Is there any closed source android app that you wish had a good open source alternative?

I’m currently looking to develop an open source app that can help somebody. I’m currently out of ideas, so I’d like to heard if from you guys.

Sorry if it seems to lazy to ask for ideas like that, I just thought that I could do it since the result will be a free app.

velox_vulnus,

A mood tracking app. There’s no open-source alternatives that exist for the time-being (disregarding non-native apps).

paradox2011,

You might like oneshot. It’s not quite as full featured as some mood trackers are, but the design is pretty nice. It hasn’t had updates in a year or so, so daily you might be worth checking out too.

TheSun,

Check out logseq for journaling. You could easily make a page/tag and it auto organizes it for you

Klaymore,
@Klaymore@sh.itjust.works avatar

Not a mood tracking app, but I’ve been using Loop Habit Tracker for like the past two years and quite like it.

GravitySpoiled,
turbowafflz,

I used pixy for a while and it’s pretty good and open source github.com/mrzmyr/pixy-mood-tracker-app

velox_vulnus,

Another idea would be a e-book reader. I don’t like Librera, because it acts more like a image viewer and less like a eBook reader.

shinysquirrel,

try koreader I’ve tried a few e-book readers this is the best one I found so far I think it’s available in fdroid

thisn,

You could give KOReader a try :)

velox_vulnus, (edited )

I really don’t like gesture-based tap-zone control on KOReader. Is it possible to switch to buttons on-screen?

MalReynolds, (edited )
@MalReynolds@slrpnk.net avatar

Is there a way to get colour there? B&W bums me out… I’m on GrapheneOS so have MoonReader (install google services, install, disable network on it, uninstall google services, and you’re good) but ebooks is one of my major use cases on mobile and everything FOSS sucks in comparison…

thisn,

Can’t answer that question as I am only using KOR on my ereader, which only displays black an white :D What would be your usecase for color in ebooks?

MalReynolds,
@MalReynolds@slrpnk.net avatar

I like green on black on my phone, nice screen, good for the eyes. I’d love to sync between that and my kobo, but not happening at the moment. Currenly read new things on the kobo and old faves on the phone, it’s fine, but could be better…

mogethin0,

If you don’t need anything special, Book Reader on fdroid might work for you.

velox_vulnus,

I like this. Only downside is that it isn’t Material You ready, but I don’t care about cosmetics as long as it work.

Edit: no release available, which is a bummer.

SeekPie,
  • Librera Reader
  • KOReader
  • Myne

More FOSS apps: github.com/Psyhackological/AAA

wildbus8979,

SleepAsAnAndroid as well a broad support for generic smart watches

mranderson17,

broad support for generic smart watches

Gadgetbridge is pretty well on it’s way to this. They roll out support for new devices monthly it seems like. Of course there are always feature X and Y that fitbit or garmin does that it doesn’t, but it’s quite an impressive project. I use it with a pebble 2 HR.

cole,
@cole@lemdro.id avatar

I built an open source app a while back that had some similar functionality to sleep as android called “Go to Sleep”. Haven’t updated it for a long time, always wanted to add more things

GolfNovemberUniform,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

I can’t really think of anything now because Android FOSS apps ecosystem is really good. What I want to suggest is contributing to already existing projects sometimes. It’s faster and just another thing you can do to help open-source ecosystems

tributarium,
@tributarium@lemmy.world avatar

Yes, I don’t think I have another app but more features on some apps I use (Smartdock, Joplin, Librera, Rimusic) would be slightly life-changing.

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

A really good launcher!

Also, weather app!

thisn,

I do find Breezy Weather quite nice ;)

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

Thanks for the tip, I’ll have to check that out!

jjlinux,

I’ve been on Breezy for years now. No regrets.

Atonable8938,

Been using Breezy for awhile after seeing it recommended here on Lenny. I like it, but I do wish I could easily search for a location without having it added to my list of Saved locations.

dessalines,

Mlauncher is stellar, and its open source.

