What's the 3 apps that you can't live without?

Apollo - Twitter - Google Reader

😂 😂 😂

Bitwarden.

I used to think the same for WhatsApp, Spotify, Twitter and Apollo but they can all be replaced by alternatives (Telegram / Signal, Amazon Music, Mastodon, Memmy).

I know about Keepass but it’s definitely not as convenient and easy to use as Bitwarden.

I don’t use YouTube app because of ads everywhere but I would have trouble stop using YouTube on my computer.

KeePass is really good, but it definitely requires to handle everything outside the password management (like syncronization between devices, TOTP, password quality check, etc.). It is not user friendly at all. Thankfully KeePassDX (on Android, not pc) has a way better built-in experience.

For YouTube, check out newpipe on F-Droid. No ads, you can download content, play videos in background, etc.
Keepass was my go-to (KeepassXC and KeepassDX), but ever since selfhosting bitwarden (vaultwarden), I haven't looked back.
youtube revanced is the goat, but make sure to get it from github. It's the only official source at the moment. You gotta patch it yourself but it's basically youtube vanced once it's all set up.

#1 would be the phone app, pretty handy for calling people in real time. Without it I would have to carry a phone separately, It's become pretty hard finding a phone booth today.

#2 Would be SMS, these are quite handy for quick messages without interrupting something important.

#3 GPS maps, I have the most amazing sense of orientation, that basically guarantees I never end up where I’m supposed to, unless I have GPS.

You may take these functions for granted children. But back in the day, maps were something you had in the glove compartment of your car. Phones were something you had on the wall, with a long wire hanging out of them, to connect you to a wired network. Messages was something you send on paper, put a stamp on, and posted through the postal service.

Of course compared to back then, a smartphone has plenty more clever functions. Like the calculator, which we did either in the head or more complex calculations were done on paper.

But I guess these aren’t what you kids were looking for. But they are actually quite amazing, even if you take them for granted. ;)

Anybody without Maps on their list must take it so deeply for granted. Even for me, growing up printing MapQuest maps as a teenager, it's crazy how much before that was "whip out your massive dangerously distracting atlas and try to figure it out including where you are."
Yeah those are all huge. Camera app is pretty good important too.

I was trying to think of stuff beyond system apps but point taken
- Yes camera is very cool too. Especially compared to buying film and then have to have them developed. Which was pretty expensive. The quality of pictures from a modern phone is even way way better.
  
  I knew you meant apps besides "default" or the obvious, I just came to think how different it is today with smartphones, compared to before we had the first mobile phones. Which brings us back to the very early 80's. So I posted as mostly a joke, but also as a reminder that smartphones are pretty amazing IMO. ;)
  
  PS. I'm from Denmark, and we were very early with first generation nationwide mobile network NMT already in 1982. And a phone for it could be had for as cheap as $7000. How time flies.
Amazing comment
- Thank you. 😉

A lot of people here are recommending bitwarden. What are the advantages of this over Google's native password manager?

The free tier has all the features you need, it's open-source and it's not a Google product.

It's also quite easy to switch to it from other managers, even the Google one.
Well for one it is not just a side functionality as the manager in chrome. It also is open source and was audited several time by external experts. And lastly it is super simple to use on pretty much any platform.
Ever wondered how other browsers like Firefox can import passwords from chrome without any password? Well, viruses can do that too. With bitwarden they can't just read the passwords from disk because they would need your master password.

Disclaimer: haven't been saving my passwords in the browser for a while so not sure if other browsers can still scrape the passwords just like that anymore
You can self-host the server
I like that I can set up a public container and share certain passwords but still manage it

Bitwarden, Firefox, and Spotify.

Bitwarden
YouTube
~~Pornhub~~ Brave

Firefox, liftoff (slide before) and bitwarden

It used to be Sync for Reddit, Tachiyomi (Manga reader), and Vivaldi (Web browser, formerly Chrome but I needed adblock)

Replacement for Sync is not found.

