mirror of https://gitlab.com/curben/blog
5.0 KiB
5.0 KiB
| title | subtitle | date | lastUpdated | tags | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended Android apps | Apps I'm currently using and recommend to everyone. | 2019-01-07 | 2019-04-30 |
|
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 the below list, check out the NanoDroid's list of other great open source alternatives.
| Name | Previous | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| F-Droid + Aurora Store / Yalp Store | Play Store | Compatible with microG. F-Droid is an app store for open source apps. Aurora/Yalp Store is to browse and install apps listed in Google Play without a Google account, while offering support for Google account login to download purchased apps. |
| 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 / Keepass2Android | KeePassDroid | KeePass DX utilises Material theme so it looks more modern and feels lighter. Currently, it does not support database with attachment well (see #115 #183); alternative is the Keepass2Android. There is an online version which supports opening database from the cloud backup. |
| 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 the usual flip-by-swipe and without the accidental touch issue of flip-by-tap. |
| Pdf Viewer Plus / MuPDF viewer | 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 or MuPDF mini have smaller APKs and support more formats (i.e. XPS, OpenXPS, CBZ, EPUB, and FictionBook 2), but offer less customisation. |
| 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 | OsmAnd and MAPS.ME are open source and utilise OpenStreetMap. They do not have public transport info though. Use Transportr for that. Maps is a fork of MAPS.ME without the proprietary bits and it's available on F-Droid. |