|
Some notes about Android Apps in general Malware: Not really an issue if you stick to the Google Play Store. Free: I mostly link to the paid version of apps below, but some of them have a free, more limited version available. Just search if you want to see. More apps: If you think this list is missing an app, or has an app that shouldn't be here, let me know! Mention it in thread, and PM me if I haven't gotten around to it. I can’t really think of any other notes! Oh, also: Android Tablet Thread, General Android thread, and Android gaming thread. RSS
Keyboards Google Keyboard is fine for most uses, but hey, you’re going to be using this constantly so you’d best find a fit.
Launchers Launchers control the home screen of your phone, which may be a bit underfeatured. If you like customizing your phone, check these out.
Wallpapers Watch out for device permissions when installing anything not listed here. This category has a high concentration of malware.
Widgets Widgets used to be a very strange beast on Android, with Zooper and UCCW widget maker thingamajigs taking over. They’re bitches to use, but have basically infinite flexibility for any widget you might want to make. With the advent of material design, there are actually some good native ones, though.
File Browsers You’d think it’s easy to get a file browser right. You’d be wrong.
Photo Gallery QuickPic used to be the top-most pick I think, but it got bought by some Chinese company that doesn’t have the best reputation. I don’t know much about this.
Camera apps
SMS/MMS Messaging What, not happy with the Galaxy SMS app’s pink bubbles and Comic Sans? Okay, fine, but be warned that some of these apps might have issues with MMS, depending on your carrier.
The Gmail app is pretty great, and almost certainly better than your manufacturer’s “Email” app. Still...
Alarms / Timers / Clocks Your phone has one preloaded that works just fine, but here are some others:
Website / Social Media Readers
Podcasts i swear, if one of you asks for any other recommendations, so help me God...
Media Players There is no silver bullet, but let me break some stuff down:
Weather
Finance
Lists / Notes / To-Dos
Administrative / Advanced
Security Don’t bother with anti virus crap.
Web Browsers
IRC
Other Crap
Credits to f#a# for putting the original version of this list together. Most of the comments belong to this person, not me. Thermopyle fucked around with this message at 18:58 on May 13, 2020 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 17:57 |
|
|
# ? May 13, 2024 08:14 |
|
Action launcher is great even if you're not a home screen power user. The ability to put a drawer of direct dial widgets on my phone icon makes it a lot easier to dial up people while driving without looking. The quick navigation app drawer takes a while to get used to but if you have a lot of games that you only play as time wasters it's a nice, efficient thing. I don't use the widget drawers that much (can you have the Gmail widget just use your whole inbox instead of just one folder?) but I'll use it for Fenix and Google News here and there. After loving Nova (since the Google launcher's default aspect ratio is bad on the note 5) the Action Launcher provides me just enough features to love it.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:06 |
|
This is an excellent list. I want to mention two alternative browsers that will let you block adds without root. Firefox Browser for Android works well and has a fully functioning add-in system, Ublock origin works with it. Lightning Web Browser + is a light weight browser with ad blocking and other features built in. I haven't used it personally though.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:13 |
|
What makes Fleksy better than SwiftKey?Thermopyle posted:Photo Gallery Piktures is pretty good.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:22 |
|
I'll add some heavy duty camera apps, for when Google Camera doesn't cut it: Manual Camera is a nice all-rounder, with a very polished UI, full manual controls and RAW capture. Use their compatibility checker to see which features your device supports before you buy. Camera FV-5 has some extra features like burst mode, timelapses and histograms, but can't match Manual Cameras level of polish. repiv fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:26 |
|
I use Winamp for my local music playing. I like using the android file system and being able to copy a load of tracks into a folder without futzing around with playlists. (It does not seem to be on the Play store anymore. just the wifi remote. You can still track it down, but I leave that up to you.) The ui is very simple and neat. I also dig VLC for Android for local video files and music files. I can't stand the google player for some reason and these guys just work well for me. Lonos Oboe fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:28 |
|
Pvt. Parts posted:Feature works fine for me. I guess you were expecting it to reload the every time you switch back to the app, right? Well, instead the option is actually 'Refresh on Start' and will reload when you arrive to the app after it not being in memory or whatever (i.e. after a reboot, after swiping it out of the multi-tasking screen, and I guess after it is pushed out of memory by other apps). Unless I'm missing something here I'll admit this isn't convenient at all. Oh well, reloading is just a swipe away. Ok, that's what I was suspecting it meant.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:34 |
|
Please put a link to the general Android and Android Games topics in OP, thx in advanced. I just thumbed through my app drawer for suggestions to add to the list. Here are some more apps that I'm pleased with or know enough other people are pleased with to mention:
Also a question. Does anybody know about a good volume manager, like Lux but for sound? In particular, I'd like my phone to be even quieter (without being completely silent, obv) than its lowest volume setting, so that I can occasionally view a quick link to a youtube video or whatever in a quiet place without disrupting the peace or breaking out my headphones. EDIT: Also, I asked this a long time ago but wasn't satisfied with the answer then and I'm hoping something has changed: Is there a good recommendation for a vault app that I can store sensitive photos or documents in, but still have accessible after a password entry? Ideally it would be an encrypted container that would mount as a virtual directory and then unmount on screen-lock, but I dunno how much of that requires root. Eikre fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:47 |
|
I've used Apex Launcher on a few devices (2013 N7 and 2015 Moto XP) and had no problems.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:51 |
|
I'd suggest Authy as a nicer alternative to Google Authenticator Also isnt ES explorer full of chinese spyware or something?
