All the apps I use on my Pixel 10

In a recent piece, David Pierce shared this:

The Pixel 10 Pro solidified a feeling I’d been having through all of my tests: Android is a better operating system than iOS. Gemini is a useful and usable voice assistant, neither of which you can say about Siri. Android is excellent at sorting and triaging notifications, which meant far fewer buzzes in my pocket. I also got far fewer spam and robocalls during my testing, which was an unexpected but nice change — I actually started answering calls from unknown numbers again, because they were almost always calls I actually wanted. I like the Android keyboard better than the iPhone, in part because its autocorrect is so much better.

And:

But unfortunately for Android, app stores exist. And the App Store absolutely wipes the floor with the Play Store. Lots of the apps I use every day [...] either don’t exist on Android at all or only exist as web apps. Most of the ones that do work on both platforms are better on iOS. And forget about the kind of handcrafted, small-developer stuff — apps like Acme Weather, Current, and Quiche, just to name a few recent favorites — that’s all over the App Store and absolutely nowhere to be found on Android.

I tend to both agree and disagree with Pierce on this.

I agree that Android does a lot of stuff better, namely notifications, the keyboard (it has a freaking clipboard manager!!!), the customizations, and more.

I also agree that the iOS ecosystem has much better indie apps than Android. I really miss my Quiche browser, nothing comes close to Prologue, and Reeder is still one of the best apps ever designed.

But I also disagree, because Android has better apps than iOS in a completely different sense. There is the whole FOSS ecosystem, which barely exists on iOS. Android apps can also do so much more. Install Shizuku, and you basically can do anything you can think of. Install Beeper, and make it your main messenger. Install a different OS experience by installing the Niagara Launcher.

It reminds me of the good, old jailbreaking days nearly two decades ago.

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Having lived over a month with Android, I cannot see myself going back anymore. At this point I want my devices to let me do what I want.

This is simply not possible with an iPhone. When you buy into the iOS ecosystem, you also buy into the iOS philosophy. And nowadays, I just don't vibe with that anymore. Also, I really hate Liquid Glass to an unreasonable degree.

But the mobile operating system you use is probably the most important one in your daily life. And switching after 18 years is not the easiest task. So here is everything I use and changed to make the Pixel 10 my perfect phone.

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The very first thing I do on all my Android-based devices (well, except for handhelds of course) is to install Niagara Launcher. There is just something to the list-based navigation that I quite enjoy.

Ages ago, I bought the lifetime option and have been rocking this ever since. While Pixel Launcher is good, and only getting better with Android 17, I am Team Niagara.

Let's go through the list of installed apps¹:

