Skip to main content

Thanks for the Update. I’ll Be Uninstalling Now


 

Over the years, I’ve quietly walked away from several popular platforms—because those platforms slowly crossed a line. A line where user choice started being replaced by coercion, and convenience turned into control.
Three incidents in particular—Instagram, Google Photos, and Microsoft Clipchamp—cemented my belief that local ownership beats cloud promises every single time.

1. Instagram: When the Platform Dictates the Art


Back in 2016, Instagram only supported square photos. As someone who enjoyed landscape photography, this felt absurd. Instead of respecting the original aspect ratio, the platform forced creators to crop or compromise their work just to fit its feed.

I didn’t try to adapt my photography to Instagram’s limitations. I simply stopped caring about the platform. I moved to Flickr, where photos were treated as photos—not thumbnails for attention farming.

Instagram eventually deleted my account due to long inactivity, and honestly, I didn’t even notice. That’s how little value it was adding. A platform that forces creators to bend their work to fit an algorithm is not a platform worth staying on.


2. Google Photos: “Give Us Everything or Don’t Open at All”

I never used Google Photos for backups—not even during its so-called “unlimited free storage” phase. I always found that promise suspicious. Photos are irreplaceable memories, not data Google should get to hold hostage under changing policies.

Much later, I installed Google Photos briefly for one specific purpose: stabilizing shaky videos. It worked fine—until one update.

After updating, the app refused to even open unless I granted access to all my photos and videos. Not selected files. Not a folder. Everything.

That was the moment I smiled.

If I want to work on one video, why should I hand over my entire photo library? This wasn’t a technical necessity; it was a deliberate design choice to force broader access, deeper indexing, and tighter lock-in.

I didn’t argue. I didn’t downgrade. I uninstalled the app immediately.
Boundary crossed. Deal over.



3. Microsoft Clipchamp: Cloud Coercion Disguised as Modern Editing

Clipchamp was the fastest uninstall I’ve ever done.

I edited a video locally on my PC and tried to save it—only to find the app aggressively pushing me to save the output to OneDrive. Local save options were either hidden or intentionally made non-obvious.

This completely ignores realities like slow or unreliable internet, data caps and the simple fact that local edits should result in local files.

I verified I wasn’t missing anything obvious. I wasn’t. The app was designed to funnel users into Microsoft’s cloud whether they liked it or not. I uninstalled it on the spot and never looked back.

A video editor that doesn’t respect local workflows has already failed.

 

My Reaction

In all three cases, my reaction was the same: I didn’t rant online. I didn’t wait for policies to get worse. I didn’t “adjust” my habits to suit the platform.

I walked away early.

Because once a company shows you that your data, your files, or your workflow are secondary to their business model, the relationship is already broken.

And because I always kept original files on my own hardware—with multiple backups—none of these decisions ever hurt me later.


Users Are Not Company Property

There’s a dangerous mindset creeping into tech companies: Users exist to be nudged, locked in, and harvested. That mindset is wrong.

Users are not property. Their photos are not leverage. Their workflows are not funnels. Platforms should earn trust by respecting boundaries, not by quietly removing them one update at a time.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some tools to make life easier

  O ver time, I’ve discovered that the right tools quietly remove friction from everyday work. From managing documents and media to backups, notes, and creative tasks, these applications save time and mental energy. Most are free or open-source, run locally, and respect user control—making them reliable companions for daily digital life. I. Productivity, Notes & Knowledge Management OneNote – Helps organize notes in a structured way using notebooks and sections, making it easier to revisit ideas even after long gaps. Samsung Notes – Works smoothly on Samsung devices and is especially useful for handwritten notes and quick ideas with the S-Pen. Joplin – Stores notes locally in Markdown format, giving full control over data without forcing cloud dependence. Logseq – Encourages thinking in linked ideas rather than isolated notes, which is useful for long-term learning and journaling. Xournal++ – Makes it easy to annotate PDFs and take handwritten notes, especial...
Post a Comment
Read more

16 security tips for web developers

Web Security 1. Keep softwares up to date Many developers prefer to use old version of software because they are more familiar with that version. This may cause security breach. So, it is recommended to always stay updated with latest version. 2. Prevent SQL Injection SQL Injection is one of the most used attack to harm website. SQL Injection can be prevented by using prepared statement or using PDO (PHP Data Object). In prepared sql statement  a placeholder is used instead of mixing user inserted data in sql statement. 3. Prevent XSS Attack XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) is use to insert malicious javascript  code to a web page which can be use to steal cookies or other informations from browser. To prevent this type of attack clean user input before displaying it to webpage. 4. Double form validation Form validation should be done on both client side and server side. Client side validation is done with javascript which user can manually disable in h...
9 comments
Read more

आलसी लोगों की दस विशेषताएं

  कई वर्ष पहले मैने  सोचा था कि आलस पे कुछ लिखु, लेकिन फिर आलस के कारण लिख नहीं सका था। आज आलसी व्यक्तियों की कुछ विशेषताओं से आपको अवगत कराने जा रहा हूँ। 1. वे झूठ नहीं बोलते है आलसी लोग प्राय: झूठ नहीं बोलते है। इन्हें पूर्ण रूप से यह ज्ञात होता है कि एक झूठ को छिपाने के लिए अनेक झूठों का सहारा लेना पड़ता है, जिससे आलस्य का अस्तित्व खतरे में आ सकता है। अत: इन लोगो को झूठ बोलने की अपेक्षा सच बोलना अधिक प्रिय होता है। 2. वे अधिक वफादार होते हैं गैर आलसी लोगों की अपेक्षा आलसी लोग अधिक वफादार होते हैं। जो स्त्री अपने पति के आलस्य  स्वभाव से परिचित रहती है वो उनके चरित्र के प्रति निश्चिंत रहती है। 3. वे अकारण किसी कार्य को जटिल नहीं बनाते हैं आलसी लोग आसान कार्य को आसान तरीके से ही करते है। वे बिना कारण आसान कार्य को जटिल नहीं बनाते है। 4. वे किसी को नुकसान नहीं पहुचाते हैं आलसी लोग प्राय: समदर्शी होते है। वे सभी जीव-जंतुओं में स्वयं को और स्वयं को सभी जीव-जंतुओं में देखते है। अत: वे किसी भी जीव को नुकसान पहुँचाने कि चेष्टा नहीं करते हैं। ...
Post a Comment
Read more