this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
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Title says it all. I'll go first:

I don't really have any on my computer (all I use that for is Vim, Firefox, and Git), but on my phone: Orbot (basically Tor as a VPN on your phone).

Edits: Added link, fixed formatting

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[–] [email protected] 73 points 1 year ago (7 children)

KDE Connect

I can share files, links and clipboard items between my phone and my computer. Use my phone as remote control while watching stuff. I see phone notifications on my computer and don't miss calls when my phone is in silent mode while I'm at my PC. It has made my life so much smoother.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Out of curiosity can KDE Connect act as a Find My alternative?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm not sure, because I don't really know, what Find My can do (I think it's an Apple app, right?) What you can do with KDE Connect is make your phone ring to locate it. You can't access the phones location. I hope that was remotely helpful.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sadly not as AFAIK you need to be connected to the same network as the device (at least on iOS)

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Everyone knows about VLC but I don't think many people know it has a really good Android app! I use it as my primary music app and it's great. Even has android auto support and a surprisingly sleek interface.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm assuming it doesn't work with Jellyfin or Subsonic, does it?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I haven't used those so I don't think so. But it lets you add music from local networks, and you can add streams from a URL (even supports youtube links, which is a way to watch youtube without ads without pihole or a third party app).

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Huh, TIL - I've been using VLC for ages on my phone and on my tablet, but I never knew this. I just tried it - open Youtube app, select random Video, share, select VLC, wait a bit and it plays!

Mind blown

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Organic Maps for ... maps.

FluffyChat as chat client for matrix.

Joplin for note taking on any device.

AntennaPod for podcasts.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Organic Maps

Looks like it has supper detailed maps, has OpenStreetMap really gotten that good!?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

OpenStreetMap is amazing. I always use the maps when I want to know details about some place. Much more detailed than Google Maps.

ETA: Especially when you want to go somewhere on foot or by bike, because Google Maps kinda sucks at showing footpaths etc.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I can't stand Google maps now. You have to fight it to show the actual map. The map, too, is now swarmed in Wall-E levels of marketing trash: bubbles, home businesses, auto play review videos, promoted fast food and coffee 8 miles away when I'm in a dense walkable area. The user reviews and navigation are still valuable, but literally every other aspect has went to shit.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

It fully depends on the area. My city has only a few hardcore mappers, but that's all it takes to make it really detailed.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Off the top of my head

  • Signal
  • VeraCrypt
  • LibreWolf
  • BitWarden
[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago

Oh shoot! I forgot about Bitwarden, I feel like I use it so much that it just fades into the background now!

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Habits !!

Edit: replaced gplay with fdroid link. The proper way

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ve recently discovered Organic Maps that allows offline viewing of open street maps. I’ve been using it since maps.me has completely gone down the drain with premium subscriptions and paid download limits (for the same open street maps data lol).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've started filling my neighborhood in openstreetmaps because I want to use Organic Maps

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Check out StreetComplete. It shows you missing osm data close to you so you can add that information directly. Very good way to get highly detailed information into OSM, like accessibility for stairs (handrail, ramps, etc.) or opening hours for shops (including updating older data)

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (12 children)

SyncThing - to sync my files between devices and avoid the big corporations cloud (use it for notes, Keepass database, photos, etc)

Logseq - super advanced note taking with tagging and relationships between notes (all store locally)

Authpass - opening my Keepass password database on my phone

GrapheneOS Camera - just to avoid the Google camera app as I have Google Photos disabled on my phone and needrd a good app that doesn't break when going to view the gallery (since it tries to open Google Photos)

Simple Gallery - to view my photos on my phone

Signal - I have it but I have very few friends that use it unfortunately

AntennaPod - for podcasts, I'm thinking of self hosting a podcast tracker to sync my listening habits across my devices, we'll see if that happens

Vinyl Music Player - to play my local mp3 files and playlists (I use MusicBee to manage what I sync to the phone as my mp3 library is quite large, and SyncThing to actually copy stuff over)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

SyncThing - to sync my files between devices and avoid the big corporations cloud (use it for notes, Keepass database, photos, etc)

Amen, sibling.

Logseq - super advanced note taking with tagging and relationships between notes (all store locally)

Quite nice, although I'm still struggling to integrate it with my workflow. I just haven't taken the time to learn how to best use it.

Authpass - opening my Keepass password database on my phone

Do you trust it? Why?

I'm really cautious (nervous) about the program(s) I give access to my kbdx. On the desktop, I've actually code audited the tool I use; I can't as easily do that on Android.

GrapheneOS Camera - just to avoid the Google camera app as I have Google Photos disabled on my phone and needrd a good app that doesn't break when going to view the gallery (since it tries to open Google Photos)

I've been using OpenCamera for this, but recently started using PhotonCamera - it has a great UI.

Simple Gallery - to view my photos on my phone

That's a good one. I ended up with Aves because it allows fairly complex filtering, and the UI is nice.

Signal - I have it but I have very few friends that use it unfortunately

A few years ago, I talked my wider family into using Wire, and now we're all stuck on it. It keeps getting progressively worse with each release, and sooner or later I'm going to have to pick something to replace it. I don't know what that will be, but it will be federated, and it won't mandate IDs tied to a phone number.

