Just found out that my #Obtainium config could be optimised for automatic updates!
Unlike on Linux and Windows, where getting apps from Repos is the best way to go, on #Android it is very common for developers to publish builds themselves.
Most are on #Github, but luckily not everything, quite some are on #Gitlab.com, #Codeberg or selfhosted git forges.
This is preferred, as the Android package manager already stores public signing keys (even across profiles), so a repository is not needed to guarantee safe updates.
There is #TOFU though; trust on first use. You need to verify somehow, that the app you first install is from a valid source.
This is also the reason, why app changes like #Syncthing or #Signal require uninstalling and reinstalling, as another key is used.
Obtainium allows to get often far quicker updates, more apps, and no reliance on re-distributors.
You will contact Github and Gitlab a lot though, so getting an API key (best with a separate account) is needed for it to work reasonably if you have over a handful of apps.
The F-Droid repo and compatible 3rd party repos are also supported, but #FDroidBasic is better as it is more efficient, better for the repo owners and you.
But that camera is very bloated and exposes a ton of attack surface that way.
Android asks twice which camera app to open when pressing the "double power button" shortcut, when locked and when unlocked. So you can set 2 different apps there.
This is not exposed in the settings and the dialog only appears after installing or uninstalling one of the possible camera apps.
As I had set #GCam as default apps on both invoking methods before, I quickly install #FossifyCamera, turn of the display, use the shortcut.
Android asks to unlock the screen, then the selection dialog appears.
I uninstall FossifyCamera again and do the same, dialog appears again, I select #GrapheneOSCamera there.
Done! Attack surface when screen is locked reduced.
For those who are unaware, #groovecoaster was a rhythm game on #android that was delisted and stopped working for new installs as Taito stopped the support for the game.
But thankfully, I found a way to play all of the songs in the game from a fresh install directly offline, or on a custom server! With around 6gb of songs, you can enjoy the game on your phone again!
My wife is complaining that we have music all over the living room all the time. With a couple kids in music lessons, school bands (regular, jazz), orchestra, and such a practice session often needs 6 books and 5 loose pages of music so I can't blame her for being frustrated. There is no easy way to store all that and find...
As far as I'm concerned, #Mobilesheets is still the best software for #Android, though unfortunately proprietary. Still better than using #Apple products though, if you ask me.
I still have a cupboard filled with sheet music, but I just quickly scan them into Mobilesheets whenever I need something. The built-in photo function works really well for that.
Google released a new version of its design system, a kind of extension kit, in alpha version: Material 3 Expressive, more energetic, positive and expressive....
Google released a new version of its design system, a kind of extension kit, in alpha version: Material 3 Expressive, more energetic, positive and expressive....
Since https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1gdhy7u/experimental_flathub_release_of_newpipe_on_linux/ got a bit of traction yesterday, this is WhatsApp straight from Meta running on Linux desktop using android-translation-layer....
The future of selfhosted services is going to be... Android?
Wait, what?
Think about it. At some point everyone has had an old phone lying around. They are designed to be constantly connected, constantly on... and even have a battery and potentially still a SIM card to survive power outages.
We just need to make it easy to create APK packaged servers that can avoid battery-optimization kills and automatically configure an outbound tunnel like ngrok, zerotrust, etc...
The goal: hosting services like #nextcloud, #syncthing, #mastodon!? should be as easy as installing an APK and leaving an old phone connected to a spare charger / outlet.
It would be tempting to have an optimized ROM, but if self-hosting is meant to become more commonplace, installing an APK should be all that's needed. #Android can do SSH, VPN and other tunnels without the need for root, so there should be no problem in using tunnels to publicly expose a phone/server in a secure manner.
In regards to the suitability of home-grade broadband, I believe that it should not be a huge problem at least in Europe where home connections are most often unmetered: "At the end of June 2021, 70.2% of EU homes were passed by either FTTP or cable DOCSIS
3.1 networks, i.e. those technologies currently capable of supporting gigabit speeds."
PS. syncthing actually already has an APK and is easy to use. Although I had to sort out some battery optimization stuff, it's a good example of what should become much more commonplace.
Magic Earth is an alternative to Waze and Google Maps with crowdsourced traffic and road hazard information
As part of a #BigTechDiet, I've been hoping to find an alternative to #Waze and #Google Maps - a navigation app that can tell me about slowdowns, hazards, and speed traps based on reports from other users. Today, I learned about Magic Earth.
It's proprietary, but not from FAANG or a company subject to the government of China, Russia, or Five Eyes countries. It collects minimal user data and has a good privacy policy. There are versions for both Android and iOS, and the Android version works without Google services.
[email protected] - #kbin + #lemmy app is coming along. Here's a preview of the upcoming beta. This is less than a week’s worth of work, so it’s only up from here 😉...
anyone have a sheet music system/workflow that works?
My wife is complaining that we have music all over the living room all the time. With a couple kids in music lessons, school bands (regular, jazz), orchestra, and such a practice session often needs 6 books and 5 loose pages of music so I can't blame her for being frustrated. There is no easy way to store all that and find...
VPN Comparison 2.0
VPN Comparison...
Premium Murena 3 coming...? ( mastodon.social )
Knowlegable Android devs needed: Help the European Commission regulate Google Play ( social.librem.one )
A call for help from @eighthave, who among other things is associated with F-droid:...
Looking for Privacy-Oriented Open-Source Android Browsers
Looking for Privacy-Oriented Open-Source Android Browsers...
Welcome to Material 3 Expressive (alpha) ( m3.material.io )
Google released a new version of its design system, a kind of extension kit, in alpha version: Material 3 Expressive, more energetic, positive and expressive....
Welcome to Material 3 Expressive (alpha) ( m3.material.io )
Google released a new version of its design system, a kind of extension kit, in alpha version: Material 3 Expressive, more energetic, positive and expressive....
WhatsApp running through android-translation-layer (no container!) on Linux desktop ( lemmy.kde.social )
Since https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1gdhy7u/experimental_flathub_release_of_newpipe_on_linux/ got a bit of traction yesterday, this is WhatsApp straight from Meta running on Linux desktop using android-translation-layer....
Appollo inspired App Artemis preview ( tech.lgbt )
[email protected] - #kbin + #lemmy app is coming along. Here's a preview of the upcoming beta. This is less than a week’s worth of work, so it’s only up from here 😉...