Supporters/JRHaigh/RFA

J. R. Haigh's Recommendations For Android

https://f-droid.org/ F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/ ) (GPLv3+) – libre software repository browser, from which the following can be downloaded (To install, you need to enable ‘unknown sources’ because it is independent to Google.);
F-Droid 0.102.3 is the last version of the repository browser application to feature the Android Holo UI, but has been moved to F-Droid.org's ‘archive’ repository and is now quite difficult to find, so here is a direct link to its APK (Android installation PacKage): https://f-droid.org/archive/org.fdroid.fdroid_102350.apk (tip: instead of browsing ‘What's New’, which is typically experimental, select ‘Recently Updated’, which includes mature applications);

https://f-droid.org/app/org.ligi.fasthttps://f-droid.org/app/org.ligi.fast FAST App Search Tool (GPLv3) – quick application launcher from double-clicking or up-swiping the home button;

https://f-droid.org/app/ca.mimic.apphangarhttps://f-droid.org/app/ca.mimic.apphangar Hanger (GPLv3) – recent application launcher widget for notification bar (tip: pin FAST so that you can quickly get to applications that have fallen off the list);

https://f-droid.org/app/org.kiwix.kiwixmobilehttps://f-droid.org/app/org.kiwix.kiwixmobile Kiwix (GPLv3) – offline Wikibooks, Wiktionary, Wikipedia, Gutenburg, etc.;

https://f-droid.org/app/org.proninyaroslav.libretorrenthttps://f-droid.org/app/org.proninyaroslav.libretorrent LibreTorrent (GPLv3) – reliably download large files such as those used by Kiwix;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.ath0.rpnhttps://f-droid.org/app/com.ath0.rpn RPN (GPLv3+) – step-by-step calculator with no need for parentheses (e.g. try pressing [[1]], [[Enter]], [[2]], [[Enter]], [[3]], [[×]], [[+]] and compare this with [[1]], [[Enter]], [[2]], [[+]], [[3]], [[×]]);

https://f-droid.org/app/net.sourceforge.opencamerahttps://f-droid.org/app/net.sourceforge.opencamera Open Camera (GPLv3+) – advanced still and video camera;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.artifex.mupdfdemohttps://f-droid.org/app/com.artifex.mupdfdemo MuPDF (AGPLv3+) – view portable documents (PDFs) often attached to emails or downloaded;

https://f-droid.org/app/org.videolan.vlchttps://f-droid.org/app/org.videolan.vlc VLC (GPLv3) – media player;

https://f-droid.org/app/org.horaapps.leafpichttps://f-droid.org/app/org.horaapps.leafpic LeafPic (GPLv3) – media gallery;

https://f-droid.org/app/de.kodejak.hashrhttps://f-droid.org/app/de.kodejak.hashr Hashr (GPLv3+) – verify files;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.amaze.filemanagerhttps://f-droid.org/app/com.amaze.filemanager Amaze (GPLv3) – file manager;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.ghostsq.commanderhttps://f-droid.org/app/com.ghostsq.commander Ghost Commander (GPLv3) – advanced file manager;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.maskyn.fileeditorprohttps://f-droid.org/app/com.maskyn.fileeditorpro Turbo Editor (GPLv3+) – text editor;

https://f-droid.org/app/it.reyboz.screenlockhttps://f-droid.org/app/it.reyboz.screenlock Lock Screen (GPLv3+) – in combination with unchecking the ‘Power button instantly locks’ security setting, this is a partial workaround for Android not distinguishing between locking the screen and locking for security;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.vonglasow.michael.satstathttps://f-droid.org/app/com.vonglasow.michael.satstat SatStat (GPLv3+) – sensor status with ability to manually or automatically update AGPS data for quicker positioning fix;

https://f-droid.org/app/de.grobox.liberariohttps://f-droid.org/app/de.grobox.liberario Transportr (GPLv3+) – public transport planner;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.forrestguice.suntimeswidgethttps://f-droid.org/app/com.forrestguice.suntimeswidget Suntimes (GPLv3+) – show, and set alarms for, sunset, twilight times, sunrise, and noon;

https://f-droid.org/app/io.github.engsergiu.reacthttps://f-droid.org/app/io.github.engsergiu.react React (GPLv3+) – test your reaction time;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.frozendevs.periodictablehttps://f-droid.org/app/com.frozendevs.periodictable Periodic Table (GPLv3) – chemical element browser;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.write.Quillhttps://f-droid.org/app/com.write.Quill Quill (GPLv3) – draw visual notes, especially with stylus (lacks handwriting recognition);

https://f-droid.org/app/net.fred.feedexhttps://f-droid.org/app/net.fred.feedex Flym (GPLv3) – feed reader, supports RSS and Atom feeds;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.vrem.wifianalyzerhttps://f-droid.org/app/com.vrem.wifianalyzer WiFi Analyzer (GPLv3) – analyses Wi-Fi channels;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.spydiko.rotationmanager_fosshttps://f-droid.org/app/com.spydiko.rotationmanager_foss Rotation Manager (GPLv3) – set application-specific orientations, a workaround for some Android rotation issues;

https://f-droid.org/app/net.osmand.plushttps://f-droid.org/app/net.osmand.plus OsmAnd (GPLv3) – offline OpenStreetMap;

https://f-droid.org/app/org.schabi.newpipehttps://f-droid.org/app/org.schabi.newpipe NewPipe (GPLv3+) – YouTube downloader for later offline playing;

https://f-droid.org/app/com.mitzulihttps://f-droid.org/app/com.mitzuli Mitzuli (GPLv2+) – offline translator;

https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=Barcode+Scannerhttps://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=Barcode+Scanner Barcode Scanner (Apache2) – scan barcodes and share via QR codes;

https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=K-9+Mailhttps://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=K-9+Mail K-9 Mail (Apache2) – email client;

https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=LibreOfficehttps://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=LibreOffice LibreOffice Viewer (MPLv2) – view office documents;

https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=IceCathttps://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=IceCat IceCat Mobile (MPLv2) – Web browser;

https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=Activity+Launcherhttps://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=Activity+Launcher Activity Launcher (ISC) – create homescreen shortcuts directly to specific activities within applications, such as the ‘Tethering & portable hotspot’ activity within Settings.

All of these applications are libre software (you are free to use, study, share, and improve them) and the offline content files for at least OpenStreetMap, Wikimedia's wikis, and Project Gutenburg are also libre.

Hopefully some of the applications that I've listed can help you to replace some or all of your dependence on proprietary applications. I urge you to keep chipping-away at any vendor lock-in that you have. See the Free Your Android campaign homepage for an overview of advice that goes beyond a mere list of applications.

Email feedback about this page to: JRHaigh+1cddef52a88b1182@FSFE.org


Category/Advocacy

Supporters/JRHaigh/RFA (last edited 2021-02-03 12:08:05 by JRHaigh)