New tech, who dis
Finally got a more modern laptop, and currently testing a new phone on android 14.
Not a fan of the way windows now auto downloads and installs updates, with an option to uninstall after the fact, sigh. I'm even on the pro version for the first time, so did I actually waste money in that decision since I apparently don't really have full control of the system now?
Currently, trying out Vivaldi browser with Quant search.
Installed Sumatra PDF (fastest opening PDF program I've ever encountered)?
LibreOffice (yay dark mode, which has been important to my eyes lately.) HINT, for some reason the default setting for icons is pixelated and looks especially terrible on dark mode. Change the icons to one of the settings with .svg and dark mode, and that will be fixed. I think I settled on using Breeze. Tools > Options > View
Uninstalled Copilot.
Kobo desktop, Calibre and Obok via De-DRM plugin Obok is for Kobo ebooks via desktop (versus using the website file downloads). This method bypasses the need for even using ADE (Adobe Digital Editions) and associated Adobe account. :) BONUS, Kobo is Canadian (founded and headquartered in Toronto), owned by Japan's Rakuten. Elbows Up. If new to Kobo, I recommend this recent podcast interview with Kobo's CEO, starts at approx 44.03. Episode title is 'How Roomba got stuck' from Vergecast if searching on your preferred platform. Also, amazon appears to be shutting down their ebook file access for good incrementally, so that makes me glad I was ahead of the curve.
My old laptop still works, but it's a decade old. As a Canadian, I decided to buy my needed tech now. Who knows how it all [gestures at this seesaw tariff timeline of Trade War 2025] will go.
My current Note system is messy af
An update on my note taking journey. Previous posts here.
I currently have 3 different windows notetaking apps installed; previously I was only using the web browser versions. So that's fun. Not sure if these differences are due to app versus web, or just updates to the services in general the last few years.
Filen Notes
Unfortunately, not going to cut it long term, for me. There's no tally so I can't say how many notes I have here. I'm slowly copying over what I was testing out back to Standard Notes.
I had a few instances where I encountered a seemingly blank / deleted content note. Not sure what happened. Thankfully, saved versions are automatically available, so I was able to retrieve some data, but I think there was some loss based on the previous version dates.
This is my main cloud storage, so I still use it for that purpose. I don't currently use it for synched files, but that may be on the horizon to try.
Standard Notes free tier
Now that I'm using the desktop version, my previous sign-in issues have obviously gone away. There is (now?) a dedicated Undo function.
I have around 350 notes, and I find the sync seems fast and consistent. I'm pleased that search shows the notes AND a highlight of the search term within the note.
I'm currently thinking of moving back here fully, using this for just a subsection of notes I wanted synched, or maybe keeping a duplicate of important notes here.
Zoho Notebook free tier
The option to open a note in a different tab is really useful. But, for me the desktop version seems prone to sync errors. Not good.
There's global search, but here, the list of notes matching the search term doesn't show the search term highlighted within the note (but it does on android, huh). You can see the highlighted search term if you search within a single note, though.
So, with all that, after I finish copying from Filen back into Standard Notes, I'm also considering going back to local files with LibreOffice. I don't know if I have the patience, though.
If I can get good file synching in one of my cloud storage services, that may be a good compromise with local files. I do have a free Sync.com cloud storage account, so I could try that; I'd have peace of mind of my data on Canadian servers.
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'm trying to install as few as possible apps from the Play store directly. My work in progress home screen. I also prefer starting a new phone from scratch to digitally declutter, and NOT transferring over old pictures and text messages.
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.
- Disable, if possible, any native google apps and preinstalled nonremoveable apps you don't use (Drive, Gemini, etc.)
My next steps
- Try with sim card, see if that makes a difference in store apps available.
- Add google account for Play store if essential apps aren't available in Aurora.
Aurora store (option Not signed in)
First time using Aurora, so I'm not sure there's any difference signing into a google account here, versus just using the normal Play store? Obviously, I chose not to sign in.
Filen Cloud storage, paid lifetime account.
Firefox browser, using duckduckgo search.
Icedrive Cloud storage on free account.
Infomaniak email Free account, a newer discovery in trying out alternatives to gmail.
K-drive Cloud storage, also from Infomaniak free account.
Lithium Epub ebook reader.
F-droid store
Antennapod Podcasts. Export backup options to switch to a new device include everything (including downloaded queue, I think?), or just the subscribed feeds if you want to start from scratch with the downloads. Export file on old device, import it on the new device.
Florisboard Keyboard in beta, I like having a perma number row on top. Previously was using Anysoft keyboard for swipe/slide typing, but it was last updated 3 years ago. I'm not sure about reinstalling if it's abandoned for good.
Mensinator On the old phone, I was already testing this for period tracking. I prefer the visual look of version 1.9.3. Easy to switch to a new device when you export from the old, and then import the file on the new device. Was also testing Drip, but that one doesn't have dark mode.
Phocid Music player. I was using Phonograph previously; it seems to be gone. I chose this fork to try. Cute seal for the logo.
Quillpad Testing as my phone note app. So far, local only as I haven't figured out how to get synching via Nextcloud. I quite like the dark mode colour backgrounds here, and for list-based text where you are wanting to add text to the bottom, the navigation using the edit / view button is nice because it auto jumps to the bottom of the text. Can also be switched to easily on a new device with exporting the backup and importing on new.
Tuta Mail Email on free account.
Voice Audiobook player.
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