!Offline-first android
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agk's diary
10 August 2022 @ 17:50 UTC
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written on ipad (ssh.sdf.org in web browser)
at kitchen table with pourover coffee
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I like reading peoples' stories about how they use
consumer technology in ways that lower cost, extend
its life, prevent waste, and increase autonomy.
I have a few castoff android phones from family I
use in everyday life as little PDAs.
My phone is a candybar-style dumbphone, $50 Nokia
225 4G. It suits my needs with a $3/month plan. The
androids are used without cellular service or google
account, on wifi with offline-first applications.
They range from 2017 Samsung to new budget Alcatel,
and are pretty much interchangeable.
Device setup
------------
When I first power one on, I spend over an hour
disabling stuff before connecting to wifi. I remove
every possible app permission, delete or disable
most apps, turn off all notifications, turn off GPS
and bluetooth, turn off all possible device and
browser telemetry.
I use the default browser to download the F-Droid
apk and install it. The default browser can then
also be disabled. F-Droid installs and updates
packages. Google Play is already disabled.
First I install TrackerControl. It's a firewall to
block trackers or application network access. I
spend another chunk of time blocking almost every-
thing with it.
Then I install most of these:
AntennaPod (podcasts)
AnySoftKeyboard (ctrl, esc, and arrow keys)
ConnectBot (ssh)
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser (www, new android only)
Feeder (rss reader; new android only)
Kiwix (offline wikis)
Markor (markdown notes)
MuPDF viewer (pdf and epub reader)
Organic Maps (offline maps)
Simple File Manager Pro (file browser)
Syncthing (sync between devices)
VLC (offline music and audiobooks; internet radio)
For www on older androids, I use Tor Browser from
Guardian Project repos, IceCat, or Midori. There
are also ok rss readers for older androids.
Use away from wifi
--------------------
Weekly:
* I read downloaded books via muPDF,
* listen on commute to torrented language lessons,
audiobooks, and music via VLC.
Occasionally:
* I listen to downloaded podcasts on AntennaPod,
* read locally-synced news and blogs with Feeder,
* check WikiEM emergency medicine handbook or Wiki-
Med medical encyclopedia with Kiwix,
Rarely:
* browse local documents with Simple File Manager,
* look up map or directions with Organic Maps,
* take a note with Markor.
Even online, Feeder is nicer for reading than any
web browser. XML imposes "readability mode," just
text and some pictures. I update and sync Antenna-
Pod and Feeder on wifi before trips. Books are
usually from zlib, sometimes from Standard Ebooks.
Stuff I listen to's mostly torrented, or sometimes
downloaded via invidious youtube frontend/yt-dl.
Messaging/calls (on wifi)
-------------------------
I mostly do SMS/plain phonecalls via dumbphone. I
don't want email on my handheld. My friends don't
use XMPP or Matrix. I don't use Signal or social
media. I want to minimize personal info, maximize
device transferability (Broke your phone? Here,
have mine!) So I don't have much use for messaging
apps. A few are useful enough to sometimes install:
Linphone (sip/voip calling; I use an account at SDF
and a DID to call anyone),
Cheogram or Conversations (with JMP.chat service to
call, recieve calls, or SMS text with anyone via
SDF XMPP account)
For ~$40/yr these make an old android a home phone.
Away from wifi, messages queue and wait, calls go
to voicemail.
If you want mail on an offline-first android, K9
Mail's good. Manyverse is an app for the scuttlebutt
offline-first social network. Briar's a good
offline-first messenger for friends at an event.
Not a general-purpose computer
------------------------------
I use a palmtop computer for email, netnews, gopher
and gemini, and to chat on irc and SDF's COM. I do
most online things via ssh to SDF's public access
unix shell, with any laptop/palmtop/tablet as a
terminal (the smaller/lighter/older/lower power the
better!) In a pinch an android rotated to landscape
with a USB keyboard will do, thanks to ConnectBot.
I use dedicated devices for other things: wrist-
watch, clock radio, camera, lantern, deck of cards,
pouch of jacks shaped like pigs with ball, pocket
memo pad, refillable Pilot Metropolitan fountain
pen, atlas of road maps, walkie-talkies, rolodex,
pocket calculator or slide rule, home cooking and
local shopping. We sometimes watch movies on room-
mate's laptop or VHS tapes on an old CRT. We play
records (also mostly castoff). I read an academic
journal that comes in the mail quarterly. We walk
to the creek and watch the raggly garden grow.
Using secondhand androids keeps them out of trash,
keeps personal data out of databases I don't want
them in, untethers me from constant connectivity,
and keeps my cost of living low. It feels gently
transgressive to use things adversely to their
manufacturer's intent!
