What are some good uses for smart phones?
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I use my old phones that still work as media players, I uninstall almost everything and basically only use VLC on them to watch stuff on my NAS. They're like tiny TV's scattered around the house.
Now I just only need to learn how to broadcast locally from the PC so they can play the same thing at the same time. I know VLC can do it because I've seen dozens of tutorials but they all must be missing something because it never worked for me.
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
Some of my favourite mobile centric uses (I'm a FOSS leaning Android):
- I like to try to ensure most things are available offline: maps, notes, passwords (manager also holds "emergency" documents), media, ebooks, podcasts etc
- OsmAnd has offline Wiki articles, this is awesome when travelling
- OsmAnd can be great for finding POI's such as food outlets, toilets etc when travelling (I since extensively mapped my own locality to help visitors by way of thanks)
- Using stuff I self host synced to various devices: Nextcloud, Joplin, Paperless-ngx, Immich, Jellyfin & a bunch of others
- whoBIRD is great especially when travelling
- If WiFi/data is unavailable when travelling away from home, hook the phone up to TV with a hub, HDMI, keyboard with track pad & it becomes a full media system
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
It's a music player, e-reader, and mobile videogame platform that can emulate any retro system and has unique games based on physical activity and geolocation.
It can also take pictures and send IMs, I guess.
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Was that the fork of OSM a couple months ago? Do they have gravity yet?
CoMaps is a fork of Organic Maps, not a fork of OpenStreetMap. There are dozens if not hundreds of apps that use OpenStreetMap data.
An actual fork of OSM is FOSM which declined to switch from CC-BY-SA to ODbL.
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Where do you get the games from. I have a switch and an old gameboy carriage but I’m too out of it to bridge that gap
They're called ROMs, can't give you links because that's naughty but if you use your reputable search engine of choice for Gameboy ROMs you can find them pretty easily.
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
Lots of people gave good uses here so i'll give one too. the other day I lost my fitbit and I didn't know wtf I lost it then I remembered smartphones have bluetooth and emf sensors so i downloaded an app to find my fitbit and I found it. Felt like I was going mad looking for it lol
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I use my old phones that still work as media players, I uninstall almost everything and basically only use VLC on them to watch stuff on my NAS. They're like tiny TV's scattered around the house.
Now I just only need to learn how to broadcast locally from the PC so they can play the same thing at the same time. I know VLC can do it because I've seen dozens of tutorials but they all must be missing something because it never worked for me.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]You can use Open Source Sunshine and Moonlight for inhome broadcasting. You install sunshine on the source PC and use the moonlight app on the phones.
https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/releases
https://moonlight-stream.org/It's meant for game streaming, so it supports controller pass through and what not, but you can also use it to just stream the desktop. It also supports multiple clients, although I have never tried that personally.
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Where do you get the games from. I have a switch and an old gameboy carriage but I’m too out of it to bridge that gap
Most people will download roms, which is technically illegal although with 30 year old games there usually isn't much concern on enforcement (heck, even Switch games aren't really enforced). The legal way is to dump the rom from the original cartridge, though, and there are tools for that. Honestly, as long as you own the original game I'm pretty sure you can just argue you have a license to play, though.
Generally you can't share links to roms on communities, although I bet some communities are cool with it (/0 maybe?). Try not to go anywhere that looks suspicious, in any case. Most people don't malware Gameboy games, though lol. They won't be .exe in any case.
As for getting it to work, Android and iPhone have different emulator apps available on their respective stores. I tried MyBoy prior but tend to prefer Retroarch (which covers multiple systems, but is a like harder to setup). On Mobile, default has controls on screen so it's pretty much plug and play though. It's so much more convenient than digging up ancient systems, though!
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
I use it for a lot, but one I haven't seen mentioned. I use it to support my ham radio hobby. I have a satellite tracker for when I want to contact radio sats, a solar weather app for checking HF propagation and I have echolink which let's me connect to hundreds of radio repeaters around the globe.
*HF = high frequency, its a section of radio frequencies that bounce off the atmosphere. Let's you talk worldwide if you have the right frequency and conditions. Solar weather significantly impacts how radio waves interact with the upper atmosphere.
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I started looking into cozy games on my phone so anytime I get the urge to doomscroll I turn to that instead.
SGT Puzzles are small micro-games that can last anywhere from 5 seconds to 10 minutes.
