Gmail for Android should be one of the best email apps on the platform. However, I tried using it in 2024, and it is actually terrible.
Gmail for Android should be one of the best email apps on the platform. However, I tried using it in 2024, and it is actually terrible.
Google Apps are ALWAYS much worse than FOSS alternatives.
The only exception to this is google maps. There isn’t really an alternative, because they have the network effect going with all the points of interest added already, and crowd sourced by people, plus the reviews of business and restaurants. Even if you can get all that going with a Foss app, its not going to be tracking you, and unfortunately maps is the 1 reason for tracking people that actually gives the user some benefit, traffic data. I don’t think there any other Foss maps that gives traffic data, which if you live near a city or travel a lot, its invaluable.
The only thing where google maps is superior is the reviews. In all other points OSM is more detailed and often more up to date. Especially due to nerds like us, that while waiting for the radicalistic-left club to open, explore a mislabeled playground, fix that, and continue to complete streets for OSM with one dude’s phone that can measure distances.
However, google maps does have a lot of data too. Except the app, as all google apps, has literally no useful settings and is awful to use in many aspects.
And for FOSS apps that give traffic data: There are none that I’m aware of. There are, however, alternative, crowd sourced apps/websites for germany, like Blitzer.de, that not only show speed cams but also traffic data. Not ideal, but better.
I would have to disagree for the city and state that I live in. Google Maps is much more accurate and up to date than OSM and the directions are better too. Not to mention sometimes knowing to route around construction and whatnot. OSM and whether it’s better than Google Maps seems to be very region dependent.
I contribute when and where I can but there isn’t a huge user base here.
That’s bad luck then, friends and I had the opposite experience, with OrganicMaps routing around a road closure where google maps didn’t acknowledge it.
What foss do you recommend for email? I don’t love Gmail app, but I’ve not come across a better alternative yet (not tried very hard tbh) .
FairEmail app does the job for me.
https://www.faircode.eu/
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/eu.faircode.email
Maybe not the best, but good and compliant to the desktop variant: K-9 Mail, now rebranded to Thunderbird Android
aside from Google maps and camera
maps is the most up to date, easiest to use
pixel camera really does a great job on the processing of photos. oftentimes better that other manufacturers stock apps