The best value proposition a used Pixel. Get 5 years of security patches, much better point and shoot camera for basic everyday stuff.

And 40% cheaper at MSRP compared to Samsung and they don’t have mid-range phones with bad chips like a54.

Pixel 6 Pro can be found on the resale market for like $275 bucks. It’ll still get three more years of software support. r a Pixel 6a for 200 on Amazon renewed will get four more years.

You just can’t get the same kind of value with Samsung because once you’re down to 300 400 bucks you’re stuck with the a series. The a series just doesn’t retain the stuff that makes Samsung worth it like dex.

Might be helpful if you have more than one phone so if the learning curve ends up screwing you up you still have some kind of functional phone to use in the interim

It can be done, there are some challenges of course and some improvements and some downsides.

It’s worth trying if you’re interested.

Yeah I’ve noticed that I can no longer add floating bar for LG v30. I can use it on phones where it’s already downloaded but I can no longer add it to any new phones and if I delete it I can never use it again.

Which is strange cuz it’s still completely functional

Yeah I’ve had this problem with video games in the era of live service. I bought this game memory from Mars, I never really played it and when I finally went back to play it it was completely dead.

I have recently pivoted to proton…

Especially Firefox Nightly and kiwi browser run full desktop extensions. There might be others but those are the only two I know for sure that I can get to work.

Kiwi browser is the only one that I can reliably use the bypass paywall extension that gets me through the financial times of the Wall Street journal or basically any payw.

Yeah those are all huge. Camera app is pretty good important too.

I was trying to think of stuff beyond system apps but point taken

My honorable mentions are revanced, Google keep (The easiest way to have my notes sync up as I use a bunch of different phones and tablets), newpipe, musicolet…

To me it’s still Nova. Ever since they were bought out I’ve been trying to find a replacement but nothing seems to match it feature for feature. Especially on Samsung or LG phones, I’m using Nova constantly.

I just developed a muscle memory to be able to swipe down or up on any app to trigger a specific task. It allows me to really keep my home screen clean.

I’ve turned off automatic updates to try to limit branches intrusiveness but I’m eventually going to have to move on.

After that kiwi browser or Firefox Nightly. I need at least one of those. Those are the only browsers that allowed desktop extensions.

I guess I would choose with Firefox Nightly as it gets updated much more frequently and isn’t chromium.

I used to like internet by Samsung but the lack ublock became a deal breaker. In particular kiwi and Firefox nightly support desktop extension so I could use sponsor block, bypass paywall, privacy redirect, old Reddit redirect… But the Samsung Internet had the best dark mode. And it has the most minimalist looking widget which works on almost any aesthetic.

I wish Firefox would offer a widget that just had a little black clear bar with a microphone that I couldn’t use on half of a grid like the Samsung widget.

Musicolet has been a real eye-opening experience. It sinks up to recently downloaded music so easily. It’s become my go-to for offline music. Works great in combination with new pipe which lets you download the audio version of any video

Oh s*** If launchers count I need to edit my list. Nova launcher is still my most used app. I am looking for a decent alternative since the branch analytics approaches though.

I have 247 apps on the phone I’m using now. It varies a bit though because I use different phones and I swap my sim around. Include system apps so I don’t know maybe 200 or something.

I would imagine the 10 I used the most not including system apps are:

*Firefox nightly *Kiwi browser

(these are the only two browsers are among the only aware of that use desktop extensions like sponsoblock, bypass paywall etc…)

• Revanced YouTube
• YouTube music revanced
• Newpipe x sponsorblock
• Musicolet
• Antenna pod
• Fire TV app (to use as a remote control)
• Shortcut maker
• Nova launcher (looking for a replacement and updates are turned off since branch analytics purchase)

*Infinity for Reddit (RIP)

• Keep notes for voice notes.

On this topic I wish there was a definitive place to find Android games that have controller support. No microtransactions… I will have to download and try again first and then 90% of the time it doesn’t meet my criteria for playable.

I mean there’s a subreddit for gaming and then there’s a subreddit for console gaming and a subreddit for patient gaming and a subreddit for video games in the subreddit for PlayStation etc…

I understand a little confusion but if anything only having one subreddit for Android was a problem to begin with. And places like Android apps or Android gaming we’re probably a little too specialized

Huzzah

I quit like 6 months before Elon musk ever even mentioned buying Twitter. This is all pretty hilarious for me. Although I did occasionally poke my head in using a front end open source alternative like fritter or nitter or you don’t need to log in.

But those haven’t been working either because of the latest s***

Yeah I just turned off automatic updates on Nova the minute I found out about branch. I’m just going to stick with the pre-branch version of the app until it doesn’t function anymore or I find a suitable replacement.

But you’re right, a lot of the alternatives aren’t all that much better in terms of their privacy policy. Being owned by a shady data company… It’s absolutely discouraging. Obviously something like Microsoft launcher probably isn’t that much better in terms of privacy of course.

Yeah ever since that happened I turned off automatic updates and have been sticking with the pre-branch APK. So far no issues but I will probably eventually have to pivot away from it.

But I struggle to find stuff that has every feature I need. Nova lets me customize a swipe up and a swipe down on each icon. For instance if I swipe up on kiwi browser it automatically opens the YouTube music browser and if I swipe down on it regular YouTube browser.

It allows me to get three times as much usage out of my icons on the front screen and keep it much more minimal.

Alternatives usually only have one swipe option if that.

But I’ll keep trying. Like a half dozen launchers downloaded right now but every time I switch I miss something about Nova and end up going back.

Especially on my LG and Samsung devices. Crazy about these stock software on those with phones. I’m using a pixel I’d be more inclined to stick with the stock software. Although I would still probably download zone launcher or floating bar to control my remote control and the flashlight