By far my most favorite use is as a notepad that I always have with me. I use a custom keyboard to make typing faster and more accurate.
Anything y’all like to do with your phones that you feel like most people miss out on?
You can use it as a webcam if you suddenly need to work from home and there’s a shortage of webcams.
Originally I had to install an app for that, but it shows up as a standard USB option on my Pixel now.
Installing postmarketOS on it to turn it into a full fledged pocket PC. It now runs all your favorite Linux-compatible desktop applications except for those that don’t have ARM64 versions, and even then emulation layers can fix this. It’s not 100% as I haven’t been able to get Steam working (it starts but errors out before the login screen) though I have seen some people have success on other distros so maybe it’s a pmOS/Alpine/musl specific issue even though I was using distrobox with Debian to actually run it.
Is there a single phone made in the last ten years that will run postmarketOS at all?
The best one right now is the OnePlus 6/6T, which has a relatively modern SoC.
As a VPN client, I dont mean for a connection to a VPN service to annoamyse my traffic, but for my own self hosted VPN so I can call home and access stuff on my network. Comes in handy for stuff like my password manager where I dont like the idea of exposing it to the internet but still need access when im out and about.
No, just authentication through certificates and a password. But nothing to block unwanted requests at the moment
I do, and I have a dedicated firewall, however i havent had the time to sit and look at the logs or set much security ( ill get round to it eventually). Im sure im getting hit a fair bit, but im not too worried at the moment.
Nothing super important is stored on my password manager, or server im general, as im just getting my shit sorted.
Yeah not the best way to think about it but between work and other things, who the fucks got the time!!! :D
as im just getting my shit sorted
Story of my life!
who the fucks got the time!!!
Don’t know you of course, but have you ever considered reducing your expenditures and working hours? I had a friend who was quite stressed out and went down from 5 days to 4 then 3 and now has been on 4 for a long time. It also gives you space when you need to get something done at work =)
Renovating my house at the moment, then got to help do my parents house after hence the no time. After thats done I should have the time. And reducing hours is a no go atm. Need the money, but when i dont ill probably consider it
Mine is already water resistant up to a couple feet. No case needed for a coaster.
Haven’t needed it in a while, but a wifi analyzer to identify which band(s) are least crowded
Same. It’s actually the reason I chose Android over IOS way way back in the day.
Imagine you are trying to talk to a friend, and you are standing in a crowded room with lots of other people, all trying to make sure their conversation is heard… As a result, you have to constantly repeat yourself so the others person ger all the info you are giving them.
Now imagine you and your friend move to a different room where noone else are standing. You can say things one time and the info will immediately be understood.
If your wifi network is using a channel that is occupied by lots of other devices, your wifi will have to use alot of the ‘bandwidth’ to make sure the other device have all the data and that it is correct, thereby potentially reducing the max speed of your wifi connection. By switching the channel to one where there are less other devices (or maybe no other devices), the data flows better and you can end up with faster and more stable connection.
(this explanation is simplified, and I might not be using 100% correct names etc, because english is not my native language)
The app i use is called ‘wifi analyzer pro’ and I got it from the F-droid appstore (i think it is mentioned already in this thread), but there are lots of alternative wifi analyzer apps in the normal appstore you could try if you don’t feel comfortable installing an alternative appstore (it doesn’t replace the normal appstore).
Note: some newer wifi routers will have built in functions to automatically select what it deems the best channel to use, meaning you might not have to change anything.
Same here. Now my router/AP does it automatically.
An excuse not to interact with people.
“Sorry, my notifications were off while I was busy yesterday and didn’t have a chance to check it”.My favorite use for my phone was wabbitemu, which was a perfect emulator for the ti86 calculator I’ve used almost daily since 1998. Apparently my new phone uses a new architecture and the app doesn’t work, so that’s rather disappointing.
I recently used my phone to wirelessly charge someone else’s phone that was about to die. Pretty useful feature in the moment. I only used that feature only that one time in the 2 years I’ve had the phone but it’s nice to know that is an option.
I did this when out with a friend the other night. It was a neat party trick so they could stay in touch with their sister. First time I’ve used it in years of having the phone.
