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!
After using iOS for around 3 years and going back to Android, Android has more simple, pragmatic and free apps.
I like droidify as a store for FOSS apps (comes with several repos enabled by default, including F-Droid and Izzy).
For the basics: Breezy Weather for weather, CoMaps for navigation, Markor or Fossify Notes for notes, Aegis for 2FA, Gadgetbridge for smartwatch.
As for launchers, people like Niagara, but it’s subscription for the pro version. Lawnchair is a classic-style customizable launcher. Other mainsteam apps are pretty much the same as iOS.
I appreciate it! Especially the store recommendation, because wow trying to use the stock store is crazy for me right now. If you switched recently do you mind me asking how you migrated all the saved passwords and such?
I use Sync in Firefox to sync favorites and site passwords, but outside of that, I usually start clean. Sometimes I need to manually copy notes, 2FA keys or such, but mostly I set things up as I need them.
I use most of Fossify apps I like their simplicity
Biggest recommendation is to install the F-droid app store. Not just because foss ideology, but like, it’s just a great first place to look for any type of app first. Especially simple things like podcast players. The apps may not be as fully featured, but they’re free, ad free, and typically no bs.
Minimalism is better.
Most important software choices:
Browser: Firefox or it’s forks (install uBlock Origin for blocking ads, trackers, annoyances…)
F-Droid Client: F-Droid Basic or Droid-ify
Then if you need something just search on F-Droid it’s repository is really good.
When you search on F-Droid maybe you’ll find 10 alternative you can eliminate the unactive apps and you can look their source code repository to see how active they are and you will find ~3 application just choose one and if you don’t like you can change easily just don’t overthink.
If you have some other question/help Lemmy is a good place for that.
Also for other recommendations you can check out https://fmhy.net/mobile
I’d disagree on Firefox. It’s just so much slower than Chromium on Android, and burns more power.
Of course don’t use Google Chrome, but look into forks like Cromite.
My experience with Firefox on Android is very different from yours. I also recommend Firefox with uBlock
I don’t know performance issues is gone for me (147.0.3)
btw Fennec and Ironfox is much slower than Firefox for Android
maybe you can give a second chance :)
If you like Terminals you’ll love Termux
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)
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
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
It’s performance is very bad. I don’t suggest IronFox.
I dont have any complaints. I’ll trade a little performance for a bit more security/privacy
Good choice 👍
This is amazing! Thank you so, so much!
No problem!
DO NOT TRUST APPS.
iOS is more strict about “reining in” apps that burn battery tracking/spamming you in the background, but (last time I used it) Android is more unruly. Restrict permissions and backgrounding for everything unless it’s absolutely essential.
linksheet nightly + set default browser to linksheet nightly to restore the true browser choice screen
neostore/fdroid for alternative apps
aurora store for alternative google play
install revanced manager and patch youtube and youtube music
install ffupdater
install obtanium
lawnchair nightly is a great launcher alternativeto nova
The alternate Google Play is so needed, thanks a ton for that recommendation in particular!
Just start with the base launcher. They’re all decent nowadays. If you really want to change it after a while Lawnchair is one of the favorites.
Really though each side is more and more similar. It’s a phone, it isn’t all that different anymore. Phones are boring now.
With the Razr I will say get in the habit of using the outside screen as much as possible.
Thanks, that was what I was thinking. I’m looking forward to getting used to both the new OS and the hardware side of the second outside screen
Just use the phone as it is, and only look for options if there’s something specific that you want it to do.
Exactly, internet loves listing things but usally we don’t need most of things
That’s what I’m doing now, and I appreciate the second on it
For YouTube with no ads, download revanced manager and use it to patch a YouTube apk. I believe the current recommended version is v20.14.43. Use microG to log in to your account.
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/youtube/youtube-20-14-43-release/
Or, newpipe via fdroid works well for yt as well.
I think it’s better than official client.
yt blocked my IP address for newpipe after 5 videos, I cant use it without a VPN anymore.
If you want to go for privacy, specifically through using a “vanilla” system (as close to the base Android as possible, at most with some FOSS apps), you’ll lose some stuff, like most banking apps, since those usually require Google Services.
Also though the main app source for Android is Google’s Play Store, you can find some useful stuff on places like F-Droid (for utilities from my experience) and Itchio (for games in my experience). There’s some more places but they’re usually much smaller or not as easy to sort by Android.
I have a bias that favours tinkering systems, so if you’d be curious about something different or if I use some jargon you don’t know, please do point out.
You can use microG for apps that require Google Services, I’m using it for 6 months with no problem at all.
From what I understand, that’s still problematic for privacy. A bit more containerized, sure, but still having to make calls to Google.
Wiki: https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Google-Network-Connections
…For all of them, we strip device identifier (MAC addresses, IMEI, etc) from requests where they normally would be (and if required use random but valid identifiers instead).
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
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).
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
Some times for praticality, others for testing certain elements, others because there are device-specific builds.
Not sure what launcher Moto Razr uses, but in case it is a typical AOSP-like launcher that the other models use (I have used moto Z, mot g 5g+, g85) then you might want to keep it. It is fine as is.
Set up Smart Connect if you like its functionality. Enable Quick Share and maybe Smart tag tracking. Check out gestures and customizations in Moto app. Chop for flashlight and twist for fast camera are my favorites. Been using those since the first motorola I had.
As for apps, Firefox with uBO extention, YT music revanced and YT revanced is a must. Maybe set DNS resolver to something like dns.adguard.com to filter out ads. For Lemmy I suggest Thunder. If you use Linux with KDE, KDE Connect is also quite a tool to have. Other ones choose be by taste.
For a yt music app, you can also use metrolist.
I have been using https://apt.izzysoft.de/packages/de.mm20.launcher2.release , I really like their search functionality. There is also the famous lawnchair https://apt.izzysoft.de/packages/app.lawnchair which is kind of the default FOSS launcher nowadays.
I didn’t get if you’re using the preinstalled OS or trying to install a custom ROM? It makes quite the big difference for recommendations
Right now I’m using the stock Moto launcher.
I’m currently a fan of YAM Launcher. I seem to change my launcher every few years, just to mix things up a little. I’ve been using YAML for over a year now and I don’t really think about it. Minimalist, nothing flashy going on, just works.
wow there is many many unlauncher clones is there (both F-Droid and Play Store) I guess people really need to quit screen addiction
