Community Discussion: Apps Worth Every Penny!
Hey, Android enthusiasts! 📱
Let's take a tour of your favourite non-game paid apps in 2023 that are worth every penny!
No APKs please. Play Store links and app screenshots are encouraged. FOSS projects worth a contribution or two (whether a donation or paid version) are also more than welcome!
Let's skip the games (that's a story for another day) and spotlight some ever-reliable paid apps recommended by @[email protected]:
- Tasker: The master of automation, turning your device into an efficiency wizard.
- Titanium Backup: Safeguarding your data with finesse.
- SD Maid: Your neat freak companion, maintaining cleanliness and speed.
- BigBag: Organizing your shopping escapades like a champ.
- Wolfram Alpha: The answer guru for all things complex.
Here's to building a treasure trove of invaluable apps and supporting those who keep the Android landscape innovative and vibrant!
Don't forget to subscribe to [email protected] for everyday Android questions and suggestions.
This week's discussion idea is brought to you by @[email protected]. Include your suggestions for a future ![email protected] post in your response below!
How about Solid Explorer. It's my favorite file browser.
Also Network Analyzer Pro is a bunch of great network tools that I use quite often.
Solid Explorer is great. Works for everything I've needed from it, including remote servers.
It has backups but not web-based cross-device syncing like authy, which I think is good because the point of 2fa is to only have it with you and if it's available online it kinda defeats the purpose If you want it on multiple devices, you can just do what I do and just backup the file and put it on another device
I have not used any 2fa app before. I've read that if we lose the codes then we are locked out. So, people take offline backup of these codes. But, I've seen these apps refresh these codes every 30 seconds. So, how does this backup work then?
Essentially, there is a secret code which has some fancy math done to it with the time as part of that equation. Both sides have this secret and do this calculation, so when you put in a code (ex 123456) the server checks it against what it generated (123456). The reason for doing it this way is you don't have to share the secret code and you have to have access to the device at the exact time you are trying to login, making it harder to steal By backing up the codes, you are backing up the secret (or sometimes there are like 6 codes which always work, but those are special)
Thanks. This was very well explained.
I want to start doing this with my social accounts. What apps do you recommend I should use on my Android? I'd definitely want to backup these secret codes somewhere else, in case my phone is stolen or broken.
I use Ageis, which lets you export an encrypted file with all your codes
Yes. You can backup with a password to the cloud storage of your choice and load onto another device. I keep my tablet and phone in sync.
Doesn't Jellyfin already have a FOSS app? What's the difference to that one?
Jellyfin's android app is just the website in a wrapper I'm pretty sure, so it doesn't have some features Also the UI/UX is nicer
I'm giving Kvaesito Launcher a shot since I haven't been too happy with KISS Launcher. So far I'm enjoying the experience!
They are great, but OP asked for paid apps. These are all free.
FOSS apps worth paying for, either through a premium option like FairEmail or donation, are also welcome 🙂.
Will check these out. I'm using Outlook app since K-9 Mail has some annoying quirks still, but I'm looking very much into the rebranding of the app into Thunderbird.
Yeah, I started with K-9 but switched quickly because it just didn't jive with me. Both are good clients though, just not my cup of tea
❤️
Some others I previously forgot:
I've used Sleep as Android for yearrrrrs now. Absolutely love it!
What do you use it for? I'm looking forward to setting this up.
For me, it's very helpful in the ways it prevents me from oversleeping. I have it set to that in order to turn off my alarm, I have to go scan the barcode on my mouthwash in my bathroom, thus forcing me out of bed. The sleep tracking features are neat too and will hopefully wake you up when you're out of deep sleep so you're less groggy in the morning.
Musicolet is such an awesome app.
TickTick is a great reminders app. Cross platform too
My life is basically run out of this app. The pomo timer is an excellent bonus that I use for when I'm alternating between various work tasks
Torque if you have a Bluetooth OBD2 device.
