All posts tagged: replaced

I replaced the F-Droid app and immediately wished I’d done it sooner

I replaced the F-Droid app and immediately wished I’d done it sooner

Published by Miika Tikkanen

I like F-Droid a lot more than I like its official app. The repository has introduced me to some of my favorite open-source Android apps, but I’ve never particularly enjoyed using the regular client. Droid-ify gives me a better way to use the same ecosystem without leaving F-Droid behind. I can browse compatible repositories, install apps, and manage updates through an interface that fits modern Android much better. After switching, I mostly wondered why I’d spent so long assuming the official client was the only sensible option. Related I found an Android browser that runs Chrome extensions — and I don’t get why it’s not popular It’s strange seeing my favorite extensions running on mobile. Droid-ify made F-Droid much nicer to browse This is how F-Droid should feel Getting started is simple if you already use F-Droid. Search for Droid-ify, install it, open the app, and let the first repository sync finish. It supports Android 6.0 and newer, and once that initial sync is done, Droid-ify can still browse the repository data it has already …

I replaced Android’s default video player and wished I’d done it years ago

I replaced Android’s default video player and wished I’d done it years ago

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The first thing I do after buying an Android smartphone is install essential apps. Even in this age of streaming, I do consume a lot of locally stored content on my device. So, I need an Android app that can play movies and TV series without any issues with file formats or compatibility. I’ve been using MX Player for more than a decade, and the app can play virtually any file format. Offering intuitive controls, multicore decoding, and other advanced features, MX Player is miles ahead of most video players, and is now an ad-supported app. The former paid, ad-free Pro version is still available in some markets, but availability varies by region. The app has also expanded beyond local media playback, operating as a streaming service under Amazon. Related I replaced Android’s default video player and wish I’d done it years ago VLC media player works smoothly across devices and operating systems. MX Player rarely faces video playback issues The app offers unmatched compatibility It’s essential for a video-playing app to run different file …

I replaced my app drawer with hand-drawn gestures, and I’m never going back

I replaced my app drawer with hand-drawn gestures, and I’m never going back

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Android launchers share one thing in common: you get a list or grid of app icons to launch. Of course, the presentation differs, and that is what sets them apart. I love trying out new launchers, and recently I tried one that makes your app icons tumble over each other and respond to real gravity. That is fun, but the friction of launching an app by swiping up, scanning through a grid of icons, and tapping the right one still exists. It isn’t too much of a hassle, but what if there was a different way to launch apps? Enter Glyf. A simple launcher app that lets you draw to launch an app. After a few weeks of using it, I think I am sticking with it for a while. Here’s why you should also try Glyf. Related I Finally Found an Android Launcher Worth Switching To Stock feels outdated next to this launcher. Most launchers are the same They don’t change the way you launch apps Sagar Naresh/MUO To be frank, most of the …

This 6-port USB-C charger replaced my ugly power brick – and powers my entire desk

This 6-port USB-C charger replaced my ugly power brick – and powers my entire desk

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Satechi ChargeView 240W charger pros and cons Pros Six ports, two of which are 140W capable. The display is nice, clear, and easy to read. It’s very compact and can go vertical or horizontal. Cons There’s no USB-A port (if that’s your thing). There’s no option to leave the display on. There’s no internal temperature reading. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Chargers are the lifeblood of modern tech, and things have moved along a lot since the days of the small USB-A wall wart that could push out half an amp of power. Nowadays, we want a charger that has multiple ports and can handle hundreds of watts of output. Also: Duress passcodes explained: How they work and why they can land you in court Handling all that power means that there’s a lot of effort put into safety and cooling, so modern chargers have a lot of technology built into them to handle this. Then there’s the issue of keeping the user in the loop. When you’re charging multiple devices, it’s …

I replaced my entire multi-room setup with one Spotify feature

I replaced my entire multi-room setup with one Spotify feature

Published by Miika Tikkanen

My home music setup grew with the constant march of technological innovation until it dawned on me just how complicated things had become. My music streaming devices include a smart speaker, streaming dongles, a Bluetooth soundbar and subwoofer, and a project studio linked to a computer. Moving music from one room to the next meant disconnecting one device and connecting to another, hoping Bluetooth pairs correctly and cueing up my audio again. Of course, there had been a better solution staring me in the face. Now, through proper use of Spotify Connect, I can control playback across almost every streaming device I own without relying on Bluetooth or keeping my phone tied up. The power of streaming directly versus streaming via Bluetooth Spotify Connect does much more than just Bluetooth streaming Spotify Connect isn’t Bluetooth with a fancy name; it’s a different beast entirely. With Bluetooth, your phone does most of the work by streaming audio directly to your devices, which not only means your battery drains faster but also limits range and can cause …

