A few months ago I talked to a friend about phone apps and she wanted me to show her the apps I use on my phone. Since I use a degoogled phone, the choice of apps I use is a bit different than on a phone with stock Android OS or iOS. I thought I might share why I use a phone like that, how I use it and what the difference is to a "normal" phone. Most people could benefit from some of the choices here, especially Android users, since all the apps are available on any Android phone.

Two common complaints I hear are that using an OS with no Google Apps is "complicated" and "inconvenient". I wholeheartedly disagree with both points and would actually argue that it is more convenient in some regards. The only "complicated" part is installing the OS, and even that is relatively easy: you can just follow an install video and basically nothing can go wrong. The inconvenience argument is even weirder. Many of the Free and Open Source apps (that I will show you) are even more convenient than their proprietary counterparts. You are also free to install anything by Google if you wish (although that obviously defeats the point).

Which phone do I use?

I use a Google Pixel 6a with GrapheneOS. Google Pixel phones are the best phones to use if you want to be completely independent of the Google infrastructure. Yes, I am aware of that irony. GrapheneOS is an Android-based operating system that is strong on privacy and security. You can decide which applications to use instead of having anything preinstalled. It is a very nice feeling to install an OS and have almost nothing on it – it immediately gives you the feeling that you, the user, are in control of your device, as it is supposed to be.

Why do I use a phone like that?

I don't like to be the product. I don't want to hand over my data to big companies that I loathe. I hate surveillance capitalism. I believe that companies such as Google, Meta, Spotify, etc. are at fault for the enshittification of the internet, which should be a useful tool for the people, not an endless profit machine for a handful of tech-bros and exploitative businesses. I want to minimize using their services (although, as you will see, I am not perfect in that regard).

I get my apps either from Obtainium, Accrescent, Aurora Store or F-Droid. Obtainium is my preferred "store", since it just directly downloads from GitHub pages. Accrescent is the Native GrapheneOS Store. Aurora Store is a spoofed Google Play Store. F-Droid accesses many repositories for FOSS apps. I don't use it much anymore since I started using Obtainium.

In the top row I have:

• "Calender":

  Fossify Calendar. Even simpler than a simple calendar.

• "Teamup":

  I use this for work and a friend group. Amazing app actually, sadly it's proprietary.

• "Gallery":

  Fossify Gallery. I like this a bit more than the stock GOS one because of the image editing options.

• "Music Player":

  Another player from the Fossify Team. Does what it's supposed to do. I'd like a little more fluff in my music player actually (stats, customizing options, etc.) but haven't found a better replacement yet.

In the second row I have:

• "Waterfly III":

  A Finance Manager which I am self-hosting.

• "willhaben":

  This is what Craigslist is, but for Austria.

• "kcal":

  Vibecoded page on my website that I use to track my calories and macros.

• "Magic Earth":

  Navigation app. The navigation itself is just as good as Googles, however you need to be very specific when you want to type in a location, the suggestions are iffy.

In the third row I have:

• "PipePipe":

  Essential and by far best YouTube viewer. I can't fathom using YouTube without this. Blocks all ads, I can download everything easily, plays in the background. Must have for every Android User in my opinion.

• "Notes":

  Just a very basic notes app. 95% of my rap lyrics are written in this app.

• "Thunderbird":

  I use this mail client for work. Someday I'll self-host my own mail too...

• "Protonmail":

  Mail client for my private mail.

In the fourth row I have:

• "WhatsApp":

  One of the Apps I would really like not to use, however it is essential for business. There is no reason not to use Signal over this shit.

• "TedCord":

  Aliucord modded Discord, I just had this Uncle Ted pic saved on my phone so I randomly chose this pic and name lol.

• "Forkgram":

  Telegram fork. Just as bad if not worse than Whatsapp but also mandatory for me, sadly.

• "Molly":

  Signal fork. The gold standard of messaging in my opinion.

In the fifth row I have:

• "Seeker":

  Extremely underrated Soulseek client. Everyone should use this -- Why on earth would you use shitty ass Spotify? You can find actually obscure shit on here, save it locally in better quality than Spotify and don't have to deal with ads. Why Spotify is popular is so puzzling to me.

• "F-Droid":

  FOSS App-Store

• "Water Me":

  App that reminds me when to water my plants.

• "Obtainium":

  Downloads and Updates your apks directly from GitHub source. I prefer this method to keep my Apps up to date nowadays.

In the dock I have:

• "Dialer":

  The stock GrapheneOS dialer.

• "Messages":
• "Settings":

  Yup.

• "Browser":

  Browser. This browser comes with GrapheneOS, with hardened privacy and security.

• "Camera":

  The best FOSS camera I was able to find. It is a bit slow. No camera app comes close to how good the stock Google Camera app is; this is probably the biggest cutback of using GrapheneOS for me.

In the top row I have:

• "Calendar":

  I actually don't recommend using them, since they have sadly been bought by an adware company. I am using old versions of these apps from before the acquisition. As you can guess, they are lightweight apps that simply do what their names suggest.

• "Teamup":
• "Gallery":

  I actually don't recommend using them, since they have sadly been bought by an adware company. I am using old versions of these apps from before the acquisition. As you can guess, they are lightweight apps that simply do what their names suggest.

• "Music Player":

  I actually don't recommend using them, since they have sadly been bought by an adware company. I am using old versions of these apps from before the acquisition. As you can guess, they are lightweight apps that simply do what their names suggest.

In the second row I have:

• "Waterfly III":
• "willhaben":
• "kcal":
• "Magic Earth":

  This is an alternative to Google Maps that I can strongly recommend. I was looking for a good alternative for a while; this one is just as good.

In the third row I have:

• "PipePipe":
• "Notes":

  Well, uh, it's notes.

• "Thunderbird":
• "Proton Mail":

  This is my private email provider. ProtonMail is a Swiss-based email company with a focus on privacy. The free plan is more than good enough for me.

In the fourth row I have:

• "WhatsApp":

  I say this with much discomfort: lamentably, I have recently decided to install WhatsApp. I couldn't avoid it, since for business reasons some customers are only available via this app and for my business I often need to exchange pictures and files. I use it as little as possible.

• "Tedcord":
• "Forkgram Classic":
• "Molly":

In the fifth row I have:

• "Seeker":

  An application for Soulseek, a P2P file sharing app. I use this to download music; you can find almost everything on there. Download it locally and play it back from your storage. No reason for me to use Spotify, which doesn't even have a lot of music I want to hear. Also you can find everything in better quality than Spotify. Fuck Spotify!

• "F-Droid":
• "Water Me":
• "Obtainium":

  Directly downloads apps from their source; currently my favorite way to download and update apps.

With these choices of apps I have a balance of convenience and privacy that fits me personally. As I previously mentioned, I am not perfect and any individual needs to evaluate for themselves how much convenience they are ready to give up. I constantly keep looking out for new and interesting things, so this list will change over time; I may edit it in the future.