Having used iOS my entire life, the switch to GrapheneOS will be a big change. I have learned over the past year about Android, GrapheneOS, and apps to use. I managed to find most of the apps I was looking for, but there are some I struggled with. I had trouble finding privacy respecting, open source apps for the following categories (I’ve listed what apps I did find, but want to see if there are better alternatives.)
-
Local AI: For AI I was able to find MLC LLM, but the iOS version is a bit broken so I’m unable to confirm if it’s what I’m looking for. I want something capable of running Llama 3. This was by far the hardest category to find an app for.
-
Backup: I found Neo Backup and Seedvault. I want to be able to backup files, photos, app data, etc.
-
IDE: I was only able to find Neovim (which I’m not even sure is an IDE). I primarily code with Python (but also code in Java as well as others), and I want to be able to run quick scripts when I’m out and about.
-
Torrent: While torrenting on a phone isn’t necessary, it has certain scenarios when it’s useful. If this is a major hole in privacy and security, I don’t mind leaving this off my list. I found LibreTorrent as an option.
-
Local file sharing: This is one I’m most curious about. I want a way to share files between my Linux computer and phone. LocalSend and Warpinator seem to be tied as far as popularity, maybe I can get some insight here. I want it to be strictly over the local network.
-
Network monitoring: This is nice to have for a variety of reasons. I want something like Wireshark for Android. I couldn’t find many great options, but I found Vernet.
-
eBook reader: I’m sure the option I picked here is fine, but I wanted a second opinion about Libera Reader.
-
Terminal: I’ve heard a lot of different opinions for terminal emulators for Android, so please put up a good case for whichever one I should go with. Neovim is apparently (technically?) a terminal emulator. I’m increasingly confused about what Neovim actually is. I also found Termux and I eventually found too many options to find a clear choice.
-
Movies: Because many movie streaming services are privacy invasive, I’m looking for an ethical way to watch movies. I found Stremio which I have never heard of before. This isn’t a topic that gets covered very often.
I am aware of AlternativeTo, and it’s what I used to find some of these trickier apps, but nothing beats hearing first hand experiences. Thank you all for your help!
Mainly a dark mode for the main interface and some sort of audio reader instead of having to use TalkBack. I don’t mind using TalkBack, but I still have to manually turn the pages and everything at the bottom of each screen. So I can’t just like get into a book and sit back and relax and listen to it. I have to actively be engaged with it because as soon as I get to the end of a page I have to click the next page button and then restart my talk back reading.
Does it allow dark mode while reading books?
Not a true dark mode per se but there is a little light bulb icon and you tap it and then you get levels one through like six or something and each one is a bit darker than the previous until you get so dark that the font should really change to white but it does not. So you basically cannot use the darkest setting because otherwise it’s really too low contrast to read with black font. So if that could be changed and if a proper dark mode could be added to the main selector interface and settings that would be great.
What made you choose Booky McBookface over other apps? Have you tried other apps and found problems you didn’t like?
They tried to pack too many features into one single application and either end up cluttering the application with features or cluttering the user interface with options. And that’s primarily my problem. I actually ditched the antenna pod podcast player for the same reason for an app called escape pod. Another thing you encounter is that apps that have too many features like that are generally very bloated, large downloads. I know people who say the Unix philosophy is to do one thing and do it really well. And most apps are like, let’s do everything and do each thing somewhat poorly.