Dom Corriveau

What is on my phone 2023 Edition

Posted on Sep 16, 2023
tl;dr: This is a full list of all the apps installed on my phone, plus some info on how I run it in desktop mode with my lapdock.

Update: Jan. 26, 2024 - Changed password managers and removed mentions of Nextcloud. See why I moved away from Nextcloud here. I also stopped using Plex and switched to Jellyfin. Last, I started using Vivaldi as my primary browser because mobile Firefox is awful.

Update: Feb. 7, 2024 Removed several apps:

  • Removed FediLab as I started using Phanpy, which is a PWA and I just use it in the browser. No app required.
  • Removed Element. I was using it to be a part of the Jupiter Broadcasting community, but I find a chat app for this is a terrible experience. I really wish more would use a forum for true distributed messaging.
  • Removed SpoTube and InnerTune as I just don’t listen to music, no point in having them.
  • Removed FeedMe. I started reading FreshRSS in the browser and its been fine.
  • Added Stakali to send to Shaarli instance.

I have been compiling notes on apps I would recommend to friends and family who want to have more privacy on their device. But, before I can do that I thought I should publish a list of what I have installed on my phone.

The list of recommended apps is really for people trying to accomplish basic tasks without giving up a bunch of personal information. That list won’t include things like remote desktops, VPNs, or apps that accompany self-hosted services. This list has all that stuff.

My phone: Samsung Galaxy S10e

In addition to these apps I am also a heavy Samsung DeX user. I don’t have a regular carry laptop. Instead I use a UPerfect X Mini lapdock (which is what I’m using to write this post) and connect my phone to it into DeX mode. I love it. Not only is it a full laptop, but it also uses every little power, reduces the number of devices I need to manage, and is something I always have with me no matter what.

De-bloat

Before I setup any device, I always remove all the Google and Samsung crap I’ll never use. I use Univeral Android Debloater that has a GUI and makes debloating really simple.

F-Droid

I try to get all my apps from F-Droid. Some of the apps I prefer use Izzy on Droid or have their own custom repositories. Its easy to add them to F-Droid and these are the ones I use.

You can also get all these repos automatically configured by using the Droid-ify app as your F-Droid frontent.

Categories

I keep all my apps in my drawer in 8 categories with as little as possible on the homescreen. These are the apps I have installed, sorted by my categories.

Key

🐧 = Availabe through F-Droid
🔗 = Available through custom repository in F-Droid
🤖 = Download through Google Play
📱 = Stock app that comes with the device

GTD

This category is for “Getting Things Done” or what I need everyday to be productive.

  • 🐧 Aegis Authenticator. Better and open source 2FA authenticator that is easy to backup and move to new devices.
  • 📱 Calculator
  • 🐧 Etar calendar. My calendar app of choice that makes it easy to have multiple calendars.
  • 🤖 Discord. I use it for a lot of different reasons, including a server for my whole family. Again, I wish I could switch everyone to something open source and encrypted, but using Discord has opened a lot of opportunities.
  • 🐧 Bitwarden. My password manager and I sync the database using my self-hosted Vaultwarden.
  • 🤖 Magic Earth. This is probably the best alternate to Google Maps, but is far from perfect. I use it to stay out of the Google-verse.
  • 🤖 Vivaldi browser. I want to use Firefox, but as an avid DeX user, I need a browser that has proper tab support and productivity tools as if I’m on a PC.
  • 🔗 Mull. This is a fork of Firefox made by the team at Divest OS. It has a lot of optimiztions out of the box and I like it better than Fennec.
  • 🤖 Obsidian. I love using Obsidian for notes. I wish the client was open source, but I love that the files are all plain text markdown files I can access with anything and use my own sync service.
  • 🐧 Tasks.org. I moved to this after years with Todoist. I love it and syncs my tasks with Radicale.
  • 🐧 Termux. The app I use the most, hands down. A terminal emulator for Android that is super powerful.

Side note on Termux. I also use Termux to install and use a full Linux desktop environment in proot for when I connect to my lapdock. The proot Linux desktop works so well I often forget I am acutally on my phone.

Comms

Various ways to contact other people.

  • 🐧 Briar. I use this to chat with my two youngest children (soon to be 8 and 5). Its peer to peer, so I don’t have to worry about any spying by the platform. It also makes it so I don’t have to create an account for them somewhere.
  • 🐧 Delta Chat. I’ve been testing this and absolutely love it. It uses email as the backend and encrypts the messages using PGP. You can import the key into anything to decrypt the messages if Delta Chat ever stops development. I just can’t see convincing anyone I know to switch. 🥲
  • 📱 Contacts
  • 🐧 K-9 Mail. For my Google email address without using the official Gmail app. It also allows me to decrypt messages using my PGP key, which I also use for Delta Chat. I so, so wish I could convince people over to Delta Chat.
  • 📱 Messages
  • 📱 Phone
  • 🐧 Proton Mail. I’ve slowly migrated from Gmail to Proton Mail over the last year. I really wish I could also get these emails into K-9.
  • 🤖 Google Voice. One of the last services I need to migrate from Google to something else. I’ve heard of some new options that have a small fee per year, just haven’t have the time and energy to explore them.

Sys

Apps that are for managing other systems and let me cosplay as a SysAdmin with my homelab.

