More of My Favorite Android Apps

I thought a good follow up to my Android Home Screen post might be another post about my current favorite Android apps. See my previous post here.

First, a little bit about the device I'm using. I use a Google Pixel 8 Pro, running the latest stable build of Android 14. I've applied a Whitestone Dome tempered glass screen protector, and I've got it in a Dbrand Grip case with the x-ray skin applied, and an OhSnap pop-up magnetic grip on the back.

The apps and services

• Nova Launcher
• Moshidon
• NotesNook
• Weather Today
• FocusReader
• HTTP Shortcuts
• Panels
• Seal

Nova Launcher

Most of you reading this probably know of Nova Launcher if you're an Android user. It's one of the oldest custom launchers available and still going. They've modernized the design and added a ton of features in recent years. Like info cards in the app drawer for music and weather, and integration with Smartspacer for a custom widget page on your home screen.

Moshidon

Moshidon is a Mastodon client for Android that is a fork of the official Mastodon app. It boasts Material Design with many choices for themes, post replies as “Unlisted” by default, and pinning hashtags and lists as timelines. These are just a few of the great features Moshidon offers for browsing and enjoying Mastodon.

NotesNook

NotesNook is an open-source and zero-knowledge note taking app similar to Evernote. It allows users to take notes, edit them freely, and organize them using different formats like tables, tasks, lists, outlines, math formulas, and code blocks. It supports rich text editing, markdown formatting, and users can embed images, files and other media within their notes. Keep an eye out for a future post where I do a deep dive into NotesNook.

Weather Today

Weather Today is a beautiful, Material Design weather app from German developers Michael and David Kokoschka. It offers radar, precipitation warnings, many widgets to choose from, and more. It's free with a premium subscription option for additional features.

FocusReader

I use Feedbin as my RSS service because of the great web interface and feed customization features. On Android, I choose to use FocusReader with my Feedbin account because it offers a nice customizable UI, feed filters, and two features that are must-haves for someone who reads a lot of RSS feeds: mark as read on scroll, and mark as read older than X days.

HTTP Shortcuts

HTTP Shortcuts is an Android app that allows users to create shortcuts on their home screen that trigger HTTP requests when clicked. The app supports various HTTP methods, authentication types, custom headers and request bodies, file uploads, TLS versions, and proxies. Shortcuts can use built-in or custom icons, and display responses as toasts, windows, dialogs, or run silently in the background. I use it to send URLs to my self-hosted Linkwarden instance until there is an official app.

Panels

This is a customizable sidebar launcher with apps, shortcuts, widgets, and gestures. It can use custom icon packs, have multiple pages of icons and widgets, and you can customize both the trigger and the panel itself. It's a great way to access your favorite frequently used apps without going back to the home screen first.

Seal

Seal is a video/audio downloader app for Android designed with Material You and based on yt-dlp. It allows downloading videos and audio from various platforms supported by yt-dlp, and embedding metadata, thumbnails, and subtitles. You can download entire playlists or use custom yt-dlp commands with templates. The app has a Material Design 3 style UI with dynamic color themes.