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What apps would you love to have open-source alternatives for? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by ClearCutCoconut@lemmy.world to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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It seems like the FOSS community is continuing to grow, and FOSS apps keep getting better (Immich reallh blew my mind recently), which is a big win 😎 but there are still many apps I use that I would kill for an open source alternative. I am curious what you guys think? Are there any apps you'd love alternatives for?

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[-] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 120 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Discord. It's extremely popular and has no direct alternatives (Matrix spaces thing isn't ready at all yet)

EDIT: I didn't know Revolt and Zulip existed. I'm doing a research on them now

[-] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 45 points 7 months ago

Matrix is also extremely complicated to sign up for. I tried getting some tech savvy friends to sign up for Matrix the other day. Even for someone tech-savvy it is waaaaaaaay too complicated. Many of the clients don't even have a sign up option, you need to sign up elsewhere first.

[-] ClearCutCoconut@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago

Yeah...for many of these programs the onboarding is so daunting, even for those who are tech savvy. Laymen don't stand a chance with something that is that complicated. It doesn't often seem to be a technical issue either, more-so a user experience or design problem

[-] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 24 points 7 months ago

It doesn’t often seem to be a technical issue either, more-so a user experience or design problem

Oh 100%. The problem is that there's a lack of UX designers and such in the Open Source community. There's technical people building stuff but they often don't know how to make a good user experience (or in some cases they don't care to).

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 7 months ago

IDK why this always gets downvoted. UI/UX some of the biggest issues with FOSS software, and is a massive barrier to entry to someone who isn't a massive computer nerd willing to put up with that shit.

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[-] FrostKing@lemmy.world 34 points 7 months ago

I keep hearing people recommend signal messenger as an alternative to discord, and honestly that's the most obvious sign you don't actually use discord

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[-] MultipleAnimals@sopuli.xyz 16 points 7 months ago

Revolt is very promising, not ready yet but already feels very similar to Discord

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[-] halm@leminal.space 106 points 7 months ago

Plain banking apps for smartphones. Having those developed in the open would hopefully make it possible to have forks that work on rooted devices without hiding magisk and whatnot.

[-] xlash123@sh.itjust.works 28 points 7 months ago

That would be awesome. I wish banks would also have standardized (or at least open) APIs so I could use FOSS financial software to pull my live purchase history and then categorize that and etc. I think some banks do this, but not very common in the US from what I can tell.

[-] halm@leminal.space 17 points 7 months ago

Yeah, if banks had open and standardised APIs we could all use the same FLOSS banking app — or choose from any of a bazillion FLOSS apps. Instead they're going the authoritarian route and locking customers in with bloated black box, proprietary apps...

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[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 97 points 7 months ago

My phone firmware

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[-] prashanthvsdvn@lemmy.world 77 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

FOSS CAD softwares. I know FreeCAD exists but it’s very unintuitive compared to the proprietary ones. I am thankful that it exists but it’s a long way apart to become a household name like Blender.

I wish I could start writing one but I don’t have a clear picture of requirements to plan and start writing one. If anyone is expert in this field please link some research papers and guidelines for someone to start fresh.

[-] tvmole@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 7 months ago

Check out Ondsel. They're working on improving FreeCAD and making the workflow not suck.

Still definitely a work in progress, but the dimension/constraint tools and 3D feature naming are already lightyears better in their version.

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[-] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 16 points 7 months ago

I think FreeCAD is still the best bet, it does.seem to be making a few strides recently. Topo naming and sketcher workbench are both getting updates. For me personally it's definitely usable for personal projects. I want better FreeCAD rather than an alternative new thing.

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[-] techognito@lemmy.world 69 points 7 months ago

I wish there were more Open Source games.

[-] CorrodedCranium@leminal.space 18 points 7 months ago

Just wanted to shout out https://osgameclones.com/. It has a pretty decent list of them and source ports.

[-] billgamesh@lemmy.ml 14 points 7 months ago

You may have heard of them, but I love Shattered Pixel Dungeon and unCiv

[-] FrostKing@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

Recently discovered Veloren, maybe you haven't heard of it

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[-] MudMan@fedia.io 57 points 7 months ago

Photoshop.

And yeah, no, please, don't come over and mention Gimp and Kryta and all the others. I get it, they're cool for the stuff they do. They just aren't the all in one package that Photoshop is or have as powerful tools specifically for photo editing. Photoshop would require a Blender-style major effort to replicate and Gimp just isn't up to it. I wish it were. Photoshop is at the perfect intersection of being uniquely capable and walled off behind the single crappiest ecosystem in software.

Nobody likes Adobe, nobody wants to work with Adobe. Nobody can avoid Photoshop. That's just the world we live in and I don't like it.

[-] halm@leminal.space 53 points 7 months ago

Well, counterpoint: Photoshop tries to be an "everything for everybody" app, and GIMP/Krita don't need to compare to that, as little as any user needs all the features of Photoshop.

Nobody can avoid Photoshop

Call me nobody, then. I worked with the Adobe suite professionally for 15+ years, haven't touched it for the past six. You won't find a single 1:1 replacement. It's just a matter of quitting and accepting the individual limits of different alternatives.

[-] poVoq@slrpnk.net 35 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

It's a groupthink issue anyways. 3DSmax/Maya was the same for a long time, and "everyone" was saying Blender is not an alternative. And then some big companies switched to Blender and suddenly people stopped complaining about it. And while Blender did improve during that time, it did not improve so substantially that it really made all the difference.

[-] halm@leminal.space 18 points 7 months ago

It's absolutely that, like the office admin workers who swear by Microsoft Office over open alternatives no matter how insidious Windows becomes. "I know this one tool and you will have to wring it from my cold dead hands"...

