Hacker News Reader

Comment by tomrod | Hacker News Reader

Note: I assume many people here are aware of F-Droid. For those like me who are fairly new to discovering it (one of today's lucky 10,000! https://xkcd.com/1053/), I decided to share the site.

I think it looks pretty awesome, personally. I look forward to learning more about it as I de-walled-garden my life.

View on HN

It's a great resource. With my minimal needs, I don't use any other Android store these days. (I only wish they had enough donations to fund faster builds of new app releases.) A few gems that I have found useful:

Aard 2: Offline dictionary

andOTP, Aegis: 2FA code generation (including Steam, if you have your secrets)

DAVx5, ICSx5: Sync calendar & contacts with standards-supporting servers

Element: End-to-end encrypted chat on the Matrix network

FBReader, Librera PRO: Books

K-9 Mail, FairEmail: Mail

KDE Connect: Phone notifications, SMS, files, remote control, etc. on the linux desktop (not just for KDE Plasma users)

Metrodroid: Read NFC transit card balances

NewPipe: YouTube

Organic Maps, OsmAnd~: Offline navigation (maybe online as well?)

Privacy Browser: Lightweight web browser with a simple dark mode, using the OS WebView for rendering

Shattered Pixel Dungeon: Fun roguelike game

Twire: Twitch

OsmAnd~ is spectacularly good. If you spend a lot of time hiking, biking or just traveling outside, i also recommend Trail Sense (compass and a bunch of other things), Forecastie (weather, including wind speed) and BRouter (offline routing if you need a route but don't have signal).

QuickDic is also very useful if you are traveling to areas where you don't speak the language. Offline dictionaries with very quick lookup. It's worth installing AnkiDroid too, if you do spaced repetition for language learning.

I use KOReader for PDFs, but it's not great. Are FBReader or Librera any better?

Simon Tatham's Puzzles are a fun little distraction.

> I use KOReader for PDFs, but it's not great. Are FBReader or Librera any better?

I think I've only tried PDFs once on each of these apps, and that was so long ago that the PDF experience could easily have changed since then. (I mainly use them for ePUB books.) Perhaps someone else can answer?

I use Document Viewer (org.sufficientlysecure.viewer). I haven't compared it to the others but it's pretty good.

+1 for Document Viewer. I use it to read books, it's the only FOSS reader I've found that comes close to my favorite (proprietary) app, Moon+. It checks the boxes for the features I need.

I want to love OsmAnd~ but the ux and search features are spectacularly terrible.

I was recently in Pomona, and searched for a Walgreens. The first result was for Livermore, with the next couple results being 100-200 miles away. 4th or 5th on the list was a store in Ontario, and the rest were 30+ miles away. I discovered there was a store in Pomona while driving to the store in Ontario.

For UX, several months ago my phone decided to display pot leaf icons for all the pot stores in Seattle. This only happens in Seattle, and I've spent at least 30 minutes searching through the app trying to figure out how to toggle off the pot stores. Mind you the pot stores stay up even along side the results for more recent searches.

OSMAnd search is awful. For everything else it's pretty good! However, in years past it failed spectacularly: instead of navigating straight through an intersection, it requested I turn right, immediately u-turn, then turn right again. Laughable glitch.

I use it all the time for bicycle route planning with elevation considerations.

I've seen that with commercial (Waze) software too. It might be common bug in navigation software.

maybe waze also uses openStreetMap?

As far as I know, Waze has their own map data, and is a subsidiary of Google. Their Wikipedia page mentions that

> Waze continuously insisted to crowdsource data without using external sources or projects like OpenStreetMap that would restrict commercialization of the Waze map data.

Fun story, driving through Croatia toward Split Google Maps kept telling me the main freeway was closed and to take each and every exit. Someone is maliciously reporting roads closed. Obviously the same could happen to OSM, but there isn't the same 'no way to fix it until Google decides to fix it'.

Similarly when I was in Bangkok wandering around, Google wanted to cross the train tracks at a road that tripled the walking distance to the destination. In reality it was possible to cross the train tracks (i.e an actual crossing, not just anywhere). Worse it was much more dangerous to walk the Google route.

Fixing it on OSM was easy. Fixing it on Google was a pain because it had to be submitted and checked and approved (which it eventually was).

There are definitely places where OSM is far outstripping Google maps. Especially when it comes to non-roads.

  > OSMAnd search is awful. For everything else it's pretty good!

I stopped using Open Street Maps because it won't turn off! I close the app, I close the notifications, but the damn thing keeps playing loud audio telling me directions when I've long since left the car and the phone is in my pocket.

Of course the inability to exit an app without restarting the phone is a failure of the OS itself, but OSM is the only app that this happens with. What am I doing wrong? How does one exit OSM?

OSM != OSMAnd ;)

I‘m on an iPhone, so can’t check; but can you not simply stop the navigation of your route and then OSMAnd shuts up?

I'm sorry, yes, I'm using OSMAnd.

  > can you not simply stop the navigation of your route and then OSMAnd shuts up

Possibly, but my goal is not to just get the voice to shut up but to actually close / quit the app.

I suggest to raise an issue here: https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd

Thank you, filed here:

https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/issues/13842

The fun part of OSM is that if you find a glitch like that (likely in the map itself), you can fix it yourself. There was an intersection near me where you could physically not turn left, but it wasn't recorded in the map. It was like a few minutes to fix that once for all.

Check out Organic Maps.

Librera is great for PDFs and okay for ebooks. The UI could be improved a little, but it's quite customisable.

I must add: Trail Sense by Kyle Corry.

It's an absolute delight of an app in every way possible. A large number of features for hiking including a clever use of the barometer to run in the background and provide weather warnings, the standard compass/GPS, a TON of tools like flashlight, whistle, bubble level, triangulation without GPS... unfortunately I'm not a hiker so I don't know what to do with half of these, but it's amazing.

