US Tech: Pulling Away — Here’s How I Did It

In my previous post, I wrote about Europe’s growing discomfort with its reliance on US-based technology. That piece focused on the why.

This one is about the how—or more accurately, how I approached it. Because this wasn’t a small adjustment.

For years, I was deeply embedded in the Apple Inc. ecosystem. Not casually—completely. Devices, files, passwords, notes, calendar, email workflows. Everything worked seamlessly, exactly as advertised. And to be fair, it still does.

That’s what makes this kind of shift difficult. You’re not moving away from something broken. You’re moving away from something that works very well—but comes with a level of dependency that’s easy to ignore until you start questioning it.

Realising How Locked In I Was

The turning point wasn’t a single feature or limitation. It was a simple question:

If I had to move away from this setup—quickly—could I?

The honest answer was no.

Too many pieces were tightly coupled. Passwords tied to devices. Files living in iCloud. Notes locked into apps that don’t exist outside that ecosystem. It wasn’t just about switching tools—it was about untangling everything.

And that’s when it clicked: convenience had quietly turned into lock-in.

Taking Back Control of My Data

The first step was also the biggest one—getting control over my data.

I moved files, calendars, contacts, and notes into a self-hosted instance of Nextcloud. This wasn’t just a technical change. It fundamentally changed how I think about my data.

Before, it lived inside someone else’s ecosystem, even if it felt like “mine.” Now, it lives in a place I control—hosted properly, backed up, and independent of any single vendor.

Interestingly, I didn’t lose much in terms of functionality. Sync still works. Sharing still works. The difference is that I’m no longer tied to a single company’s way of doing things.

Moving Email Out of the Ecosystem

Email was the next piece.

Like everything else, it had been part of a broader setup—convenient, integrated, and invisible until you try to move it.

I switched to Proton AG.

This wasn’t about making email “perfectly private.” It was about placing something critical into a more neutral, European-based environment—one that aligns better with how I want my data handled.

The migration itself was manageable. The real effort was updating all the services connected to my old address. Slightly tedious, but entirely doable—and worth it.

Decoupling the Small but Critical Pieces

One of the more subtle, but important, changes was moving away from built-in password management.

Within the Apple ecosystem, it works brilliantly. But it also reinforces dependency. Your credentials—the keys to everything—are tied to that environment.

Switching to a standalone password manager broke that link.

Now, my passwords are independent. They work across devices, across systems, and—most importantly—without locking me into one vendor.

It’s the kind of change you don’t notice day to day, but it makes everything else easier to change.

What I Kept (And Why)

I didn’t abandon the Apple ecosystem entirely. That was never the goal.

The hardware is still excellent. The user experience is still hard to beat. And in many cases, it still makes sense for me to use it.

The difference is that it’s no longer the foundation of everything.

If I replace a device tomorrow, my data, my workflows, and my access don’t go with it. They remain intact, because they’re no longer tied to that layer.

What Actually Changed

Technically, the changes were straightforward. Mentally, they were more significant.

I’ve stopped optimising purely for convenience, and started optimising for flexibility. For portability. For the ability to change direction without starting from scratch.

That shift alone changes how you evaluate every tool you use.

The Trade-Off

There is one, of course.

Things are slightly less seamless. You lose a bit of that “it just works” magic when you step outside a tightly integrated ecosystem.

But what you gain is control. And once you experience that—once you know you’re not locked in—it’s very hard to go back.

A Practical Middle Ground

Not everyone wants to run their own infrastructure, and that’s completely fair.

Self-hosting comes with responsibility. Updates, backups, monitoring—it all needs to be handled properly.

That’s why I didn’t go down the “DIY on a spare machine” route. My setup is properly hosted and managed, because independence shouldn’t come at the cost of reliability.

It also happens to be the same approach I offer to clients who want the benefits of control without having to deal with the underlying complexity.

Final Thoughts

This wasn’t about leaving US tech behind. It was about making sure I’m not dependent on it.

There’s a difference: One is reactive. The other is intentional.

If you’re heavily invested in a single ecosystem—especially one as polished as Apple’s—it’s easy to assume that changing course would be painful.

It’s not painless. But it’s also not nearly as difficult as it seems. And once you’ve done it, you’re no longer stuck. That alone makes it worth it.