Sync (and Boost) have Lemmy-compatible versions in development right now. Sync for Lemmy might even be out already, I haven't checked yet.
- I've heard about it, definitely planning to use it if it does come around. But I'm not even sure if Lemmy is going to replace reddit for my "daily driving" yet. The dust hasn't settled yet, there were so many things reddit did that I'm not sure what the future holds. Lemmy is the only option right now however.
Give redreader a try

Bitwarden, Firefox and KDE Connect

I used KDEConnect for 48h and can't live without it anymore.

Best media control, file sharing without usb/bluetooth and sharedclip board is next lvl.
What is kdeconnect?

Telegram, Google Maps and Spotify.... But really 3 apps is just too few!

Firefox with uBlock Bitwarden Spotify

YouTube Bitwarden WhatsApp

Firefox, Whatsapp and Boost for Reddit (soon Boost for Lemmy, I think)

Fennec (Firefox fork), Tutanota (Email/Calendar), and Spotify (evil proprietary company)

Try Mull, doesn't have the traciking that Fennec has

Mull, pokemmo, and youtube revanced are my go to apps.

Didn't realize pokemmo had a mobile app.

Calculator, message and phonebook...

Tachiyomi
1dm+
Vanced(revanced)

Wait Vanced still works?! I've been using NewPipe which wasn't great at the beginning but much better now, though Vanced was definitely a much better experience.
- There is a new project, ReVanced. They only provide patches so can't really be shut down by Google.
- YouTube Revance

KeePassDX, Firefox, FairEmail

I love keepassdx. The keyboard function works real well too to avoid copy pasting.

YouTube ReVanced - I watch a lot of YouTube.
Bitwarden - No need to remember all my passwords and autofill.
Iceraven (Browser) - It has uBlock Origin along with other useful extensions.

Revanced

Meteo Swiss

CFF/SBB app

What is meteo swiss

Potato skins mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers

AntennaPod
Bitwarden
Firefox

Bitwarden, Spotify and since 18 days jerboa

Signal, Brave and Bitwarden.

Plex, tachiyomi and whatever replaces my rif addiction.

Tachiyomi is the singular reason I will never be able to own an iPhone. No other manga reader comes close.
- You speak truth
Check out TachiJ2K if you haven't already!

Firefox with uBlock origin (a must for browsing the web)
Bitwarden (for passwords)
FX file manager (fast and powerful file manager)

Honorable mention to Music speed changer (uses an advanced algorithm to change the pitch and speed of locally stored audio with minimal distortion)

#1, #3, and the honorable mention are Android only. This is a huge reason why I stay on Android.

Whoa #1 isn't on iPhone? Lmao that sucks
- Yup, all browsers on iOS are restricted to WebKit and might as well be Safari-lite

To me it's still Nova. Ever since they were bought out I've been trying to find a replacement but nothing seems to match it feature for feature. Especially on Samsung or LG phones, I'm using Nova constantly.

I just developed a muscle memory to be able to swipe down or up on any app to trigger a specific task. It allows me to really keep my home screen clean.

I've turned off automatic updates to try to limit branches intrusiveness but I'm eventually going to have to move on.

After that kiwi browser or Firefox Nightly. I need at least one of those. Those are the only browsers that allowed desktop extensions.

I guess I would choose with Firefox Nightly as it gets updated much more frequently and isn't chromium.

My honorable mentions are revanced, Google keep (The easiest way to have my notes sync up as I use a bunch of different phones and tablets), newpipe, musicolet...
You can do this on IceRaven and Mull, which are open source, you can install all addons using this trick: https://github.com/Divested-Mobile/Mull-Fenix/issues/6#issuecomment-865333904

wefwef

Blockinger (tetris game)

Musicolet

Signal, Firefox, ReadEra (best EBook reader for Android hands down)

Honourable mentions to OLauncher. Super clean UI that makes my phone less distracting and easy to use

Swap Signal for Telegram and we're the same.
I've never heard of O launcher, looks like a similar concept to Niagara (which is what I've used for a few years now). I love the simplified interface and cleaner look of both!

