I do not recommend getting attached to Reddit Is Fun, although it is a great app.
this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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Technology
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It still stings... I'm gonna miss that app
Infinity is still pretty good, and my understanding is that it could easily be updated to support the free individual API keys Reddit is supposedly going to still support.
I believe it would be against the ToS of Reddit to do so, so I would hold my breath for it...
I'm not really sure, to be honest. I guess I'll see what some of the Infinity people say. Even if it's not an option, I'm here on Lemmy.
Yeah the API limits are meant to be per client. So developing one client and then telling end users to go get their own API keys is going to cause problems. Potentially pulled from app stores and hit with lawsuits type problems.
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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
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sideloading is a whole thing on android. don't like the options that the play store gives you ? fdroid has your back
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?
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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.
I use DNS66
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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
Didn't Nova get sold to some analytics company? Not sure if that's who I'd trust with my launcher.
I personally wouldn't recommend a closed-source Launcher owned by a marketing/analytics company, especially if you're the kind of person to use F-Droid!
As a long lasring Nova launcer User: what other launcer would you reccomend with the Same Features?
Honestly I haven't found any that have as many features while also respecting me as a user so I've ended up sacrificing a little bit of customisation in exchange for security and privacy. I'm currently using NeoLauncher and it's pretty decent!
UGH that is awful.
Thanks for posting that. Goodbye Nova.
Are there any launchers that are recommended?
I ended up giving on custom launchers after that and going with what was included on the phone or custom rom. So not sure which ones are good alternatives.
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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.
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Is it better than Nova? I've been using Nova for as long as I can remember.
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Try out F-Droid! It's basically a more free and open version of the play store. Plenty of cool apps on there. Def worth checking out!
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!
F-droid and aurora store our great! I'd add xManager for Spotify, Wavelet, RethinkDNS, Mull, Bromite, Openboard, Frost, Aves. I like Insular as well so I can keep spammy apps kind of siloed off in a work profile. I keep my banking apps and shopping apps in Insular. I remember rooting android phones back in the day but I don't do that much tinkering anymore. The aforementioned apps do the trick!
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.
Thank you, that's super helpful! I'll have a hunt to disable bloat and have a play with adb if need be. I'm the one in charge so I can basically do what I like 😅
Well, any samsung with a snapdragon chip is pretty useless for ROMS. To ROM these days you need a Google Pixel (best supported), OnePlus (most models), or Motorola (some models).
Oh, that's interesting to hear, I had no idea!
The chinese brands are mostly good too, but they dont often support US carrier frequency bands.
LineageOS MicroG works pretty great on my Poco X3 NFC, so they're definitely not the only brands with good custom ROM support!
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For some privacy/security features: "Warden" allows you to block Trackers and Loggers on individual apps, if you have root. "TrackerControl" or "Rethink: DNS + Firewall" basically allow you to customize a Firewall and in the case of Rethink also offer a good DNS service. I basically see no ads anymore, even in other apps.
Edit: and definitely check out OSMAnd+. Theres a paid full version on the Playstore but the exact same version is for free on FDroid. I suggest the paid version to support them. Its by far the best Map+Navigation app i've used, although the public transport navigation doesnt work that well for me. In those cases i use Transportr.
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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.
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On the topic of Android, am I the only one who dislikes the google pixel version of android UI?
The skin on Google pixel is actually great. I call it a skin since it has significant differences to AOSP
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If you want to de Google then I recommend looking at grapheneos. I haven't yet tried it but I am deeply stuck in the Google ecosystem.
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