Wanted some recommendations for alternative Apps to use… Dialer, MMS, contacts, maps, photo, podcasts, email, browsers, backup… Etc. Thanks. (Non Big Tech/tracking).
I want to bring up some alternative apps for Android.
I know SimpleApps made apps for contact, dialing, and MMS. There might be a lot more I have not listed.
OsmAnd is a decent alternative to Google Maps, but it might not be one of the top map apps to find for Android. I have not tested the directions, but at least the user can download maps to use some portion of maps offline.
I use FairEmail for general email accounts, but K-9 Mail is also suitable. Protonmail also exists for Protonmail accounts.
There are a lot of browser alternatives. Bromite exists on F-Droid (on some repo that I could not remember which). Bromite is an ad-blocking alternative to Chrome. The browser alternatives are differentiated. If you like Firefox, I would present Fennec which is Firefox with proprietary bits and bits that send data. It does still connect to Google and Mozilla services though.
I have not used exact or close alternatives for podcasts, but I use music players like VLC. I am sure there might exist app alternatives for podcasting. However, I don’t know any alternatives that are not made by a big tech company, or have telemetry.
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Thanks Xman. I’m using Simple Dialer… but the SMS/MMS App isn’t working quite right for me… MMS/Picture sending issues.
I’ll try out OsmAnd, FairEmail, & K-9 Mail. I do have Protonmail so I use that.
Browsers - Yes I’ve used Bromite… Fennec on Linux Thanks. I also use Brave, Presearch, Epic, & Carbon.
For Podcasts, I love Podcast Addict… I think it’s fairly private.
Other favorite apps I have on my phone - NewPipe, TubeMate, FightRadar24, Telegram, Signal, CubeACR, File Manager+, Net Guard, Stremio, Wifi Analyzer, Network Cell Info,…
Anyone know of Google Voice alternative / VOIP Provider ?
I also like Apps that let you access BigTech anonymously… like Fritter used to work for Twitter. Any similar that let you peer into FB, IG, TikTok & the like ?
I checked out K-9 mail. So far so good. Thanks. Bromite, Fennec, Epic, Brave, Presearch all working good.
How bout Social Media alternatives ? Fritter used to be good. Are there Alt-connectors for other apps like FB, IG , Tik-Tok etc ?
I really like Telegram but it’s hard to convince friends & fam.
NewPipe (YT client) is awesome.
I’m not a wiz developer, but I’m currently working on some ‘default’ app replacements like dialer, notes, clock, sms/mms etc simply because there aren’t any good alternatives to Google and Apple products. If you’re interested in testing them let me know. They’re still a bit out from beta testing, but I’m getting there.
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Always interested in testing. Thanks.
I have a few of the apps semi close to testing, I can share more soon for anyone interested is testing and sending me feedback.
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Wanted to add more Android apps to the list. Side-load APK’s & use alternative app stores.
Looking for advice & recommendations
F-Droid
Aurora Store
Revanced Manager
K-9 Mail
NewPipe
TubeMate
Browsers - Presearch, Epic, Brave, Bromite, Fennec
OsmAnd
VLC
I would be happy to test and send feedback. 
This is for Android apps, right? I’m trying to do my best with my Samsung. Slowly trying out FOSS apps to make the transition. Until I can switch to a degoogled phone…
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Wanted to keep this thread going… This would be Apps for Android phones. Preferably FOSS, Private, Non-big tech. Open to any recommendations/suggestions.
Phone models - Pixels, Sony, Pinephone, older Samsung, LG, OnePlus for CFW
App Stores - F-Droid, Aurora
Browsers - Brave, Presearch, Ghostery, Epic, Fennec, Bromite
Search Engines - Startpage, Brave, Presearch,
Dialers - Simple, Emerald
Contacts - Simple,
Texting SMS/MMS/RCS - QUIK/QKSMS, Simple
Social Media/messaging - Telegram, Signal, TruthSocial, Session,
Email Clients - Protonmail, Tuta, K-9 Mail, Fairmail
Calendar -
Keyboard - OpenBoard
Camera & Photo Gallery/Editor - Gcam, OpenCam, Fossify
Maps & Navigation - OsmAnd, Magic Earth, Organic Maps, Maps.me, Pocket Maps, Navit,
Video - NewPipe, TubeMate, Stemio, Revanced, VLC, Rumble, Odysee,
Weather - QuickWeather, Clima, RadarWeather
File Managers - File Manager+, Root Explorer, Fossify, Simple
Call & Voice Recording - Cube ACR, Boldbeast, Simple, Easy Voice Rec,
Backup & Cloud - Neo Backup, Idrive, Stingle
PDF & eBook - ReadEra
Wifi & cell scanning - Wifi Analyzer, Network Cell Info
Launchers - Nova
Custom ROMS - Graphene OS, Calyx (Pixel only), Matrixx, CrDroid, Lineage, iodeOS, Derpfest, AlphaDroid, Ressurection Remix,
Other MISC - Netguard, MicroG, Revanced, Play Integrity fix, Magisk, TWRP, OrangeFox, Shizuku, SD Maid,
I’ll try to continue to update this list with recommendations.
Thanks
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For Calendar, i use Etar. FOSS, no ads, supports ics.