I probably can't get a new phone super soon, but it's been quite frustrating how little support there is for iOS versions of open source software I've been slowing moving towards or investigating. I absolutely get why though!

I have the capability to understand complex topics but it takes me quite a few tries to really get it, so I'd like some help or recommendations of things that aren't "just use linux". (I am slowly dipping my toes by using WSL for things, though.) I am always searching for software, but I've never been active enough in communities to ask for personal recommendations and be warned of short comings. Obviously if you find recommendations, they want to look the best to you and hide their faults. I do try and research as much as possible, but like I said, I can get confused or not understand the drawbacks or full level of manual work/environments needed to operate at times.

Mostly I'm looking for day to day things that I can operate from my windows computer, but can also connect to my phone, assuming I get an android next. (Librem phones looks cool, but switching carrier providers is not feasible for me at the moment.) The boring things, like calendar, email, notes (I do use obsidian already). But if you'd like to gush about your daily drivers, I'm all ears!

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[–] DeflectedBullhorn@lemmy.one 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Hey! I wrote up a list of Open Source iOS apps on the Privacy Guides community.

I've been slowly trying to become platform agnostic, so I can switch back and forth between OSs without losing function. I'm not 100% there, but I hope this list helps you too if you are looking to go that route.

Copying the relevant bits here.

For iOS:

Fully FOSS:

FOSS, but with a paid tier:

KeePassium: Offline Password Manager
Slide for Reddit - Reddit App (RIP)
AdGuard - Content Blocker
Bitwarden - Password Manager
Joplin - Note App
Podverse - Podcast App
NextDNS - DNS Filtering
Invoice Ninja - Invoicing Software
SimpleLogin - Email Aliasing
ProtonMail - Encrypted Email
ProtonCalendar - Encrypted Calendar
Proton Drive - Encrypted Cloud Storage (Testflight is Full)
ProtonVPN - VPN
Standard Notes - Encrypted Notes
Notesnook - Encrypted Notes
Tutanota - Encrypted Email & Calendar

Paid Only, but Open Source:

[–] Deebster@lemmyrs.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Joplin - Note App

~~I don't think there's a paid tier for Joplin, just the ability to donate (for no perks or mention).~~

Never mind, I see there's Joplin Cloud with online storage and multiple user support.

[–] Drift@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks!! Btw Adguard fuckup with v4

[–] backpackn@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Incredible list, thanks for linking everything! I look forward to checking out yattee and netnewswire. Probably a lot more. I'd add Omnivore (Pocket alternative) to the fully foss list. And Proton Drive is out of testing now I think.

[–] alpaca_math@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’ve played around with Ubuntu touch from ubports foundation on an old pixel 3a. It works ok as a basic daily driver. Depending on the phone model there’s support for waydroid which helps with using android apps.

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is a tough problem to solve, there isn’t one solution for everyone.

Many years ago I tried various options such as vanilla Android, LineageOS with gapps, Lineage without gapps and even Replicant. Every option came with pros and cons. If all you need is phone calls, SMS and some simple apps, you could go with any of these options as long as it meets your ideological requirements.

At one time time I had just the pure LineageOS without gapps, and that’s when I realized I was about 10 years late with this project. The world had changed to such an extent that being this strict about FOSS was going to require some pretty hefty sacrifices. When my bank announced that they would eventually phase out the security code papers in favor of their mobile app, it meant this option was a dead end for me.

I couldn’t make the bank app work at all if I didn’t have gapps. If I did, it still refused to work properly, because LineageOS wasn’t the OEM system. After trying a bunch of different workarounds, it was clear: this ship had sailed already. Either I would have to embrace the downsides of current technology or live off the grid without access to money. Doing that would also make my life very inconvenient in a number of other ways.

Online banking was the deal breaker for me, but other apps caused similar problems too. Just about all the modern apps the society expects me to use were either slightly broken or completely unavailable. In many cases, it felt just like using a dumb Nokia 3210 again, with the exception that I had a mobile browser, nice calculator etc.

I wasn’t happy with the situation, nor with the options standing before me. Google is an ad company and users are the product, so obviously Google was the worst option available. Actually, Chinese Android phones are the worst option, but other companies aren’t far behind because of Google.

Apple was a little less bad, but still an unpleasant option. Strangely enough, I became a reluctant iPhone user. Fortunately for me, iOS had finally reached a point where a lot of the basic standard features Android had about 5-10 years ago were finally available on iOS. The decision was far from ideal, but at least I found the right kind of balance between functionality and privacy.

I’m not happy with the result and I can’t recommend you follow in my footsteps, but I highly recommend trying out different options and banging your own head against the brick wall. That’s the only way you can find out how idealistic you really want to be.

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