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Is there any proprietary Android app for which you wish there would be an open-source alternative? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 week ago by JustMarkov@lemmy.ml to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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Basically, what the title says. Do you use any app, that is proprietary, but either has no OSS alternatives or they're all not good enough? If there is an alternative, what keeps you from switching?

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[-] SaveMotherEarthEDF@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

There are so many. By usage however:

Smart Audiobook Player: None of the apps I tried had all the features in one, like reading my complex audiobooks folder structure and auto grouping the books based on that. Timer to pause audiobook that is automatically reset by moving the phone.

Maps: No foss solutions work better where I live than GMaps

YTMusic: So this is a tough one to beat because of the nature of the platform itself.

Notes: I am looking for a P2P syncable note app that can also have a web interface or atleast a Linux version of the App. Allows drawing your notes on an android phone or tablet using stylus, and other usual features. Can also use cloud storage as a backup or sync source. I know this one is a really tall order.

[-] velox_vulnus@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago

OSMAnd works really well. For YTMusic, you can instead pick LibreTube and use it in music player mode.

[-] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

If you live in an area that's missing the data, it doesn't matter how good the app is. I regularly upload in my area, but it will be years before it is reliable as a primary app. I usually search in Organic Maps first, then in Google Maps. OSM gets me where I need about 10-20% of the time at most. Google Maps is about 99%.

There are multiple front-ends for YT Music. Song Tube is good, Libre Tube is good, Inner Tune, Musify, Vibe You, etc. I haven't used them all so I can't testify to them, but it is a deep bench.

[-] Andrew@mnstdn.monster -1 points 1 week ago

There are always people claiming Organic Maps or other OSM apps are perfect replacements for GMaps and I'm just curious what other tool these people were using for location based searches. Because it apparently wasn't GMaps?

[-] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

If you live in a big liberal city with a lot of tech people, then you probably have a really well organized team creating detailed maps. In that case, there's no reason to think that Google is any better than osm. In a lot of cases it's worse, especially for walking and cycling.

If you're in a smaller, poorer city or a rural area, there's a good chance that 80% or 90% of the addresses are just not there yet. Compare this random park in Berkeley, CA with labels for individual trees to this neighborhood in nearby Stockton, CA, which is assuredly more than 3-4 houses.

OSM usability really depends on where you live.