Personally paid for Niagara launcher as I find that to be the far superior launcher to any other I’ve tried. My second one is Symfonium, the most feature rich and well developed audio player.
What are yours?
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it was nova launcher pro till they fucked the dev team down to 1 dev who does everything so I moved to lawn chair because I can’t trust that the project is going to stay alive.
RealCalc
It’s a really nice calculator.
I have this one. It’s the best Android calculator I’ve used.
I love the widget feature. You can add a whole calculator to your home screen, I have it taking up my second page, so whenever I need a calculator I swipe across once and it’s there.
The only paid app that I have is Moon+ Reader Pro.
I read a boatload of ebooks on my device, and this has been my ebook-reader of choice for a while. I found it to be so good that I did the IAP, and stopped using Librera Reader.
For all that matters, I am a huge supporter of FOSS apps (that’s the reason I have only one paid app lol) - but Moon+ reader Pro beats Librera in two areas - Librera is pretty slow when it tries to open a huge file, and Librera also can’t download book covers like Moon+ does.
Niagara (on pixel).
Poweramp, IMO the UX is excellent and it has tons of powerful features. No other music player I’ve tried comes close.
Slay the Spire
I wonder if it ever goes on sale. I added it to my Google playstore wishlist to keep tabs.
I don’t think it goes on sale ever, but $10 is effectively a permanent sale compared to Steam
Don’t tell me this! I have it on my steam deck and it is addictive enough. I had no idea it was available on android. I am going to try and pretend I didn’t read this.
I’ve put 400 hours in on phone alone from public transit commutes.
You are not helping!
It’s has been a great game on my steam deck while I have been traveling.
It’s coming for you… I’ve already bought it and played it all the way through on pc, switch, and android
You could also turn your steam version into the mobile version using this. It was created before the official apps but still works and transfers your save data too!
The struggle is real.
Also Balatro
I’ve been playing it and it’s definitely fun but it’s not as sticky as StS imo. There’s too much randomness and not enough control. At least compared to sts
Give it some time, you might just get there.
The randomness is basically a variable to be controlled for in the same manner that it has to be controlled in Slay the Spire.
Not today, Satan.
That game is tons of fun, but I suck at it.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley.
The only other app I have paid for that wasn’t a game is “iVCam” so I can use my phone’s camera as a webcam that isn’t limited to some stupidly small resolution or have a watermark, can do more than 30fps, and also works as a source in OBS. I mostly use it for full body tracking in VR with the April tag system. But I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite.
Android has webcam support in USB mode and has for like 3 versions now, though?
When it asks you what you want your device to do when plugged into a PC you get options like "file transfer (ftp)”, webcam should be on the bottom
Works flawlessly for me in both Linux and Windows for OBS
To be fair, I bought the app years ago when that wasn’t a thing. But I also don’t see webcam as an available option when plugging it into my PC. I have a carrier branded Pixel 8 rn, so it might not have everything a regular stock android would. :/
I can actually just use some FOSS thing I found on GitHub to basically remote access my phone now via ADB, which is also handy in VR as I can use a VR version of it without taking off the headset.
My Android paid must haves are: Titanium Backup (for scheduled backups and quick recovery), Threema (Messenger) and airMusic (former AirAudio, stream from mobile to e.g. Sonos).
+1 for AirMusic. I use it for my snapcast multi-room streaming setup.
What makes Threema better than Signal?
I am not aware of any advantage, but my family and friends are using either Threema, Signal or Telegram. So I use all three of them.
Why Threema?
Currently limited to groups chats of 256 participants and group calls of 16 participants
For privacy, freedom, and control, iOS is out. As with Telegram, I advise staying away from the Google variant and highly recommend the Threema Libre implementation for Android. Licenses are not compatible across variants, so stick with the Threema Shop!
- Open source full E2EE (end-to-end encryption) platform with regular security audits
- Mobile clients can be linked to Threema Desktop/Web
- Source code available for Android, iOS, Desktop, and Web
- Threema Libre implementation for Android
- Liberated from Google Services, uses Threema Push for instant delivery
- Reproducible builds
- Available via F-Droid repository
- Simplified (normal human-understandable) Changelog
- Multiple ways to purchase through Threema Shop
- With or without Email Address
- Cash, Bitcoin, Mastercard, Visa, or bank transfer - Can leave every non-payment field blank!
