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.)
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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.
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Backup: I found Neo Backup and Seedvault. I want to be able to backup files, photos, app data, etc.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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eBook reader: I’m sure the option I picked here is fine, but I wanted a second opinion about Libera Reader.
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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.
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Movies: Because many movie streaming services are privacy invasive, I’m looking for an ethical way to watch movies. I found Streamio 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!
Local file sharing:
I use KDEConnect on all my devices (Windows, Linux, GrapheneOS, Work Galaxy Tab) and it works just fine. Never needed to try anything else.
Syncthing as well for keepass files.
I’ve found I automatically compartmentalize my mobile accounts from my desktop accounts, so I have never had the need to sync my KeePass database. Do you have any concerns with KDEConnect I should know about?
The Windows version used to be shit. That’s no longer a problem. That’s about the only negative I remember. Otherwise you can have it doing a lot of work between devices or only sending when you feel like it. I force stop it on my phone and then invoke through share when needed.
I brought up Syncthing as it will function the same way, in a more hands off way (by choice if you want, automagically or forced) if you needed to share files/folders between devices. Not only for passwords.
Yeah, KDEConnect and it’s sibling for GNOME is just great.
I tried kdeconnect and really liked it while I used it. Had a weird issue where my Google TV kept turning off. Every time I woke my phone screen up, my TV would turn off. Couldn’t figure out how to fix it so I deleted the app and the TV worked perfectly again. Only had kdeconnect on my Linux mint laptop and pixel phone.
Why not syncthing for all the things?