Any way to use a Mac without iCloud ?

I have a Chromebook - its not a Mac, never will be. It sits in a bag unused most of the time. I just don't like the child like apps on Macs - like iTunes and Photos - there are far better apps out there and far more seamless to use when traveling.

Dialabrain - I use a Mac because MacOS is more stable, more robust, better displays and runs Adobe software better than anything else. iCloud is its Achilles heel though - it is a seriously flawed platform that needs a massive overhaul.

I never said the users were child like - the apps just lack in design and usability, has nothing to do with the users. There are far better options out there. There are plenty of power users who are just fine with things as is... I just have used better options .. don't know what's out there until you try right ?

Well I was a Microsoft developer for 10 years - I know better when I see it. MS anything sucks, Apple is far better but I still like to pick and choose what I put on my machine for my own personal productivity and I don't want to be forced into using a mediocre app.

That original Google stuff was horrid - agree. I used to despise Google but since working for them for the past year I've lightened up about the security of my info and integrity of their storage. The G-Suite stuff is solid as it gets. It also seems to work very well across all platforms unlike iCloud which chokes on most devices. Of course, nothing is perfect. The issues I am talking about mainly come up when traveling - which I do extensively. I had to use iCloud if I wanted to stay connected to everything - and it got in my way more than it helped me, hence my looking for another approach. Even Apple techs I talked to admitted the shortcomings. I hope they fix it - you would think with their resources it would be a no-brainer. I'll admit probably most people don't use it like I do - perhaps there are not enough of us for them to care or spend the $ on it.

As the Borg said, resistance is futile.

All good - The problem with my chat / text is that it comes across passive aggressive - if I were to boil it down I am 90% happy with the Mac and MacOS platform , unfortunately its that 10% that gets in my way and its an annoyance. I am more or less an Mac evangelist. I always tell everyone who is looking for a computer to go Apple - I just found that 10% to be annoying enough to seek out other things that hopefully make that 10% less of a pain in the A_S_S If I seem ****** off or arrogant, I completely apologize , I am really not , its just my writing style comes across a little rough.

If someone is "all apple all the time" they probably won't see the problems I have. In the real world though there are different platforms and while Apple plays better with them now than they used to - there is still a lot to be desired. I wish iCloud worked like Google Cloud - if it did , I would not be here. Unfortunately, It doesn't.. not yet anyway. I hope one day, it does.

G-Suite is a paid service - it is very secure and no ads - ever. They do not have access to ANY of your personal info. If there was any doubt I'd have never considered it. I would not use their free stuff if they paid me.

I deleted them, yes. Updates will be unaffected, I left the .plist files in place. Worst case an update puts the app back, and I delete again.