MIT Licenced
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I use it for a lot, but one I haven't seen mentioned. I use it to support my ham radio hobby. I have a satellite tracker for when I want to contact radio sats, a solar weather app for checking HF propagation and I have echolink which let's me connect to hundreds of radio repeaters around the globe.
*HF = high frequency, its a section of radio frequencies that bounce off the atmosphere. Let's you talk worldwide if you have the right frequency and conditions. Solar weather significantly impacts how radio waves interact with the upper atmosphere.
How does one get into this? (I would like to do this)
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I use it for a lot, but one I haven't seen mentioned. I use it to support my ham radio hobby. I have a satellite tracker for when I want to contact radio sats, a solar weather app for checking HF propagation and I have echolink which let's me connect to hundreds of radio repeaters around the globe.
*HF = high frequency, its a section of radio frequencies that bounce off the atmosphere. Let's you talk worldwide if you have the right frequency and conditions. Solar weather significantly impacts how radio waves interact with the upper atmosphere.
I have a satellite tracker for when I want to contact radio sats,
which one do you use? can it show where is it on a camera background?
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How does one get into this? (I would like to do this)
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Ham radio is licensed by the country you live in. In the US, the basic technician license is very cheap and the test to get it is fairly easy with an abundance of online materials, including answer keys, to study. The reason these licenses are important is because ham operators need to operate within legally defined band plans, or radio frequency allocation guidelines. Emergency services, search and rescue, your nations military, all use specific radio bands given to them by the government. The license helps teach you how to avoid interfering with someone who can get you into serious trouble. It also helps keep you safe, and requires you to learn some basic electrical knowledge that frankly will be mildly useful the rest of your life. Amateur radio is a really fun skill that isn't that hard to learn. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask and if you want specific information about your countries licensing, Im happy to help look it up.
EDIT: Just to add, you can always listen without a license. That's why scanners exist, but you need a license once you hit the button to transmit on a ham radio frequency.
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I have a satellite tracker for when I want to contact radio sats,
which one do you use? can it show where is it on a camera background?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I use one called W1ANT Satellite Tracker. I don't think it has a camera feature. The fun for me is locating the sat and following it from a map. In practice this involves me looking like a lunatic running around my apartment complex with my HT held sideways, staring up at the sky.
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You can use Open Source Sunshine and Moonlight for inhome broadcasting. You install sunshine on the source PC and use the moonlight app on the phones.
https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/releases
https://moonlight-stream.org/It's meant for game streaming, so it supports controller pass through and what not, but you can also use it to just stream the desktop. It also supports multiple clients, although I have never tried that personally.
Thanks! I'm saving your comment to give it a try next time I'm in tinkering mood.
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- Flashlight
this
I already carried a flashlight in my pocket and now I have one on my watch. Phones are obsolete.
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
I have a lot of emulators on mine I recommend lemuroid as a gateway app it does most older systems and many of the arcade machines of my youth. Assuming you legally own the roms of course.
I find a cheap Bluetooth controller works a lot better than the touchscreen though.
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I use my old phones that still work as media players, I uninstall almost everything and basically only use VLC on them to watch stuff on my NAS. They're like tiny TV's scattered around the house.
Now I just only need to learn how to broadcast locally from the PC so they can play the same thing at the same time. I know VLC can do it because I've seen dozens of tutorials but they all must be missing something because it never worked for me.
Highly recommend Jellyfin on your NAS. Sounds like that is what your looking for. Very straight forward and easy to implement compared to other self host options.
Essentially, vid files located on your nas, and then any device on your wifi can stream the vids.
If your looking for your own personal netflix, jellyfin is your answer.
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.
Reading. Books are super easy to ahem find. OLED screens make reading really comfortable at night. Black background, dark orange text, and turn off all the lights and it's like text is floating in the air in front of you. There are plenty of epub readers out there. Moonreader is my favorite. I paid $5 for it years and years ago now. Absolutely worth it.
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Reading. Books are super easy to ahem find. OLED screens make reading really comfortable at night. Black background, dark orange text, and turn off all the lights and it's like text is floating in the air in front of you. There are plenty of epub readers out there. Moonreader is my favorite. I paid $5 for it years and years ago now. Absolutely worth it.
You can also borrow ebooks through your library's ebook app, there are a few types. I have signed up for many digital library cards with fake addresses, I get more selection and they get funding, it's a win for all.