Brave (Browser)
Bitwarden (Password Manager)
YouTube if we're talking mobile, VS Code otherwise

Messenger (because unfortunately my friends won't move away from it!)
Libby
My banking app

Firefox Phone Camera

Seriously phone without phone app or camera would be a photo frame lol

OSMand
Spotify
Whatever Lemmy app works best for the moment

Spotify

Strava

Default alarm clock app

If it weren't for Spotify and Strava for bike rides, I would gladly get rid of my smartphone and replace it with a flip phone. Life was better before the entire internet traveled with you everywhere you go.

Haha, I have almost the same list. Love it

Liftoff for Lemmy!
Simple Calendar Widget
Discord

Firefox, Signal, OrganicMaps

I'm having a hard time with OM taking me through weird routes, when there's a simpler, shorter path. Have you had that issue?

Can't believe I haven't seen Tasker yet. Firefox and Feedly are my other two!

What do you have set up in Tasker?
- A myriad of things mostly based on location or time. I have profiles that change the way the phone behaves (notification volumes, screen on time, WiFi/Bluetooth state) based on a combination of where I am and what time it is. I also have profiles that pop up information depending on where I am (for example, the 8 digit door code at a place - it changes monthly, but is not really a secure location).
  
  I've built a couple of mini apps in Tasker that do things like set up timers or interact with voice recording software. the other major use is to handle notifications for really repetitive apps (e.g. if people are chatting a lot in Messages, it slows the pace of notification sounds).
  
  Edit: Apparently "Network Timeout" does not imply that your message didn't get posted 😬

I'll pick the lesser known ones in my collection:

Aegis - FOSS 2FA Management
Shelter - For splitting off work apps and easily disabling them when I get off work
Poweramp - best music player ever, well worth the price.

Aegis is great! I really don't know why people use Google Authenticator when much better alternatives exist.
- What makes it better? (Honest question)
- I use my YubiKey for that. Really useful and convenient

Tasks - My life would be a mess without this or something very similar.
Firefox - Ad blocking, dark mode, bookmarks etc. synced to my laptop.
My bank app.

Revanced, Cloudstream and coffee from fdroid

Speaking of coffee, cofi from FDroid is great for timing coffee recipes
Coffee is awesome. Such an easy quick way to keep screen awake. Thanks for the recommendation.

Echoing others on the thread:

Bitwarden - used for all my passwords and 2FA WhatsApp - wish I could replace with Signal but network effects too wide Twitter - I'm too addicted. This used to be Flamingo (RIP)

The last spot could've been between Flamingo and Reddit Sync, sad times.

Evernote (functional note-taking app), ReVanced (Youtube ads are a blight on civilization), My Boy! (Fire Emblem GBA series are my comfort games which get me through my bus commute. I would buy them on actual hardware if Nintendo didn't make it such an obtuse PITA with limited-time subscriptions to induce artificial scarcity.)

Literally why I got a Deck instead of a Switch.

Syncthing, KeepassDX, F-Droid.

Although in reality, most apps I use could be plausibly replaced with other alternatives.

Bitwarden, Spotify, Aliucord

Wish I could replace Spotify but haven't found something similar that's selfhosted and foss.

I absolutely love Aliucord. I've always thought that the UI on mobile looked really bad so using a MD3 theme + compact mode plugin fixed all my issues
If you're looking for an alternative, spotube is a decent one.
- It still uses your paid account but with a different front end? Neat.

keepass2android fairemail kiwi browser

Bitwarden, Google Maps, Brave browser

YouTube Music, Vivaldi, and Telegram.

Youtube, Fate/Grand Order, and Bitwarden

Seeing a lot of bitwarden+firefox. If you're already using Firefox why not use lockwise?

