Reviews Tagged “Tested”
Stuff I tried out, either because I wanted to see if it would do what I needed, or out of curiosity, but didn’t continue using. Some of these are perfectly good, but I already had something I liked better, or I ended up not having as much use for it as I expected. Others just didn’t work for me.
- Apple Mail (macOS) ★★★★☆ No-nonsense but full-featured email application for macOS that works well with multiple IMAP accounts and Gmail.
- Brave (Web Browser) ★★☆☆☆ A privacy-focused browser, but for every cool privacy feature there’s something else that makes me want to firewall the application away from my system.
- Deedum ★★★☆☆ A full featured, if awkward, Gemini client for Android and iOS. Handles bookmarks, subscriptions and client identities.
- Dia (Browser) ★★☆☆☆ An AI chatbot masquerading as a web browser, or the other way around. You can use it without the AI features, but that just leaves you with a stripped-down Chromium skin.
- Ecosia (Search) ★★★☆☆ Non-profit search provider that uses renewable energy and partners with environmental organizations. AKA “the search engine that plants trees.”
- Fedilab ★★★★⯪ A full-featured app for connecting to Mastodon and other Fediverse servers. Includes specific capabilities for Akkoma, Pixelfed, PeerTube and more, without getting too cluttered.
- Fluent Reader ★★★☆☆ A simple, no-nonsense, modern-looking RSS/Atom newsfeed reader for Windows, Mac and Linux. Optionally sync with multiple services, but I’ve had issues with Nextcloud.
- Fossify Calculator ★★★★☆ Basic calculator, like the cheap 16-key models. No fancy scientific functions, but also no ads, no data mining, and no subscription. And it’s already in your pocket.
- Fossify Camera ★★★⯪☆ Basic camera app with support for flash, timer and video, optional EXIF. Lacks advanced processing like night sight. Images are slightly noisier than Google’s camera.
- Fossify Launcher ★★★☆☆ Works fine for launching apps. Widget support needs more work. Does not auto-rotate.
- Fossify Messages ★★★☆☆ Minimalist SMS/MMS app with custom alerts, archives and actions on the pull-down notifications. No RCS support or swipe actions, but does the job without sending a copy of all your messages to Google.
- Fread ★★★★☆ Another Bluesky/Mastodon/RSS Combo app like OpenVibe, a bit less polished but considerably more useful. Handles multiple accounts per type, plus custom feeds.
- FreeOTP (Authenticator) ★★★⯪☆ Extremely bare-bones 2FA app for iOS and Android, sponsored by Red Hat. It’s secure, works offline, and doesn’t depend on Google. A decent choice if you start with it, but a lack of import features means switching from another app is tedious.
- Geary ★★★★☆ Really lightweight but still modern, so it’s a good choice on lower-end hardware. Basic IMAP features, good for most day-to-day email use. Needs GNOME for setup.
- Geopard ★★★☆☆ Simple desktop Gemini Protocol client with bookmarks. Polished, fits well with any Linux desktop but especially GNOME. Fast, no frills.
- GNU IceCat ★★★☆☆ Firefox minus all branding and connections to Mozilla services, plus add-ons to block non-FSF-approved JavaScript.
- Husky (Social Media App) ★★★⯪☆ A fork based on an older version of Tusky, with added support for Pleroma and Akkoma extensions.
- IronFox ★★★★☆ A privacy-hardened Firefox variation for Android, comparable to LibreWolf on desktops. Removes Mozilla tracking and services like Pocket. Locks down features that can leak data, but those changes can break some sites.
- Kristall ★★★★☆ Cross-platform desktop browser for the small internet, including Gemini, Gopher and Finger. A little faster than Lagrange, but fewer features and hasn’t been updated in a while.
- Manyverse ★★★★☆ Takes the pain out of setting up and running SSB. Unfortunately it doesn’t overcome SSB’s inherent challenges of discovery, data size or multiple devices. (So far?)
- Mastodon (Mobile App) ★★★⯪☆ Good for someone new to Mastodon, but lacks advanced features found in other apps like Tusky.
- Microsoft Edge ★★☆☆☆ Once you turn off all the Microsoft specials, it feels usable again – but then, it’s just another Chromium skin.
- Moshidon (Mastodon app) ★★★★☆ A modified version of the Mastodon app for Android that adds a bit more functionality. Helpful if you use lists or bookmarks a lot, or your instance supports formatted posting.
- NetSurf ★★★☆☆ Lightweight browser for RISC-OS and Linux/Unix (and a few smaller OSes). Slightly more capable than Dillo, if not quite as small or fast.
- Pachli (Mastodon App) ★★★★☆ A Mastodon app forked from (and still similar to) Tusky. Capable without being cluttered. Faster, smaller updates, some minor differences, and some cool anti-harassment features I’d like to see adopted more widely.
- Plex ★★★☆☆ It does let you stream your local media library, but it insists on connecting to a cloud account and pushes you to buy a subscription, even if you’re not using its remote services.
- RSS Guard ★★★★☆ A solid cross-platform feed reader that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Extremely capable and customizable. Syncs with multiple services.
- Scrambled EXIF ★★★★⯪ One of those ‘does one thing really well’ apps: It’s a filter that removes all the date, time, location, camera, and other metadata from a photo as you share it from your phone.
- Sly (Image Editor) ★★★⯪☆ Simple, friendly, privacy-respecting image editor for Android and Linux. Convenient for most basic photo adjustments, but metadata handling is currently broken, so I can’t use it to just crop photos for iNaturalist. Once that’s fixed, though…
- Subway Tooter ★★★⯪☆ Extremely customizable, capable, cluttered and complex. Also extremely frustrating to use, especially on a phone. Better on a tablet where there’s room for more columns at a time.
- Three Rental Cars While my car was in the shop recently, I rented three very different cars: a Ford Edge SUV, a Chevy Bolt EV, and a Ford Mustang.
- Ungoogled Chromium ★★★⯪☆ This takes Chromium and removes everything that connects to Google services…including things like safe browsing and the extension store.
- UTM ★★★⯪☆ A simple application wrapped around macOS’ built-in virtualization and emulation capabilities. Fewer bells and whistles than the commercial options, but works better for some purposes.
- Virt-Manager ★★★⯪☆ A front-end manager for Linux’s built-in virtualization/emulation (QEMU and KVM, using libvirt). Much more customizable than Boxes, but missing a few convenience features.
- Wayback Machine Browser Extension ★★★★☆ Useful for when you want to make sure the pages you’re reading will still be around in some form in the future, and to easily get at additional context. Checks every page you view against the Wayback Machine, so turn it off when you’re not using it.
- Whalebird (Mastodon client) A simple desktop app for Mastodon and (most) compatible Fediverse servers. Fast, runs on multiple platforms.
- Windows 10 Mail and Calendar (discontinued) ★★★⯪☆ Not a bad email client. Snappy, works with multiple accounts. Some issues with Nextcloud calendar and contacts. So of course it’s been discontinued in favor of Outlook.
- WordPress Block Editor ★☆☆☆☆ This is not distraction-free writing. Every time I try to use it I get frustrated and switch back to the classic editor…because I can USE it.