If you have an older Android phone, and OS updates / manufacturer bloatware are making it unusable, the Simple Mobile Tools apps are awesome. They're on the Play store but I installed them from F-droid. Replacements for all the simple utilities (gallery, contacts, file manager, SMS, etc.) that are as light weight / fast as those things should be and don't spy on you. The only one that didn't work great for me was the Dialer because of how it interacted with my carrier's voicemail.
Also from F-droid: the Unlauncher launcher (no icons or eye candy, so it reduces the neurochemical payoff from mindlessly swiping around your home screens) and PersonalDNSFilter (uses the Android VPN API to do DNS filtering and ad-blocking - not just on the web, but also in apps!)
Same. Got tired of the "%s wOn'T rUn WiThOuT gOoGlE pLaY sErViCeS" crap.
FYI: With older posts being delisted (or whatever) you might want to copy/paste what you get here somewhere else as this post won't be searchable after a few months.
Oh really? I have an old Android phone, and it's a constant struggle to keep from running out of memory. Other than that, the phone works perfectly fine, so I don't want to replace it.
Replace as many things as you can with lightweight open source alternatives from F-droid. Launcher and keyboard make a big difference.
Cool, thanks! I'm a total boomer when it comes to things like this, so I'm perpetually stuck in the land of "there's probably a better way, but I'm not sure I won't accidentally download something malicious instead of the fix I think I've found."
I should be clearer, if you switch to lightweight apps it'll make your phone feel faster. If you are running out of space, there isn't much to do about that, unless you're able to find more efficient replacements for apps you're able to uninstall. A lot of the apps that these ones replace are 'system' apps and uninstallable. But they definitely run better on old hardware.
If it's a really old phone you might be able to root the phone and/or install a more suitable custom ROM version of Android on it, which would give you more power to delete bloatware crap. You'd want somebody knowledgeable to help you with that in person though.
Ngl over the last couple years all the apps I really liked have degraded.
Overcast for podcasts, I love its interface and it has a “smart speed” setting that shortens silences, and probably cuts down the length of most shows by like 2-3%, which isn’t a lot but it’s saved me like 3 full days of time now. But it’s been glitchy and crashing recently, but that may be a “my phone” problem.
Fantastical is really nice for a calendar, but it used to be better before apple changed how widgets work and they got a major update. Now it’s still good but harder to use
For fantastical I do think that’s the reason, they introduced a premium version that cut a bunch of features and made it worse
Overcast I think it’s just the inevitable march of time and iOS updates weighing on it more over time :sadness:
Newpipe with Sponsorblock. Sometimes YouTube breaks it for a couple days, but 99% of the time it's the best way to watch/listen to Youtube (and also Soundcloud).
F-Droid. I don't use the play store anymore, it slows down my more obsolete devices and is obnoxious as all hell.
All Android suggestions
- ReVanced is a modded YouTube client that provides a ton of options like removing ads, not using the shorts players, hiding community posts, enabling background/pip/lockscreen play, integrating Sponsorblock and Return YouTube Dislike
- Voice Audiobook Player is my audiobook player of choice. It's pretty vanilla but suits all of my needs
- AntennaPod for podcasts
- Aniyomi for comics/manga/anime
- Xtra as my preferred Twitch client
- Lithium for my e-book reader
Tachiyomi. Best FOSS manga reader there is. Makes piracy incredibly easy.
There is a nice exercise tracker called FitNotes that I got from F-Droid. It really helps me track my progress over time
