By far my most favorite use is as a notepad that I always have with me. I use a custom keyboard to make typing faster and more accurate.
Anything y’all like to do with your phones that you feel like most people miss out on?
Calling other phones.
Only scammer use that function.
Weirdly enough, that’s a uniquely US problem.
I also received spam calls on my German number. It’s not that frequent but it happens.
You should report it to the Bundesnetzagentur, spam calls are illegal.
https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Vportal/AnfragenBeschwerden/Beschwerde_Aerger/start.html
I didn’t know about this. Thanks !
Same in the UK, quite a few spam calls… odly a few that call an say nothing too - literal silence - then hang up
tf lol that’s like suggesting eating pizza with just your hand, instead of chopsticks like a proper civilized human
Never!
Deviant
USB OTG on android phones is severely underrated.
- I can plug in a USB drive and transfer files around, I’ve used this to manage my retro handheld SD cards before.
- You can tether your hotspot over Ethernet to your computer with an Ethernet adapter.
- You can plug Ethernet into your phone to get faster connections.
- You can plug a mouse into your phone and get a cursor on screen. Not super useful tbh, but kinda cool.
- You can use your phone as an external webcam for your computer.
- It’s a bit more annoying than it used to be but you can use your phone as a universal IR remote with a small adapter and free apps (I miss my built in IR blaster from my S3).
- I haven’t used it much, but I can plug in a RTL-SDR dongle and get aerial TV on my phone, or a radio spectrum analyzer. I used it to discover that my garage remote is about to die and that’s why my car’s garage button won’t learn the signal.
- USB (or Bluetooth) game controllers just work.
Definitely a relatively niche usecase but I have SSH clients, terminal apps, RDP remote access clients, and other networking tools as apps on my phone for quickly messing with things. Very helpful to not need to bring out the PC when I’m fixing my network.
The ability to VPN into my home network to access my NAS. Honestly being able to access my NAS in general is already great for backups or just so I don’t have to think about what’s physically on my phone.
With a cheap Bluetooth device I can connect to my car’s diagnostic port (ODBII) and check engine codes. No more trips to the mechanic just to get it diagnosed.
WiFi direct cameras are a great addon too. I have a wifi endoscope (camera on a long bendy stick) for inspecting inside walls and my phone works as a screen for it.
Using a mouse is great for some games like OpenTTD!
When my pixel 5a decided to stop using the screen, I was able to do a full phone backup using the OTG to plug in a keyboard. Ridiculous but was a fun troubleshooting moment
Using a mouse is invaluable if the screen shatters and the touch panel stops working but you still need to get data off it.
I too miss my build in IR blaster from my S3.
For anyone on iOS, you can do most of this there too. On older iPhones you need a lightning to USB-A adapter you can get on AliExpress for like $3, but on USB-C iPhones it works directly.
The Files app has become like a full file manager, with local storage, unzipping, archiving, SMB connections, as well as most cloud storage services connect to it. Download Keka from the App Store and you can even unpack 7z, ISOs, everything you can do on a desktop.
You don’t need an ethernet adapter to use your phone as a cabled hotspot for a computer. Just a regular usb cabe works just fine, I’ve done it before when our home internet was down.
That’s true, but with the Ethernet connection you can tether to a router directly. When my Internet was down I was able to tether my entire home for the time I needed to get some updates finished to get my docker environment back up and running. I had no idea that was possible before that.
I had no idea! So you use the phone in tether mode and get it hooked up on a router ethernet port and it works like that? Did you have to change any settings on your router to make it work?
Nope it all just worked, it really surprised me honestly. I expected to need to do some weird tethering to a raspi or something to make it work but I didn’t need any of that. (Well, I had issues because it turned out lightning borked my router, but that was a different issue entirely.)
I got a waterproof case, so I use mine as a coaster.
Mine is already water resistant up to a couple feet. No case needed for a coaster.
Folding phones be like
I’ve been getting into having a pdf of the various manuals for things around the house on my phone. I recently consulted the manuals for my fridge, a new dehumidifier and the lawn mower and it was pretty awesome not having to find and dig out a paper booklet each time. My phone is on me all the time plus I can get rid of the paper copies.
It would be tempting to have a QR code or nfc tag to stick on appliances that goes direct to a manual on a self hosted service. Would be nice so it’s always easy to get to and specific to the device.
I do exactly this! I use Calibre Web and have all the PDF manuals for my appliances in it (among other books). I then encode an NFC tag for the Calibe Web URL to the manual for the appliance in question. Works perfectly!
That’s an extremely cool usecase! Thank you for sharing it, I might steal it!
lol - I stole from someone else, so all good here mate.
Been doing this too! Embarrassingly I still need to refer to my washing machine manual occassionally.
It’s a really useful habit!
In a similar vein, I’ve also got a receipt scanner app - to make sure I’ve got 'em saved if I need to return or service something.
Haven’t needed it in a while, but a wifi analyzer to identify which band(s) are least crowded
Back when we worked it, the app saved so much time and helped explain so much.
Same. It’s actually the reason I chose Android over IOS way way back in the day.
Is knowing which WiFi or 4-5g bands are most heavily used, useful? If so what’s the name of the app and where do you get the app?
Imagine you are trying to talk to a friend, and you are standing in a crowded room with lots of other people, all trying to make sure their conversation is heard… As a result, you have to constantly repeat yourself so the others person ger all the info you are giving them.
Now imagine you and your friend move to a different room where noone else are standing. You can say things one time and the info will immediately be understood.
If your wifi network is using a channel that is occupied by lots of other devices, your wifi will have to use alot of the ‘bandwidth’ to make sure the other device have all the data and that it is correct, thereby potentially reducing the max speed of your wifi connection. By switching the channel to one where there are less other devices (or maybe no other devices), the data flows better and you can end up with faster and more stable connection.
