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!

  • sbird@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    I recently switched, here’s my mega list of awesome apps I found:

    app store: F-Droid (for most apps. Droid-ify is a nice client if you want that) / Obtainium (for the apps that aren’t on F-Droid) / Aurora Store (Google Play Store without needing a Google account)

    Browsers: Fennec (Firefox from F-Droid basically. Some people like IronFox for privacy reasons but I never used it), or if you want something based on Chromium, Cromite (I don’t use it as I like Firefox-based options and my custom launcher always asks whether I want to use private browsing or not with Cromite and not with Fennec and there is no option to disable this what)

    SMS messaging app + contacts: Connect You (lots of people also like Quik SMS)

    Dialer: Fossify Phone

    Calendar: Etar (Fossify is fine but less functional in my opinion)

    To Do List: Tasks(dot)org (syncing with Vikunja, which has support for CalDAV)

    Local music player: Auxio / Lotus / CuteMusic (they have different UIs depending on your preference. Currently using CuteMusic but it doesn’t remember your shuffle/loop preferences which is kind of stupid I think, so I might switch to back to Lotus)

    PDF reader: MJ PDF (very simple with no fluff)

    file explorer: Material Files (the best you can get)

    airdrop for everyone and a bit more: LocalSend (it’s cross platform, and there’s even a web version!)

    photo gallery: Aves Libre (nice UI and super functional too)

    clocks, timers, and alarms: Chrono (note the lack on an s, it’s got Material You theming and everything, very nice indeed)

    2FA: Aegis (found out recently that you can enable show the next code! Very cool. Make sure to download the aegis icon pack as it’s not installed by default)

    password manager: KeePassDX (I use KeePass on my computer, it only makes sense to use it here. If you use something like Bitwarden that also works)

    weather app: Breezy Weather (it’s so fun, you have a bunch of information as well as a pretty cool background that changes depending on the weather)

    custom launcher: Kvaesitso (search-based, it’s really good. If you want something more traditional lots of people like Lawnchair)

    podcasts: AntennaPod (material you, it simply works!)

    maps app: CoMaps (fork of Organic Maps because they weren’t listening to the community or something like that, and it’s already got a couple extra features over it. I also personally think the app icon looks nicer with the compass arrow. If you want something more feature rich OsmAnd has been suggested)

    Fediverse apps: Summit (Lemmy, what I’m using right now to type this!), Moshidon (Mastodon), and PeerTube (the official client works fine for me)

    YouTube client: LibreTube (Material You, looks really nice)

    calculator: yetCalc / CalcYou (Both have scientific calculator functions as well as unit conversion. CalcYou is fun since you can create graphs like Desmos!)

    email client: Thunderbird (or K-9 mail if you like red and dogs more than blue and birds)

    translator: Offline Translator (works really well, has OCR, fully offline!)

    document scanner: OSS Document Scanner (works well and looks nice)

    keyboard: HeliBoard (super customisable. I have a larger phone so I have the bottom padding increased. I was also able to switch the position of the special characters to be more similar to the iOS keyboard I’m familiar with! Make sure to enable the dynamic colours since it makes Heliboard look super nice)

    voice input for keyboard: FUTO Voice Input / Whisper (the FUTO one will install faster and is better if you only speak English, but Whisper will be better for multi lingual)

    DAV5x is used for CalDAV and CardDAV sync.

    RSS feeds: CapyReader / Feeder (I use the former since capybaras are cute)

    Signal client: Molly (Molly-FOSS is a version that doesn’t use Google’s notification systemm I like Molly, it works well and it’s got some additional features over the standard Signal client. It can be installed through F-Droid, while standard Signal requires using the Google Play Store / Aurora Store, which is another benefit for me since I like F-Droid)

    self-hosted stuff: Nextcloud, Immich (file and image backup respectively. I have already mentioned Vikunja with Tasks(dot)org)

    • sbird@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Additional tools that are the kind of thing you use occasionally but come in clutch:

      Image Toolbox: Has all the cropping, EXIF data editing, collaging, file format conversion, etx. you want (something like over 100 tools, hence “toolbox”)

      EtchDroid: Handy if you don’t have your laptop with you and need to flash an ISO to a USB drive

      App Manager: Nice to check the package names of each app when using ADB to uninstall bloat

      Termux: Terminal basically, I use it for occasionally sshing into my laptop server when I’m out (using Tailscale to access my local network)

      Fossify Voice Recorder: Neat if I want to record some audio clips

      Saber: I think this is more meant for Android tablets, since it’s for handwritten notes and diagrams. Occasionally useful if I need to draw a quick sketch for something

    • hellmo_luciferrari@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      As an IronFox user, I can say I quite like it. Its a good Firefox based browser. Left off where Mull ended. Glad it exists

      Also, may I suggest Thunder for Lemmy as well.

      I fully intend om trying Comaps.

      +1 for Aegis. Been using it for years.

      For SMS when I have to use it QUICK has been great

      Molly is fantastic too. I like that the database locks after a set time, I have mine 12 hours, but that’s a great feature to have. I also appreciate the notification system not relying on googles. I plan to setup unified push at some point too.

      Self hosted: nextcloud, immich both fantastic. I wish there wasn’t a restriction on sideloaded apps using Android auto because I’d love to use Tempo for Navidrome. Currently I use Symfonium.

      Sorry for it being out of order