28
votes
Tildoes with Android, what are your essential apps?
Here's a couple of mine:
Flamingo for Twitter
Pocket Casts
JuiceSSH
RealVNC Viewer
DigiCal
EDIT: I forgot my most important one, Sesame Shortcuts
Here's a couple of mine:
Flamingo for Twitter
Pocket Casts
JuiceSSH
RealVNC Viewer
DigiCal
EDIT: I forgot my most important one, Sesame Shortcuts
I'm surprised no one has mentioned f-droid yet, it's an alternative to Google's play store for FOSS apps.
I use that too, the one thing I haven't figured out is how to share/download playlists. It's nice that you can include anything from YouTube or SoundCloud (since it's a client for both apps) but I like to listen to my playlists when I'm offline.
I always search for apps there first. I'm so happy that it exists!
F-Droid:
AdAway - adblocking for rooted phones
Amaze - file browser
Conversations - OMEMO encrypted chat
DiskUsage - Self-explanatory
Document Viewer - Self-explanatory
NewPipe - forgot to add the Youtube alternative.
Xposed - for the Network Indicator on the taskbar that I need to monitor home internet speeds
Play Store:
Aus Weather Australia
BlackPlayer - music
GPS Averaging - more accurate tracking for work
Image Shrink - for quickly sharing reduced photos for work
Keepass2Android - password manager that uses Dropbox to sync
mpv-android - video player
Nova Launcher - well-known
SD Maid - cleaning space
Signal - encrypted messaging and text
Slide for Reddit
Useful Knots - for when I forget my knots
Wake On Lan - for unraid to wakeup at home
And Magisk Manager for root and to help with Xposed.
What does OMEMO encrypted chat mean?
Okay so some sort of advanced privacy measures?
https://conversations.im/omemo/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMEMO
Just another end-to-end like @apoctr stated. Conversations uses the Jabber protocol, accept the other users
signaturedevice fingerprint and you are secure.Additional Security Settings (F-Droid / Google Play) - Disable the fingerprint reader on the Lock Screen, but allow it else where.
Altcoin Prices (F-Droid / Google Play) - Monitor altcoin prices in real time.
Amaze (F-Droid / Google Play) - File Manager.
AntennaPod (F-Droid / Google Play) - Podcasts.
ConnectBot (F-Droid / Google Play) - SSH and local shell client.
LibreNews (F-Droid) - Decentralized breaking news notifications.
Firefox (Google Play)
KDE Connect (F-Droid / Google Play) - Integrate Android with your desktop.
Muzei (F-Droid / Google Play) - Live Wallpaper
NewPipe (F-Droid) - YouTube frontend with lots of features.
Open Camera (F-Droid / Google Play)
QKSMS (F-Droid / Google Play) - SMS
Red Moon (F-Droid / Google Play) - Screen filter (color temperature, intensity and dim level) similar to Twilight.
Riot.im (F-Droid / Google Play) - Matrix client / Messaging.
Scrambled Exif (F-Droid / Google Play) - Remove metadata from your pictures.
Simple Gallery (F-Droid / Google Play)
Slide for Reddit (F-Droid / Google Play)
Syncthing (F-Droid / Google Play) - File synchronization.
Twidere (F-Droid / Google Play) - Twitter client
VLC (Google Play) - Media player
Wallabag (F-Droid / Google Play) - Read-it-later client.
That's a great list, and made even more so because you took the time to get the thinks - thanks!
F-Droid:
Materialistic (Hacker News)
Google Play:
That list was longer than I planned.
Mozilla doesn't allow modified builds of Firefox meant to be distributed to be called "Firefox" or use Mozilla's trademarks (hence GNU IceWeasel/GNU IceCat), so F-Droid used Mozilla's internal project name and logo from before they renamed it "Firefox for Android", which Mozilla left open for use.
Gotcha, thanks!
Having recently had a new phone that I've set up based on the rule that if I don't find myself needing it, I don't install it, I've discovered I don't actually have a lot of "essentials" other than the usual GSuite. I went a year and a half before realizing I hadn't installed Twitter.
Prey is an older app that I like, particularly because it enables me to have a lot of control in the situation where I lose my phone or have it stolen. It's not an app you need, it's a security net for if you ever do need it.
That said, I always like seeing good SSH clients mentioned. SSH is not something I would choose to do on my phone over something with a physical keyboard, but it's great for if I ever need it, so thanks for the suggestion!
Signal, Bitwarden, LocalCast, AutoDesk Sketchbook, and Nova Launcher.
I used to root everything, but I've gotten old and cranky, so I satisfice with a "pure" Nexus phone.
OpenVPN - gets me back into the home network
NordVPN - cheap, well-tested, relatively large network, reliable Android client
Brave - see prior mentions above; it's fast and light, as well as ad-free (Dislike - often uses AMP search results for speed)
Fing, Ping & Net - similar tools with slightly different feature sets
OONIProbe - useful for finding out what carrier/wireless networks are blocking and detecting MITM risks
SpeedTest - does what it says on the tin
WiFi Analyzer - quick and dirty first-pass wireless network survey tool
NoRoot Firewall
Moon Reader - one of the better handheld readers out there, with excellent theming and file compatibiity
Telegram - not as well-validated for security as Signal, not FOSS, but I'm just using it to follow the Nature Magazine channel, not for secure chat
Terminal Emulator
AnkiDroid - flashcard review
Daylio - simple and efficient mood tracker
Insight Timer - excellent meditation application with decent freemium features and communities.
