Kia ora!

I’ve been an ios user for 100 years at this point, but used to be deep in the android scene before then. I’ve just got an android for a work phone and am wondering what’s changed in the last 10 years - what are your essential apps, settings, customisations? I’ve had a hunt around xda but can’t seem to find much in the way of roms for my model (Samsung A04) - back in the day it seemed there was a thread for every device!

What do I need to know?

  • Andy@programming.devEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    Some of my favorites:

    • Launcher: Niagara
    • Rom: LineageOS
    • Browser: Firefox (with DarkReader and uBlock Origin)
    • Reddit: Relay (is this ending?)
    • HackerNews: Harmonic
    • Lemmy: Jerboa (haven’t tried alternatives)
    • Podcasts: AntennaPod (haven’t tried much else)
    • Identify stuff: LeafSnap (plants), SoundHound, Merlin (birds!)
    • Books: Moon+ Reader Pro
    • Barcodes: Catima
    • Computer stuff: KDE Connect
    • File stuff: Material Files and ZArchiver
    • TTS: @Voice Aloud Reader
    • Passwords: Bitwarden
    • Icons: Crayon or Viral
    • Keyboards: MS SwiftKey, maybe someday FlorisBoard, sometimes Hacker’s Keyboard
    • Scrobbles: Simple Scrobbler
    • Video: VLC and NewPipe
    • Weather: Weawow

    EDITS:

    • Lemmy: Liftoff
    • Chat: Telegram
    • Email: Delta Chat?
    • agegamon@beehaw.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Plant.Net is also good for plant id, though I like leafsnap as well. Better than trying to use Google lens on them.

      Relay I think is still up in the air. It’s either shutting down OR going paid subscription, which, despite how good Relay is, would be a deal-killer for me - but I don’t blame DBrady (the dev) for that, I blame reddit

  • J_C___@lemmy.placeEnglish
    2·
    2 years ago

    I’m interested to hear what others say but I’ll throw in my two cents

    • Nova launcher is still king
    • Fdroid store for open source apks
    • Newpipe app -> disable YouTube
  • VirtualBriefcase@lemmy.fmhy.mlEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    Google’s a much bigger part of the ecosystem by default. Used to be the Google app store was a selling feature, now Google is integrated into pretty much every device (and has contracts with manufacturers to force that).

    It’s also, like Shortwavefilter mentioned, much harder to root or flash a devices.

    Though the AOSP has gotten better in ways too. It’s gotten a lot better hardening, and still is fairly open (e.g custom app stores added one click).

    Last, there’s still plenty of bloat pre-installed on some brands, but I think that was the case a decade ago as well if my memory is correct.

    Honestly I can’t think of too many essential settings or apps that’d be a necessity for everyone. Usually I’d say change privacy settings and disabled as much bloat if you’re not using a ROM; but that might not be applicable if you’re on a work phone. Apps wise, I’d say stick to open source if you can for the basic offline utilities -F-Droid is great for that if you’re allowed to install it.

  • okiloki@feddit.deEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    You can add a private DNS in the settings. It’ll allow you to have a dns level ad blocking experience without having to use any of the dubious ad blocking apps. You also don’t need root or a VPN.

    I’m using my own dns server, but keep in mind that it needs to support DoT. You can’t just enter any IP, because of the certificate check (the dns requests are encrypted using TLS).

    dns.adguard.com works, but as is the case with all dns services, they will be able to see every domain you access. So keep that in mind.

  • araly@beehaw.orgEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    sideloading is a whole thing on android. don’t like the options that the play store gives you ? fdroid has your back

  • Communist@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    You need good lock, it changes the game for customization, it’s the reason I no longer feel the need to do custom roms

    You also need to use adb to remove all the bloat.

    • araly@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      do you mean a custom lockscreen ? is that a thing ? is it actually good at keeping the phone locked ?

      • Communist@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        No, goodlock is a samsung thing that just has a bunch of general customizations for the OS meant for power users.

        There are no good custom lock screens.

  • Helvedeshunden@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    Niagara Launcher is the coolest thing I’ve seen happen for mobile interfaces since the first touch interface. It is so clean and well-designed, it makes everything else in iOS and Android look like a cluttery mess - all while adapting to what you need and offering quick access to everything on the phone.

    • dan@upvote.auEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      Is it better than Nova? I’ve been using Nova for as long as I can remember.

      • bugsmith@beehaw.orgEnglish
        0·
        2 years ago

        It’s completely different to Nova, and any other drawer based launcher. It has a free version so you can check it out. Personally, I don’t like it but I totally get the appeal.

        Nova was recently bought out by an ad company, so if that’s not something you like then you might check out some FOSS alternatives such as Lawnchair or Neo Launcher (both are currently in development and less feature-rich than Nova though).

    • Deebster@beehaw.orgEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      I’m trying it now - I like it but there are a few confusing choices, like how you can only have one widget visible at once.

      How do you access the shortcuts that would normally be placed on the home screen? I have some webapps and e.g. OpenVPN shortcuts that I currently can’t see.

    • jennifilm@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Oh, this is so neat, thank you! I’ve just had a play - especially for a work phone that has real specific uses, Niagara makes a lot of sense! Do you subscribe to pro? Have you found it useful?

      • Helvedeshunden@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        I do subscribe to Pro. Not really because it’s necessary, because the free version is already pretty great, but it offers a bit more customisation - and it is cheap. I really just wanted to support the devs more than anything.

        • Naate@beehaw.orgEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          I’ve been subscribed for a while. I don’t think I could ever go back to another launcher.

          Combined with Tapet for subtle geometric wallpapers, my home screen is a dream.

      • sup@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Is it subscription based? Or a one time payment to unlock pro?

  • dan@upvote.auEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    If you run your own Plex server, Plexamp is a fantastic music player. You do need to have a Plex Pass subscription or lifetime pass though.

    Aegis and Authenticator Pro are good choices for TOTP two-factor authentication. Both are free and open-source. Authenticator Pro supports WearOS which I like since I can get my 2FA codes on my watch. Aegis is very principled and don’t allow any non-open-source code in their project. I really respect that, but it does mean that they don’t support watches, as supporting WearOS requires using a closed-source SDK from Google.

    • Skyline@lemmy.cafe
      1·
      2 years ago

      F-Droid is great! The official client is not the most user-friendly, but Droidify is a great alternative.

      You can also look at Obtanium to download binaries straight from the applications’ developers instead of those built by F-Droid.

  • bbbhltz@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    A lot has been said, but I’ll repeat a few.

    • F-Droid (I use Droid-ify)
    • Debloat it https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater
    • Change the launcher and icons (lots of choices, I use Lawnchair with Arcticons or Delta)
    • Check out the different browsers
    • Check out the different keyboards
    • Get some key apps like Newpipe (or equivalent)
    • If the phone isn’t rooted, any changes can be reset by doing a factory reset, so you have nothing to lose but time.
  • Kresten@feddit.dkEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    On the topic of Android, am I the only one who dislikes the google pixel version of android UI?

    • Eddie@l.lucitt.comEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      I love how stock android looks but agree that it’s become too iPhone like. One UI has become a great balance!

    • Skyline@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      I don’t like it because it has become very iPhone-like in the bad ways, meaning it takes several clicks to do simple, common tasks. I much prefer Samsung’s OneUI for how easily accessible everything is.

      • Kresten@feddit.dkEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Yes! This trend towards reducing the UI because they assume their user can’t comprehend more “complex” words like “Customization”, “System settings”, “Advanced system settings”, instead just opting to remove the settings entirely, or hide them behind categories and stupid drag menus 🤷‍♀️