Bitwarden is better

Google Maps, YouTube, Podcast Addict

Audiobook Shelf Tailscale KDE Connect Venmo AccuBattery Pro

That's my exact top 3 as well haha

Keepass, Nextcloud, Fairemail

I used to use Fairmail but now I'm strongly on the Canary Mail bandwagon
These are definitely up there for me too but I prefer K9 Mail

Mull, element, bitwarden

Samsung browser (with adblock), spotify, Samsung email

Is Samsung email that good? Are their other default apps better than the Google ones?
- For me is good enough to not use the google ones.

Day-to-day use: Bitwarden, YouTube (Revanced), Liftoff.

Productivity use: Duo Authenticator, JuiceSSH, WireGuard

Bitwarden, Spotify and Yr (weather)

Firefox, vscode and password manager!

YouTube, Bitwarden, Niagara Launcher.

Telegram, Bitwarden, Ticktick

Telegram Bitwarden Firefox

Tachiyomi for manga

Skyleap to play Granblue Fantasy

Bitwarden for password management

Tachiyomi is absolutely fantastic, so powerful and well made
- I like a good Material You app
  
  Tachiyomi helped me get into manga - still barely scratching the surface tho

F-Droid
- Vinyl
- AntennaPod
- OsmAnd
Play Store
- Firefox
  - lichess
- Signal
- DuoLingo

3 Stores-ish nested 3 deep count?

I'll allow it🧑‍⚖️

Kiwi browser (with uBlock) Joplin (notes) Keepass2Android

Spotify Google Maps Firefox

Obsidian, fastmail, Bitwarden, Waze, and a messenger (telegram)

Fennec (I've been using Firefox on PC since v3.5 came out in 2009, and Fennec from FDroid is the best version on Android)
Youtube ReVanced (I don't watch TV or streaming services, Youtube is my preferred entertainment)
Authy (I have TOTP 2FA on a LOT of websites)

If you asked me month ago I'd say Relay for reddit but here we are. Today I'll go with Youtube Revanced, without it yt experience is severely lessened. EDIT: Oh three apps. Firefox and Power Amp

Spotify
YouTube
Vivaldi

Signal, Jerboa and Firefox

Google Notes: Hosted Obsidian is AMAZING! You can self host for free, but I recommend supporting them.

1Password: I use Bitwarden (personal) and Keeper (work). Both, in my opinion, much better than 1Pass.

WhatsApp: this one is hard, as it has to do with your contacts. I'm in the same boat here. I use Signal for most friends, but my foreign friends use WhatsApp, which means that I do too.

I use pretty much the same stack except I use Standard Notes over Obsidian. Obsidian I will agree has more polish, but Standard Notes is open source and undergoes 3rd party security audits every couple years. I'm okay with things being rough around the edges if a project aligns with my own principals.
- I'm not familiar with Standard Notes, but I like what I'm reading about them so far. E2ee is super important and is a bit annoying that I have to encrypt my Obsidian md notes folder. That said, the fact that the notes are standard md is super nice. I may try Standard Notes. Thanks!

SkyDemon (aerial navigation), Signal, Fennec (unbranded Firefox).

Telegram, Trust Wallet, and my bank app

Bitwarden, Apple Music, WhatsApp

KISS Launcher
FindMyDevice (not the Google one, I mean this one)
Firefox

F-droid, DPI Tunnel, Magisk

I should switch to Bitwarden…

YouTube, 1Password, Amazon

Sorry, I know I’m supposed to say something cooler than Amazon but it is hard to imagine life without it now.

Bitwarden, Firefox, Signal.

F-Droid too... I'm not going to be able to limit it to three ;)

Nextcloud, zulip, home assistant. I have more must have apps but since you asked for 3

Authenticator apps. Everything else is replaceable.