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

I’ll have to check that out, thank you!

tetris11,
@tetris11@lemmy.ml avatar

Every time I pivot away from Trebuchet, I always pivot back. It does what I want; app folders, hidden apps, multiple screens, widgets.

All the alternatives sacrifice something

TheSun,

KISS launcher on minimal mode with nice icons and a geometric weather widget for me. Been rocking it for years and its amazing

trixter313,
@trixter313@lemmy.world avatar

Kvaesitso has won me over as a nice looking and very customizable open source launcher

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

Interesting, thanks!

istanbullu,

Searching around online, I found NeoLauncher looks pretty good: github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Launcher

I haven’t tried it though.

Emerald,

It’s a bit unorthodox but I use Pie Launcher from F-Droid.

As for weather, I use RadarWeather (also from f-droid)

Andromxda,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I think Lawnchair is currently the best FOSS launcher. For weather, check out Breezy Weather

TheHobbyist,

I’m sorry, I don’t have any specific suggestions for you, but I am wondering: is there no open source app you yourself wish existed because you would need it?

Working on an open source app because some else (and not you) needs it, is not a good way of staying engaged and caring about the solution. Being the user and target of a project yourself is usually a much netter way of caring and proposing something tailored to at least one individual, maybe more.

Of course, if you are looking for a programming exercise, go for it, but then you don’t need ideas, you can reimplement something which already exists, perhaps which you like, but in your own way. But if you want to have an impact in the open source, it starts by needing something which you don’t really find anywhere and taking matter in your own hands to fix it :) this is not meant to disincentivize you, quite the opposite! I hope you stay attentive to your digital ecosystem to see which holes can be plugged :)

I maintain a private list of ideas I just think of as I go about my day, of things I would like to write/create for myself and while I won’t be going through with all of them, I hope to be able to pick up one or several of them whenever I have time. I can through some ideas here, not as a hint that you should do it (I’ll probably do them myself regardless), but just to inspire you, maybe:

  • I am subscribed to a teachable program which has no app and the program is just static information. I want to pull it all and represent it to me offline, not requiring internet to manage my progress. It is also intended to help me archive what I paid for and not depend on the goodwill of teachables to allow me to continue access the resource.
  • an RSS feed manager which uses embeddings to automatically organise the content by topic rather than by source.
  • an anki plugin to highlight content in the browser based on words from anki that I have and have not learned, to improve my language learning and reading ability.

I have a few more, but this should give you some hints, I hope! Good luck!

paradox2011,

I don’t have any idea of how conplicated it would be, but a phone app would be a nice option. The stock dialer that comes with FOSS ROMs is OK functionally, but visually looks like it was from 2010. Plus it’s not available through F-droid or other open source app store. Koler is the only serious dialer alternative I’ve seen, and while it looks nice it has always been super buggy.

GolfNovemberUniform,
@GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml avatar

I’m thinking of this too. I heard there’s only one good alternative dialer app (don’t remember if it was Koler or not). We have a lot of FOSS SMS apps but no dialer ones for some reason

mzesumzira,
@mzesumzira@leminal.space avatar

Have you tried the fossify dialer?

Their whole set of apps is nice.

paradox2011,

I tried it back when it was under the simple tools developer. I couldn’t get in to his apps (aside from the calendar) for some reason. They all felt half-baked. It’s nice to see that the fossify forks are getting some love, I’ll check it out again.

mzesumzira,
@mzesumzira@leminal.space avatar

I like the fossify forks much better than the simple tools, I used to only use the gallery (and even for that I switched to Aves) now I have many of them as default. Dialer is nice, though the integration could flow better.

Pherenike,
@Pherenike@lemmy.ml avatar

I’ve been using Emerald Dialer for a good six months now and I love it.

paradox2011,

I’ve tried it, but I am a little picky about UI personally. It functioned well while I used it, but had a very dated style. Totally a cosmetic issue though.

digger,
@digger@lemmy.ca avatar

KineStop - After Apple announcef Motion Cues, I went looking on Android because I cannot use my devices in a moving vehicle. KineStop is all I found. I went ahead and bought it because it helps (doesn’t completely get rid of motion sickness). I would gladly switch to an open source alternative if one were available.

