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An iPhone Even Android Fans Will Approve Of
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- Published on Mar 16, 2026
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When I tried to switch from iOS to Android, I realised just how tight of a grip Apple has on my life. My notes are in their notes app, my schedule in their calendar, and all my photos backed up to iCloud! In this video, I share the best cross-platform, open source alternatives I could find to break out of Apple's ecosystem!
Written by: Betty
Edited by: Zinjo
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Local send really is great.
i dont get why people prefer it over pairdrop, pairdrop seems so much better
I used local send and it just didn't work as good as kde connect it just didn't connect as reliability.And kde connect also gives you shared clipboards and other stuff.
@MrJakson112local send app ecosystem is just better. But both are very good indeed.
Or Blip
blip is faster but both are great
If Apple insists on HTTPS, why don't you just use a reverse proxy like Caddy on your server? It automatically acquires and renews a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt, and you've got HTTPS.
Which is a good idea to use anyway.
traefik or nginx proxy manager are also options
@Zwelch007 Caddy really is great. Been very impressed by how simple it is to use.
I don’t because I’m incredibly lazy.
I use Nginx together with the regular Certbot client. Works loke a charm 😊
i use cloudflare for this, but i don't have public ip, so i did'n have a lot of options
Just in case this isn't clear: Connecting to your server over HTTP instead of HTTPS means you're sending your notes unencrypted, in plain text for everyone to read over the internet.
I stopped watching at this point. Especially considering setting it up takes less than two minutes.
not everyone on the internet, only everyone along the route hops between you and the requested resource.
@patchstep of course not literally everyone on the internet, you silly goose :P
Plain text means whoever happens upon it can read it, and sending it over the internet means you never know who might happen upon it.
Watched a talk a while ago where researchers used a home satellite dish to capture unencrypted traffic from people browsing on airplanes. Luckily, almost all of what they saw was HTTPS.
Except she said she was using tailscale which is a wire guard like system and should allow her to still use https through their magic DNS
However, it's not needed if you're only sharing on local or encrypted networks. I access my server over the Tailnet, so I never bothered to setup https.
Local Send is truly a godsend
I've been using pairdrop for quite a while. It's fine for the most part but doesn't handle bigger files (over 30 mb) any good at all. Gave the web version of localsend a quick test run, it feels a Lot faster han pairdrop but has the same issue with larger files :/
kde connect and syncthing imo are superior, you don't even have to think about device names or anything
@mrbanana6464 syncthing doesn't really seem to be the same thing, and kde connect also seems more like an application for specifically your devices, where you can use localsend with family or colleagues just as easily as with your own devices
@mrbanana6464 hear me out: kde connect + tailscale is all u need (syncthing is also good but has its use cases somewhere else)
For a guy in process of going all in into GrapheneOS and Linux, this is gold. My addiction to Apple's Notes is my main issue with the move. Thanks for the insight :D
In the same situation as you man, I had the exact same reliance on Apple Notes lol
@ch4rged1 try obsidian. only cost money if you use their syncing - but you can do that yourself : ).
I switched to GOS a few months ago, and Linux a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't come from Apple.
Appple notes? What’s so great about it that other notes app don’t have ? Genuinely curious as I also have an iPhone but don’t ever use the note app
@itszoc It's simple enough to be clean and streamlined yet has enough formatting options to be sophisticated. It strikes a good middle ground between functionality and polish/simplicity
12:10 there's something called PhotoGIMP 3, which is a patch for GIMP to make it look and feel like Photoshop
@Julzaa Try Affinity as well. It replaces Photoshop, Illistrator, and InDesign all in pne. It is free.
@Julzaa Has it gotten better? Last time I used something like that it did not feel like photoshop on functionality, only in looks
@CallMeRabbitzUSVIi think it got better but affinity is free and offers a much cleaner experience
just use Krita
Ecosystem agnostic software is the way to go. Along with standardized data formats, so that doesn’t lock you into one app.
word. don't fall into any traps, I recently got a Proton mail address, but I'm not going all in on their ecosystem either.
