanks, corrected it! I'm also considering that one.
Dumb question, but can Debian be made to look like Macbook? I think all Linux laptop OSes can, but I'm not sure.
I'm not that much into ricing, but I bet it must be possible, specially since GNOME is already OSX-like
edit: you just made me check their website and the new StarLabs Horizon looks so tempting!
You can make Gnome look like MacOS but it doesnโt really act like MacOS . I use VanillaOS which is based in Spain and is immutable A/B root is something Iโm a fan of.
Oof the smartwatch one hurts. Every endurance athlete has one. Step counting is a gimmick for me but I would really miss the GPS, mapping and recording all my runs/races swims and whatnot. Calories and all the rest I can go without but the GPS and mapping...
To be fair, I used to have one, then realised that it was actually pointless and I didn't use it much. If you still want one, go ahead.
For GPS and mapping I just use OsmAnd/OpenStreetMaps.
I have a really good one I bought just before the USA meltdown. When it does, 7 or 10 years from now, we'll see! Norwegian or Swedes must have something for that lol they always do!