Vinyl Music Player - to play my local mp3 files and playlists (I use MusicBee to manage what I sync to the phone as my mp3 library is quite large, and SyncThing to actually copy stuff over)

God, I seem to change music players every couple of months. I guess I've been using Metro for a while and haven't found the thing that irritates me and sends me on a search for a new player, so maybe it'll stick. That's interesting about MusicBee, though - I've been looking for something like that, so thank you!

I'll add to your list:

  • PhotoBackup, which is a reliable and fantastic replacement for Photos syncing. This is then tied into PhotoPrism on the server, for web access and sharing. I had to cobble it together, mostly b/c of limitations in PhotoPrism, but it does replace the whole Goog Photos workflow.
  • NewPipe, which is superior to the YT app in all ways, and is one of the best OSS all-around mobile apps.
  • QKSMS, which I keep coming back to. I haven't found anything better yet, in any case.
  • DAVx⁡. Unseen, but does some heavy lifting. One of the apps I make sure to support; replaces 1/3 of the critical "core" Google Android services
  • Wireguard, which Just Works, and is always on.
  • M.A.L.P., for when I'm playing music on the house system
  • openScale, a quite nice OSS weight tracker that supports a lot of off-brand smart scales, without phoning home
  • KDE Connect, what for sending stuff to/from other computers amd phones. Works great, even without KDE (mconnect is an alternative desktop service)
  • Etar, as my calendar app. Been using it so long, I've forgotten it's not stock.
  • ntfy replaces so much notification on my phone, and it does so reliably and well. Worth a shout out.
  • SimpleTask, the best to todo.txt Android app. Another app that I've been using so long it seems almost stock.
  • I've been using FlorisBoard for several months now. It has no text prediction, but has a ton of features I use. I try other keyboards every once in a while, but end up back on Floris. The only thing I miss is prediction, and with it better (any?) correction. Still, aside from DAVx⁡, it's probably the most used app on my phone, so...
  • Geometric Weather! Such a great weather app.
  • Material Files replaces the stock file manager. Great program, and while remote FSes are limited to ftp, it does the job.
  • Wormhole William is a good between-devices file transfer tool.
  • Termux, of course. Are there any real competitors?

Thing is, I'm running OEM Android, b/c I have a flip phone and don't want to lose the outside screen support by flashing. So I uninstall or disable nearly every built in app, and replace them with F-Droid apps (via Droid-ify). It's not much, but it's an honest living.

Edit MusicBee... oh, Windows. Oh, well. The search continues.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Signal - I have it but I have very few friends that use it unfortunately

It's a shame they got rid of SMS support. That was basically my selling factor when trying to convince someone to install the app. Now, it's next to impossible to get someone to install it...

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Surprised no one's mentioned NewPipe yet

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Links: NewPipe, GitHub, F-Droid. The vibe I'm getting is that it's a more lightweight, Google-less frontend for services like YouTube and Bandcamp, correct me if I'm wrong though, never used it -- but I've seen it a few times.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

InnerTune. Basically all you could need for free music streaming. Beautiful FOSS client that rips from YouTube music.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

On my PC

  • Rednotebook for journalling and Tomb to easily encrypt it through the command line

  • Librewolf because manually making tweaks to Firefox was kind of tiring

On my phone

  • PokerTH because I wanted to learn to play Texas Hold 'em without micro transactions and a required online connection

  • AntennaPod because I dislike using Spotify for podcasts

  • Aegis because it was easier to transfer authenticator codes. I think Google Authenticator now allows for local backups and exports

Edit: Actually the coolest (but least useful) has to be brow.sh. I'll attach an image but essentially it lets you run a browser through your terminal in a way that's a little more indepth than apps like Lynx.

In order to really see the extent of what it can do you really need to see how it handles video playback.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Not really an app, but I'm going to add https://kagi.com/ here; it's time for a shakeup in the search industry that actually works, and Kagi delivers.

Controversial, but Telegram is such a solid open source app in terms of UI/UX and a good middle ground between something like Discord and Signal.

Now that I've shared my unpopular opinions...

  • Standard Notes is a really solid secure note taking app.
  • All of the Proton AG apps and services (Proton Drive, Proton Calendar, Proton VPN, Proton Mail, SimpleLogin).
  • Bitwarden.
  • "Privacy" (while not FOSS) is a pretty great software for using unique billing information per site (which helps with fraud protection, tracking, etc).
  • ZeroTier is awesome for remote access (everyone seems to recommend TailScale these days, but ZeroTier is very much of the "do one thing and do it well" mindset, they're also the "OG" FOSS encrypted VLAN solution).
  • Kopia I've been really liking for backups (great features include: the ability to clone a cloud repository of backs to a hard drive or different cloud via the software itself, a GUI, a simple CLI interface, and configurable policies to keep track of your preferences so you don't have to)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Kagi

Prices seem high... Features, seem nice (but not crazy):

  • "Boosting" and blocking domains: basically permanent filters.
  • "Lenses" - Similar to SearXNG's different tabs, but more like a profile style system.
  • Bangs are the same as in SearXNG, and I think you can do the same, or similar, thing in Firefox.
  • Custom CSS is cool and all but you can get that with a browser add-on (like Stylus).
  • Their "Comprehensive result filtering" seems that same as every other browser
  • They have Vim-ish keybinds, which SearXNG and DDG have.
  • "Widgets" - Seems like Google's quick answers, user created ones are cool I guess.
  • The "crystal orb" - Allows you to determine the "quality" of sites, and also open them in the Wayback Machine or adjust that boosting/blocking level.

