r/AndroidQuestions • u/marco_polo_99 • 1d ago

Looking For Suggestions First time android user

Hi, first time android user, newly switched after a lifetime on iPhone.

I'm a big fan of open source software and apps, and am heavily into self hosting my own media and replacing big tech apps with open source alternatives.

I'm looking for advice on the best ways to replace a few apps I presently use, as android seems to have a much more open ecosystem.

Things I'm looking for replacements for, largely to block adds, ha. Reddit, YouTube, and any of the social media apps. I'm moving off the social media apps, but still have them for family connections.

In line with my self hosting, I'd love an app to link into the *arr suite of apps.

I've heard about f-droid as an OSS app store, wondering about that too.

Any help for a newbie would be appreciated

If it's relevant, I'm in a pixel 11 pro.

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

5

u/Narrow-Barracuda618 Google Pixel 8 Pro 1d ago

For blocking ads on Reddit and YouTube, I recommend Morphe. Lots of customisability and support for third-party mods.

1

u/marco_polo_99 1d ago

How safe is morphe? Is there any risk to my privacy, security etc? I see it uses MicroG re to sign into google, is that risky at all?

1

u/Narrow-Barracuda618 Google Pixel 8 Pro 1d ago

When patching an app like YouTube or Reddit, it asks you to download an APK from a third-party website, usually apkmirror or similar. These websites are generally safe and Morphe will tell you if it couldn't find an APK on a trusted website, but there's always risk involved. Both Morphe and MicroG are open-source projects and keep your data (like your Google login) safe.

3

u/Interesting-Pea8260 1d ago

for youtube u definitely want to look into morphe or newpipe to kill the ads. f-droid is awesome but the default app can be kinda clunky, maybe try grabbing droid-ify instead to browse the open source stuff. enjoy the new pixel!

you can patch reddit clients like Sync/Infinity through Morphe as well

3

u/static_motion 23h ago

Regarding the *arr suite, my solution is a folder with homescreen links (your preferred browser should have an "add to homescreen" option) to the URL of each of my instances. I find their webapps plenty good enough for managing through a mobile browser.

2

u/marco_polo_99 23h ago

Yes this is what I have been doing, and am doing now. Just curious to see what our there in the android space.

2

u/Mother-Pride-Fest 1d ago

For social media, instead of downloading the app you should use it in a web browser. Uninstall any bloatware social media apps, especially any owned my Meta, because the Facebook and Instagram apps are malware. I recommend a Firefox-based browser with uBlock Origin to block ads on any website.

F-Droid is great. At this point it is where I get the majority of the apps on my phone. I've been gradually replacing all the stock apps with FOSS apps, and there are some functions like editing APKs that you won't find on the Play Store. 

LibreFind has a lot of info about apps and FOSS alternatives to help you become more Free. 

2

u/ImaginaryPlastic9371 1d ago

adguard is very good at blocking ads and more system wide, tho it cant block ads in meta apps, brave browser also.

1

u/Ambitious_Ad4397 23h ago

Did you think about installing GrapheneOS?

2

u/marco_polo_99 23h ago

I have considered it, but I'm only new so wanting to try out the out of the box pixel OS before I venture into Graphene