New phone, etc.
Randomly found another new-to-me Free Little Library, yay, loving the local options.
Android 14, double tap to wake and screen off is back, baby!
Am I only one excited about this, lol. With phone screens continuing trending upwards into phablets, I used this all.the.damn.time on a previous phone (circa android 5 or 6)? My small hands appreciate this being an option.
New phone literally felt so heavy, but I think my fingers and wrists are slowly adjusting?
Interestingly, I could NEVER thumb type on a touch screen. One thing about such a large screen, now I kinda can?? I'm bad at it, but at least it's an option now.
I also prefer starting a new phone from scratch to digitally declutter, and NOT transferring over old pictures and text messages. Also, 3 fingers drag down to screenshot, it's so handy, love it.
So far, I've managed NOT adding any google account for the play store. We'll see if that sticks long term.
Not rid of gmail yet, but fewer people email me nowadays. My old phone still has gmail there, and I've moved most of the account related things over to other email services, so this works for me. It's also refreshing to not have personal email on this new phone somehow?!
For a few apps, I worked around them not showing up in Aurora store by just setting a good old fashioned browser bookmark.
Method:
- Skip / Don't use a google account to set up phone on first boot.
- Chrome: download F-droid store apk, install. (Change permission setting to install from unknown source).
- F-droid: download Aurora store, install.
- Either alternative store: install a different keyboard, turn off gboard as default.
- Aurora: install a different browser, set it as the default. Use a different search engine, turn off google search as default. I'm trying Duckduckgo and Quant.
- Disable, if possible, any native google apps and preinstalled nonremoveable apps you don't use (Drive, Gemini, etc.)
Current app roundup:
Aurora store (option Not signed in)
Filen Cloud storage.
Firefox browser
Icedrive Cloud storage.
Infomaniak email Also using / testing addy.io and simplelogin.io alias forwarding for newsletters that don't need replies.
K-drive Infomaniak cloud storage.
Libby Library borrowed audiobooks, ebooks, magazines.
Lithium Epub reader, buying my ebooks from Kobo these days.
Proton mail
Vivaldi browser
F-droid store
Antennapod Podcasts.
Breezy weather
Cards with Cats Installed for Hearts, maybe I'll try learning Spades since it's also included. Was originally looking for solitaire and found this.
Fossify suite using Calendar, Contacts, File Manager, Gallery, Messages, Phone. Not sure what happened to simplemobiletools? I was using their Calendar, Contacts, and Gallery on the old phone; glad to see their work continued.
Heliboard This one has gesture slide typing, kinda; you need to manually load a file. It took me a while, here's the exact file link you want. Swipe typing back as an option, yay. 😍 Before I figured that out, I also adjusted the keyboard offset height (bringing it waaay up, which does sacrifice some screen real estate) so that my thumbs are in a more natural position. Honestly didn't know this was a thing you could adjust.
Librera FD ebook reader for TTS (text to speech). I use this for short stories, books, etc. that don't have an audiobook version published. This phone only has google voices, but some brands may ALSO include their own engine (an old Samsung did), which you can choose if available.
Mensinator Period tracking with dark mode.
Nextcloud Sync client I'm using specifically for my Quillpad notes: while experimental, it seems to work so far.
Notesnook Testing my free account here versus using Quillpad.
Phocid Music player, I own a fair bit of music.
Quillpad Instead of sticking everything in 1 service, I keep my phone notes separate from my laptop notes on purpose, but it's nice to have a way to check them online and synched if needed.
Tuta Mail Slightly annoying that notifications only work part of the time.
Voice Audiobook player for purchased audiobooks.
If you happen to be subscribed to audible dotcom at premium plus level, and aren't aware, there's a sitewide cash sale through the weekend.
I picked up novellas I'd otherwise wouldn't want to 'waste' a credit on, that are priced over 80% off. So, Murderbot (Kevin R. Free versions, not the abridged full cast), and some cozy restaurant sounding vibes at $0.91 USD each by Tao Wong, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller.
Remember to switch to cash in the cart, if you have credits. And, Libation is your friend to backup purchases.
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