(Source)

Additionally, it seems that they don't have seem to have any external audits or releasing of code (correct me if I'm wrong). Additional they have a web browser, that's only for Apple's ecosystem. Overall, you pay for no-ads, I feel like for this feature set you could just use DuckDuckGo with advertisements off, or the HTML version (which doesn't include JavaScript either). I'm kinda skeptical about it, but if it ends up taking off I'll be happy there will be another alternative to Google.

Kopia

This actually looks very cool, so many new backup solutions to try after this thread. πŸ₯²

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[–] snowe 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I did the trial for kagi and completely stopped using Google within 3 days. Kagi is so much better it’s easily worth it. And it has actually useful features unlike Google. It’s insane how long google sat on their haunches and waited to let others surpass them.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Everything search app is easily my most used on my Windows PC. Instant, as-you-type file search by name with detail sorting and wildcard support. I set a keyboard shortcut as well. It puts Explorer search to shame. As good as Spotlight, which I was missing from when I had a Mac in 2008.

LaunchyQT - modern fork of Launchy that actually gets development. App launcher, dead simple.

FanControl - Fan curve software with all the features I want including hybrid temp sources, sensible automatic settings, visual graphs with an intuitive interface.

AutoHotKey - Hotkey scripting language that I can use even as someone who barely codes.

Transcribe! - Not open-source but it's a reasonably priced audio and video slow down app for transcribing.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Threema

Where Signal is secure - Threema is private and secure (e2e encrypted, uses PFS but doesn't need your phone number for sign ups. You can be 100% anonymous should you wish)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Threema

Yeah, but how many people use it (half-joking, I'm a Matrix user myself and understand the pain)?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • Infinity for Lemmy
  • Innertune
  • Immich
  • Neo Store
  • Jellyfin
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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

I cycle to work. This takes like 60-70 minutes, there is a ferry ride. The app MoopMoop is like google maps and a weather app in one. It show the rain on your route.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

SearXNG.

It's like having a search engine customised to my needs.

Automatically filters out SEO junk sites, and redirects links automatically (e.g. reddit.com -> old.reddit.com)

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (7 children)

I'm using Aves Libre as my gallery app in my phone, i really like it, works pretty well and looks pretty clean. It can classify the media by the apps (It need to access to the app list to do this). To watch some videos i use Libretube, but it's a shame that (i think) there's no invidious related apps in android. And the maps that i use are from OpenStreetMaps, OsmAnd in my phone. Works pretty well despite not using google services that it is pretty good in my opinion. I also use it to add some notes or interest points and then back phone contribute with that i wrote.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I thought it was regarded as a dick move to put a lot of traffic through tor?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I hear such mixed messages about this and would love for somebody to educate me. Do we:

  • Avoid using tor to free it up for those who actually need it

  • Use tor whenever, and normalise it so that somebody using tor isn't immediately considered to be a journalist/dissident/person with something to hide.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Avoid using too much bandwidth on Tor. Do not stream or torrent over Tor. Use it for basic browsing as much as you want, without burdening the nodes in terms of bandwidth. Never use your personal login accounts over Tor.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Krita, a free and open-source art app

Elisa, a FOSS music player


Birday, an open-source app to remember birthdays and other events

Note to Self (Play Store), a note-taking app with a chat-like format, data is stored locally

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • KeepassXC [password locker]
  • SyncThing [keep some dirs synced between computers]
  • Thunderbird [Check 4 email accounts simultaneously]
  • PikaBackup [Relatively easy disk backup utility]
  • FSearch [Fast searcher of all files on my computer. Like Search Everything for Windows but worse in many ways]
  • AudioBookshelf [Podcast server]

I use all of those pretty regularly. Honorable mention on iOS is a program called Is It Snappy? which helps me measure input lag. It doesn't collect any data or run ads (rare trait on a phone app). I actually made a purchasing decision with the help of this thing to correctly conclude that the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller had a noticeable input delay (enough to make me return it). The funny thing about that was if I just looked up spreadsheets others have done I would have seen that same conclusion there, too, without having to go through the effort of buying it myself :P.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I forget what it's called, but I have one I got off F-Droid that just does a spectrogram of the microphone input. It's cool seeing the world yet another way.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

GNU Jami (pronounced Guh-nu Ya-mi) is a peer-to-peer cross-platform messaging and VOIP application. It uses an API called the Jami Distributed Network, meaning that the Jami network has no single point of failure. If you're familiar with TOR you'll understand where this is coming from.

Best part is that Jami is a GNU package; it will always be free/libre software or else Richard M. Stallman perself will break the kneecaps of every developer on the project /half-joke.

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