# Android apps I love. ### Background I had been an iPhone user for years, although from time to time I would briefly switch over to Android. I eventually made the leap to get a [[galaxy fold|Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4]] and set out in earnest to find a set of apps that made my phone complete. (Note: This isn’t my full list. I also have all the standards like Instagram, Maps, Netflix, and the like on my phone.) ### Criteria When I was looking for apps, I had a loose set of criteria that I was following; in no order: - The developer(s) should feel trustworthy (with few exceptions) - Happy to pay for an app, even recurring fees, if it’s great - Visually appealing (or at least neutral) app, with a nice icon (yeah, really) - Does something new or interesting that I couldn’t do on my iPhone - Play Store Data Safety section claiming little or no personal data use ### Favorites My absolute favorite “can’t live without” apps - [Niagara Launcher](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bitpit.launcher) - A dramatically simpler launcher that keeps me focused on just the apps I want to be focused on. Probably 40% of the driver behind my moving to Android. - [Obsidian](http://obsidian.md) - The app that I've finally settled on for text editing, on both Mac and Android - [Solid Explorer](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer2) - I’ve found this file manager to be just the right amount of trustworthy, flexible, customizable, and extensible. It’s my daily driver, and it’s especially useful for organizing. - [Syncthing](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nutomic.syncthingandroid) - If I had found this app earlier, I probably would have moved to Android earlier. It’s exactly what I wanted for syncing between my Mac and my phone, without the cloud. ### Solid apps - [Firefox](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox) - When it comes to tracking, I trust Firefox more than other browsers, and it works well even when I have 100 open pages waiting to be read. - [Messages by Google](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging) - The RCS protocol provides a lot of features I learned to love with iMessage (like read receipts), for those rare times I’m messaging someone on Android. - [Microsoft Launcher](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.launcher) - A nice, simple launcher that can make an old phone feel modern again. I used it extensively until I found Niagara Launcher. - [Phone by Google](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer) - I would use the built-in Samsung Phone app, but this one provides better spam detection and call screening. - [Photo Map](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.levionsoftware.instagram_map) - I love seeing family photos on a map, but I wasn’t ready to put everything in Google Photos. I can point this app at a folder and it maps every picture that’s in it or its subfolders. - [Zettel Notes](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.eu.thedoc.zettelnotes) - I looked everywhere‡ for a reasonably simple app that would allow me to edit plaintext documents, without having to store them in a special folder. This is it, spot on. ### Esoterica Less mainstream, but still awesome, Android apps: - [Good Lock](https://galaxystore.samsung.com/detail/com.samsung.android.goodlock?langCd=en) (Samsung) - Lots of fun [customization](https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/samsung-galaxy-good-lock-guide) options for your Samsung phone, some of which eventually make it into the core OS - [Keyboard Designer](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.humbergsoftware.keyboarddesigner) - Create your own keyboard layout. Want a keyboard optimized for bigger hands? One that includes actual cursor keys right in the layout? You can do it all! - [Opensignal](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.staircase3.opensignal) - Fun app that allows you to see which cell tower you’re connected to. I didn’t choose the always-on tracking, though. - [PHEM](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=android+PHEM+palm+emulator&t=osx&ia=web) - If you were into the [[palm mirror|Palm PDA]] like I was, this is a trippy nostalgia dip. Fully-functional Palm emulator where you can run your old apps, if you still have them on a backup somewhere. - [(Tayasui) Sketches](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tayasui.sketches) - A fun sketching app that reminds me of the [Paper by 53](https://www.imore.com/paper-53-ipad-review-head-screen) in some ways. Sure, you can use Samsung Notes if you have it, but this is more art-focused. - [VLC](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc) - For those pesky video files that just won’t play (in my case, weird codecs from ancient digital cameras and phones), this is the solution. ### ‡ Looking everywhere When I said above that I “looked everywhere” for a reasonable text editor, I wasn’t kidding. Over the course of a couple of years, I periodically searched for the ‘just right’ app, and I’m still not at a 100% satisfied state. (Then again, I never found the perfect app on iOS either, so maybe I’m just stupidly picky. I mean, I did end up [[bespoke text editor|writing my own app]] for the Mac.) Here were my criteria: - Visually clean, ideally visually appealing - Works well with plaintext files, if at all possible - Can use any folder in the filesystem as its root, not just inside /Android - Saves changes to documents without me having to think about it - Open source software if possible - Happy to pay once for it, up to around US$10-15 - Editing interface focused on the text, without too much extraneous crap - Easy to search inside a doc (bonus: easy to search in filesystem) - Search and replace - Multiple levels of undo and redo - Control over editor font, sizing, and line spacing Here’s a sampling of the apps I tried, and what I remember about why I didn’t go with each of them (which may be wildly inaccurate at this point): - [Acode](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foxdebug.acodefree) - Proprietary storage - [Code Editor](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rhmsoft.code) - More complex than I wanted - [Evernote](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote) - Not plaintext, proprietary storage - [Google Docs](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs.editors.docs) - Not plaintext, proprietary storage - [Google Keep](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.keep) - Not plaintext, proprietary storage - [iA Writer](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.ia.iawriter.x) - Proprietary storage - [Inkdrop](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=info.inkdrop) - Proprietary storage, complex UI - [Markor](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.gsantner.markor) - So close, and I did use this one quite a while, but requires that you explicitly save files or set up a time-based interval (rather than just saving as you go along). Also didn’t like the gigantic bottom bar on the main window. - [Microsoft OneNote](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.onenote) - Not plaintext, proprietary storage, very complex, feels old and crufty - [Moto Note](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.motorola.stylus) - Motorola-only, and a nice plain drawing app, but proprietary storage and more stylus-based than text-based - [neutriNote](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appmindlab.nano) - Really wanted to use this one, but the proprietary storage did it in - [Notally](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omgodse.notally) - Looked simple and colorful, but proprietary storage - [Noteless](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.redsolver.noteless) - Proprietary storage - [Notepad](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.notepad) - Proprietary storage - [Notepad - Text editor](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.slvz.notepad) - Interval-based autosave - [Notes](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pripla.gemini.notes) - Notes app from the Planet Cosmo Communicator. Nice app with interesting features and great search, but proprietary storage. - [Obsidian](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=md.obsidian) - A much richer product than I was looking for, but the cross-document linking was really interesting. Even downloaded the Mac app and tried it out for a while. (Update: I've decided to use this app after all.) - [OldSchool Editor](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abhishek.oldschooleditor) - Damn, this one was so close. Nearly perfect for my needs, but I just couldn’t get over the Windows 3.1-style interface. - [QuickEdit Text Editor](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rhmsoft.edit) - A code editor that worked quite well for text editing. Ended up being a bit too dev-focused for my needs. - [Simple Markdown](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wbrawner.simplemarkdown) - Ok, now I’m just getting petty. I really liked this app but didn’t like the always-on ‘Edit’ and ‘Preview’ tabs. - [Simplenote](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.automattic.simplenote) - Proprietary storage - [Solid Explorer](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer2) - Actually has a built-in editor which was my go-to for quite a while, but you had to explicitly hit ‘Save’ to save a doc - [Standard Notes](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.standardnotes) - Proprietary storage. Seeing a theme here? - [Text Viewer](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.tuantv.android.texteditor) - Constantly-visible large toolbar with “Delete”, “New”, etc. is especially huge on the inside screen on the Fold4 - Writing my own - I chased down half a dozen open-source plaintext editors on GitHub and tried tweaking them to my liking, but decided against this approach - [Zettel Notes](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.eu.thedoc.zettelnotes) - Truly saving the best for last, this is the app that I ended up going with ## See also Deep thoughts on the [[galaxy fold|Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4]] Writing a [[bespoke text editor|bespoke text editor]] ## Elsewhere A nice writeup on Android note-taking apps on [AndroidPolice](https://www.androidpolice.com/best-note-taking-apps/) ∎