Gardenate - great tool for determining what garden vegetables to plant when, customizable for growing zones, garden tracking, wishlist
Gastrograph - most interesting "tasting notes" app I've found, can track across beer, wine, cigars, food, coffee, etc.
Daylio is an app concept I hadn't considered until now. Thanks for mentioning it!
Misc:
I really want to expound on how much I love MessageEase. The 2 grid 9-key/swipe system means that I can have a full set of letters, numbers, and symbols on the screen at once, with fast unambiguous selection without any explicit mode/layer switching. This includes Ctrl and Esc keys, which are seamlessly understood by my ssh client, making it possible to actually use the full set of terminal apps on my linux server, even (especially) including normal GNU readline shortcuts like Ctrl-U/P/N/K/Y etc, and make my way around tmux and even emacs in a pinch.
That's on top of just being a fantastic way to quickly input normal text.
I installed it as per your recommendation.
This is going to take a while...
It is definitely a bit of an adjustment, and I've been using it so long that it's easy for me to forget how weird it felt at the beginning.
If the 2-grid layout makes the keys too small, you can swipe up or down on the "hand" icon to expand to a single 9-grid which takes up a bit less than half the screen. There's also a simple typing game to help practice with.
+1 to trying this out. I've been frustrated with typing on a phone lately, so I guess the time is right to try something new. I like the little games they have to help learn; a few minutes in and I can remember where the main 9 letters are, though learning the rest of the alphabet is going to take a while. :)
I don't remember how obvious they make everything during the tutorial or training, so here's a few particularly useful tricks that I use all the time:
ikey or down from theskey acts like the up and down arrow keysAll great info, thanks! I only read the basics that the app shows after the setup so I haven't seen any of these before.
Fing, Signal, Lichess, chess.com, Droidfish, VLC, IPVanish mobile app, Proton Mail mobile
the two apps I find as a must for me personally are -
Tasker - This one had a somewhat steep learning curve, thankfully it's been simplified a ton.
Solid explorer - If you have root access this becomes even better, but I haven't rooted a device for a few years now.
My additions that I didn't see covered by others:
*Smart Audiobook Player
*Desert Golfing
*SleepTimer
*Authenticator+
The free version of Automatic Call Recorder does exactly what it says, although I've only tested it on calls using the speakerphone. Very handy when having to deal with various customer service departments.
Overall, I keep it pretty light on my trusty Nexus 5X: Gmail, Google Maps, the Kindle app, and WSOP (poker) are pretty much all I use away from home.
Brave - a Chromium-based browser with built-in adblocking.
GoneMAD - the only music player I could find with both support for Opus files and a UI I don't hate.
Standard Notes - the best note-taking / todo app I've found, after trying seemingly all of them. Excellent balance between being minimalistic but without being so minimalistic it's crippled. It syncs between my phone and the webapp, but with client-side encryption so they're kept reasonably secure.
Signal - off-the-record messaging, also with excellent support for syncing messages between phone and desktop.
What I use the most:
Nova launcher
Swiftly switch
Swiftkey
Firefox
WhatsApp
Hermit
Goggle maps
Relay for reddit
Simple gallery
Solid explorer
For me I use BubbleUPnP around the house. Bitwarden for passwords. For games, Simon Tatham's Puzzles. The others have been listed (VNC, AdAway, etc).
Another thing I should mention about Android is changing ro.sf.lcd_density in build.prop. I always like to shrink the UI down to about 65% or so. Its not for everybody, but if your eyes are good and you want some extra real estate, its a good method.
I want to ask someone in here instead of making a new thread. I see a lot of people on Android forums talking about launchers, especially Nova Launcher. Could someone explain this to me? I feel like I'm missing out but it also seems very confusing to me and unnecessary.
If you'd like to fully customize how you interact with your phone then Nova Launcher is the go to. Some people utilize Nova to get closer to the "stock" Android experience if they are using models that aren't Google's Pixel/Nexus line of phones. Others like to "theme" their phone so all of the icons are similar like this.
That being said, if you think it's unnecessary that's because it is. No harm in trying it out though! That's one of the best Android features - the customization.
I do like more customization options, but I don't feel particularly lacking in the base model (I have a Galaxy S8).
If you're happy with how your launcher looks and works, then there's not a whole lot that switching to another launcher would get you. If you know where all your apps / widgets are and don't have trouble or delay in getting around your phone, then you're fine without switching.
If you were interested in getting into that area of customization, then Nova is a wonderful place to start (as it's where most end up staying with).
Telegram X
Sync Pro (Reddit)
Firefox Focus
"Weather"
MyRadar
Coinbase
Authenticator +
IFTT
Just curious, but why did you choose Telegram X over the official Telegram app?
Weather Timeline - I prefer this over the official Dark Sky app
Terrarium TV - For streaming Letterkenny, because Hulu only has the first 2 seasons
FeedMe or Readably - for Inoreader
Pocketcasts - If somebody thinks they have a better alternative I'm open to it, Pocketcasts is missing some features that I'd like.
Lawnchair - Nice lightweight launcher
Mixel - Fancy cocktails are my one remaining luxury now that I've got my darling 10 month old. This app is the best. You tell it the ingredients you have and it tells you all the cocktails you can make. It also suggests new ingredients based on how many more cocktails you could make with it.
Edit: Boost for Reddit. I've tried every single other reddit app, this is the only one that does exactly what I want. Joey and Sync for reddit are close behind though.