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:04 |
|
I would like to formally submit Minima for cool material-ish wallpapers, Cabinet BETA (no idea why it's still beta) for a decent file browser option, and I'd like to second Authy as another option for 2-factor-authentication. For Reddit, I think Slide for Reddit deserves mention too. Fake edit: Also, please add 8pen to the list of keyboards when they eventually release it for like the third time after two failed attempts. Mogomra fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:09 |
|
Skarsnik posted:Also isnt ES explorer full of chinese spyware or something? Is it?
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:16 |
|
It would be cool to explicitly say that poweramp is probably the best option if you don't want to have anything to do with cloud stuff, or have a non-cloud session for music apps.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:17 |
|
Great OP. The only thing I'd add is a note in the keyboard section that Google Keyboard usually is not the default keyboard that comes with (non-nexus) phones, and that it is good, not bad like the OEM keyboards. And a link to Google Keyboard on the play store (not a paid shill for Google, just like GK).
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:18 |
|
Listen Audiobook Player is my poo poo. Granular speed and volume controls, sync position over multiple devices, plus a great UI.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:22 |
|
Uthor posted:Is it? Eh, probably not (probably ) Sorry for the reddit link but its got most of the info https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/30rg0e/can_we_have_a_talk_about_es_file_explorer/cpv3lx9 Skarsnik fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 19:22 |
|
Skarsnik posted:I'd suggest Authy as a nicer alternative to Google Authenticator Given that requires you to let Authy handle two-factor stuff in the If you're going to cede control of your security to a third party without any vetting by a regulatory agency (like an accountant or lawyer would be vetted) or actual contingency measures available to you, just use SMS codes for two-factor. someone will inevitably have posted:But I lost my device / am out of Wi-Fi AND mobile coverage but still have Internet somehow / gremlins! Remember those panic codes you were supposed to put somewhere safe? dont be mean to me fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:06 |
|
Authy makes 2 factor convenient, and means I'm more likely to use it in as many places as possible. Its also pin protected so I'd say overall I'm more secure And yes I use lastpass. Please enlighten me as to why I shouldn't
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:17 |
|
Uthor posted:What makes Fleksy better than SwiftKey? As far as I can tell, nothing really, but its good and some people prefer it (not me). OP updated with the suggestions so far...
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:18 |
|
Thermopyle posted:As far as I can tell, nothing really, but its good and some people prefer it (not me). nice inclusions of vlc and plex. vlc is particularly useful to play some videos the default player just won't play
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:24 |
|
Authenticator plus is the paranoid authy. Syncs an encrypted database to either drive or Dropbox. Also does encrypted manual backup if that's more your thing.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:25 |
|
Eikre posted:
Also, Valve finally added a token generator to the mobile app for two-factor authentication, so there's some point to using it now.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:26 |
|
I am not happy with Steam at the moment, because I know from changing my e-mail account with them that they can perfectly well deliver two-factor codes by SMS but normally refuse to.Skarsnik posted:And yes I use lastpass. Please enlighten me as to why I shouldn't Long story short LastPass's people are bad at their jobs. dont be mean to me fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:26 |
|
Astrotrain posted:Authenticator plus is the paranoid authy. Syncs an encrypted database to either drive or Dropbox. Also does encrypted manual backup if that's more your thing. Hey, thats nifty. That's not very convincing to me without context about whether their security history is worse than you would expect for a company to be. I mean, every company has screwups, so saying "don't use LastPass because they've messed up" doesn't mean anything. I would literally not believe it if you told me that LP had never had issues. The real test is whether or not they've had breaches of user passwords. All security is a matter of tradeoffs...particularly the tradeoff of convenience vs security and AFAIK there is not a non-cloud-based password manager that is as convenient as LastPass.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:34 |
|
Month is another great calendar widget with great functionality. Tap the header, see the whole year (or open an app of your choice), check out moon cycles or event descriptions in the month view, and add events from the widget itself. Good job, you did it!