The UI of the app is amazing too - simple and material UI, but unobtrusive. The best part? It's 3.14MB (!!!!) in size. (And it's last update was 6 days back, so active development. And of course it's open source.)

Oh btw, the Play Store listing (186 reviews) has an average of 5 stars and no review below 4 stars. Go figure.

I have used the waypoints feature on numerous occasions when trekking and have found it incredibly helpful for determining my location relative to various points of interest. It really is a fantastic app. The barometer has actually notified me of a rain storm about 30 minutes before some of the first drops fell- i was prepared for rain in the forecast that day, but it was still remarkable to see the app in action.

another vote for Trail Sense. I also love the tide predictor and notifications about meteor showers!

In that category, I really have been impressed with osmand+, which uses open streetmap maps and allows you download entire state-wide regions in advance while still providing navigation and waypoint tracking. Very fun and useful for offline GPS needs.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/

Some of my must haves:

Termux: terminal

Antennapod: podcast client (RSS)

Fennec: Firefox (allows custom add-on collections so I can use Vimium)

KeyMapper: HW key and button remapping

Open Link With: open links with alternative apps

RedReader: Reddit client

mupdf: PDF viewer

Shattered Pixel Dungeon: roguelike

Something I am still looking for: folder-based music player with a seek UI that works well for long audio files (for example fine-seeking in a 4 hour long mp3)

Does VLC not meet your needs for a media player?

I just checked again and it looks like they have added granular seek buttons for audio-only so it's serviceable now.

Not in case of long audio files.

I have some purchased audiobooks that are as long as 21 hours mp3. VLC sucks at playing those.

Other than this need, VLC is all I need.

For this, I use Voice: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.ph1b.audiobook/

Can't find the app. Getting an error.

Did you add any additional repo?

I am now super curious how you are using Vimium on a handheld device, do you mind sharing ?

  > Fennec: Firefox (allows custom add-on collections so I can use Vimium)

Vimium on an Android device? Tell me more. What keyboard are you using?

Currently using it with the built-in keyboard of the Unihertz Titan Pocket. Also used it with the regular Titan, the Fxtec Pro1 and the Blackberry Key2. All of these devices have proper hardware keyboards.

On the Vimium side most functionality works the same as on desktop. Tab switching using Vomnibar.activateTabSelection and Vimium's search are the exceptions. You can of course still switch tabs and search the normal Firefox way.

Have you tried Phonograph?

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.kabouzeid.gramophone/

Seems to restrict folder access to "Phonograph Pro".

> Something I am still looking for: folder-based music player with a seek UI that works well for long audio files (for example fine-seeking in a 4 hour long mp3)

I've been using "Smart AudioBook Player" by Alex Software (available via the play store). I particularly like the sleep timer, ability to change playback speed and the fact it seems to cope with extremely long audio files without having any problems.

Adding to those, Share Via Http: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.MarcosDiez.shareviahttp/

I use Termux more, but it would be 2nd most used F-Droid app. It's a painless why to make files on your device available to anything with a Web Browser.

KDE Connect is a killer app. I am able to use my phone as a mouse and keyboard wirelessly over wifi when my laptop is plugged into the TV and the latency is low!

I am commenting just because I want to remember KDE Connect. Had no clue that project existed.

To reduce spaminess, just upvote the comment or favourite the thread instead, and then find it via your user preferences.

Same. I hook my laptop's hdmi port to my big tv and get movies going or whatever using it as the keyboard and mouse and people are like "whoa!"

Also sharing files and clipboard!

GitTouch: app for github and and gitlab

Feeder: RSS feed reader

Materialistic and glider: app for hacker news

Scrambled Exif: Remove metadata from picture before sharing

+1 for Aegis. Can't recommend it enough.

There's Aurora Store [1] as well. Both come default with CalyxOS [2].

[1] https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aurora.store/

[2] https://calyxos.org/

It's worth noting that Aurora is basically just anonymized wrapper around the Google Play store, it's not actually a separate app store. F-Droid is a wholly separate thing.

+1 for the Aurora store. In spite of being tied to the Google Play Store, Aurora is the only option I was able to find, via which to obtain latest versions of apps in a different country than the Google account, and maintain them via seamless updating process. While traveling, this is a must have option, as Google does not allow changing the "country of origin" of account more than once a year.

> apps in a different country than the Google account

I dont think thats true. I just searched Aurora Store with "ITV Hub", as its only available in GB, and I got no results, I am in US. Even if I manually go to the app page in Aurora Store, if I try to install, it says "Download Failed App not supported".

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.ITVMobileP...

I worry about Google nuking your account if they figure out who you are and you are using the Aurora store.

Is there any way to handle paid apps with Aurora, or are you limited to free apps only?

Using the anonymized login function, you're limited to free ones only. You have to login with your Google account to be able to download apps you've bought.

Although I think that doesn't work for all apps, since apparently some require the genuine thing to register / activate and won't work with microG. No personal experience, just read that somewhere once.

Personally, I only use a single paid app through Aurora Store (Sun Locator Pro for my photography needs) and have only done that for two days now. Google hasn't banned my mint fresh account. Yet. ;)

I use the Aurora store, simply because my banking apps aren't on f-droid. And without those, well, banking it becomes really inconvinient.

port authority for finding hosts on the network

wifi analyzer for finding dead zones

diskusage is occasionally a 0.2 MB lifesaver

you might think satstat just shows a diagram of overhead satellites, but it also has a screen full of other sensor data

Possibly the best list here. I've just replaced a few Google store apps with these. One I use that isn't mentioned by anyone else here: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.MarcosDiez.shareviahttp/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com