I will start with the low hanging fruit. Applications that you probably already use or can
switch to in 5 to 10 minutes.
Then apps that need a bit more time and fiddling to set up.
And the last one is actually setting up a little home server...
Firefox 🇺🇸, yeah we all know this one.
Tip: plugins can make your browsing experience a lot smoother. Like an AddBlocker so you don't get scam ads anymore.
Ecosia Browser 🇩🇪, is a German initiative.
It also has settings to limit adds. In my experiance the browser works nice on my phone but unfortunately the browser is not available for Linux.
In Firefox it is easy to switch to another search engine. I use Ecosia now and am very happy with it.
In the browser I just use the DuckDuck translate.
On the phone I like DeepL 🇩🇪. It also works for pictures.
You can use it without an account. BUT then you do need to be online.
Offline translations/glossary is behind a paywall.
Fdroid 🇬🇧 for the real open source stuff. Generally if I need a simple app I try to find it here first.
Like a calculator, tracking weight or food diary, super simple note apps, basic gallery for your photo's, weather.
Aurora store 🇮🇳 for all your android needs. It even has banking apps. You can install it trough Fdroid.
You can make an account with them so when you get a new phone,
reinstall Aurora and login, it will be easier to reinstall your apps.
Or you can use Aurora anonymously.
Tip: keep a list of all the apps you like (and from which store/website they originate) but not on your phone. Just in case of phone death.
"HERE WeGo: Maps & Navigation" from HERE Europe B.V. for car navigation (also has flitsers 📸)
OsmAnd~ 🇳🇱 for hiking, biking etc (best install via FDroid)
Ente Auth 🇮🇳. It is encrypted so VERY IMPORTANT to remember your login and have the backup codes somewhere save!
In order to migrate from you Google authenticator you need another phone (like from a friend) to take a picture of ONE Qr code.
Then scan that Qr code picture with Ente Auth on your own device.
For work we need to use a password manager and this switch made me realize it might not be the most secure to have passwords stored on a server in some random country.
So, taking back control by using KeePassXC 🇩🇪.
This does come at the expense of convenience. The autofill from firefox was sooooo convenient! But in this app you do need to fidel with settings, add a plugin to your browser and... learn a keyboard shortcut😱!
But I am willing to learn (need to for work anyway).
on the phone I use LibreTube 🇩🇪. And on Ubuntu I use FreeTube.
FreeTube on the phone did not work. The same error sometimes occurs on Ubuntu but a reload fixes it.
Both Free- and LibreTube block adds and have sponsorship-skip. You can enable this somewhere in the Settings.
You can export subscriptions and history from you Google account and import it in those.[find a vid that goes true this]
The playlists and history do not sinc but I really don't care about that. I just watch my subscriptions.
I have just started using Proton 🇨🇠seems a good and easy alternative.
Do note that its only 1GB so don't start using it as a drive...
But if I am happy with the service I am ok starting to pay for a good service. FOSS will become OSS but I am not hosting my own email server.
There are soooo many calendar apps, and all work fine for me. So I am gona use the one that comes with Proton.
I will need to test how easy it is to make a shared calendar or share events.
And if you don't need to share anything a paper one can work really well too.
There are soooo many task apps.
Or you can just use paper but I love how with digital you can make them recurring, get reminders etc.
I only need it on my phone so I use Tasks 🇺🇸 (Fdroid). They have a nice widget. And it offers to import tasks from google.
I did find out it integrates with NextCloud but I really don't need it to sinc with anything. A backup now an then is fine.
Joplin (my notes app) also has tasks but no widgets which makes it unusable for me.
I just don't open an app with the mindset of "ah lets take a look at which boring chores I need to do today".
But I guess a list on the fridge would do the same job and is sharable with the household without a cloud... plus, it looks cute.
I like using a time tracker for work. This makes reporting at the end of the week easy and
gives an indication about how long certain tasks give me.
TimeTagger 🇳🇱 is simple. Has a good report thingy. I host it locally. Thats all I need.
Now this is the hard one... remember how, on the home page, I was like 'setting up a server is to hard'.. Welp I did it anyways.
I got recommended NextCloud 🇩🇪. And ow boy, a whole world opened up to me!
It's like Google Drive and Teams combined! But also MORE. I also use it for Photo's. It has a calendar too...and whiteboard 🤯
And notes. (but I really like Joplin)
A lot of stuff to discover and try with NextCloud!
So I set up a Debian server on an old white laptop.
Installed NextCloud and now every-time I get home my
pictures and other stuff are safely backup-ed to my cute little home server.
After the holidays I kinda needed to loose some weight and next to upping my workouts I needed to track my calories.
OpenNutriTracker 🇩🇪 As with every tracker it is a hassle in the beginning. But the barcode scanner is surprisingly good! Otherwise it is minimalistic, you can copy meals from previous days and add custom foods.
It tracks only the macro's. You can play with the macro goals and that all. But simplicity in these kinds of chores is a good thing.
Yeah, no didn't find anything. Just send a message.