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?
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.
SSH
I use mine with Microsoft Lens (I know, but one of their best products that doesn’t spy on you) as a document scanner and then sync it to my document server paperless-ngx.
It can angle correct, color correct, and has good filters for b&w and greyscale that often make it look like a real document scanner if your phone has a decent camera.
Much better than drive or any of the open source options to be honest, sadly…
May I recommend OSS Document Scanner + Syncthing? Both apps are FOSS and it looks to me like that they might be able to replace what Microsoft Lens does for you with the advantage that you are free of Microsoft software.
Wdym “that doesn’t spy on you”?
It doesn’t request location access, it doesn’t request contact or phone access, it doesn’t require you to sign into a microsoft account, it doesn’t constantly send data back home, etc… It only requests file permission and camera permission while you are using the app. A lot of apps harvest your data, and the entire Windows OS is built around harvesting your data and spying on your every click. This app doesn’t seem to do that as far as anyone can discern.
Its not open source, you don’t know if they’re going to log every thing you scan for targeted advertising (google makes its revenue from ads)
True, but through pihole, you can see if your phone makes pings to microsoft servers during use.
I run a real linux on my phone, so I can use it for anything I can use my laptop/desktop/unix for. I think what people forget is that phones are ultimately just computers with a WWAN radio, and the restrictive nature of Android and especially iOS obfuscate that.
postmarketos or do you run it as a vm?
postmarketOS, native, on pinephone. There’s a few mobile devices these days that can run mobile Linux.
Syncthing
What’s syncthing?
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=syncthing (You are sitting right in front of a device that is connected to the Internet.)
This is about as witty as a box of rocks, just like it was when it was invented in 2007.
It’s a set of apps that help you sync files between devices. It does so without relying on a centralized server, which is a curse (because you need the devices to be on and online) and a blessing (because it can be fast and private). I use it every day. It’s great!
Fdroid, you scroll through it and find games and tools you didn’t know you needed until you’re either: in the middle of nowhere, or need a tool that you don’t have and just use an app for.
Yes! There’s so many cool apps on there! I wish the play store was similarly browsable.
I used my phone a lot to stream games from my PC to other rooms. Connect a Gamepad and Hdmi cable, and you can play all games from your library. Lag is minimal, but I haven’t tried it for competitive games.
how? what did you set up for that?
On PC popular options are Steam Remote Play and Moonlight.
for Xbox it’s built into the Xbox app, Greenlight is a good alternative on PC
for PS4/5 there’s the PS Remote Play app, but a lot of people prefer the PSPlay app on Android and Chiaki on PC for their improved functionality.
As for getting it on the TV any simple USBC->HDMI adapter will work.
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.
I moved my PC to a corner of my house without an Ethernet jack, I didn’t want to drill any holes, pull any cables, dug out an old smartphone, connected with a micro USB (!) cable, enabled USB tethering, connected the phone via WiFi and had a nice Internet connection
nice, but usb tethering has always been slower than ethernet in my experience
I got a waterproof case, so I use mine as a coaster.
Folding phones be like
Mine is already water resistant up to a couple feet. No case needed for a coaster.
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.
Do you use a pihole or sum or block unwanted requests too?
No, just authentication through certificates and a password. But nothing to block unwanted requests at the moment
Do you use a domain name? I put one up and just constantly get spammed from Panama by lamers
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
Yeah, I have Simplenote on my devices so that my plain text notes are always synced. Movies and TV shows we intend to watch, stuff to get at the store, unlock codes for lockers in the mail room of our building, stuff to discuss with my therapist, records I wanna find and buy, etc. I was at a show last night (Santigold and she kicked ass) and was jotting reminders for myself between songs. Having an instant notes repository is awesome.
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
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?
It’s probably a tie between wikipedia and flashlight.
The phone flashlight is absurdly useful to me. I think I end up using it almost every single day.
Another use that comes to mind is google lens. Really easy and quick translation, and it helps me figure out what various random items are called - thrifting finds or plants, for example.
I literally keep Google lens open on my hand at the Japanese supermarket. So fucking helpful in the soy sauce aisle and in general. I actually know what I’m buying!
If the phone flashlight is so useful, try carrying a legit flashlight for a while. They’re loads better. I’d suggest one of the smaller offerings from rovyvon. Any of them are great, but I like the ones with two lenses and a rechargeable plus AAA battery compartment. It’s the size of a car key fob, lasts a long time, charges over USB c, and goes from super dim to insanely bright.
Oh, I’m aware and I largely agree. I’ve got a nitecore Tini SS and it’s both adorable and really useful.
One thing I’ve found extremely useful is carrying a small headlamp around - specifically a Nitecore NU20. Having hands-free lighting is so handy. Although, come to think of it, I wonder if I could modify the Tini to serve that purpose…
