Hi world! This is my first blog post.
I want to show you the Android apps installed on my phone.
I'm a high school student. I just finished 11th grade. That means I'll be taking the college entrance exam in 360 days.
I use these apps to help me study (Because there are no ads in any of the apps here). So whether you're a student or a working professional, anyone can use these apps.
Contents
- Launcher
- Browser
- Pomodoro & Tasks, Habits
- AdBlocker, DNS Resolver
- Music Player
- YouTube Client
- Clock
- Essentials
- File Manager
- Proton Ecosystem
- App Store
- Image Editor & PDF Viewer
- Note-taking
- Keyboard
- Weather Forecast
- Messaging
- Maps
- Video Player
- Calculator
Let's go!
Launcher
A launcher changes so many things. I first used NiagaraLauncher. My focus improved a bit, but not a lot.
Then I found this awesome launcher on F-Droid: Minimo Launcher.
OLED theme, hiding apps. My focus is now at its peak all the time.
Browser
I chose Firefox Focus. It helps me focus a lot more. It deletes history and blocks trackers; literally the browser for me.
Pomodoro & Tasks, Habits
Pomodoro
I'm using Tomato. It's very simple to use and lightweight. (Currently I have over 200 hours.)
Tasks, Habits
Grit. It notifies me at specific times during the day.
AdBlocker, DNS Resolver
RethinkDNS. Literally. No other words needed. I tried NextDNS, but on Android, RethinkDNS has a lot of settings and works locally. Just download it and add your blacklists. I'm using ProtonVPN as the proxy in RethinkDNS. I love the Proton ecosystem, so I'm using it here too. A VPN is always required.
Music Player
I'm using Chocola now. Before, I used Musify, but I deleted it somehow. I don't remember why.
Music Downloader for Chocola
Chocola plays local audio, while Musify used YouTube. I download my music with YTDLnis and then play it in Chocola. It uses yt-dlp in the background. So it can download videos!
YouTube Client
Ah, yes... Who loves YouTube ads? Neither you nor I. Anyway, I'm using PipePipe. It's a fork of NewPipe. It has awesome features, like no ads, SponsorBlock, and downloading videos/audio. You should try it.
Clock
I'm using Chrono. It's very useful. About 2 years ago I tried Alarmy (downloaded from the Play Store), but it had paywalls. I just wanted to solve math problems to turn off the alarm sound, so I found this one.
Essentials
Phone, Contacts, Gallery, Messages (SMS Client).
I'm using Fossify. You can check it out.
File Manager
I'm sorry to say this, but I'm not using an open-source app. It's ZArchiver. I started using it about 6 years ago and I'm still using it. I probably need to try some other FOSS alternatives.
Proton Ecosystem
E-Mail, Password Manager, 2FA Authenticator, Calendar, VPN, Drive.
All of them work nicely. If I earn money, I'll buy a paid plan.
I also have an account on Tuta, but I'm not using it. It's just sitting there for no reason.
App Store
The Play Store is required for some apps because their developers block downloading them outside of the Play Store.
F-Droid is nice. It's FOSS, and the apps inside it are mostly FOSS and guarantee reproducible builds.
But I'm not using the F-Droid client app. I use Droid-ify because I think it's more beautiful with Material Design 3.
As an alternative to the Play Store, I'm using AuroraStore with anonymous login.
I use Obtainium for downloading apps from GitHub/GitLab releases, not from official repos (like F-Droid).
Image Editor & PDF Viewer
ImageToolbox is great. The master app for editing images in the FOSS ecosystem. It also includes PDF tools.
Note-taking
Another sad note: I'm using Obsidian (eh, it's not FOSS). I tried Joplin, but I felt Obsidian was more comfortable.
Keyboard
Currently HeliBoard. It's fast and lightweight.
Weather Forecast
Using Overmorrow. It pulls updates from open-meteo. A great client app (open-meteo is awesome too ;D).
Messaging
Molly. It's a fork of Signal but more secure and privacy focused more than Signal.
Maps
OrganicMaps is based on OpenStreetMap. Works offline. Better than Google's.
Video Player
Using NextPlayer. It uses Material Design 3 and works great. Plays local videos.
Calculator
Using Vanilla, from the same author as Chocola. I need to find an alternative because it doesn't have scientific functions like trigonometry, etc.
Conclusion
Yep, that's it. I'll also publish a new blog post about debloating Android. If you have any suggestions or questions, mail me at erenaydev@proton.me.