I replaced Windows troubleshooting menus with these 5 PowerShell commands

I replaced Windows troubleshooting menus with these 5 PowerShell commands

Published by Miika Tikkanen

A lot of useful diagnostics remain buried behind submenus, and I sometimes open different settings pages and still struggle to find the information I need. But by leaning more on using Windows PowerShell when something crashes, slows down, or feels off, I no longer wade through menus that Microsoft constantly updates. These commands cover the most useful alternatives to traditional menus. I troubleshoot faster than I used to. Related Your Windows laptop is probably wasting performance on startup — here’s where to look These startup settings are quietly draining your laptop Get-EventLog The command that replaces Event Viewer’s endless scroll Afam Onyimadu / MUO Windows doesn’t always give you enough information when something goes wrong. You may get messages like: “Your PC ran into a problem” or “The application stopped responding.” The real detail you need is buried somewhere deep in Event Viewer, but it requires you to first scroll through hundreds of entries. The fix I use is this command: Get-EventLog -LogName System -EntryType Error -Newest 20 It returns the 20 most recent system …

I replaced Chrome five times, and each browser fixed a different complaint

I replaced Chrome five times, and each browser fixed a different complaint

Published by Miika Tikkanen

It’s mainly been out of habit that I’ve stuck with Chrome for as long as I have. It’s a great convenience pick, but from privacy concerns and high RAM demands to my laptop’s fan sounding like a jet engine, I’d had just about as much as I could take. So, over the span of a few months, I tried Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi, Arc, and Opera. Each one came with a fix Chrome badly needed. Let’s talk about what stuck and what didn’t. Related I opened the same 10 tabs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Brave — this one uses the least All browsers consume memory, but which one consumes the least? My Chrome tabs were eating more RAM than they should Site isolation is the trade-off nobody explains Abhijith N Arjunan/MakeUseOf With only 12 Chrome tabs open, my fans sounded like they were rendering a 4K video. But the sound was less alarming than the fact that Task Manager was showing over 30 separate Chrome processes. This is because Chrome defaults to a multi-process architecture …

I replaced my Android keyboard with this open-source one and it stuck

I replaced my Android keyboard with this open-source one and it stuck

Published by Miika Tikkanen

I have never been the sort of person to obsess over keyboard apps. A keyboard is a keyboard, right? Well, Gboard had always sat at the bottom of my screen, auto-correcting my typos and suggesting words with an almost unsettling accuracy. The problem with that unsettling accuracy, it turns out, is exactly that: it’s unsettling. Gboard includes a “Share usage statistics” telemetry option, and disabling it is the only way to stop it from transmitting keyboard usage statistics and snippets of your typing to Google’s servers. Even with those settings toggled off, the fact that you need a checklist to stop your keyboard from narrating your life to a corporation was too much overhead. That was the nudge I needed. I went looking for something cleaner. I actually tested a few open-source alternatives to Gboard before I ultimately found FlorisBoard. Related This brilliant new Android keyboard makes typing effortless I speak and this keyboard types, and it’s damn brilliant. FlorisBoard is a free, open-source keyboard Community-built, privacy-first, and unbothered by your typing habits FlorisBoard is …

I replaced Notepad++ with this lightweight editor and never looked back

I replaced Notepad++ with this lightweight editor and never looked back

Published by Miika Tikkanen

I’ve used Notepad++ for years; however, lately it’s been a bit laggy. What’s making it worse is that it remembers the open files, so each time I launch the editor, all the previously open tabs come back by default. While tab persistence is needed for some, and Notepad++ does offer a way to disable it, that fix didn’t work for me. VSCode is naturally the better alternative to Notepad++ if you write code all the time. But for my use case, I needed something a little more lightweight that doesn’t compromise too much on the feature set. That’s when I stumbled upon Kate, a KDE-backed editor I’d only ever seen on Linux. Turns out, it runs just as well on Windows, and after a few weeks of daily use, it has quietly replaced Notepad++ on my HP Pavilion. Kate is a fully open-source, advanced text editor A capable editor that runs everywhere Kate is the KDE Advanced Text Editor, a free and open-source project that has been around since 2001. It’s available on Linux, Windows, …

I replaced my 0/year Grammarly subscription with self-hosted LanguageTool

I replaced my $120/year Grammarly subscription with self-hosted LanguageTool

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Grammarly gets a lot of hate, but it has been my designated spelling and grammar assistant for over a decade now. For at least five years, I have been paying Grammarly about $120 per year for its premium plan. For what it’s worth, Grammarly Premium delivers on many fronts, and I can access it on all my devices. However, like everyone, I have that itch to find affordable alternatives. Though I have considered many Grammarly alternatives, most of those cloud-based subscriptions were equally, if not more, expensive. LanguageTool Server, a self-hosted version of the popular grammar checker, sounded quite refreshing, though. A fully-fledged grammar checker that I can run on my device for free? That sounded awesome, so I decided to rely on self-hosted LanguageTool while keeping my Grammarly Premium subscription! Related I stopped paying for Grammarly once I found out there’s a free open-source alternative I thought Grammarly was essential. It wasn’t. The pitch was convincing LanguageTool Server was everything I could have asked for — on paper, at least. I had used LanguageTool’s …