(this explanation is simplified, and I might not be using 100% correct names etc, because english is not my native language)
The app i use is called ‘wifi analyzer pro’ and I got it from the F-droid appstore (i think it is mentioned already in this thread), but there are lots of alternative wifi analyzer apps in the normal appstore you could try if you don’t feel comfortable installing an alternative appstore (it doesn’t replace the normal appstore).
Note: some newer wifi routers will have built in functions to automatically select what it deems the best channel to use, meaning you might not have to change anything.
Same here. Now my router/AP does it automatically.
I moved my PC to a corner of my house without an Ethernet jack, I didn’t want to drill any holes, pull any cables, dug out an old smartphone, connected with a micro USB (!) cable, enabled USB tethering, connected the phone via WiFi and had a nice Internet connection
nice, but usb tethering has always been slower than ethernet in my experience
Fdroid, you scroll through it and find games and tools you didn’t know you needed until you’re either: in the middle of nowhere, or need a tool that you don’t have and just use an app for.
Yes! There’s so many cool apps on there! I wish the play store was similarly browsable.
I run a real linux on my phone, so I can use it for anything I can use my laptop/desktop/unix for. I think what people forget is that phones are ultimately just computers with a WWAN radio, and the restrictive nature of Android and especially iOS obfuscate that.
postmarketos or do you run it as a vm?
postmarketOS, native, on pinephone. There’s a few mobile devices these days that can run mobile Linux.
I use a Galaxy Ultra. currently an S22u previously a Note 9.
I use the stylus everyday. I tired a phone.sans atykus (Pixel Pro) for a month and got rid of it. The sylus is so handy
I have gone ----> Note 8, Note 9, S22u.
I draw work sketches all the time eg just this morning my parter sent me a photo of her mother’s toilet and asked me how to fix it. I typed a long set of instructions, she said huh… And can you draw me a sketch, stylus out and I did and she said now she understands and fixed it herself.
Someone givea me some info, stylus out, tap the screen and start writing eg phone number, address etc. No unlocking necessary. I have used the stylus as a camera remote on the phone but not often.
The styus makes the phone so useful it still beguiles me how peoplendo without. I use a phone and desktop.
This is definitely a huge one in my experience as well. Speech isn’t great at communicating visual detail. It’s amazing how the moment you start drawing you can just see it click in the other person’s mind.
I’ve never had a phone with a stylus before, but you make a good case for it!
I loved having a Note 2 ages ago. But since then, the styluses that are paired with phones seem so awfully plastic and cheap. I use a pretty standard phone nowadays, but I’m keeping my eyes open for a phone with a good high quality stylus that has its resting place in a niche in the phone itself. Any suggestions?
I previously had an LG Stylo and now I have a Motorola G stylus. I love both of them. The stylus is kind of thin but it’s stored in the phone. I use the notepad pretty frequently so having a phone with a stylus is a must have for me.
Syncthing
What’s syncthing?
It’s a set of apps that help you sync files between devices. It does so without relying on a centralized server, which is a curse (because you need the devices to be on and online) and a blessing (because it can be fast and private). I use it every day. It’s great!
Thanks
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This is about as witty as a box of rocks, just like it was when it was invented in 2007.
You can use it as a webcam if you suddenly need to work from home and there’s a shortage of webcams.
Originally I had to install an app for that, but it shows up as a standard USB option on my Pixel now.
An excuse not to interact with people.
“Sorry, my notifications were off while I was busy yesterday and didn’t have a chance to check it”.I recently used my phone to wirelessly charge someone else’s phone that was about to die. Pretty useful feature in the moment. I only used that feature only that one time in the 2 years I’ve had the phone but it’s nice to know that is an option.
My phone can do this too! It’s a fun flex, but super niche
I did this when out with a friend the other night. It was a neat party trick so they could stay in touch with their sister. First time I’ve used it in years of having the phone.
My other half has new Ultra, I have an older Ultra model. Stuff i find invaluable that she hasn’t used once:
- S Pen
- Modes & Routines
- Secure folder
- DeX (to a lesser degree than the above)
I try to use my phone as a Swiss army knife. Stuff I rely on that most normal users likely dont realise their phone can do:
- Using Kodi the phone becomes fully fledged mobile media player. Great for vacations in case of poor weather (in conjunction with HDMI lead, controller/wireless keyboard)
- OsmAnd navigation has an offline Wikipedia plugin. I set up a shortcut in it so i can display/hide all wiki entries nearby. Brilliant when on vacation
- All my main apps will work offline in case of data outage: navigation, notes, password manager, books, music, podcasts, media etc etc
- Password manager has more uses than simply handling passwords
- Playing video sites in the background …with a timer if desired
- Browser with uBlock “etc”
- Manipulation of .pdf files
- A good launcher. Mine is always set up the same regardless of device - I can access any app within 2 swipes & 2 taps
- A good car dock
- Most don’t realise that a simple DNS entry can help reduce the amount of ads they see
- All manner of nerdy tech shit to interact with stuff on my network. No normal human needs to know that this usage factor exists
And most importantly …using the camera in landscape so images/video can be viewed properly on a TV or monitor. And not using digital zoom in the dark to record an entire concert from row Q
Cool list! I’ve taken to listening to music and videos with a sleep timer as well.
I wonder, what unusual things are you using a password manager for? Inputting common address data or something?
With bitwarden you can store and securely share files, store information for family members, card details, memos, etc
What is requiring you two swipes and two taps?
You can use most modern phones as a spirit level with the right app! It’s really useful when doing projects around the house, not having to run around to find a real one. Quite accurate, too!