Amen. I'm seeking also open and ecosystem agnostic apps as I like to switch between iOS and Android phones and using also Linux and Windows computers.
hell yeah, nothing beats plaintext notes, i only use a 'tick' plugin from lazyvim and sync using ssh to my android phone. (eg: shopping lists/todo-list)
Obsidian is a great notes app which stores your notes as a folder of plaintext files, containing markdown. Someone tell me if there are any other notes apps that do that
i think you can be a voice actor for Bee in "Bee and Puppycat"
Instead of GIMP you could try Krita. It's more of a digital painting software, but all the basic features (like cropping, resizing, layers, etc.) are there. And the UI is far more intuitive than GIMP's UI.
Yeah GIMP has so many cool features, but it's got the worst UI known to man.
Krita just takes the Photoshop layout, and built an incredible platform off of that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
or maybe self host photopea
Krita also has local Ai built in
@uwoluwuNo, it does not. Stop this slander.
So i have the same setup for Joplin as described here. The thing is that you can use tailscale to provide a certificate and voila, no problem with IOS
JAIL Breaking on IPHONES.....NEEDS TO COME BACK !!!
@lockhain4335 or just buy an android phone
YEESSSS !!!!! I remember back when it was required to be barely able to use an iphone back in the iphone 4 days in 2015, moving to android was the best thing I ever done
The guy that made clawdbot said in an interview he was an iOS guy maybe the Ai will bring JB back this is the longest time I’ve been unjailbroken since 2011 and don’t let them fool you that iOS 26 is some big thing it’s not
@lockhain4335 well yeah everybody wants to JB it just isn't necessarily possible with the newer ioses
@talishfirefor the most part, yes it isn't as possible because people have not been trying to do the initial jailbreak. Jailbreaking has fallen apart since Apple has caved in to giving certain modifiers what they want in the workings of the OS over the time. Yet what has fallen is the security that has seeped into the OS that made privacy and Total security for the owner a weakness to the newer devices
As a Linux user - I like your Linux videos.
As a LocalSend user to transfer photos from my iPhone to Pixel for unlimited photo storage - I approve this software.
As a Vietnamese - "xin chao" to you and your parents. Wish you all best health.
Surprised you didn’t mention next cloud
For notes: just use obsidian with "manual" syncing.
I hosted the livesync server for the plugin, it's a little jank but works well
I switched from Brave to Waterfox.
Brave is to Chrome, as Waterfox is to Firefox.
Brave is technically better than Waterfox when it comes to anti-fingerprinting protection, but the parent company is questionable so it's not flawless. I also find that brave shields struggle to buffer YT videos properly so I'm not a fan
Indeed, Waterfox+Ublock is still the fastest and cleanest non-chromium experience possible. Default firefox sucks in comparison, and Librewolf is way too laggy and insufferable to be your primary browser
Other than Waterfox, I also recommend Helium browser if you ever need chromium for any reason
My current stack is Helium + Waterfox (both with Ublock). I use 2 browsers on purpose because Google can track pretty much anything you do in one browser the second you log in
Even with the most hardened tracking-blocking browser setup, everywhere you go in that browser is basically nakedly transparent to Google if you're so much as logged into Gmail or RUclips
This technique is called "browser isolation," and you can learn more about it from youtuber Rob Braxman
I basically use Helium browser for everything concerning RUclips, and then I use Waterfox for literally everything else. This way Google truly has no way to know what pages I'm looking at
I love seeing channels over a million covering open source software! Thank you for advocating!
First I'm hearing of LocalSend. Very cool.
Pairdrop is better
@_Eion_ kde connect better
8:10 All you need is a `self signed certificate` to turn http into https.
Yes. And I have no issues connecting with on iPhones too
Nextcloud... It has it all. For free. In your living room. On your own hardware
It's slow and the UI sucks. Over time gets even slower.
@bigdbag9839 I use clients for all the "apps" on nextcloud,, so I don't need to use the web app. That's probably like the best way of having centralized services litke the ones described on the video.
@bigdbag9839 how does it get slower
This is what I do now. Clendar and reminders (tasks) sync on native ios app.
can you put the list and links of the covered apps in the description?
The awesome thing about Ente is that it saves the photos in a shared Apple album that you have not saved to your camera roll. Google Photos or anything cloud backup drive does not do that.
$3.75 per month to use an app to make notes is wild. Any basic program that requires a subscription should not be recommended.
on my phone I use note in, I dont htink its open source but at least its free and allows text and modifications and even putting images as well, and u can also make check lists
tho for notes I want both on my pc and my phone, I have a private telegram channel with just me in it lol
It doesn't require it. It's a subscription to pay for the file hosting and syncing they're doing. So it's the service that is being charged, not the software.
