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?
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I do not recommend getting attached to Reddit Is Fun, although it is a great app.
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.
Thanks for that debloat link, that’s super useful!
ReVanced also for a more stock youtube app with adblock and sponsorblock, and return youtube dislikes
Me too, going to look into this one!
I did it last night and it was super simple and straightforward!
sideloading is a whole thing on android. don’t like the options that the play store gives you ? fdroid has your back
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.
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.
Looks like a more cluttered version of KISS Launcher
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?
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.
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.
Is it subscription based? Or a one time payment to unlock pro?
Both - $12.90nzd/yr or $41.90 outright
Thank you!
agreed, highly recommend for anyone reading this thread who hasn’t tried it yet. it’s one of the main reasons i can never switch to ios
cant really say whats essential as thats on a per user basis, but stuff that has made my experience enjoyable include f-droid, aurora store, and youtube revanced.
I second f-droid. It’s really good!
I’m using NewPipe for a YouTube replacement, but I hear good things about ReVanced!
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.
do you mean a custom lockscreen ? is that a thing ? is it actually good at keeping the phone locked ?
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.
Yeah, I see that launchers are way more common now! Got any you’d recommend?
neo launcher and lawnchair are the two open source options, I don’t think I could justify using a proprietary piece of software for something that should be so simple.
Oooh thanks for lawnchair, that’s great!
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?
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
