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[2025] The Phone App Thread

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Rocket River, Jul 29, 2025 at 7:34 AM.

  1. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    What phone Apps do you find most useful/enjoyable?
    This is mainly Facebook/Chrome/Driving Directions
    I do play Clash of Clans (Still) and a tetris type game

    Which ones are the worse/Most Useless?
    So many Apps I don't even know what they do
    but
    When I delete them they seem to multiple
    so much phone bloats

    and more importantly. . .which one are the "I DIDN'T DOWNLOAD THAT SH*T" apps?
    I saw somekind of Farm related game app . .. WTF?

    Rocket River
     
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  2. Kemahkeith

    Kemahkeith Member
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    I don't plat any games on my phone, but do love the My Radar app. That way I know when to move the outdoor furniture cushions into the storage unit.

    I also use the MLB app to watch the Astros while my wife and I are watching something more mutually inclusive on the big screen.
    By mutually inclusive I mean one of her shows.

    I have a Samsung. Sadly, the most useless app is Perma-programmed into the phone.
    Stupid Bixby.
     
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  3. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    I detest Bixby (WTF is that?)
    I don't care for Samsung News (a whole fricking desktop that I cannot delete) Scrolling left to right I go into it accidently at least 3 times a day

    Rocket River
     
  4. Kemahkeith

    Kemahkeith Member
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    We feel the same PAIN.
     
  5. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    Life 360 is a game changer for me. Can't tell you how many times my wife has called me saying she's lost. I just pull up Life 360 and guide her where she needs to be.

    I'm addicted to Waze. I use it for every single drive even if I know exactly where I'm going. I like to try and see if I can knock any time off of my arrival time. And it's a lifesaver when you're traveling.

    Overcast is a great podcast app. Unless you guys know of a better one....
     
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  6. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    I think I need to find a nice Calendar/TO DO List app

    Google is a'ight
    Yahoo Mail is good
    but I hate Google Mail

    Rocket River
     
  7. Xerobull

    Xerobull ...and I'm all out of bubblegum

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  8. thegary

    thegary Member

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  9. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    Do I want to google this?
    What's so brave about it?

    Rocket River
    I also find . .. I find I am looking for more productivity apps than games these days t
     
  10. Xerobull

    Xerobull ...and I'm all out of bubblegum

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    It's a safe web Chromium (based on Chrome) browser that blocks ads almost completely, including seamlessly blocking YouTube ads. I use it on my phone and desktop.
     
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  11. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    I been meaning to convert to DuckDuckGo
    Just too use to Chrome

    Rocket River
     
  12. Jontro

    Jontro Member

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    just looked this up. seems horrible if someone has a possessive gf. i wish i had a possessive gf. or just a gf. maybe even just a friend.
     
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  13. Xerobull

    Xerobull ...and I'm all out of bubblegum

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    It's almost identical to Chrome. You can even sign in and it syncs your bookmarks and plugins.
     
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  14. thegary

    thegary Member

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    Brave browser is great. You can use DuckDuckGo as its search engine. Within that you can use their ai assistant which is powered by your choice of ChatGPT, llama, Claude or mistral. And, your data will be encrypted unlike using these bots on the open web or in their apps.
     
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  15. TimDuncanDonaut

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    What type of phone do you have? (iPhone, Android?... Samsung, Pixel, Moto...?)
     
  16. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    SamSung LG - Honestly I think it is coming to the End of Life

    Rocket River
     
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  17. Kemahkeith

    Kemahkeith Member
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    My wife and I just started watching the Good Wife on streaming. Every lawyer on there has a blackberry.
    what could make a company so on top of the market now be so irrelevant.
    I think the same about Motorola.
     
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  18. Xerobull

    Xerobull ...and I'm all out of bubblegum

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    Blackberry is on life support and has a 2.24b market cap.
    Motorola is doing just fine with a 73b market cap. :)
     
  19. TimDuncanDonaut

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    For Moto, I like it because it's fairly close to stock android and it's on the cheaper end so replacements is not too bad.

    Some of Moto's stock apps/features are actually useful.

    Gestures.
    • Chop chop: to turn on flashlight.
    • Rotate rotate to turn on camera.
    • 'power button' hold that could be re-mapped to power function so it's not Moto AI / Google assistant.
    Samsung Galaxy also have gestures, all except for the chop chop I think, but camera ON can be shortcut in other ways.
    --------------
    Other Apps:

    Google used to have a 'podcasts' App, which UI was quiet nice. But they discontinued it. Instead going over to YT Music App... I tried a few free alternatives, ended up sticking with PocketCast. Make a free account, and if listening to a basketball podcast on different phones, it'll remember where you left off.

    Offline music player. Google had 'Music', which I used to use but Alphabet also discontinued. Currently I have Fiio Music and Musicolet.

    Netflix App - watch stuff sometimes

    SmartThings - if you have or use Samsung tags (for your wallet/keys/items). The app can be on a non-Samsung Android phones for use.

    ----------
    Browsers:
    • Opera (daily driver) default on my moto. Free VPN (limited), Free AI: Aria ( don't use this much ).
    • Samsung browser, default on my Galaxy. Surprisingly decent.
    • Firefox and chrome, still installed and used occasionally.
    Homepage(s): there's DuckDuckGo and StartPage, Another one I like is https://udm14.com/. It's Google but without AI results and sponsored results at the top of results page.

    Gemini can be useful sometimes, if I need it, I don't necessarily want it as default.

    For any mobile browsers, I install, first configuration I do is remove homepage's sponsored feeds and speed dials and replace with my own. (ex ClutchFans)

    Be choosey about the type of browser plugins you install. Try to narrow it down to the bare essentials (performance and reduced risk).

    ----------
    Personal preference: on daily phone where my real world phone contacts are: I don't install any of the social media apps: IG, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok...etc. if I have to use them, it's likely a login situation at home on a desktop/laptop.
    -------
    Tangent:

    There's a category for Rugged phones, which if people are interested can look into. It's for people who work outdoors, do long trips (hiking and camping). These are super bulky phones that have a super large battery. Some of these include softwares like night vision, thermal camera. Unihertz's Tank pro 3 has a built-in projector.
     

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