Oooh. Thanks for the tip on local send. 😊
Local send is truly the goat
Thanks for the Localsend!!
Opera is Maleware and adware and datacollector
Local send is great 🙌🏻
But Blip is even greater.
@tamaspentek Never heard of it, so I had to look it up. It isn't open source and you need to give them your email to download it??? Sorry but that's a hard pass for me. I recommend PairDrop or KDE Connect
Airdrop works with Certain pixels
"Airdrop functionality is now available on Google Pixel 10 devices, allowing them to share files wirelessly with iPhones, iPads, and Macs using a compatible version of Quick Share."
@pixelfan4354 Pixel 9 variants also have AirDrop now
I wanted to like standard notes but not having OCR was really annoying for search because I use a lot of screenshots in my notes. I also never found a good podcast app that was privacy respecting like overcast
I love that You find all theese cool FOSS programs. I would like to remind all the viewers to send a donation towards the programs You like and use. The devs are workling hard, so let them know You like what they do.
Also, give the devs feedback or assistance. I didn't always have cash, so I would write up tutorials with screenshots aimed at my grandmother's level of tech comprehension (none) and offer them for support and documentation purposes. The devs were thrilled.
Try Zen if you like vertical tabs
@PedroLopes-zyx brave also has vertical tabs
@ja-irwilson6343Firefox has vertical tabs too.
notes take almost no room, so hosting the Joplin notes in a free dropbox account is enough, very simple to sync
I do the same. Not dropbox but a similar one with 8gb free storage. That is more than I will ever need for Joplin. I love Joplin for notes.
Big prediction: She is on a privacy & linux/open-source roll and will end up with GrapheneOS on the Pixel and an entire self - hosting setup.
"An iPhone(-alike) that privacy aware users love."
Obsidian with syncthing is the ultimate note taking workflow
not open source...
@tarcisiosurdibut the notes you create belongs to you !
@tarcisiosurdi may not be open source but the data is completely yours and at the end of the day, it's just simple markdown, any text editor can open it!
I prefer Anytype
2:27 hipyo reference no way!
I use a selfhosted radicale caldav server for calendar and reminders and just sync it with regular ios calendar and reminder apps. works like a charm.
I had some issues with the Apple Reminders app in that it doesn't seem to support subtasks via CalDAV? I ended up using 2Do instead.
What a wonderful video, great insights, i've been struggling with this too. thank you
Choosing between Apple and Android is a distinction without a difference. You're trading one walled garden for another and both of them hate you but LOVE your data. Going independent is the key. Nice work!
@ajfarson Going independent? You don’t even explain how to do so lol.
The walls are not the same height.
Android isn’t a walled garden... it handshakes with anything. but Apple? AirPods, AirDrop, iMessage, Watch..all break outside their ecosystem. Both have a chokehold, sure, but Android lets you escape via bootloader unlocks; Apple treats freedom like a crime. Google showed it could block sideloading on 99% of phones - and only folded under backlash. The real chains are copyright and proprietary apps. Linux/freedom phones are free. The rest of the world just worships copyright and stays trapped.
There really isn't an independent option. People use phones for critical tasks, then need to work near 100% of the time. Linux isn't there yet, not even close. You can go lineage or Graphene OS but there are compromises and getting them set up is outside the comfort zone of most people.
@MainframeSupertasker I'd go as far as to say copyright, as a system, is trash in its entirety.
1) Most of the time, the lion's share of the profits don't go to the original inventors/researchers.
2) No labor or value needs to be produced by copyright holders, once they have a patent. They can simply hire legal teams to squeeze money out of users.
3) Patents stifle innovation, with red-tape. Open-source development is much more organic, secure and robust.
4) Patents prevent 3rd world countries from accessing crucial industrial components, medicines and therapies.
For the file send I've had great success with syncthing. It's not quite the same kind of thing but in terms of keeping a folder of files in sync it's pretty reliable. Especially for times when you are remote. You can drop something in a sync folder then next time you are on home wifi it will sync across. It can do it over cellular if you want that as well.
I use Brave as well
Damn local send seems to be great to send stuff to and from the steam deck
Thank you for such great content! This is why I like RUclips.
Apple notes keeps me drinking the apple KoolAid
obsidian all the way!
