So I just got a Moto Razr and am going to start setting it up. I’ve been outside of the android ecosystem for a long time. Can I get some recommendations for anything and everything? I recently read the Nova launcher has gotten much worse since I last used it. I’m also not sure if I should do a launcher or just use the base OS. I know that there are loads of articles out there, but I’m getting really tired of wading through AI gen articles and would love your personal experience.

Thanks in advance!

  • PaupersSerenade@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    Ah yeah, I do need the banking apps unfortunately. I used to love tinkering, and love this fresh start, but it is a learning curve as I get older. Do you have a preferred method of sideloading? Appreciate you responding BTW

    • Auster@thebrainbin.org
      1·
      3 days ago

      For “sideloading”, I don’t have much of a preferred method, going mainly by what I can find that works.

      But aside from the aforementioned Itchio and F-Droid, I also use git-based services like Github, game stores and Patreon-like sites if/when they have Android contents, through Aurora Store if the program is on Google Play only and either I paid for ir already or it’s free, and some times I even download the apps directly from the Play Store from another device, generating an APK from it with an appropriate tool and moving to my main phone, which uses a vanilla system.

      Also I back up everything I can, and test them in both my main phone while in airplane mode, and in a virtual machine running BlissOS 15 (Android ported to the x86 architecture).

      • pkjqpg1h@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        I even download the apps directly from the Play Store from another device, generating an APK from it with an appropriate tool and moving to my main phone, which uses a vanilla system.

        What? Why? There is many untouched app distrubitors (apkpure, apkmirror…) and you can evem be 100% sure by checking hashes

        • Auster@thebrainbin.org
          1·
          2 days ago

          Some times for praticality, others for testing certain elements, others because there are device-specific builds.