Email

• Mix of Proton Mail and Tuta Mail. I do want to get a custom domain just so I don’t need to go through the email shuffle the next time a service goes to shit. Unfortunately i still need to keep around my Google account and Microsoft account. To access emails, I use FairEmail on my phone alongside the Proton and Tuta Mail apps, and on the desktop I use Thunderbird.

Cloud storage / file sync

• Filen for cloud storage, Syncthing for file sync, also selfhosted Nextloud. Used to use MEGA in the past, but i don’t anymore. To backup my phone, I use LineageOS’s built-in tool (Seedvault), I simply ask it to back up to the SD card and use Syncthing to sync this to my computer and server.

Maps & navigation

• OpenStreetMap is not great where I live, so I am still forced to use GMaps.

Search engine

• Duckduckgo (for most things) + Startpage (when I need better results).

Web browser

• Fennec Browser on mobile, Librewolf on desktop.

Calendar

• Fossify Calendar on mobile, Thunderbird on desktop, calendar is synced to a selfhosted Nextcloud server.

Contacts management

• Using the default contacts app on LineageOS on mobile, these synced with the same Nextcloud server.

Notes / to-do lists

• Tasks: Tasks.org on mobile, synced with the same Nextcloud server (with Nextcloud tasks). Honestly I can’t find a desktop todo list app that supports Nextcloud, so i just use the website (if anyone knows a good option for this, let me know).

• For note-taking, i use Obsidian synced across all my devices with Syncthing, backed up to my Nextcloud server and Filen as well. For quicker notes (my obsidian vaults do take a while to open on my phone) i use the Nextcloud Notes app.

Office suite (docs, spreadsheets, etc.)

• Still using Microsoft Office, however looking into switching to LibreOffice or Onlyoffice.

Messaging / chat

• Sadly, still forced to use closed apps like Discord and Whatsapp, as 99% of my friends and family still use these apps. I’d like to use Signal more, alongside Element and maybe Revolt as a Discord alternative, but trying to convince them to switch is really hard.

Video calling

• (i don’t do video calling)

Social media / microblogging RSS reader / news

• Social media: been using Lemmy more often via Thunder, been trying to use Mastodon more but I don’t seem to find any good posts for some reason? anyways. I still use some closed social media, if i need to see a post on Twitter, it’ll be through Squawker (really good client for twitter), i don’t keep any social media apps on my phone anymore, so i just use the browser if i need to look something on twitter/reddit/bsky/tumblr/whatever, this way I get ad and tracker blocking as well.
• RSS reader: Nextcloud News on mobile, RSS Guard on desktop, all synced to Nextcloud News.

Music streaming / podcast app

• I don’t do music streaming, i prefer to keep my music files locally, either buying them on Bandcamp or elsewhere For music playback however, on mobile i use Musicolet, and on desktop I use Musicbee (currently trying to find a replacement that is as good as Musicbee for Linux).

Video streaming / YouTube alternative

• Still using YouTube, YouTube Revanced, however GrayJay does look pretty good as a YT front-end and i do want to switch to that (once the desktop version is not awful).

Password manager

• I’ve used Bitwarden for the longest time, but I’d like to start using KeepassXC instead, since it is offline and does not look like a mobile app cosplaying as a desktop app.

VPN / DNS / Firewall

• Using ProtonVPN, alongside Tailscale to connect to the server i have at home.

Launcher / Android OS (if you use custom ROMs)

• Launcher: Used to use Nova Launcher until they were bought out by a sketchy company, now I use Lawnchair. Still miss Nova Launcher to this day honestly.
• Custom ROMS: LineageOS 14, with microG. Honestly still surprised my banking app does not care about the fact I don’t have GApps installed (the most it ever gave me is a single “your phone may be modified message” notification). Whatsapp messages are really delayed which has been a pain, but it is a worthwhile tradeoff.

App store / APKs

• Aurora store, F-Droid.

Photo backup / gallery

• Nextcloud Photos for camera backup, Syncthing for everything else, and for the gallery i use Fossify Gallery.

Weather

• Weathermaster on F-Droid. For a widget that tells me the weather, Another Widget is really good (sadly no longer developed).

Smart assistant (if any)

• (i don’t use any)

Anything else you’ve replaced?

• planning to switch to Linux, I really do not like Windows 11 and their plans to shove AI everywhere, I been trying out Linux on my laptop and it has been pretty great, I really like how customizable it is, KDE Plasma is great and Fedora has been really stable as a daily OS. I may still be forced to keep a Windows VM or separate Windows partition around for certain stuff, like games that use anticheat bullshit, or other tools that are Windows only.
• Currently the phone I have is on its last legs, so I may switch to a degoogled Google Pixel, and use something like GrapheneOS or something that lets me lock the bootloader with a custom ROM installed
• Been looking into alternatives for MSOffice, Libreoffice looks good, however compatibility wise OnlyOffice tends to get the formatting right more often.