Send anywhere is also an absolute boss about transferring files over apps and a web client
I don't like LocalSend. The problem with it is that it can't transfer 4k 60Hz videos from my iphone, it always downscales. Some photos also end up having less weight. Which is a problem! I want my files intact.
i don't know if it works as well on iOS, but on android i use KDE Connect, which allows for transferring files over WiFi, as well as a lot of cool features like syncing clipboard, notifications, using SMS on the computer, media control, presentation pointer, making your phone ring to find it, and straight up browsing my phone's file system. and it requires basically no setup, just pair the devices.. supports windows, macos, linux, ios and android, and it's FOSS. i think local send is still good as a AirDrop alternative as it's more intuitive if you want to transfer files with friends
@aquaponieee Wow, that sounds very cool!
@markup100 i don't have apple devices though so i don't know how restricted the iOS version is.. but it is supported
Joplin does have a subscription that gives you cloud storage for yout notes too, not only selfhosting.
im pretty sure the HTTPS problem with Tailscale could be fixed using Caddy to provision internal web apps with TLS certs, which should have fixed the issue
I'm using Macbook with Pixel 10 and its perfect
Orion browser lets you install extensions from Firefox and Chrome
For phones, not desktop.
That sounds interesting
I haven’t tried it but Ente is supposed to be a secure photo sync platform that you can self host or subscribe to for remote hosting.
I like to check cookies. If the only button active is 'necessary' you can click accept, otherwise uncheck the other buttons(you can't unclick 'necessary',) then click accept. If you just click accept without looking at the cookie choices you're giving permission to be tracked. Good video. Thank you.
I don’t want to disconnect from all my Apple stuff. I would like more control of my storage and pictures. So putting all that on my own network would be something I’d like. I don’t see a reason to get away from Apple notes or reminders. Am an Apple user who also uses Google. So I’m open to finding a different browser. Also I like the app that allows you to send files and things to other devices without airdrop.
Ok but for real I have Lasfit mats in my car and they are still looking great after 2 years
Maybe Obsidian instead of Joplin.
you should use https... why didn't you use https? I don't get the issue, you just didn't want the extra config?
she's accessing that service via tailscale VPN, which already encrypts the traffic to her server
@DzungDaoTien That depends where the VPN sits to how secure that is. That would have encrypted traffic between you and the VPN, not between the VPN and the server
@AyaWetts Tailscale means that the service is only accessible via what is essentially an auto-configured Wireguard VPN. It isn’t open to the public internet and all connections must be tunneled through the personal Tailnet (read: Wireguard VPN). This makes additional layers of encryption completely redundant.
@AyaWettstailscale usually runs on the host itself.
Ente Auth is great too for 2fa
@alpacamale2909 i prefer bitwarden for my passwords and 2fa, it's only 10 bucks a year to get the 2fa in the app and it can autofill my 2fa just like it can autofill my passwords
congrats on breaking into 1m subscribers
No mention of KDE Connect o.o
local send has one feature in that kde connect barely seemed to work desktop to desktop i was using rsync mostly
@gamagama69 KDE connect works really well desktop to desktop.. infact i am currently creating a web version that works over a secure tunnel as my final year collage project
@gamagama69 wdym? I constantly use KDE Connect to transfer files with all combinations of desktop and mobile devices without any hiccups.
@gamagama69 If it's connected to windows yes. I'm using kde connect from laptop to steamdeck they're both desktop and it works all the time cuz they're both linux
You can use joplin without seting up a server. Let Joplin sync to a folder. Instal syncthing and set synchronization to that folder. Do this for each device
Airdrop isn't even working anymore on my M4 pro Macbook pro lol.
There's also Affinity instead of Photoshop. It used to be Publisher, Designer, and Photo but the end of last year combined them and made it free.
8:15 a better option for most people would be Standard Notes. Similar to Apple Notes, secure (from Proton), and free, at least for plain notes. That's what I switched to for my "open garden"
LOL, and you recommend it 45 seconds later. Nice ☺️
There's an interface patch for GIMP named "PhotoGIMP" that makes it look and feel like Photoshop. I think it even includes some re-mapped keyboard shortcuts for certain tools to match PS.
For Notes i really like Obsidian paired with Syncthing for Backups. Super easy and works like a charm.