I would like to recommend "Piston" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clockworkbits.piston as well. It is the only app I found that feels modern and well-built vs all other OBD2 apps looking like they're 6+ years ols
Oh an actually decent-looking OBD2 app! I'm too cheap to fork over the money for the Bluetooth ECUTek dongle (I have the license and cable). I'll have to give this one a try.
This is great, I love torque but it's definitely dated. I'll check it Piston.
A lot of great stuff recommended here already. Ditto a lot of them but here are a few others I use:
+1 for Repainter. I bought it when it didn't use a subscription yet. It's really great for theming your device!
MiXplorer Silver File Manager
Its worth mentioning that SD maid has a new version in development, so it may make more sense to buy the new version, although its presently in beta
You're right, it's SD Maid 2/SE!
Very helpful of you to include a link for folks :)
RIF! Oh wait...
Sync for Lemmy
Big sad. But at least there's Connect for lemmy.
I'm sad now.
For book lovers like me, Moon plus reader pro. I have used it every single day on my phone for years and am very happy with it.
That's a great one! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyersoft.moonreaderp
Keepass2android is a great password manager. Technically it’s free but the dev asks for donations once in a while, which I’m happy to do to support the project.
PowerAmp is also an awesome music player.
how do you feel about that compared to KeepassDX: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kunzisoft.keepass.free ?
No idea, I haven’t tried it.
If you want just a good file manager with the FTP server option - I use Material Files, which is free and open source app. here's the link
I freeze apps with SD Maid and App Manager would I see a benefit while using Ice Box?
I can't tell, haven't used either. What I like about ice box is that I can put a link on my home screen that looks just like the real app icon and opens it on click, with auto hibernation right after use. And that it's completely removing apps from automatic updates, since there are some I absolutely want to preserve in their existing state. But if you're happy with your existing setup, why change a running system :-)
That sounds kinda cool, actually I struggle a bit after the freezing action because when I unfreeze them they take forever to re appear in the homescreen/app drawer, or they never do... (maybe a restart or cleaning cache would bring them back, IDK).
Then give it a shot maybe, they launch pretty much instantaneously.
I'm jealous of your root access! It has been awhile for me.
I can't live without, seriously. Living in China means there's a lot of proprietary shit I must install, and that won't be tolerated without a means to control it.
Lumai fusion powerful video editing tool. Play store link
Oto music player. Great for local listening Play store link
Symfonium is great for streaming music from my media server to my phone Play store link
Kwgt is great for making/edit your custom widgets or using others. Play store link
It's worth mentioning. If you have a Samsung smartphone. The luma fusion app is available at 50% discount in the galaxy store compared to the Play Store.
Nice! I bought mine during early access so I paid around the same price.
Wallabag is an excellent open source alternative to Pocket with RSS support. It's free (as in free beer), but you can pay a small amount of money if you don't wanna self-host.
Conversations
FolderSync Pro
Interesting! Link for others: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dk.tacit.android.foldersync.full
Do you know how it compares to alternatives like AutoSync?
I don't, but it looks to be similar.
Kwgt
Drastic Ds
MX player pro
Beans
Fastest I ever signed up for a recurring subscription.
What's up with the 2.2 rating?
It used to be totally free. Glancing at the reviews, many people were very upset when they switched to a $4.99 monthly subscription model.
They did crowdsource the data (they have a companion app where they will pay you per property map). And as a result, they don't have information about every single complex. But I have found the data that is available has been invaluable to me in time savings.
The app also defaults to HERE maps (with Google maps as an option), and some people don't seem to like those.
What sets it apart from something like Google Maps or OpenStreetMap maps
They tell you exactly where the unit is.
Panels
Highly recommend this to everyone.
Do you have any screenshots of your setup? Samsung builds in panel support but I always just disable it. I'm curious to see what real world use looks like.
Same I'm curious what it might offer over Samsung's panels since I have those customized and use almost daily for apps like calculator, notes and shortcut to bitwarden plus quick access to the screenshot utility.
