Kia ora!
I’ve been an ios user for 100 years at this point, but used to be deep in the android scene before then. I’ve just got an android for a work phone and am wondering what’s changed in the last 10 years - what are your essential apps, settings, customisations? I’ve had a hunt around xda but can’t seem to find much in the way of roms for my model (Samsung A04) - back in the day it seemed there was a thread for every device!
What do I need to know?
You need good lock, it changes the game for customization, it’s the reason I no longer feel the need to do custom roms
You also need to use adb to remove all the bloat.
do you mean a custom lockscreen ? is that a thing ? is it actually good at keeping the phone locked ?
No, goodlock is a samsung thing that just has a bunch of general customizations for the OS meant for power users.
Yeah, I see that launchers are way more common now! Got any you’d recommend?
neo launcher and lawnchair are the two open source options, I don’t think I could justify using a proprietary piece of software for something that should be so simple.
Oooh thanks for lawnchair, that’s great!
I am using Kvaesitso, which is also open source :)
I used lawnchair for years as a launcher, allowed for excellent customisation and doesn’t require any root tinkering or custom roms.
I only stopped using it when I got a foldy-thingo and it didn’t support it as well as the stock launcher.
I’ve been using Nova Launcher and the Delta icon pack for aesthetics sake, can recommend!
Please don’t use nova launcher, they were bought out by an analytics company. Stick to foss.
I missed that news 😞 Is there any sign that it’s spying on us yet?
I’d say the fact that it was bought by an analytics company tells you everything you need to know.
Why else would they buy it?
of course, I want to know how urgent this is - it’s stealing my data now, or they’ve only just bought it and perhaps just blocking updates is enough (until I find time to find a FOSS replacement)?
It’
It’s been years since they bought it at this point, I haven’t looked into it myself, but i’d be astounded if they weren’t already.
It was announced in July 2022 and also they bought Sesame which I use too 🤦
You should look into Niagara Launcher. It’s not a very traditional one, but when you learn it it becomes lightning fast and super customizable