Omgosh… this is life changing. Thank you
Great video, thank you!
imma pass some moolah over to local send cuz this shiz is GREAT
At first playing with open hardware and framework laptops, then switching to linux!, now open source software, I can't wait to see you start your own home lab, proxmox, HomeAssistant etc etc 🙌
Local Send if great and the best option if file sharing is the only function you need between devices.
I use KDE Connect, which let's me also send files, but it can also remote control, share or send clipboard, control media (e.g. music or videos playing on another device), etc and works between Linux, Android, iOS, MacOS, Windows, and more
Obsidian for note taking and sync it anywhere you want it's just md file
use a self certified reverse proxy like caddy it's going to be on another docker container lets your self hosted stuff be https
2:10 why do these youtubers who always talk about linux never actually use it? 🤔
it isn't ready for "flawless" video production they might use it but not for there work
True, it does 99% of things but not the 1% I’d need
I actually like that she goes through and shows what is likely the use case for most average people. A RUclipsr I recommend watching that uses Linux daily for both his channel and gaming is The Linux Experiment. I believe he uses linux for everything except his phone. I actually don’t know anyone that uses a linux phone (not android) reliably as linux phones aren’t currently up to par for most use cases.
Original stuff right up my alley and great engaging presentation style. Subscribed
I've just vibe-coded my notes app (which also has a checklist and diary function)
I use Obsidian for note taking and to-doing with Syncthing synchronization between my PCs, mobile and tablet.
Good suggestions. I was hoping for a completely open source phone distro... Pretty please!!!
There are plenty of open source phone distros for android phones depending on your phone. GrapheneOS is one of the most popular but you also have lineage, /e/os, ubuntu touch amongst others
why Obsidian is not on the list?
i use affinity as photoshop alternative because it is free now and the shortcut key is really close to photoshop which other free software don't have
I recommend trilium notes as a notes app
Hope it runs arch
epic username and pfp tbh
Slacktivism
Joplin has their own cloud sync system like proton.
Did she get the android quick share memo? Doesn't it work with apple devices now?
Oh, no... Who's gonna tell her about Opera?
I use Syncthing and Obsidian for notes (not on iOS).
Since Obsidian uses vaults (normal folders) to store notes, I synced my notes folder between my Android device and Windows.
I like KDE Connect more than Local Send and you can send your clipboard and get messages on your devices and KDE Connect works on Windows, Linux, Android, and I think Apple devices too
when will we get some new keyboard noises asmr video? i miss them
Super productivity is a life safer for me it really helped me figure out what i need to do
FYI, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera are just Chrome/ Chromium with some repaint over them.
True, I do use Firefox on PC. But Brave having adblock built-in is pretty nice for mobile devices.
2:57, except, iirc, there is a web mode that the transfer file will make a LOCAL link, and recipient will go to that link using a browser to download the file, so yeah, that already has a solution
True. I recently started to feel this way. I love apple ecosystem integration but the alternative android devices have better batteries.
Afaik you can let Joplin host Joplin for you as well. On top of that it offers end to end encryption, so you can store it in dropbox for example
@Jochinator2 yeah this is what I do, way easier than self hosting and as long as you keep up with your encryption key its completely secure
Helium and Zen are my favorite browsers.
Fellow Helium enjoyer
Not sure I heard this right but are you using Libra office on your iPhone?
Can you elaborate on this please?
No grapheneOS?
Yeah, this seems like the path of least resistance.
@jacobgames3412 that's for pixel phones only
@gaelmargraceshe used a pixel in the video
@jacobgames3412wasn't an iphone? I may got distracted sorry
@gaelmargrace She has both
Happy for you! Even though I knew about these a long time ago.
How about hosting a obsidian server for your notes it's open source and you can put it on a NAS you have.
Immich is great and easy as hell, I'm populating my own instance right now. I might look into ente for the kid though, if it's a simpler solution.
Love this video! I love the Apple apps and ecosystem, but I’ve been getting more and more worried about lock in and where my data truly is being stored, and who can access it. I’m definitely downloading some of these! ❤
If I may, I would really appreciate chapters and a lost of the software in the description 🙏🏼
A ton of information there. I have apple and google products and use what I need for the purpose. In general I use Apple the most. like Betty I use mainly for messages and facetime since my family is all over the globe.
You are such professional and a Cute too. I find the videos offer a real world traveling experience. You seem very disciplined. thanks for the ride-along