WeChat 2. Amap 3. Meituan

Considering that you can also use Amap and Meituan in WeChat, the new list would be:

WeChat 2. YouTube (Revanced Extended) 3. Wefwef (use to be RIF)

KeepassDX, Nextcloud, and Termux (I do some software development via Samsung DeX on a lapdock)

Google maps, bitwarden, telegram

Honorable mention: Boost for reddit (hopefully soon to be replaced by boost for Lemmy 😁)

WhatsApp, YouTube, Spotify

Youtube Revanced, Firefox, and Citra (or another emulator)

Firefox, Bitwarden, NewPipe/Libretube (Youtube)

Moshidon Client for Mastodon

Vivaldi Browser

and

XPlore File Manager with paid features

AntennaPod, WhatsApp, Solid Explorer

Firefox
Keepass2Android
Signal

Spotify, Pocket Casts, Youtube (revanced)

OLauncher
Joplin
F-Droid

Showly for tracking shows 365 Scores for sports scores Tick Tick for reminders

ViMusic (free YouTube Music) https://github.com/vfsfitvnm/ViMusic

Bitwarden

KDEConnect

YouTube Music
Waze
Telegram

Right now, Smart Launcher, Bitwarden and probably YouTube, sadly.

Bitwarden, Brave, and Poweramp

Telegram, Music app, Firefox

Edge, YouTube, and was reddit is fun.. Guess whatsapp instead now.

Instagram, Ekşi Sözlük (it's a turkish app like a blogger/reddit app) and Jerboa

YouTube, YouTube Music, and probably Maps

Firefox, Bitwarden, NewPipe/Libretube (Youtube)

Avira Password Manager, Spotify and Snapchat.

Google notes? You mean Google keep or they introduced a new app?

Since they closed Google notepad with all my notes just to introduce a new separate app one year later I can't trust them for this important data.

Dashlane, ReadEra, Dashlane

Whatsapp and Browsers.....
and may be google maps.

Brave, Whatsapp and Camera/photos.

Visual Studio, Chrome, Ms Teams.

I work in software development.. they are core to me living.

Signal, Firefox, ConnectBot

Bitwarden; pocketcasts; edge browser

Runners up: Signal, Snapseed, Microsoft translator.

Edge on android? May I ask why?
- Sure. I use edge for work / personal as I like the way it keeps the accounts separate. Also like the vertical tabs and having edge on the phone everything just synchronises seamlessly. Not a popular choice I know but it just works for me.

Authenticator Pro, Bitwarden, KDE Connect.

Telegram ProtonMail My bank's crappy app

OsmAnd+, Poweramp and Vivaldi

Obsidian, Telegram and LibreOffice.

What is Obsidian and Libre?
- Obsidian is a note taking app, LibreOffice is an office suite similiar to Microsoft Office.

Bitwarden, DGT GTD, Workflowy

1Password, Firefox, Spotify

What's 1password?

Ask me a month ago and it would've been Reddit Sync.

Now - WhatsApp, kbin, YouTube

I'm a barbaric who uses web browser to open most things even on mobile...

Webtoon (and LINE), Clock, Maps

Protonmail, ProtonVPN, Protonpass. Adguard-DNS.

YouTube
AntennaPod
WhatsApp

Honorary foss mentions: Lawnchair, Simple Gallery Pro, feeder rss reader.

Bitwarden, Outlook, Nova Launcher

WhatsApp - most used communication app by most in Europe
WeChat - iffy practices but partner is Chinese and their preferred app to communicate
Spotify

I'll be boring but hyper pragmatic.

Maps

Camera

Mail

Gelli(music player for Jellyfin)

Brave

RCX for transferring files from computer to phone

Discord, Nine, and Radio Alarm Clock

WhatsApp
Wikipedia
ReVanced Extended

LibreTube
Molly
Eternity

Snaptube Perplixity ai Readera Lemmy

KeePassDX - I've migrated all my passwords to KeePass and use tasker to automatically backup to google drive. I have a nextcloud automatic backup configured too. I used to have Aegis but KeePassDX can take care of that too
Kiss Launcher - My first install!
Poweramp for audio, I still prefer local audio than streaming. I use Youtube Music or Spotify to discover new ones.

Shameless plug but I am promoting my app here on lemmy. You guys might like it 😶‍🌫️

There three are really bad choices