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.
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Thanks for that debloat link, that’s super useful!
Me too, going to look into this one!
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.
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
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.
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
So many great apps and I see several familiar friends. Have you found a way to have Jerboa send youtube links to NewPipe rather than default to the native youtube app? I am sure there is a easy way that I just don’t know.
Another way is to just disable to stock YouTube app. Then all YouTube links should open in NewPipe.
If you don’t have an open by default setting on your phone, follow these steps:
- Install the app ‘Hidden Settings for MIUI’
- Open it and go to ‘Manage Applications’
- Select ‘NewPipe’
- Click ‘Advanced’
- Select ‘Open by default’
- For ‘open support links’ select ‘open’. For ‘supported links’ select ‘open youtu.be and other URLs’
Anytime you click a YouTube link it will now open in NewPipe, no matter what app you’re in.
It will be somewhere in settings-> default app-> opening links
sideloading is a whole thing on android. don’t like the options that the play store gives you ? fdroid has your back
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!
I used lawnchair for years as a launcher, allowed for excellent customisation and doesn’t require any root tinkering or custom roms.
I only stopped using it when I got a foldy-thingo and it didn’t support it as well as the stock launcher.
