It seems like the FOSS community is continuing to grow, and FOSS apps keep getting better (Immich reallh blew my mind recently), which is a big win 😎 but there are still many apps I use that I would kill for an open source alternative. I am curious what you guys think? Are there any apps you’d love alternatives for?

  • zarenki@lemmy.ml
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    7 months ago

    Stylus/handwriting oriented note taking. Stuff like Samsung Notes or Goodnotes (or OneNote, though it does a lot more) in the Android space, or e-ink options like Remarkable’s stock software.

    If I just want to use a keyboard for everything I have great FOSS options like Joplin and Standard Notes, but when I want to use a pen instead it feels like no other freedom-respecting option seem to even remotely approach the usability of just sticking with real ink and moleskine-like paper notebooks.

    Even someone willing to pay an upfront fee for proprietary apps will struggle to find good options that allow syncing and reading (let alone editing) your notes on other devices/platforms without resorting to a monthly subscription.

    • sab@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      Let’s see if Loops can fill the gap. Not sure if an open source alternative could generate enough hype to be viable - maybe if TikTok is banned in the US or something.

      • SuperSynthia@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Holy smokes! I was an avid TikTok person for music before they enshittified it with ads and the shop features. Can’t wait for Loops!

      • Jthyme@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        My problem with Loops is the same problem I have with Pixelfed. They are both only maintained by the same one guy. No team, no support besides him. Its only a matter of time before they are dead in the water due to burnout or shifting interest.

  • Felix@slrpnk.net
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    7 months ago

    Krita & OpenToonz handle just about everything I need as an animator/artist, but I’m worried about OpenToonz continued development. I worry that there aren’t enough people working on it.

  • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Fusion360

    Tried out FreeCad/Ondsel, and just couldn’t get it to cooperate. Trying to do even basic changes would constantly result in errors/crashes. I spent maybe two weeks trying to make a single model. Then I tried making the same model in Fusion360 and was done in an half an hour. Granted, there is a huge difference in experience level here between these pieces of software, but still.

    So I think my best bet for now is a jailbroken copy of Fusion360.

  • Affidavit@aussie.zone
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    7 months ago

    Spotify.

    An open source music streaming service where I can financially support artists but where I’m not forced to put up with annoying advertisements (even when paying membership fees!), and which allows me to use whatever app I want to play the music I listen to. It is annoying AF that I need to switch between apps to listen to music because Spotify’s shitty native app is inferior in every possible way with the single exception of offering more content.

    • Niquarl@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      Reminds me how librivox and others publish their audiobooks as podcasts. I guess artists could upload their albums like this?

    • GlenTheFrog@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      For desktop there’s ncspot, which is a Spotify TUI client written in Rust. Not exactly what you were asking for, but it does work well

      • DichotoDeezNutz@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        How does that fix the shuffling? I thought it was just a UI tweak.

        I hate Spotify’s shuffling so I’m all ears

        • Techognito@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          There is a plugin called shuffle+ (github)

          I think no one likes the default shuffle in spotify. (“oh here is a list of 400 songs on shuffle, you probably only want to replay these 30 songs” - spotify)

    • ClearCutCoconut@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      There seems like a lot of potential for an app like this with the mixture of decentralization/encryption/verification/blockchain/etc. Easily verify artists, get the artists paid with a determined currency or by merch and donations, have it federated or decentralized so artists have more control and a company can’t take percentages… I don’t know. There has to be something there. It seems possible and almost a necessity in the future for artists to make money and corporations to not enshittify each app that is released. For example, spotify adding features to try to be like TikTok, or recently they were trying to add “educational courses” to the app

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 months ago

      there’s this really cool alternative to streaming, called you buy their shit directly. Or if you like me, don’t really care, just finding a way to throw money at them, in their general direction sometimes works. Spotify actually works so little, that the only party that makes money, is the music publishers that spotify allows on their platform, the artists and spotify generally don’t make much money, or make very little money. Gotta love capitalism.

      If you’re a music artist, please allow people to just give you money directly, in some way. It’ll incentivize people who don’t pay for it to send you a few dollary doos.

      • Affidavit@aussie.zone
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        7 months ago

        there’s this really cool alternative to streaming, called you buy their shit directly.

        Wow, mind blown! I had no idea money could be used to buy things directly! /s

        Seriously though, buying music from artists you already know is easy for artists that actually provide this as an option, but it doesn’t help when trying to find new artists and songs to listen to. Spotify is brilliant for discovering new content and can’t be replaced by ‘buying shit directly’.

        • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 months ago

          i suppose that’s fair, but it’s not like spotify is the only service that has music on it. Personally i’ve been enjoying nabbing music that other people use in media that i consume, or just bumping across something that seems interesting on the net somewhere.

          I’ve gone from liking like two albums from a certain band, to liking their entire discography, just because i’ve downloaded it. You can absolutely still find music, it just requires some effort, and it’s well placed effort i think.

  • Handles@leminal.space
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    7 months ago

    Plain banking apps for smartphones. Having those developed in the open would hopefully make it possible to have forks that work on rooted devices without hiding magisk and whatnot.

    • xlash123@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      That would be awesome. I wish banks would also have standardized (or at least open) APIs so I could use FOSS financial software to pull my live purchase history and then categorize that and etc. I think some banks do this, but not very common in the US from what I can tell.

      • Handles@leminal.space
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, if banks had open and standardised APIs we could all use the same FLOSS banking app — or choose from any of a bazillion FLOSS apps. Instead they’re going the authoritarian route and locking customers in with bloated black box, proprietary apps…

    • ladfrombrad 🇬🇧@lemdro.id
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      7 months ago

      I had to leave VirginMoney because the lady on the phone told me I needed an iPhone to reset my password (seriously) even after trying with three separate Android devices.

      There’s no desktop functionality (mobile is king with them) and it amazed me that day I had to use the Current Account Switcher to go to an equally meh banking service.

      Sorry state of affairs across all mobile apps to be honest and as seen by the prevalence of MDM and accessing data Vs doing the very same, on a desktop “PC”. Why the data is more precious on a mobile device to them is telling…

  • Gueoris@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I don’t see anyone talking about it here but I’d dream of an open source alternative to AndroidTV/Apple Tv. Firstly because ATV is ultra-dependent on Google, and secondly because the interface is unclear and not really pretty.

    Today I’ve switched to Apple TV, which is much better in terms of UX, but the OS is too closed and sideloading isn’t possible…

    So I hope to see some sort of CalyxOS / LineageOS for Tv arrive one day!

  • XTL@sopuli.xyz
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    7 months ago

    Swiping library and keyboard.

    Yousician or similar entertaining musician motivator. One that has scoring or analysis, specifically. Not just a video/backing track player.

    Some kind of buy/sell/auction/freecycle system service/app/front-end that isn’t evil and it’s simple enough for normos to use so it gets critical mass and makes it easy to buy/sell/give/recycle stuff locally.

    • unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de
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      7 months ago

      HeliBoard. Swype library must be downloaded and currently only working ones are closed source but the keyboard itself is open source and amazing.

      • nightm4re@feddit.de
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        7 months ago

        I’ve just switched this week from SwiftKey, which was the best keyboard I have ever used. Made the switch just to abandon a piece of proprietary software, but oh boy… HeliBoard has way exceeded my expectations!