These alternatives to Google's default on Android are feature-rich and privacy-focused
- Fossify
- Material Files
- Aegis
- F-Droid
- Next Player
5 open-source Android apps that put Google's defaults to shame
https://www.makeuseof.com/open-source-android-apps-better-than-google-defaults/
41 Comments
Beacon@fedia.io · 60 pts · 244d
It would be helpful if you would put in parentheses what each app is, like a word processor or whatever, because without that it's just a list of random words
hitmyspot@aussie.zone · 35 pts · 244d
Not unless you already use them. Then it's a confirmation bias list that is functionally useless to you!
BurgerBaron@piefed.social · 7 pts · 244d
Hey, that's me!
Blaze@piefed.zip · 3 pts · 244d
Descriptions and explanations are found in the article, the bullet list is mostly to avoid people whose already know them to click
morto@piefed.social · 34 pts · 245d
Newpipe also puts the default one to shame! No ads and works smooth even on very old phones. But I guess they couldn't write about it in the article, because it infringes a few terms of services lol
Edit: I followed a reply comment and saw a different icon and clicked it out of curiosity, so I ended reacting to myself and I can't find a way to undo this. Don't mind my self reaction >.<
Lfrith@lemmy.ca · 25 pts · 244d
victorz@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 244d
Are those features you mentioned here present in PipePipe but not in NewPipe?
Lfrith@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 244d
victorz@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 244d
Okay, thanks!
TheFrirish@tarte.nuage-libre.fr · 3 pts · 245d
It’s by far the app I miss the most from Android. I wish iOS had that app.
db2@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 245d
F-DroidDroid-ifyfleem@piefed.zeromedia.vip · 4 pts · 245d
oh??
dumbass@piefed.social · 11 pts · 245d
F-droid, but prettier.
AndrewZabar@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 244d
It is a little better, I’ll agree with this. I usually end up just using Droidify. I’ve tried pretty much all the variations eg: Foxy, Neo, Izzy (good repo, bad app; can’t shut off checking for updates), etc.
freddo@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 244d
Fdroid (basic at least) is pretty decent these days.
fodor@lemmy.zip · 20 pts · 245d
I use F-Droid apps for almost everything be cause they are better for almost everything. It really is that simple. (Obviously your mileage may vary; we all use our devices in different ways.)
limerod@reddthat.com · 16 pts · 245d
If you use a password manager like keepassDX. It can save authcodes
digger@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 245d
Holy cow! I've been using DX for years and never knew this.
AndrewZabar@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 244d
Material files is alright, but if you’re going to accept some serious limitations of under-developed features, I’d stick with Total Commander.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 2 pts · 244d
Ghost commander also good. It did transfers that made fossify file manager crash.
AndrewZabar@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 244d
It's an interesting app. I kinda like it a don't at the same time. It has a lot to offer, but needs some polishing.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 2 pts · 244d
The lack of polish is part of the charm for me. I always thought all the commander style programs looked kinda bad, in the good function over form kind of way.
AndrewZabar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 242d
Well I don't mean aesthetics, its just buttons and layout are a bit awkward. And other aspects. I can check and see what exactly bothers me so I can follow up with specifics.
ikidd@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 244d
K9 Mail
hamsterkill@lemmy.sdf.org · 11 pts · 244d
That's now Thunderbird.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 0 pts · 244d
Is mozilla gonna inject ai into the birdie too?
Turret3857@infosec.pub · 6 pts · 244d
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 244d
Is this better than Spark?
I went to spark after Google killed inbox and spark basically replicated the inbox UI 1 to 1
ikidd@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 244d
K9 is more of a mail client than a web interface. It'll do multiple accounts and present a unified inbox.
DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 244d
Spark is also a mail client
TheLastOfHisName@piefed.social · 6 pts · 245d
AndrewZabar@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 244d
I’ve tried all the galleries and Aves Libre is the one I have consistently found superior to all others.
TheLastOfHisName@piefed.social · 1 pts · 244d
ByteMe@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 245d
Wikireader and tomato really put google into shame. Way too good of apps and an example on how to design m3 expressive
victorz@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 244d
What is Tomato? Some kind of Pomodoro app?
ByteMe@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 244d
Yes
victorz@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 244d
Thanks
MasterBlaster@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 245d
Interesting. What makes Aegis special? I got FreeOTP way back and never saw a reason to try anything else.
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub · 10 pts · 245d
Might be personal preference. I like the UI better, the ability to easily transfer authcodes from one device to another, The micro vibrations when the timer is about to run out, and the ability to PIN lock the app directly from the app and using a separate PIN.
Ephera@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 245d
It's mainly just a nicely polished app with rather many optional features and settings.
But well, at the end of the day, it does still just show a list of 6-digit-numbers, so it's not revolutionarily different either...
muntedcrocodile@hilariouschaos.com · 3 pts · 244d
How does material files differ from the GrapheneOS files application cos they look pretty much identical. Is gos's file explorer just a fork?
manxu@piefed.social · 2 pts · 244d
I have a Poco phone and I pretty much use only open source apps for basic functionality at this point. I think I have about a dozen I use daily, from Fossify to dialer. Once the Xiaomi calculator wanted to have Internet access, it was over. Maybe I can't uninstall the default apps, but I definitely don't have to use them.
And what do you know the open source apps outperform Google and Xiaomi, all the time. The only thing I find lacking is some kind of curation that tells me if an app has been updated recently, how many downloads it's had in the past month or year, and how many deletions. It took a while to figure out what apps still work on modern Android versions.
MrSoup@lemmy.zip · -1 pts · 245d
Mauth > Aegis
n3ur0n@discuss.tchncs.de · 18 pts · 245d
Looks nice, but one should know that on the F-Droid page, the devs state:
MrSoup@lemmy.zip · -1 pts · 244d
I've been using it for years and never had issues.
Edit: downvoting for being an happy user?
victorz@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 244d
Still gonna follow the recommendation from the actual devs. 👍