This has been posted up before, but not in a while.
I've also googled this and found some pretty good stuff, such as this comment and this comment (both comments by the same user). I posted this up because I wanted to have somewhere to refer to from an Australian context. Hopefully we will all be able to benefit?
Understand that this may also change over time! i.e. apps that were essential a year ago are no longer essential.
i use chrome canary for my browser. It is pretty much google chrome, but HEAPS faster and less resource intensive with all the features!
Ah, do you know how it compares to Brave?
No i don't. I have never tried Brave browser. I only tried chrome canary because chrome was laggy as hell at times and i really liked the browser. Give it a go and see for yourself. It does sync with your google account
I use Naked Browser and there is a pro version as well. It's extremely light on resources though the ui is extremely minimalistic.
Samsung Internet Browser is close second for me, as it blocks ads as well with a plugin. It also somehow accounts for 1% of Ozbargains web traffic…
Also for shopping related apps:
Deliveries is a multi-service parcel tracking application. I find it hard to use and it's not very smart at figuring out what kind of service your tracking number is tied to, so you have to find out yourself. You should probably use Aftership instead
Australia Post app is very handy for tracking locally sent parcels and it also has a barcode scanner, for when you need to ship things out this is a good seller's tool.
Google Opinion Rewards you all know what this is,
Domino's offers gives you location aware deals for Dominos, although if you browse Ozbargain you should already be aware of the best coupons listed and starred on the Pizza coupon page
I love the adblock plug in on samsung browser but i dislike the ui
Hm I must say Naked Browser is not aesthetically pleasing.
I think I did hear that Samsung Internet Browser wasn't bad. How does it compare to Brave, Chrome, Firefox w/ uBlock Origin?
Google Opinion Rewards stopped asking me for my opinion on things ages ago. Not sure why (and I never lied either - heard it detects if you lie by asking trick questions once in a while).
Never used Domino's app but I instinctively use the pizza coupon page when I want Domino's.
I gave up on 7-11 a while ago as I couldn't get it to work.. Your post inspired me to try again. Worked, and I look forward to saving 10 bucks later today thanks to you.
Haha awesome. No problem.
Did you do anything differently..?
dont think so
Seems to work now, so maybe its just a different fake gps app this time compared to when it was first mentioned a year ago
Either way, saved me $8 this arvo
Now I need to wait till tomorrow to 'reload' so I can lock in a price for next week (did 2 recharges today as I didnt realise you needed funds to cover the whole amount, and it seems to limit you to 2 recharges a day otherwise you get some stupid rule error)
@SBOB: Ah I wasn't aware of the recharge limit.
However, here's an idea with some benefits:
Disadvantage is obviously that you have to physically go to a 7-Eleven store, but it does not have to be a petrol station. It can just be one of the convenience stores.
I think i'll just recharge tomorrow and in future not use the app credit to pay at the counter
Then I can just leave the funds there to lock in pricing and pay with whatever when actually getting the fuel
you might be interested in Gboard - google keyboard that you can type in english and it translates on the fly to another language (Chinese) - not sure how accurate as only used a few times and I can't tell if it is correct until the other party responds : huh? But useful for lazy people like me :)
I do know some Chinese so I don't necessarily need something that translates, but that actually sounds like a pretty damn good feature.
Questions for you guys..
Here are answers to some of your questions. Idk the answers to all of them hahah
Office Lens or CamScanner
Camscanner has watermarks for the free version so you should avoid that. I tend to use the scanner that's regularly free on Ozbargain
Open Microsoft Office files
I just use Microsoft Office. You nede a Office365 account tho
Best video player
MX Player followed by VLC
Best weather app for Australia specifically?
Pocket weather. They use data from the bureau of meteorology. Sometimes it is inaccurate though and it is paid
Best alarm app?
Google Alarm or Alarmy if you have problems waking up (You have to scan barcodes or do maths questions before the alarm turns off)
SMS/Dialer/Contracts
Textra for SMS (Need to pay for no ads), and just stock google for dialer and contacts. They fulfill my needs
Download youtube videos/music
Either TubeMate or iYTBP if you have root - It removes ads as well!
Greenify
Not as necessary on Nougat onwards as it is done automatically using doze
Titanium backup
Yes, Titanium is the best even though the UI is ugly af
Viper4Android
I did but uninstalled because it impacts battery and I just preferred stock tbh
Rooting
I use it for adblock, remove system sounds and titanium backup. I recommend using Magisk to hide your root so you can still use Android Pay and the 7/11 app
Yea I don't expect anyone to have an answer to every question I asked! It was more for anyone to reply to individual questions they do know about.
Camscanner has watermarks for the free version so you should avoid that. I tend to use the scanner that's regularly free on Ozbargain
Oh yea, I've downloaded that.. but never used it.
