New essential Android apps thread

I tried out Smart Launcher again and it certain has improved since I last tried it earlier in the year, there's some Nova/Niagara features I have now noticed has been added (eg tap to launch first app in folder, swipe to open folder). But it still has a weird bug where my wallpaper shifts to the left every now and then. Not sure if it's due to me using a foldable.
 
Been looking for a video player after having a number of great years with MX but it's now on a subscription model (I had the paid version). Plus MX will randomly crap out with some of my videos. Moved over to Pi Player which seemed quite similar but started having a couple of issues. Now I'm on Arc - worked very well straight out of the box, downloading subtitles also flawless. The free version has been great and there is a one off paid version but not needed to jump yet.
 
doodah said:
Been looking for a video player after having a number of great years with MX but it's now on a subscription model (I had the paid version). Plus MX will randomly crap out with some of my videos. Moved over to Pi Player which seemed quite similar but started having a couple of issues. Now I'm on Arc - worked very well straight out of the box, downloading subtitles also flawless. The free version has been great and there is a one off paid version but not needed to jump yet.
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I've been trying out Next Player since it's FOSS (also available on F-Droid), works pretty well so far. Did try VLC but always kept running into weird bugs. I do miss MX but big shame what it's become now.
 
I spoke too soon regarding Arc. Every single video I play has a sync issue which means I have to close the app and start the video again to get it working properly. Plus it suffers from bad slow down if you skip/rewind the video. On to the next one - I'll try Nova.
 
doodah said:
I spoke too soon regarding Arc. Every single video I play has a sync issue which means I have to close the app and start the video again to get it working properly. Plus it suffers from bad slow down if you skip/rewind the video. On to the next one - I'll try Nova.
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I've used VLC for a while now. No issues here. Just wish they had pinch to zoom instead of fixed ratios.
 
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superleeds27 said:
Depends what you're after?

https://github.com/PranshulGG/WeatherMaster - Seems to be a good upcoming Opensource
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kokoschka.michael.weather - A good Material Design app, with a few weather providers
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Started using Breezy Weather, nice and clean UI
github.com

GitHub - breezy-weather/breezy-weather: A feature-rich weather app with good visualizations and more than 50 sources.

A feature-rich weather app with good visualizations and more than 50 sources. - breezy-weather/breezy-weather
github.com github.com
 
Branch has sold off Nova to Instabridge: https://novalauncher.com/nova-is-here-to-stay

For those on the free version:
Nova needs a sustainable business model to support ongoing development and maintenance. We are exploring different options, including paid tiers and other approaches. As many of you have already anticipated, we are also evaluating ad based options for the free version.
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Prime users will still be kept ad free.

As for the original plans going open source:
We know this matters to many of you. It is something we are actively evaluating. Open sourcing a product responsibly involves licensing, security, build tooling, contribution workflow, and trademark stewardship. We do not have a decision to share yet, but we will be transparent once we do.
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I'm going to give Niagara/Octopi/Smart Launcher another shout, they're not perfect Nova replacements, but the developers for these have been good at listening to community feedback.
 
Wasn't expecting that....

I've been on Smart Launcher since the original announcement and tbh I quite like it. Might go back to Nova to refresh my memory.
 
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V_R said:
Wasn't expecting that....
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I was worried but at the same time couldn't understand how the best launcher, so good that when gone people are just looking for find another launcher as close to it as possible, could be left to rot and die, without a buyer being found. One has so thankfully it lives on and rightly so.
 
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Can anyone recommend a dialler app that isn't the Google phone/contacts app.

I find the latest version a terrible step forward, but now my phone has updated it's firmware, I can't uninstall the updates and go back to the 'old' Google app.
 
Orcvader said:
Well that was quick, seems some free users are already seeing ads in the app drawer: https://www.androidauthority.com/nova-launcher-acquisition-ads-update-3633871/

They say Prime users won't see ads but as far as I can tell the recently added Facebook and Google ads trackers are still present.
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I've got Prime and I'm seeing ads. It's possible I've done something wrong but I only have the option to set Google or Nova as default - no differentiation between free and Prime.

Might be time to use something else, or see if Google have improved over the years.
 
Cadder said:
I've got Prime and I'm seeing ads. It's possible I've done something wrong but I only have the option to set Google or Nova as default - no differentiation between free and Prime.

Might be time to use something else, or see if Google have improved over the years.
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Normally you'd open prime and then it'd just set nova to the ad free version
 
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