My phone can do this too! It’s a fun flex, but super niche
My other half has new Ultra, I have an older Ultra model. Stuff i find invaluable that she hasn’t used once:
- S Pen
- Modes & Routines
- Secure folder
- DeX (to a lesser degree than the above)
I try to use my phone as a Swiss army knife. Stuff I rely on that most normal users likely dont realise their phone can do:
- Using Kodi the phone becomes fully fledged mobile media player. Great for vacations in case of poor weather (in conjunction with HDMI lead, controller/wireless keyboard)
- OsmAnd navigation has an offline Wikipedia plugin. I set up a shortcut in it so i can display/hide all wiki entries nearby. Brilliant when on vacation
- All my main apps will work offline in case of data outage: navigation, notes, password manager, books, music, podcasts, media etc etc
- Password manager has more uses than simply handling passwords
- Playing video sites in the background …with a timer if desired
- Browser with uBlock “etc”
- Manipulation of .pdf files
- A good launcher. Mine is always set up the same regardless of device - I can access any app within 2 swipes & 2 taps
- A good car dock
- Most don’t realise that a simple DNS entry can help reduce the amount of ads they see
- All manner of nerdy tech shit to interact with stuff on my network. No normal human needs to know that this usage factor exists
And most importantly …using the camera in landscape so images/video can be viewed properly on a TV or monitor. And not using digital zoom in the dark to record an entire concert from row Q
What is requiring you two swipes and two taps?
Cool list! I’ve taken to listening to music and videos with a sleep timer as well.
I wonder, what unusual things are you using a password manager for? Inputting common address data or something?
With bitwarden you can store and securely share files, store information for family members, card details, memos, etc
Plugging headphones into a jack port and taking the back of to replace battery.
Those was kind of jokey answers, i really like using mine as a back up for documents via syncthing to view when im out if i need it. Much prefer this than uploading to cloud storage. I also use syncthing to have my save states for emulators sync from my phone to pc so i can contiune where i left off on the other device
If you have a phone with a headphone jack, you have a portable radio… without the antenna. But just plug in headphones and you’re good to go.
I use my smartphone to keep my book open when reading at a table. It does a pretty good job there.
Don’t limit yourself to technical uses.
You can use most modern phones as a spirit level with the right app! It’s really useful when doing projects around the house, not having to run around to find a real one. Quite accurate, too!
I’ve been getting into having a pdf of the various manuals for things around the house on my phone. I recently consulted the manuals for my fridge, a new dehumidifier and the lawn mower and it was pretty awesome not having to find and dig out a paper booklet each time. My phone is on me all the time plus I can get rid of the paper copies.
It would be tempting to have a QR code or nfc tag to stick on appliances that goes direct to a manual on a self hosted service. Would be nice so it’s always easy to get to and specific to the device.
I do exactly this! I use Calibre Web and have all the PDF manuals for my appliances in it (among other books). I then encode an NFC tag for the Calibe Web URL to the manual for the appliance in question. Works perfectly!
That’s an extremely cool usecase! Thank you for sharing it, I might steal it!
lol - I stole from someone else, so all good here mate.
Been doing this too! Embarrassingly I still need to refer to my washing machine manual occassionally.
It’s a really useful habit!
In a similar vein, I’ve also got a receipt scanner app - to make sure I’ve got 'em saved if I need to return or service something.
What custom keyboard do you use, and which layout?
I use Typewise, with its default hexagonal layout that’s supposedly based on the frequency of letters in English. I’ve gotten alright with it - ~60 WPM on Monkeytype, which is enough that it doesn’t feel clunky to use it. And it’s quite fun to practice, too!
While I’m pretty sure it’s quite possible to write faster with more predictive keyboards, I really appreciate the precision this one allows. Especially since I’m bilingual, which leads to autocorrect and swype getting quite confused sometimes.
I’m still in the market for a better keyboard app. Another interesting one I’ve tried was MessagEase. It looks really cool and arcane to use, but I found it to be slower in spite of me putting more effort into mastering it.
Oh dang, that’s $32 AUD! Bit out of my price range!