• 1Password: This is obvious, still my password manager of choice.
• AfterShip: Parcel tracker, it replaces Parcel.
• AirMusic: I still own HomePods, and this lets me stream music to said speakers. The app is rough, and I am just waiting for the HomePods to die.
• App Lock: I might be blind, but apparently this is not a native feature? I use this app to lock apps, like Immich, behind a password. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Audiobookshelf: One of two apps I use to listen to audiobooks. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Beeper: Messaging app of choice. The advantage of Android is that I can also integrate Google Messages.
• Bookwise: Reading app of choice. I can't say more right now.
• Bring: Grocery app. You can share lists.
• Canta: This app allows you to uninstall system apps. It needs Shizuku. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Capy Reader: My replacement for Reeder. It's not as good, but does the job. I combine it with a self-hosted FreshRSS install. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Chargemap: I drive an EV, so I need this.
• ChatGPT: I mostly use ChatGPT for Codex. I am not even sure I am logged in on my Pixel.
• Companion: I play Magic: The Gathering so this app is a must.
• Control Center: I own a bunch of Elgato Key Lights. I control them with this app.
• D&D Beyond: I also play Dungeons & Dragons.
• Day One: I used to journal with this. Now I use pen and paper. I still have my data on here, and the app was installed when I transferred everything over from my iPhone. I need to export around 8 years of journaling and then nuke it all.
• Discord: Self-explanatory.
• Droid-ify: An app store for F-Droid. It looks a bit better than F-Droid itself, and does the job. (Installed through Obtainium.)
• Epic Games: Video games!
• Fastmail: My email service of choice for both my personal email and for the overkill address.
• Fennec: A hardened Firefox fork. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Ford: The aforementioned EV is a Ford Mustang Mach-E. With this app I can check the battery and enable the climate control.
• GameTrack: Currently in beta, although it exists on iOS, too. My pile of shame is humongous, and this helps me keep track.
• Glass: A photo-sharing social media thing. Here is my profile.
• Goguma: IRC client number 1. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Goodreads: Book tracker, made by Amazon. I use it to find recommendations.
• Gradient Weather: I don't remember where this app comes from or who recommended it, but it's a nice looking weather app.
• Hue: Smart homes are not for me. They work 90% of the time, but the remaining 10% drive me insane. I have one single Philips Hue lightstrip left. This app controls that.
• Immich: I self-host an Immich server. All my photos are here. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• KDE Connect: Did you know I run Linux? CachyOS, btw. KDE Connect is the kind of deep integration between phone and desktop iOS users didn't know they miss. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• LibrePods: I still own AirPods Pro 3. With this app, I can change settings that Apple doesn't want Android users to control.
• Lissen: Audiobookshelf-client. Better than the first-party app, still not as good as Prologue. I ended up forking and vibe-coding changes. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• LocalSend: AirDrop but across everything. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• Nintendo Music: I have no clue why this is installed.
• Nintendo Switch App: The Switch 2 is currently my second favourite handheld.
• Obsidian: Note-taking app of choice, blogpost-writing app of choice.
• Obtainium: A clever app to download .apk files straight from GitHub. You add the /releases tab of any app to Obtainium, and it keeps them up to date.
• Outlook: Work email client.
• PS App: I own a PS5.
• Pano Scrobbler: For Last.FM. (Installed through Droid-ify.)
• PayPal: Well, it's PayPal.
• Plex: For my legally obtained Linux ISOs.
• Plexamp: I unsubscribed from all music streaming services, and instead rely on proper files. For a while I used Plexamp directly, but now rely on Symfonium (more below).
• Pocket Casts: I barely listen to podcasts anymore, but for the occasional few.
• Pokémon HOME: I have every Pokémon in existence on Home.
• Pokémon TCGP: I also have completed every card dex in TCGP (currently, until they release the next set).
• Readwise Reader: Read-it-later app of choice. Big fan!
• Readwise: Whenever I read, I highlight a lot of stuff. Readwise syncs this with Obsidian.
• Reddit: Obvious!
• Roborock: My Roborock S6 Max is slowly dying and this app reminds me of that.
• Shizuku: This app is a bit hard to explain. Basically, it uses wireless ADB to allow other apps to do stuff for which you'd normally root your device. (Installed through Obtainium.)
• Signal: For whenever Beeper disconnects.
• Snapseed: I have yet to try it, but it recently received an update.
• Starlink: My father-in-law basically lives in the woods, and I help manage his Starlink network. I hate that Elmo gets money, though.
• Steam: Obvious!
• Symfonium: Literally the best music app in existence. Seriously! If you are into owning your own music, this is straight up a reason to switch to Android. It's also the app I use on the FiiO M21.
• Tailscale: To access stuff on my NAS.
• Microsoft Teams: Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!
• Telegram: For whenever Beeper disconnects.
• Termius: Whenever I need to manage my NAS via SSH.
• The Way: Meditating app of choice. I tried them all, this is the best one.
• Waze: I mostly use Google Maps, except when I travel. Mostly so I don't get surprised by speed cameras.
• WhatsApp: For whenever Beeper disconnects. And for WhatsApp calls.
• XApp: For my Fuji X100 VI.
• YT Studio: I might start YouTubeing again.
• nzb360: No comment. Look it up.