blog/source/_posts/recommended-android-apps.md

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Recommended Android apps 2019-01-07 00:00:00 2019-02-05 00:00:00
Android

Following my switch to microG (an open source re-implementation of Google Play), some Google Apps stopped working ({% post_link microg-google-play-replacement 'read here' %}). During my search for replacements, I discover many open source alternatives. These are the apps I'm currently using and recommend to everyone.

Aside from below list, check out the NanoDroid's list of other great open source alternatives.

Name Previous Comment
F-Droid + Yalp Store Play Store Compatible with microG. F-Droid is an app store for open source apps. Yalp Store is to browse and install apps listed in Google Play without a Google account.
Fennec F-Droid Firefox It's an official build by Mozilla for F-Droid with less proprietary components (Google Services Framework?). Particularly suitable for microG.
Simple Calendar + DAVx⁵ Google Calendar Google Calendar doesn't work with microG. It's part of Simple Mobile Tools, so it's open source and include dark theme. Use DAVx⁵ to sync calendar and contact. Google uses proprietary protocols instead of CalDAV and CardDAV, so data migration is required.
Simple Gallery Google Photos The only reason I use Google Photos is the ability to view panoramas, despite having no issue with microG. Since Simple Gallery is part of Simple Mobile Tools and supports panoramas, I gladly switched.
uNote OI Notepad Smallest (71KB) open source notepad app that I could find.
KeePass DX KeePassDroid Utilise Material theme so it looks more modern and feels lighter.
Lithium FBReader Free but proprietary EPUB reader. The best feature is read by scrolling; each chapter is displayed as a long text and you scroll down as you read. I find this feature faster than flip-by-swipe and without the accidental touch issue of flip-by-tap.
Pdf Viewer Plus Google PDF Viewer For a simple pdf viewer, I liked Google PDF Viewer due to its minimal size (5MB). An open-source alternative is Pdf Viewer Plus. It uses vertical scrolling just like the Google's (and most desktop PDF viewers) and offers themes (for dark theme users). If you prefer/don't mind horizontal scrolling, another alternative is MuPDF viewer which has smaller APK and supports more formats (i.e. XPS, OpenXPS, CBZ, EPUB, and FictionBook 2).
Unit Converter Ultimate The only unit converter app that you would ever need. Supports every practically possible units including currency.
Aegis / andOTP Google Authenticator Open source and dark theme.
Loyalty Card Keychain Google Pay Simply to store loyalty cards with barcode.
OsmAnd, Maps/MAPS.ME, Waze, HERE WeGo Google Maps Google Maps doesn't work with microG. (Edit: Google Maps v10.6.2 works again on microG v0.2.6.13280) OsmAnd or MAPS.ME which are open source and utilise OpenStreetMap. Maps is a fork of MAPS.ME without the proprietary bits and it's available on F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.axet.maps/).