- 4.99 CHF, EUR, or USD per license
- Pay anonymously with cash (rounded nearest 10, buy in multiples of 2)
The largest criticism levied against Threema:
- 2023010? - Accusation - Three Lessons from Threema - Analysis of a Secure Messenger
- 20230109 - Rebuttal - Statement on ETH Findings
- 20230110 - Coverage - Messenger billed as better than Signal is riddled with vulnerabilities
“While some of the findings presented in the paper may be interesting from a theoretical standpoint, none of them ever had any considerable real-world impact,” the post stated. “Most assume extensive and unrealistic prerequisites that would have far greater consequences than the respective finding itself.”
Its business model and not requiring a phone number
I think Signal still required phone number for registration, but you no longer have to disclose it to others.
Signal still has that PII tho
Last time I used Titanium Bckup it was losing compatibility and I moved on to Neo Backup. Did Titanium get updated again ad some point or something?
Titanium Backup hasn’t been updated in five years, and I think that update was just to meet requirements to stay on the store. Their last changelog entry is adding the menu icon after Android ditched the physical menu button. There are a bunch of settings that are broken or do nothing due to changes to Android over the decades (TB has been around for so long that it supports Android 1.5).
I’ve been using Swift Backup as a replacement these past few years. It’s closed source but was recommended to me, and I haven’t run into any problems yet. Is Neo better in some way, aside from being FOSS?
I’ve heard of Swift Backup but never tried it because I think it was paid or automatic backups were a paid feature or something. But for my simple needs Neo Backup has been perfect.
Yeah, it’s twelve bucks to unlock scheduled backups and cloud syncing in Swift Backup, but then again this post is about paid apps. :)
Which is perfectly fair. I just tend to be stingy about paying for apps when there’s a free one that does what I need.
Nothing wrong with paying for something that’s worth it, though.
Latest version I know is 8.4.0.2 from 2020-05-16 downloaded from here http://www.matrixrewriter.com/android/files/TitaniumBackup_latest.apk.
I use Titanium since Android 4 and had indeed some troubles (related to storage access rights) on Android 11. After solving those, Titanium ran fine like on older versions of Android. Did not yet try Titanium on newer versions than Android 11.
Thank you for the hint and link to Neo Backup, I will give it a try. (Ah, just saw it is an incarnation of OAndBackup, nice.)
Hope it works for you, since other comments also mentioned Titanium having issues and being unmaintained.
Titanium has been abandoned for years. Swift backup is what I switched to, or DataBackup on GitHub if you want a free option.
Meteogram, super customizable weather app. The subscription or one-time-for-life-payment allows access to all paid weather providers that are currently implemented
I also have a weather app similar to this. Weawow. I loved it so much and it was so well made that I thought it was well worth a donation to the developer.
Super custom widgets though? Without that it’s worthless.
The main thing of the app is to create widgets. If you open the app it’s just so many settings to tune your widget as you want it. The Dev is also super responsive, so if you miss a specific feature it’s worth reaching out
RadarScope Pro is the first that came to my mind. I don’t live in tornado country anymore, but got plenty of use out of it when I did
Ping Tools Pro, but it may be not actively developed anymore.
Koala sampler with samurai mode.
What are these “paid” android apps you speak of?
What do you mean?
Just being silly. I don’t think I have any apps I’ve paid for.
Used to be the case for me too. But recently discovered that paid apps generally is much better polished, feature rich and ad+tracking free. That at least for me makes it more interesting paying for apps.
Checking in with my regularly scheduled F-Droid superiority post. Free, feature-rich, and no ads/trackers.
In all seriousness though, there are a lot of great FOSS apps on the stock repos and the IzzyOnDroid repos. Auxio (mp3 player) and Breezy Weather are probably my favorites at the moment.
Boost for Lemmy - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubenmayayo.lemmy
I’m more of a fan of Thunder, myself.
My client of choice.
+1 for boost as well here. It’s the closest I got to RIF, which was awesome… sucks that the dev went to tildes, with not even half the activity as lemmy.
Boost isn’t paid
Yes, but it has ads, for which you have to pay to get rid of. I can’t stand ads so I’d pay, and so would most people.
Easy question for me, Tasker. Don’t know what I’d do without it. Come to think of it, as someone has already mentioned, Stardew Valley is pretty good too.
I like the idea of Tasker, but can’t think of usecases. What’s yours?
A couple of favorites that are different from what others already said:
- I strongly dislike autorotate on my phone so I always keep it off, however it makes perfect sense in apps like YouTube/Twitch. So I have one task that turns it on when opening one of those apps, and off again when closing them
- When I’ve got Bluetooth headphones, I can choose to have incoming texts read out to me. Very nice when walking/running outside and not needing to pull my phone out
- Similarly, I’ve got a task that will (optionally) read out the name of the song that’s playing to Bluetooth
Personally I use it to
- put a slider on the display that controls the flashlight when it is on.