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[-] vsis@feddit.cl 18 points 7 months ago

Nobody likes Adobe, nobody wants to work with Adobe. Nobody can avoid Photoshop. That’s just the world we live in and I don’t like it.

This sounds like Stockholm syndrome. You are just too familiar with Photoshop, so using anything else is hard and less efficient.

In photography there is this mantra about "the most important part is right behind the camera". A good photographer is not a good Nikon user, or good Canon user. A good photographer can deliver decent pictures with a potato camera if needed.

Sure, a potato camera is less efficient for any work that an actual good one. So it's good to invest in a good brand. But the point is: if you are not capable to make average results with a potato software, the problem is not in the software.

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[-] Affidavit@aussie.zone 56 points 7 months ago

Spotify.

An open source music streaming service where I can financially support artists but where I'm not forced to put up with annoying advertisements (even when paying membership fees!), and which allows me to use whatever app I want to play the music I listen to. It is annoying AF that I need to switch between apps to listen to music because Spotify's shitty native app is inferior in every possible way with the single exception of offering more content.

[-] ClearCutCoconut@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

There seems like a lot of potential for an app like this with the mixture of decentralization/encryption/verification/blockchain/etc. Easily verify artists, get the artists paid with a determined currency or by merch and donations, have it federated or decentralized so artists have more control and a company can’t take percentages.. I don’t know. There has to be something there. It seems possible and almost a necessity in the future for artists to make money and corporations to not enshittify each app that is released. For example, spotify adding features to try to be like TikTok, or recently they were trying to add “educational courses” to the app

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[-] jpeps@lemmy.world 44 points 7 months ago

Ultimate Guitar Tabs. After spending years getting a community to contribute to one of the best music resources on the web, they turn around and lock all but the most basic features behind a pay wall.

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[-] sasquash@sopuli.xyz 30 points 7 months ago

grindr

[-] cervena_kostka@lemmy.world 18 points 7 months ago

Exactly. Like when can I be a foss hoe

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[-] zarenki@lemmy.ml 29 points 7 months ago

Stylus/handwriting oriented note taking. Stuff like Samsung Notes or Goodnotes (or OneNote, though it does a lot more) in the Android space, or e-ink options like Remarkable's stock software.

If I just want to use a keyboard for everything I have great FOSS options like Joplin and Standard Notes, but when I want to use a pen instead it feels like no other freedom-respecting option seem to even remotely approach the usability of just sticking with real ink and moleskine-like paper notebooks.

Even someone willing to pay an upfront fee for proprietary apps will struggle to find good options that allow syncing and reading (let alone editing) your notes on other devices/platforms without resorting to a monthly subscription.

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[-] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 26 points 7 months ago

An alternative to iTunes so that I don’t need a Windows VM to backup my company iPhone. But I know it’s never gonna happen because Apple is the devil.

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[-] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

It's a long shot, but a viable alternative to Google Maps or other proprietary mapping websites (and no, OpenStreetMap is not a viable Google Maps alternative).

EDIT: Not sure why downvotes, OpenStreetMap doesn't even have directions as far as I can tell.

[-] ClearCutCoconut@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

Organic Maps honestly hasn't been that bad for me, but searching addresses is appalling and I do need to rely on Google Maps in many instances still. However, it has made it much easier for me to contribute to OSM and have a better user experience. A step in the right direction at least

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[-] PropaGandalf@lemmy.world 18 points 7 months ago

Digital wallets (for things like cc, ID, coupons)
Map apps (like google maps)
Dating apps

[-] moritz@l.deltaa.xyz 17 points 7 months ago

For maps, there is already OpenStreetMap and its ecosystem. I particularly like OrganicMaps which is available for Android, iOS and Linux (beta).

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[-] meldrik@lemmy.wtf 18 points 7 months ago

Discord. And no, Matrix/Element isn’t an alternative.

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[-] mraow_ 15 points 7 months ago

Software for the production of music and audio, like Ardour but for more platforms which more typical people could use more easily, plus plug-ins for that ecosystem. It's a major sticking point how corporate that field is for me.

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[-] laurelraven 15 points 7 months ago

SnagIt!

Flameshot is great, but it lacks too many features I've come to depend on from SnagIt! and I would absolutely pay for a Linux port even if it isn't FOSS

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[-] MangoPenguin 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I would love to see a good Lightroom alternative in terms of ease of use.

Darktable is great and the results are good, but it's pretty complex to use and has a really steep learning curve. And it doesn't do photo management other than a few basics. Even after months of use I still struggle to replicate what I can do in Lightroom.

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[-] XTL@sopuli.xyz 13 points 7 months ago

Swiping library and keyboard.

Yousician or similar entertaining musician motivator. One that has scoring or analysis, specifically. Not just a video/backing track player.

Some kind of buy/sell/auction/freecycle system service/app/front-end that isn't evil and it's simple enough for normos to use so it gets critical mass and makes it easy to buy/sell/give/recycle stuff locally.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 7 months ago

HeliBoard. Swype library must be downloaded and currently only working ones are closed source but the keyboard itself is open source and amazing.

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[-] saywhatisabigw@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

Dating websites

[-] Gueoris@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago

I don't see anyone talking about it here but I'd dream of an open source alternative to AndroidTV/Apple Tv. Firstly because ATV is ultra-dependent on Google, and secondly because the interface is unclear and not really pretty.

Today I've switched to Apple TV, which is much better in terms of UX, but the OS is too closed and sideloading isn't possible...

So I hope to see some sort of CalyxOS / LineageOS for Tv arrive one day!

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[-] Mangoholic@lemmy.ml 13 points 7 months ago

YouTube