I feel at the end of the day, a proper document scanner would still generally be better though right?
I just use Microsoft Office. You nede a Office365 account tho
Does the Office365 cost money? Have you tried Smart Office?
Pocket weather. They use data from the bureau of meteorology. Sometimes it is inaccurate though and it is paid
Lol you saying that it's sometimes inaccurate isn't exactly reassuring! That plus the fact that it's paid. Actually, how do you know it is sometimes inaccurate?
Google Alarm or Alarmy if you have problems waking up (You have to scan barcodes or do maths questions before the alarm turns off)
I searched Google Alarm in the Play Store. Can't find anything, but Google Clock appears.
Alarmy looks quite good.
Can either of these alarm apps wake the phone up from a power off state to turn the alarm on?
Not as necessary on Nougat onwards as it is done automatically using doze
What's Doze? Built-in battery saving feature?
Yes, Titanium is the best even though the UI is ugly af
Have you ever used Nandroid Manager or ROM Toolbox Pro?
I won't bother with Viper4Android - couldn't figure out how to use it and not enough of an audiophile to care.
I use it for adblock, remove system sounds and titanium backup. I recommend using Magisk to hide your root so you can still use Android Pay and the 7/11 app
Remove system sounds, like, camera shutter sounds?
Magisk is the equivalent of SuperSU right? i.e. you either use Magisk or SuperSU but not both?
Don't use a weather app - just use BOM mobile site as shortcut eg: m.bom.gov.au/nsw/suburb
Hm that's not a bad way to do it actually.
But I want an app that I can make widgets for so I can see weather info without going into an app at all :)
Wow, that's a big list. I don't have enough time in my life for that many apps. Having said that, there are a few free apps on my phone of use to me.
ImageShrink Lite: shrink photos before sending with messenger app so as not to chew up lots of recipient quota.
Free42: Reimplementation of HP42 scientific calculator. I like RPN.
Openconnect: establish VPN with openvpn gateway.
Raspicast: Cast media to a RPi.
Google Translate: Can handwrite Asian languages.
BOM Weather: can view radar maps too.
I find that the standard Google suite of apps: Chrome, Inbox, Clock, Calendar, Contacts, Drive, Docs, Gallery, are the most used of my apps.
Wow, that's a big list. I don't have enough time in my life for that many apps.
Haha. I don't necessarily have all those apps installed on my phone at once. Well, in fact, I don't usually have them all installed at once. It was kind of what I came up with as I was typing, recalling what I've had on my phone in the past and what they were good for, etc.
Free42 looks interesting but I don't think I'd personally ever find a use for it!
BOM Weather sounds good. I used to use Weatherzone. Currently don't use anything.. looking for new weather app!
Do you find Inbox better than Gmail?
Yes, Inbox allows me to mark something as done so that I don't see it anymore in the inbox, but it's still available in Done. But it only works with Gmail.
I find the stock gboard adequate so I don't need swiftkey. Recently it added emoji text search, good for people like me who strain to see what the icon is. Also animated gifs. On a tablet I have Hacker Keyboard, needed for the modifier keys for terminal sessions.
emoji text search, good for people like me who strain to see what the icon is
Typing in text to find out what emoji's are is good?
@Diji1: Yes, if I want a wink emoji I type wink in the search bar and it gives me a selection. Otherwise with my eyesight, I might get a cry emoji selecting graphically.
If you like free42 and using RPN you should give RealCalc a try. Much more user friendly.
Easily converts units, has a database of universal constants and a retrievable log of answers, but is not programmable.
Free42 is adequate for what I do and it's small.
Mightytext desktop based SMS via mobile app its been awesome.
(Best Streaming app for EPL?
Best Streaming app for overseas TV channels?) kodi or mobdro
Best Weather app for Australia specifically? weatherzone+
Kodi and/or Mobdro are both good for EPL and streaming overseas channels?
Weatherzone vs alternatives?
More app questions..
Another messenger app called SWEEP that uses Geochat technology and will introduce Augmented reality later. Although the app is still quite new, I think it has the potential to become huge
Here’s a quick vid on what it’s about
Ok, I'll start..
"last minute dining" (a way for restaurants to try to sell their tables/food for discounted price last minute, rather than go unsold)
I generally don't like having an app when the web browser version of a website is better/same. For example, the mobile version of Ozbargain is great so I see no point in having an app for it. Groupon's app is not better than the mobile browser version of Groupon. AMEX app is marginally better than the web browser version.
On the other hand, Gumtree has a pretty good mobile app which I find works better than the mobile version of the website. As is the case with ING's mobile app
I'm more than open to suggestions for better apps so suggest away!