GlassHalfHopeful,
@GlassHalfHopeful@lemmy.ca avatar

It would be a huge undertaking, but a Fitness and Health tracker / aggregator that could replace Google Fit and the likes.

I really can’t bear how Google, Apple, Samsung, and all these big companies are the primary holders of our most intimate information. I’ve put some measures in place to limit who gets what, but it would be a huge boon to be the sole maintainer of my own info.

The problem is that the various apps and devices which report data won’t immediately support syncing with a FOSS upstart…

The app I use for grabbing my weight and BMI can only sync with a few other apps. The app I use for calorie and diet tracking can likewise only sync with a few apps. They happen to have Google fit in common, so I use that as an intermediary to transfer weight to the calorie/diet app. All my steps, exercise, and sleep stay in Zepp, separate from them all.

It sure would be nice to have one service/application to rule them all and a secure method of storing one’s own personal information without having to give it to the tech companies. Sure, use one of the many cloud services but encrypt all the data so that they can’t steal it. Yadda yadda.

One can dream.

Disregard3145,

More than once I’ve wondered if I can make something look like google fit to other apps, obviously would have to be on a degoogled rom, which limits its utility for a wider audience.

federino,

the devices would have to be degoogled so that the app can gather the necessary information? I never used google fit, so I don’t know how it works nor how it gathers the user information.

Disregard3145,

My thinking runs: is it possible to implement the APIs that are called to use google fit, assuming they run through google play services or something

cupcakezealot,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

would probably never happen considering how hippa compliance and privacy

theRealBassist,

Fitness data is typically provided by services like Google Fit as non-diagnostic non-medical information. Therefore HIPPA compliance is not required.

developers.google.com/fit/terms#hipaa_use_limitat…

cupcakezealot,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

oh sorry i thought the op was talking about an open source version of google fit itself.

cvieira,

I develop a self-hosted service designed to do exactly this! It’s not quite finished yet, but it’s at the point where enough functionality works that it can be used for testing.

github.com/connervieira/HealthBox

The docs/USAGE.md file gives an overview of how HealthBox works. Feel free to poke around in the other docs/ files as well.

southsamurai,
@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works avatar

Poweramp

The way it handles its own audio engine is pretty much the best available.

MalReynolds,
@MalReynolds@slrpnk.net avatar

Also large libraries…

dessalines,

Obsidian.

Markor is a great open source markdown editor for android, but I wish we had some decent WYSIWYG options, like obsidian, typora, etc.

5ymm3trY,

I am not an excessive note-taking guy, but I am using Notesnook for some time now and it does everything I needed so far.

dessalines,

Seems okay, but doesn’t allow editing of local files / folders, it wants you to use their paid sync service. Also its javascript / electron, not native android.

t0fr, (edited )
@t0fr@lemmy.ca avatar

Doesn’t have exactly the same features but I’ve simply been using Logseq syncing my notes with Syncthing

jjlinux,

Joplin already does a great job for this, at least for notes.

krash,

I used Joplin extensively for ~2 years, but I was constantly put off by the desktop applications UI and how my notes was stored in SQLite. The move to obsidian felt natural and I felt more in ownership over my files in their existing structure. Granted, obsidian is closed source and could go rogue, but when that happens, I am prepared to jump ship without too much pain.

Opisek,

I used Joplin for up to 8 hours daily for half a year (university) before switching to Obsidian, too. As far as I know, Joplin lets you store the notes as files, too, but you need to set it up that way from the start.

Still, I found Obsidian to be much more pleasant and - ironically - easier to modify (by writing plugins) than Joplin.

d0ntpan1c,

Exactly. Not a huge fan of notes apps storing the data in a db.otherwise there is a lot to like about joplin. With obsidian i open my notes in codium all the time to make mass edits or fill gaps that obsidians UI cant meet, which is not possible with joplin.

Fortunately with obsidian as long as you keep the plugins on the lighter side and keep any non-markdown content in seperate files via linking, im not too worried about having to jump ship if it ever goes bad. Worst case if a plugin dies or i have to migrate, the actual loss of data is that some plugin used json or whatever and it’d have to be converted or replaced.