  • 🐧 aRDP Free. All of my laptop/desktops have rdp configured so I can access from my phone in DeX mode.
  • 🐧 DAVx5. A nice sync client for Nextcloud. I use for contacts and calendars.
  • 🐧 DroidFS. A new app to me and I freaking love it. This allows encrypting multiple files or whole directories on Android. I use it to encrypt important files I want on my device, but is encrypted from any prying eyes.
  • 🐧 EtchDroid. I like to use my phone as a desktop/laptop replacement. This is a rad app that allows me to create bootable USB sticks for Linux distros I install on various machines. Its super handy when testing a new distro or setting up a new machine.
  • 🐧 Syncthing-fork. I always want everything offline first and this keeps specific directories synced to my phone. I could use DAVx5 to connect to dufs using WebDAV, but I’d rather have the files locally and synced on a regular cadence.
  • 🐧 MultiVNC. I only use this to connect to my proot Linux desktop on my phone.
  • 🐧 ntfy. I use this to be notified if there are any ssh logins on my various devices.
  • 🐧 OpenKeychain. For managing PGP keys in K-9 and Delta Chat.
  • 🐧 Proton VPN. I am a Proton subcriber and use the VPN occasionally when on public wifi.
  • 🐧 Tailscale. I have been slowly integrating Tailscale into my homelab infrastructure. I finally got subnet routing setup and I love that I can move around my home network when away.
  • 🤖 Tether. Proprietary app for managing my TP-Link mesh routers.
  • 🐧 Tor Browser

Foto

Apps for pictures.

  • 📱 Camera
  • 📱 Gallery
  • 🤖 Imgur. I’m a happy Imgurian who browses User Sub Rising. I also spend too much time on the Front Page…
  • 🐧 PhotoPrism Gallery. A viewer for my self-hosted PhotoPrism instance.

Gaming

I have a lot of apps for gaming, but rarely play games.

  • 🐧 Citra. Nintendo 2D/3D emulator.
  • 🤖 Daijisho. A very nice looking frontend for playing retro games.
  • 🐧 DuckStation. A PSX emulator.
  • 🤖 Minecraft. The official app so I can play with my two youngest on my lapdock connected to our own server.
  • 🐧 Minetest. I like to keep tabs on this open source version of Minecraft. Also works well offline when I’m looking to kill some time. I typically play this with the MineClone2 addon.
  • 🤖 Moonlight. A game stream client that works with Sunshine game stream host. I use it mostly for gaming, with occasionally desktop streaming.
  • 🤖 PojavLauncher. Another freaking rad project. This brings Minecraft Java Edition to mobile by fully emulating the backend on device. Love it.
  • 🤖 PPSSPP. A PSP emulator.
  • 🔗 RetroArch. The classic retro gaming manager.
  • 🤖 Sleeper. Fantasy Football with my family.
  • 🤖 Steam Link. Another option for game streaming from my PC.
  • 🤖 Xbox. I also like to stream games from my Xbox to my phone and play with an attached gamepad.

tain

Apps for entertainment, called “tain” because I didn’t want the category name to truncate.

  • 🐧 AntennaPod. My favorite podcatcher.
  • 🤖 Libby. The app for downloading and listening to audiobooks from my local library. I know it does more, but that’s all I use it for.
  • 🔗 NewPipe + SponsorBlock. A YouTube frontend with SponsorBlock enabled out of the box.
  • 🐧 Jellyfin. I rarely do it, but sometimes I watch stuff from my Jellyfin library on my phone.
  • 🤖 Pulsar. For playing music on the device. This is how I mostly listen to music.
  • 🐧 VLC. Plays all the things!

Utilities

This is kind of a catch all for other apps I want to have around, but don’t fit into the other catgories.

  • 🐧 AndrOBD. An app for viewing codes from my cars using an OBD2 adapter.
  • 🐧 Stakali. Adds a share to option in the menu to send links to my self-hosted instance of Shaarli.
  • 🐧 APK Explorer. Part of my prepping checklist is having the ability to install apps offline to other devices. This app can export APKs from installed apps.
  • 🐧 Binary Eye. Open source QR code scanner.
  • 🐧 Catima. Loyalty card manager.
  • 📱 Clock
  • 🐧 Compass
  • 🤖 Epson iPrint. Proprietary app that allows me to print on my printer.
  • 🐧 F-Droid
  • 🐧 Droid-ify. A nicer frontend for F-Droid.
  • 🤖 Gboard. I wish I could quit it, but all other keyboards are absolute garbage.
  • 🐧 Kiwix. Offline Wikipedia. Again, part of my prepper checklist. I also like having it around for days I want to be disconnected from the internet, but still would like the ability to look stuff up.
  • 🤖 Linebit. A synthwave aesthetic icon pack for Android.
  • 🐧 MediLog. For tracking my blood pressure.
  • 📱 MyFiles. Stock files app.
  • 🐧 OpenDocument Viewer
  • 📱 Play Store
  • 🤖 Pocket. I use it to listen to articles while working.
  • 📱 Settings
  • 🤖 Wyze. I have a couple cameras around the house and I don’t want to self host Home Assistant or anything else for two cameras. These are the only “smart home” devices I own and I have no plans to add to it.