Using it for Bitwarden is clever! I might try that.
I can't capture it. It hides itself.
I have never actually found anything to use Tasker for...
The most useful profile I use Tasker for is controlling ringer volume at specific times. I always run it on vibrate at home and away from work (I have a watch for important notifications). So if I'm at work and in the office I set the ringer to lowest level 1 so I hear it but it doesn't go off super loud in a meeting or whatever. If I'm at work and out of the office (in the plant or outside on site) the ringer is at full volume. Automatically goes back to vibrate when I leave the property. Next step to this is when I'm on call. I need to hear my phone ring when I'm on call so when my Google calendar event called weekend duty is occuring I have a profile that keeps my phone on vibrate but when a call is incoming it
sayssets it to the loudest setting before it starts ringing. This prevents me wife and I from hearing notification dings and beeps from daily use.This is my favorite use for Tasker but I have others that are almost as good. Maybe this sparked a little inspiration for you.
I get it, that sounds useful. But in my case I leave my phone silences 24/7 and only put on my watch when I want to get notifications. This has been by far my favortite way to manage notifications. Thanks for the reply. I keep trying to think of something to use it for.
I used Tasker a lot more back when android wasn't as mature as it is now. Nowadays I use it sparringly, but it's an invaluable tool to have access to. When you run into something you cannot do directly through Android, odds are Tasker can fix it for you.
This is one of my simple tasks. We have a shared laundry room. You can only register one person per apparment and therefore only one phone number. When the machines are done washing, only I receive a text message. With Tasker, I forward this message automatically to my SO, so that we're both notified.
On the more superfluous side: I have an old Stadia controller - Rip Stadia :'(. Now when I connect the controller to my phone, it automatically launches XBOX game pass, which is nice, but by no means essential.
Once I made a complicated Tasker task that ran on a secondary phone. By saying certain prompts through Google Home using autovoice, I could switch the country on my VPN on my router. All voice prompts, connections to the router and commands were setup and handled within Tasker.
So in short. If you identify repetitive tasks that you're always doing manually, then odds are you can spend some time in Tasker to create automations for them. Then again, sometimes you get to spend way longer time tinkering than you'd ever do doing the manual task :-D
This is great. Thanks for the info. The VPN truck is pretty slick.
Buzzkill
Nobody mention Buzzkill? Notification history and custom rules. Top of my favorite apps
Interesting! I hadn't heard of it before.
Edit: I bought it. This seems great!
Glad you like it.. 👍
How is Nova on a pixel?
Really trying to stop using Google services and the Google search bar at the bottom is too convenient, shame you can't rid
1Password password and credentials manager: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onepassword.android
Podcast Republic - best podcast app ever made: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.itunestoppodcastplayer.app
F1 TV - watch all the F1 races for either a 1 time annual fee or monthly fee: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.formulaone.production
Poweramp music player: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maxmpz.audioplayer
Stockie Pro - all the stock wallpapers from all the phone makes (incl. iPhone):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.harry.stokiepro
Rad walls - cool retro 80's wallpapers (incl live wallpaper):: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.natewren.radpacklivewalls
Wave - live multicoloured wave wallpaper: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=wave.paperworld.wallpaper
Yo Weather unlimited - unique and fun weather app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=yo.app
Tasker is super awesome
Weather Today has a lifetime premium deal for only $27 CAD. It's a no brainer if you want the best Material You weather app. It pays itself off in a little less than 3 years.
MX Player Pro and Nova Launcher are the two apps that I bought 10 years ago and That I still use
Definitely worth the few euros I spent for them
And they're both spyware now :(
Both of these apps were sold to dodgy third parties who make their revenue through ads.
are there any instance of Nova spying on it's users?
AFAIK no
I second Tasker as the best paid app I've used.
Smart launcher 6 awesome launcher with dynamic themeing and customization.
Pix material you icons awesome material you themed icon pack IMO