I do have hope at least that if the company folds they’ll open source it, or turn a blind eye to a community reengineering effort. And what is unique about obsidian markdown and metadata will probably get community-built migration tools quickly if enough people jump ship en masse.

But for the time being Obsidian is the best option for me and i dont feel that bad about it.

lemmyingly,

I don’t see the hate for storing data in a sqlite database. It’s still your data, you get to do with it as you please, and I’ve yet to see the data encrypted (let’s not give anyone any silly ideas here). You want to see your data outside of the program, just download any sqlite viewer. If you don’t mind CLI, then the tools provided by sqlite are more than good enough and are only a few MB in size.

jjlinux,

I think it has more to do with preference than hate. For me particularly, I don’t care much about how things are stored. I just make sure to exporr/backup regularly, and if anything breaks, it’s an easy and mostly painless fix.

I tried Obsidian once, and while I did like it and the UI is light years ahead of Joplin, I guess I’m just used to the Joplin experience, so I saw no need to switch.

d0ntpan1c,

Generally speaking I’m not opposed to sqlite. The case of a notes app is the one exception.

If i need to make a big find and replace change, i dont need to rely on the app to have the capability or whip out a sql editor or cli tool. I just open my favorite text editor and do it. Or chain some cli tools built into the os.

Its not even about data portability or export. Its about working with the data.

nix,

IMO Obsidian is already a little rogue, in the sense that it only supports their sync. I know you can glue something together by syncing the folder itself, but that’s not convenient or the point. For now I’ll stick with Joplin because it works with nextcloud nicely.

krash, (edited )

There is at least plugins that enables sync by alternative ways. They’re not as elegant, but work.

Since everything, including settings, is stored in the same root folder as the notes - you can sync your settings along your notes through other tools too.

nix,

Oh, I’ll take a look at those plugins.

victor9,

Logseq is pretty close

Andromxda,
@Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Logseq has an Android version, right?

noodlejetski,

yeah, and the UI is absolutely atrocious.

tetris11,
@tetris11@lemmy.ml avatar

I was going to write “a decent comic reader”, but I’ve recently discovered Kotatsu and it has literally changed my life.

Amaterasu,

Is it better than Mihon?

tetris11,
@tetris11@lemmy.ml avatar

haven’t tested truthfully, I just see no reason to change from it

Amaterasu,

Mihon seems good in case you were using Tachiyomi since you can import the library

5ymm3trY,

File Explorer

I haven’t checked in a while, but I am still using CX File Explorer because I didn’t find a FOSS alternative I like. Maybe it is just because I am used to it, but one thing I really like is the network feature that you can access local shares of a NAS.

kosmoz,

Have you tried Material Files (it’s on fdroid)? It’s genuinely great and it supports different remote protocols, although I haven’t personally tried this feature.

5ymm3trY,

Thanks for the tip, I will check it out.

Emerald,

The ftp server feature is great

turbowafflz,

Honestly I feel like good mobile file managers are just like impossible with the small screen size. I just do everything from termux

schnurrito,

I use Ghost Commander as a file manager on Android.

eruchitanda,
@eruchitanda@lemmy.world avatar

I can’t wake up or a similar app.

I would’ve wanted an alarm clock app with ‘tasks’ you need to do before turning it off.

eruchitanda,
@eruchitanda@lemmy.world avatar

I know about one app that requires you to solve math questions. I want all the other tasks.

Tricia,

So what i use works is a bit different kind of task but it gets you out of bed…

f-droid.org/packages/com.sweak.qralarm/

Emerald,

I use this just for fun and its great

Emerald,

Lol I’d just force stop the app. Outsmarted.

MicrowavedTea,

Something that comes up a lot but probably can’t be made open source is a wallet app. But if we ignore the payments part, Google wallet has some really nice features when dealing with plane tickets which I’d love to see in a standalone open source app.

brisk,

I use fWallet for my plane tickets

MicrowavedTea,

Will check that, thanks

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