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:34 |
|
Breached, but it doesn't sound like credentials were exposed? I'd say that's pretty good, considering that as a company dealing with credential management they probably see more attacks than average. Every company has been breached, so I honestly take that as a given. What matters to me is that they disclose them and their controls are strong enough to withstand them.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:41 |
|
E.T. NO HOMO posted:Month is another great calendar widget with great functionality. Tap the header, see the whole year (or open an app of your choice), check out moon cycles or event descriptions in the month view, and add events from the widget itself. Good job, you did it! This looks cool and good. Thanks for the recommendation.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:48 |
|
I have been using Signal (used to be called textsecure) for text messaging. No idea what these other apps can do, but it does what I need perfectly fine. Plus it can encrypt your messages if that is important to you for some reason.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:51 |
|
As far as LastPass goes, I was perfectly satisfied with the way they handled the hacking, and when it was clear nothing was actually exposed I didn't freak out and carried on using it like a sensible person The logmein thing I'm gonna wait and see on, until they actually change anything I don't see the need to switch I've tried all the popular apps and in my opinion its the one that offers the most convenience and best overall experience day to day (the fingerprint reader integration is loving cool paired with auto filling of stuff). That means I'm more likely to use long passwords everywhere instead of getting lazy.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:52 |
|
Hotzenplotz posted:I have been using Signal (used to be called textsecure) for text messaging. No idea what these other apps can do, but it does what I need perfectly fine. Plus it can encrypt your messages if that is important to you for some reason. Thermopyle please rename the thread Android Apps - if you don't have at least 4 messaging apps you're doing it wrong
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:58 |
|
IRC
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:18 |
|
Run weechat on a VPS and connect to it using either Glowing Bear or Termux.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:19 |
|
Are we not going to just tell people to use Fenix in the OP? We should.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:25 |
|
Pocket, for saving articles to read later. They also have a recommendations tab now, too, though it doesn't seem personalized. SMS Backup+, will save all SMS/MMS to your gmail.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:30 |
|
If Authy doesn't float your boat in terms of the convenience vs. security trade-offs of 2FA, one possible option I've been using is using a YubiKey Neo and Yubico Authenticator together which works with anything Authy does. Other pros: * Works natively with Google, Dropbox and Lastpass in normal security key mode * The authentication codes can be read on desktops and any android device with NFC * Can be used for smart lock Cons: * It's another thingy you have to buy * Depending on the kind of person you are you might be more likely to lose your keys than your phone * NFC is finicky especially if you have a case on As far as LastPass vs. KeePass vs. 1Password goes, as long as my passwords aren't compromised I personally really don't care much if they get attacked. Dropbox has been subject to breaches before so if that's the concern then why even have your password vault in the cloud at all? --- Edit: Quasseldroid is another option similar to Irssi and weechat for IRC that uses Quassel Tweetings is my personal preferred Twitter client, I find Fenix a bit overwhelming but that's probably because I'm more used to Tweetings. In terms of feature sets they're actually pretty similar. Microsoft actually has some pretty cool apps, like Hyperlapse (apparently janky but works fine for me) and Office Lens which is kind of a mobile scanning thingy with OCR and all that jazz, works better than Goggles for me personally. Geektox fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:39 |
|
nocal posted:
Good shout
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:40 |
|
nmfree posted:IRC Hermes is another IRC Client. Has some UI quirks, but is Material and pretty.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:52 |
|
My concern with security management by third parties is not so much that they're hackable, but that what recourse do you have when you do end up compromised. Who licenses/bonds/audits password management firms? (Arguably the same framework as banks or attorneys would work, but what government is going to take up the fight to make evidence collection harder.) Do you even have any option other than lopsided arbitration and having to do the same security cleanup as you would with a local/bulk-storage database?Geektox posted:As far as LastPass vs. KeePass vs. 1Password goes, as long as my passwords aren't compromised I personally really don't care much if they get attacked. Dropbox has been subject to breaches before so if that's the concern then why even have your password vault in the cloud at all? The password vault isn't plaintext (not even its metadata is, beyond filesystem minima) and can be given any extension without affecting its readability. Also at least for KeePass you can use an additional file (labeled 'private key' but it can be anything, and shared directly/locally rather than through the cloud or it defeats the purpose) in the encryption process. Cloud storage is just a bag-man. dont be mean to me fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Nov 16, 2015 |
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:54 |
|
nocal posted:Pocket, for saving articles to read later. They also have a recommendations tab now, too, though it doesn't seem personalized. Used this today. Recently wiped my phone and needed a phone number someone texted me months ago, in a vcf card no less. Very convenient.
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:54 |
|
|
# ? May 13, 2024 08:14 |
|
There is no reason SMS Backup+ shouldn't just be a part of Android or at least Google Play Services. As for LastPass vs. KeePass the truth is that if your grandmother couldn't reliably use it then it's not ready for consumer use and KeePass, the service that requires a million other services to do anything, would be the posterchild for "too complicated to recommend".
|
# ? Nov 16, 2015 22:03 |