- Quick setting tiles for fast charging, mono/stereo audio and adb debugging.
- a basic local website, so I can copy text from my phone to PC and vice-versa
- toggle settings when specific apps are open i.e. when google wallet is open turn on NFC
- request music from Rockbot while at work
Some examples of using Tasker:
- When a specific contact sends a text message, it alerts me using TTS so I can be aware they are trying to reach me. I have an older family member she lives closer to, so having an alert from her is important if anything should happen forbid it does. When I plug my phone in to charge, it auto silences the phone and keeps it silenced until I unplug it, built into the same task, if monitors for phone calls from my contact and a few others and overrides it.
When a specific phone contact or contact calls, it raises the volumes to max. This is useful if you went to an appointment, set your phone on silent or vibrate but forgot to reset it. After the call has been completed, it returns the phone to the original volume you set.
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When I scan a NFC Tag, i have it send a webhook to my August lock to unlock it. As an apartment dweller, if I go down to the car to unload groceries, the door by default auto locks. This means I have to pull the phone out, unlock it, open the August App, and then tell it to unlock the door and sometimes use the biometric to do so. Having the NFC tag do this means I can put it in my wallet and when I put my phone in the same pocket where the wallet it is, it triggers the door.
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When connected to my computer only, it keeps the screen on all the time.
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When I launch certain apps, it keeps the screen on until the app is closed. Very useful when you are at the grocery store working within a strict budget and want to see how much you have put in to the cart!
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I have a widget on my screen which toggles my Private DNS on/off. This allows me to disable the adblock dns I use if I encounter a public wifi which insists I disable it. (I usually stay away from those, and use my mobile data, but sometimes it’s unavoidable when there is so much interference your 5G goes to NONE and you have to be there for a while.)
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Likewise, I have a widget which toggles my Tailscale connection on/off which comes in handy as well. Again, if the Wifi spot rejects custom DNS’s and I’m in the scenario above.
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If you have a Google Account (Sadly, this is the only way). You can view the list of profiles/tasks which other people have built. It’s a growing list. https://taskernet.com/shares/
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Using third party software such as Wake on LAN, when I come home and connect to my WiFi, it wakes my computer. (Or really any condition I set to trigger it).
I will say that the dev is very responsive and active in releasing updates and new features.
With that said, it has a slight learning curve which he(the developer) is working on to help simplify things and modernize it more. Since taking over the project from the previous owner, it’s really grown.
I admit though, I used to have a lot more tasks and profiles, but it seems that Android is starting to bake those functions in so it’s not as used on my end. But don’t let it it sway you. Your imagination is the only limit with what you can do with Tasker.
Generally, for less than a cup of coffee, it’s worth the purchase price. :)
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When my house guests text “#wifi” to me, they get an auto reply with the WiFi password.
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NFC tag stuck to my medication pouch. When I boop my phone to it (or tap a shortcut on homescreen), I can select what medication I have taken. The medication and the time gets added to the bottom of a Google sheets spreadsheet, that I, or someone supporting me can check to get an overview of how frequently I’ve been taking medication (especially useful for spotting high pain chunks of time due to more frequent usage of PRN pain meds).
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Another aspect of the medication tracking above is that it also can tell me the last time I took medication. For example, if I take ADHD meds at 12pm, then my next dose would be 4pm. If I tap the shortcut at 3pm, it’ll tell me I last took meds at 12pm and I’m next due at 4pm. Alarms tend to either startle me or not be noticed, but when I had smart lights and a notification light on my phone, I could make a colour gradient where “you have just taken meds” = red and “you are due to take meds” = blue, and as time progresses, the colour slowly becomes more blue. This works well for me, because I like visual reminders
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I have a profile that mutes my phone between 21:00 and 08:00 but only if I’m at home. I frequently work late into the night. I have a large number of backdrop images which are randomly changed every three hours, the lockscreen image is changed to match. I also have a desktop button to change it manually. I have profiles to backup various files onto remote servers. I also have a profile to stop my workout app when I get home, in case I forget.
Tasker would be mine too. Apparently i don’t have many paid apps lol
Me neither.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm
This one? What do you use it for?
That’s the one. Lots of uses mentioned below.
Neat, had never heard of this one before. I’ll check it out 👍
