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LKD70
SMARTY Maverick
Joined 17-01-2023
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[Open Discussion] What are some mobile apps you can't live without?
I'm new to the forums and thought I'd start my own open discussion to get a feel for the atmosphere here, huge fan of forums so here goes! What are some mobile apps you can't live without? I persinally daily drive Android, so my list might not all apply to you iPhone users, though there's certainly a few gems in there for both of us. 1. FairEmail - This android app makes handling multiple email accounts a lot easier. I will preface this with "this is not a tool for beginners" and by that I mean it can be a little confusing to learn and harness the full power of this app. But I will say even for a novice, a lot of the features would prove to be fairly simple and useful, but for a power user this certainly is a must try! 2. Firefox - Though a Firefox app is available for both android and IOS, I can only recommend it on Android as the IOS one is essentially a skin for Safari (as all IOS browsers must be). A web browser appearing on this list might seem odd, however I will just jump right in and give my main reason above all - extensions. Firefox for Android allows you to use web extensions such as uBlock Origin, Dark Reader, and many more - many work flawlessly with the mobile experience. 3. 1password - 1password is a cross platform cloud based password manager, let me start by saying this one isn't free, for a free alternative there's similar apps like Bitwarden. There's plenty of password managers available, but I've chosen after trying many of the options to stick to 1password given that it has great support for 2 factor authentication tokens (even automatically copying the token to your clipboard when you need it) and has flawless cross platform clients. I could go on for hours writing a long list of all my go-to's, but for now I'll give you these 3 and see what you peeps can come up with, so what are your go to apps?6.2KViews4likes7CommentsRe: [Open Discussion] iPhone vs Android: Which do you use and why?
I'll preface this with "I have an iPad", which I guess shied my immediate attempt to be neutral but also gives away my huge bias. I have an iPad, I use it for work. I'm a programmer that needs to test products on many different platforms. The iPad is amazing, it's an old one but she is still going strong. Got her second hand from eBay and honestly it's better than anything I could have imagined. The software is a little odd to an android user, there's a lot of comfort features that are missing, or things that are done slightly differently in either an interesting or annoying way. That being said, I'll get in to my main reason why I stick to the Android echosystem for my main device(s). The ecosystem isn't locked down. To use an apple product to its full, you must really buy in to the apple ecosystem which gets expensive very quickly. I would love to have a Mac just to harness some of the additional features like xcode signing, things that apple prevents from being on other platforms. But the cost I cannot begin to imagine paying. The Android ecosystem being based on open and free software really provides a better overall cost and experience. Everything works seamlessly across brands, devices, and price ranges. I'll also say that android allows you to do stuff the way you wish to do it, apple has its own way of doing things and if you don't like it, then you best learn to like it or leave. The freedom that Android allows to really make a device your own and to own your device is something I really value.20KViews1like0CommentsRe: [Open Discussion] What’s the best bit of tech you’ve bought recently?
I recently picked up some new speakers for my PC. I've always been passionate for sound, sadly last year my old KEF coda 7 bookshelf speakers finally gave out. I looked around for a bit and found a reasonably cheap alternative to sticking to the amplified option I grew used to. Picked up a set of Edifier r1280T's. It's a more obscure brand, not exactly high street - but given the amazing price, the great IO and the constant good reviews I decided to give it a go. They are just about perfect for my PC setup so I'm very pleased so far!33KViews1like0CommentsRe: [Prize Draw] Let us know about your favourite bit of tech
Oh wow, favourite bit of tech... Since this question has a few parts, I guess I'll answer each individually. I'll start with my favourite current tech, I'll pick one thing to save myself from listing every single toaster and microwave. I'd have to give my current favourite to my wireless earphones. I've started the new year off with a lot of walking, it's tricky to get your head in the zone to do that everyday, the magic or music and podcasts have been priceless in helping me commit to my goal. Speaking of classic tech that could be returned, or perhaps modernized, wow, again so much I could choose. From PDA's (the OG smart phones) which has real **physical** keyboards, to software like IRC which had odd communities form and come together the world over... This really is a tricky one. I'll give this one to one that has (kind of) come true, the Sony Walkman, and or MP3 players. Sony recently re-released the Walkman, and although the modern approach is far beyond my financial reach, the idea behind a dedicated music (or even podcast?) Hub in such a convinient and quality form factor really holds a lot of value to me. Going forwards with tech, I'd like us to remember where we came from, not abandon those little feel good things like a headphone jack, and the freedom to root your devices. I'd love to see more companies adopt an open and welcoming stance to their products. I would like to see more focus on camera software, rather than adding more lenses, and I'd like to see more sharing of standards with things like chargers, software, and everything in between. Yes I'm hopeful but I think we will get there.18KViews1like0Comments